Framingham Group Would Focus On Sidewalks, Bike Lanes, Trails

FRAMINGHAM, MA — A Framingham Councilor is asking the city to create a special committee to oversee bike lanes, sidewalks and trails in the city. The committee comes at a pivotal time with the impending opening of the Cochituate Rail Trail, and talks over an extension of the Bruce Freeman Rail Trail.

According to District 8 Councilor John Stefanini's proposal, the subcommittee would oversee land acquisitions to extend sidewalks and bike lanes, plan for future infrastructure needs and update a citywide plan to make non-motorized connections between parks and other open spaces.

The Sidewalk, Bike and Trail Advisory Committee would be modeled on the now-defunct Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee. It would include one member of the Disability Commission, a member of the Parks Commission and five members picked by the mayor.

As soon as this spring, a 2.4-mile stretch of the Cochituate Rail Trail in Natick will open and connect a 1.2-mile section that opened in Saxonville in 2015. MassDOT installed new bridges this winter over Route 30 and Route 9 to create an unbroken trail between downtown Natick and Saxonville.

Meanwhile, Framingham may soon restart negotiations to acquire a stretch of former CSX railway between the Sudbury border and Route 9 to complete the last leg of the Bruce Freeman Rail Trail. When complete, the trail will run about 25 miles from Lowell to Framingham. So far, the trail is only complete partially through Concord, although Sudbury is moving ahead with plans to extend the trail all the way through the town.

Late last year, CSX transferred its 3.4-mile Framingham railway corridor to a subsidiary company, which means Framingham has to start purchase negotiations over.

The City Council will discuss and possibly approve the creation of the Sidewalk, Bike and Trail Advisory Committee at the Tuesday night meeting.