WAKEFIELD - The effort to create a paved recreational bike and walking path that would run for 4.4 miles along an inactive rail bed between Wakefield and Lynnfield is proceeding according to plan, according to Rail to Trail Committee chairman Kevin Scott, member Dot Halpin and Selectman Albert Turco, who also serves on the committee.
Scott and Halpin presented a report on the status of the project at last night's selectmen's meeting. A number of Rail to Trail project supporters were also on hand last night.
Used until several years ago as a freight corridor, the rail bed stretches from Main Street in Wakefield along Water and Vernon streets, through Reedy Meadow and into Lynnfield.
Scott told the board that a recent feasibility study determined that the project was feasible. Other issues have also been resolved, Scott said, including the matter of having an old lease on the rail bed abandoned.
Scott said that the next step is to deal with the engineering costs of the project, which amount to $500,000. Scott said that the committee has been lobbying legislators and the Governor's office to have that cost included in an upcoming transportation bond bill. Congressman John Tierney's office has also been contacted, Scott said, for any assistance he might be able to provide.
Turco pointed out that environmental liability issues related to the project have been resolved, provided that the town obtains adequate environmental liability insurance. Scott and Turco assured the board that the one-time cost of that insurance would be paid for by private funds raised by Rail to Trail supporters, and would not be a cost to the town.
Turco said that if the committee is successful in getting the $500,000 needed for the engineering from a federal earmark or from the state, that money would count as the town's matching 10 percent toward the construction of the project. In addition to the transportation bond bill, Turco indicated that the money might also be obtained via a state environmental bond bill or a special Rail to Trail bond bill.
Turco stressed that the committee's goal is to have the project done at no cost to the town. He and Scott said that the Rail to Trail Committee was asking the selectmen to authorize Town Administrator Thomas Butler to approach elected officials at the state and federal level in an effort to obtain the needed funding.
Scott pointed out that these types of rail to trail projects have been around for a while. "The template's already in place," Scott said. "It's going to be a fantastic thing for the town of Wake-field."
Board Chairman James Good asked Scott about cleaning up decades of coal and oil contamination along the rail bed.
"You don't clean it up," Scott explained. "You cover it and seal it. It becomes a sidewalk."
In response to a safety concern, Turco said that any signals determined to be needed at street crossings would be designed into the project. He pointed out, however, that similar trails in other communities cross any number of streets.
Selectman Maio echoed Scott's assurance that the template for these types of projects has been around, and that there are ways to make them safe.
Selectman John Encarnacao said that he hoped that the effort to obtain state funding would not have a negative impact on other roadway projects for which the town is awaiting state money, such as the work on the Salem Street corridor in Montrose.
Committee member Dot Halpin pointed out that the project would have a positive effect on the town's economy, bringing walkers, runners and cyclists to small businesses along Water Street and the Four Corners intersection of Vernon and Lowell streets. She added that the trail would also provide a safe way for kids to ride their bikes to school.
The Rail to Trail Committee will draft a letter to the Governor and various legislators and provide that letter to the board and the Town Administrator for them to use in voicing support for the project with state and federal officials in hopes of securing the remaining funding needed for the project.