By Amelia Tarallo
Hometown Weekly Special Correspondent
During the 1800s, railways covered Massachusetts like a spider web. By the mid 1950s, many of these lines were abandoned. In the years since then, communities have taken these old abandoned lines and turned them into recreational spaces available for the public to use.
Now Medfield is trying to dust off its cobwebs and turn its own forgotten rail line into a rail trail. The dream of making a Medfield Rail Trail is close to becoming a reality.
After planning, presentations, studies, estimating, and meetings, it is finally time to vote. The warrant article will be voted on at the town meeting on Monday, April 30, at 7:30 p.m. If approved, the Board of Selectmen will be seeking to enter into a lease with the MBTA to create the rail trail.
Residents opposing the trail are concerned about people parking in residential areas, such as along Colonial Road. Others worry about the cost, and if the creation of the rail trail would place an unnecessary burden on taxpayers.
Christian Donner, who has been working on developing the Rail Trail for nine years, doubts that its creation will have any impact on taxes. There are already plans to establish a maintenance fund and a volunteer group to help preserve the trail. The Friends of the Medfield Rail Trail have also applied for a $50,000 grant from the Department of Conservation and Recreation to create and maintain the path. The town will be able to apply for the grant each year.
Previous issues expressed by the Norfolk Hunt Club have been addressed and they have agreed to the creation of the Rail Trail.
If the warrant article passes, the Medfield Rail Trail will be a part of the Bay Colony Rail Trail. It will run from Harding Street into Dover’s Farm Street. The proposed trail is 1.3 miles long; if created, it will be the longest stretch of flat trail in town accessible by bikes, wheelchairs, and strollers.
