01940 Fall 2018 web

The tale
of the
BY THOMAS GRILLO
Lynnfield has everything.
Great schools, three golf courses, and
sparkling athletic fields that are the envy
of other North Shore communities.
But unlike 180 Massachusetts
communities from Abington to Yarmouth,
Lynnfield lacks a rail trail.
It’s not for lack of trying.
Efforts have been underway for nearly
two decades to transform the former
Newburyport branch of the Boston
and Maine Railroad into the 4.4-mile
Wakefield-Lynnfield Rail Trail.
The $9.2 million state- and federallyfunded
project would be built on 2½
miles in Lynnfield and nearly two miles in
Wakefield on land leased from the MBTA
at no cost to the communities.
A 10-foot-wide paved path would
begin near the T’s Wakefield commuter
rail station, pass two Wakefield schools,
travel under Route I-95 into Lynnfield,
wind behind the middle school towards
the Reedy Meadow Golf Course and high
school to the Peabody border.
Also included in the proposal is
off-street parking, safety improvements
at road and railroad crossings, new signs
and pavement markings, pedestrian and
landscape enhancements, and screening
from the trail for abutters.
While construction of the path is at
no cost to the communities, Lynnfield
and Wakefield residents are on the hook
to share the $500,000 tab for the project’s
design.
Proponents say trails offer another
form of recreation and take cars off the
roads; they allow for a glimpse into nature,
improve public health, boost the local
economy, and put an accent on community
pride and identity.
In a 2013 survey of residents about
Lynnfield’s recreational needs, 72 percent
said a bike path was needed, while 60
percent said the community would benefit
from a walking trail.
“The most important perceived
recreational need throughout the town
of Lynnfield is for additional multipurpose
trails for walking, biking,
running, hiking and fitness,” the survey
summary said. “It is recommended
that a multipurpose trail/path network
be considered as part of any new
recreational path development.”
But Citizens of Lynnfield Against the
Rail Trail, organized in 2014 to oppose
the project, say the trail raises safety,
financial, and environmental concerns.
“Did you know that the long-term
goal of this project is for the path to run
through Lynnfield and eventually connect
through Wakefield and Peabody to a much
larger network of bike and walking paths?”
the group’s website said. “These connected
paths would span the entire East Coast
from Florida all the way to Canada. We
are aware that this expanded trail system
would encourage people from all over
Massachusetts and even other states to
travel through our neighborhoods. Based on
our own research, we are convinced that this
project will create new costs and dangers for
Lynnfield...”
Those for and against bike and
pedestrian paths cite studies that suggest
property values will rise or fall, depending
on their point of view.
Opponents said a 1980s survey by
the nonprofit National Association of
Reversionary Property Owners on homes
near the Burke-Gilman Trail in Seattle
found houses closer to the trail failed to
20 | 01940