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A Q&A with Glenn Pransky, Rail Trail Expert
Glenn serves on Sudbury’s Rail Trails Advisory Committee, and is a rail trail expert who has traveled extensively to explore rail trails from coast to coast.
1. Rail trail activity in Sudbury has never been higher in Sudbury. Can you give readers a sense of the status of the two rail trails today?
Kevin, we’re literally at a historic crossroads – with two trails under construction that could be completed within a year, with a total of 9 miles of new pathways in Sudbury. (Map here.) Now that the initial paving is complete on the Bruce Freeman, and almost all of the grading is done on the Mass Central, we have a better sense of what the end result will look like. Many of us have walked along these corridors, and enjoyed these areas, but it hasn’t been accessible to most residents – that’s going to change soon. We will have access to wonderful natural areas that include wetlands, glacial landscapes and unique environments that have previously been inaccessible to most residents.
2. The BFRT is on the warrant for the Annual Town Meeting in May. Can you provide some background on those articles?
There are two articles, both requesting Community Preservation Grant funds. The first one (Article 36) will provide the remaining funds needed to complete the design work on phase 3 of the Bruce Freeman rail trail – from the intersection with the Mass Central (just north of Rt 20) south to the Framingham town line – the old CSX corridor that we purchased. Sudbury is responsible for the costs of design and permitting; the state Dept of Transportation will cover all the construction costs. This is the same way that we funded completion of the Bruce Freeman north of the Diamond. Although we’re not scheduled for State construction funding until fiscal year 2029, once we have the design complete, we’re eligible to get moved ahead in the schedule – this happens often with rail trail projects. Fingers crossed!
Article 40 is also requesting CPC funds to figure out how best to improve access to the Parkinson Field parking lot, located next to Ti Sales just north of Hudson Rd. This parking lot connects directly to the Bruce Freeman Rail trail via a paved ramp, the Parkinson recreational field, extensive trails on Town land, and is near Town Center. We actually designed this ramp specifically to provide an ADA-accessible pathway directly to the rail trail. There’s room for at least 25 cars there. For a town like ours, where walking or cycling on streets is not great, most trail users – especially with children – will be driving to a trailside parking lot like this one, then walking or cycling.
The problem is that the town-owned driveway from Hudson Rd. to this lot is one lane, unpaved, and has bad sight lines. The alternative is driving through the Ti Sales parking lot, with potential conflicts with heavy trucks. We don’t know what is the best answer, what’s feasible given wetlands, land ownership, traffic patterns – so this article will support a study to look at alternatives and help us plan next steps together.
3. Residents have heard a lot about the BFRT, but less about the Mass Central Rail Trail (MCRT). Can you give us a general background on the MCRT? What makes it significant, and what will be unique about Sudbury’s portion of the trail?
The Mass Central is a 104 mile corridor from Boston to Northampton (map here), and is a State priority for completion as a pathway across the state. What’s unique about the Sudbury portion is the variety of landscapes we have along the MCRT – wetlands, pine barrens, forest – including some spectacular areas behind Mill Village that have been inaccessible until now. And what’s also unique is our commercial area right at the intersection of two major long trails – a great economic opportunity for stores and restaurants. We’ll soon be able to ride or walk to Hudson along the MCRT, all off road, giving us access to more trails, restaurants, and open space. And a few years later, a ride all the way to Waltham entirely off-road will become a reality. (See DCR plans here)
Other parts of the MCRT have become a major alternative transportation and recreation pathway from Wayland to Boston, with lots of enthusiastic users in every town along the way. I’ve recently discovered parts of the MCRT that are open in central Mass – much more rural, very scenic, connecting small towns and protected watershed and conservation areas – some photos here. Check out the Wachusett Greenways sections here. Community organizations in Hudson, Berlin, Clinton, Rutland, ware and Belchertown are all moving forward with plans to complete their portions. So we’re becoming part of this chain, and will see more people in Sudbury interested in experiencing the whole corridor by walking or cycling.
4. There’s a lot of history in the two rail corridors. What are some of the more intriguing historical aspects that you have come across in your work? What’s the importance of that history?
Both the Old Colony Line (Bruce Freeman) and the Mass Central Railroad (MCRR) were initially developed to bring agricultural products and people from rural areas to cities. These lines never had high volumes of trains, but had a major impact in opening up markets for milk and produce to Sudbury farmers. And later, they enabled the start of suburban living in Sudbury for people working in Lowell, Boston or Framingham. There’s a lot of history – its covered in great talks on the MCRR by Ed Sterling here, and one by our local historian Steve Greene on the Old Colony line here. Some highlights include Gov. Calvin Coolidge taking a private rail car from Northampton to Boston through Sudbury, Babe Ruth getting on the MCRR at the Dutton Rd/ Wayside Inn stop and regaling passengers, and the importance of the MCRR as a transport pathway for munitions from the Maynard Ammo Dump to Charlestown during WW2. The cattle crossing reminds us of the ‘milk run’ on the MCRR that brought milk to Boston every day. And the Old Colony Line trains crashing into Mass Central trains at the Diamond intersection before the installation of electric signals brought some infamy to Sudbury.
Living in the suburbs today, it’s easy to forget our agricultural roots, and what the landscape was like for tens of thousands of years before Europeans arrived – the environment that indigenous peoples would have experienced. Walking these trails and understanding the history brings us back to an appreciation of our origins as a town, and our historical environment. We’ve got two knowledgeable railroad historians locally – Steve Green and Rick Conard – they know much more, and I’d encourage you to interview them about railroad history in subsequent issues. There’s also a great book about the Mass Central Railroad published by the B and M RR Historical Society, and a recently published book about the Ammo Dump (https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/201921123 ) that some of your readers might enjoy. And we have excellent archives at our Town Historical Society that record our town’s railroad history.
5. The trails have the potential to have a transformative impact on Sudbury. How might the opening of these two trails shape the community in the future? What needs to be done to maximize their value to the community?
I’ve travelled up and down the East Coast looking at rail trails, trying to learn from others what we might anticipate. In almost every community, there were initial concerns – will this bring unwanted traffic, visitors, crime, noise? But after the trail opened, the attitudes have become much more positive – traffic was managed, visitors were welcomed, noise was minimal (or decreased with less traffic) and crime actually was less. These communities benefited greatly from becoming more walkable, less car-centric, and developing more amenities that encouraged people to get outdoors and interact (some examples here, here, and a summary report here). Take a look at this article on impact of shared use paths in Massachusetts). And these impacts seem to be consistent across different states, rural and suburban locations.
Our commercial center -at the intersection of two major long-distance trails – is a prime location for this sort of transformation. I think we’ll have to see what happens, and hopefully that will stimulate a dialogue as a community about what we want the area around Route 20 to look like in the future. It’s a great opportunity for all of us. And I should mention that we on the Rail Trail Advisory Committee are meeting more people who tell us that the rail trails were a major reason for moving to Sudbury – they recognize this unique opportunity for safe recreation that other towns don’t have. They have different expectations than us long-time Sudbury residents about walking, interacting with others outside, non-car transportation, kids riding their bikes to school – and that’s going to change our town in a good way, improving our health and quality of life.
We on the Committee are eager to hear from residents and encourage people to attend our meetings – we hope to shape this future vision collectively.
6. You have experienced a number of trails across the country. Can you put Sudbury’s position on these rail trails in a regional context? What is the vision for the completed corridors?
The Bruce Freeman is very close to becoming a long-distance recreational trail across MetroWest, and more and more people are enjoying it for walks or day-long excursions. The Mass Central is now recognized as a potential tourist attraction for multi-day travel across the state, much like the Erie Canal Path or the Great Allegheny Passage. Take a look at this recent report on the potential economic, community and health impact of developing the MCRT: https://www.nnnetwork.net/_files/ugd/92f6ae_e3570328d6974c3c9dfcb512eaf91425.pdf
Of course, all of this development will create opportunities for us who live in Sudbury, to enjoy more services and amenities.
7. What are some of the remaining challenges for Sudbury’s two rail trails?
First, getting them completed – good news is that we’re close. And thanks to the efforts of our Town staff, the amenities that will come along with these trails in Sudbury are excellent. The next big step for us will be addressing the Rt 20 area along both trails – enabling people to visit stores and restaurants safely, including residents who aren’t using the trails very much, but also want to walk more instead of driving everywhere.
We should also think about connections to side trails, neighborhoods, stores, and recreational areas – these have become major features on other trails. It’s consistent with our Town Master Plan, and a great opportunity for all of us – I feel very fortunate to be in the right place at the right time to help move this effort along.