Healey Administration Awards $8.6 Million in MassTrails Grants – Here’s What’s Getting Funded
Trail advocates from all over the Commonwealth gathered yesterday at the Rauscher Farm in Clinton, next to a future segment of the Mass Central Rail Trail, as state officials announced this year’s round of MassTrails grants to support the planning, design, and construction of new trails all over the state.
This year’s grant program will allocate $8.6 million for projects in 65 municipalities, in addition to several statewide initiatives.
“Whether you are taking a short walk close to home, setting out on an adventure, or using them as part of your daily commute to work, school or other key destinations, trails invite people to experience Massachusetts in new ways,” said state Department of Conservation and Recreation Commissioner Nicole LaChapelle in a press release issued Wednesday afternoon. “Our MassTrails grants help communities improve and expand trail networks, making them more welcoming, accessible, and connected, and inviting more people to get outside.”
Among the projects receiving funding this year (with links to their maps in the volunteer-run Mass. Trail Tracker database):
- Belchertown Greenway (part of the Mass. Central Rail Trail): $325,000 for design and permitting work on a new 1.2-mile trail segment from from Maple St. northward to Austin Gaughan Memorial Field.
- Berlin, Mass. Central Rail Trail (MCRT): early design for the 2.3-mile segment between the Hudson Town Line, near Interstate 495, and Colburn Road in Berlin.
- Billerica, Yankee Doodle Bike Path: $120,000 for design and permitting work on an extension of the Yankee Doodle Bike Path. Phase 1 is now under construciton; the next phase will extend the path to Billerica’s town center and the high school.
- Boxford, Boxford Rail Trail: $223,760 for design and permitting work on a new 1.5 mile segment of the the Border to Boston Rail Trail. This segment is currently an unimproved dirt path.
- Clinton, Mass. Central Rail Trail: $345,760 to complete construction of Clinton’s segment of the MCRT between Rauscher Farm and the Berlin Town line.
- Dover Rail Trail: $260,000 to complete shovel-ready design plans for Dover’s segment of the proposed Bay Colony Rail Trail from Newton to Medfield. When complete, Dover’s segment will link two existing trail segments to the south and north, in Medfield and Needham, respectively.
- Framingham, Bruce Freeman Rail Trail extension: $200,000 to complete final, shovel-ready design plans for the final segments of the Bruce Freeman Rail Trail into Framingham. The final segment would extend the Bruce Freeman Rail Trail from Sudbury into Framingham Center, near Framingham State University.
- Gardner, North Central Pathway Extension: $200,000 to complete final design of a 1.6-miles extension of the existing North Central Pathway rail trail around Crystal Lake towards downtown Gardner.
- Georgetown and Newbury, Border to Boston trail: $864,458 to design and permit their segments of the Border to Boston trail, from Georgetown’s town center to the Byfield village in Newbury. This segment is currently an unimproved dirt path.
- Hardwick and New Braintree, MCRT bridge engineering: $205,000 for design, permitting, and engineering work for a critical MCRT bridge over the Ware River.
- Sandwich, Cape Cod Canal Path: $500,000 for preliminary design of a new shared-use path that will connect the recently-opened extension of the Service Road shared use path to the Cape Cod Canal shared use path.
- Southampton: Southampton Greenway: : $240,000 to advance final designs for Southampton’s segment of the New Haven and Northampton Canal Greenway. The project is expected to go under construction in 2029.
- Swampscott, Swampscott Rail Trail: $100,000 to advance final design of the Swampscott Rail Trail, another segment in the Border to Boston trail network. The project is in line to receive federal funding to go under construction in 2029 or 2030.
In addition to these projects, other MassTrails grants will fund vital maintenance projects on existing trails, like repaving the Manhan Rail Trail in Easthampton and the Shining Sea Bikeway in Falmouth.
A full list of grant awards is available on the MassTrails website.
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