Save Reformatory Branch Trail

Bikeway Extension Vote Fails 2/3 Super Majority at Town Meeting 11/14/22--THANK YOU!!

Article 10 failed to receive the state-mandated super majority 2/3 vote required for Eminent Domain measures. A total of 1,074 votes were cast for Article 10, and the tally was 537-537.

In contrast, the first vote at the March 28th Town meeting failed 363 in favor, 235 opposed.

Our votes, our voices--all matter. We stood up for green, for property rights, for preservation of a safe and beautiful trail. We got the word out. All the work mattered: distributing lawn signs, fliers, letters to the editor, talking to our friends and neighbors. Your contributions mattered. Thank your friends, your neighbors, the mom you met at the playground, the parents on the sidelines of soccer and softball games.

Tallying is underway, and it looks like there will be a small surplus of funds left from contributions. They will be donated to the Bedford Food Bank. Details to follow.

Reformatory trail now, MMBW Extension later

Natural beauty today...

... replaced by asphalt highway

Reformatory Branch Trail, Oct. '22. Yellow tape = 8ft. PROP Temporary Construction Easements are 72ft. across.(1) How will this stretch look?

1..https://www.bedfordma.gov/sites/g/files/vyhlif6866/f/uploads/100_percent_submission_-_highway_plans.pdf see cross sections pages 6,7, & 8, and overhead plans, starting p. 18.

... replaced by asphalt highway

MassDOT will have leave to turn a a green carbon sink into an asphalt heat sink. Do we need more asphalt in Bedford? How does this cause anyone to substitute one car ride with a bicycle trip? View Construction details here: https://savereformatorytrail.org/construction-details

Bedford Finance Committee votes 4-3 to NOT SUPPORT the Extension.

See the meeting recording here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kG-EMM1-G-4

The agenda for the meeting was to discuss the eminent domain necessary to build the Extension, including front yards of property owners on Railroad Ave., and large parcels of the front and back yards of property owners next to the planned ramps and tunnel features at the crossing of Concord Rd.

Homeowners speak, describing how their properties will sustain grave devaluation by the Extension being built within feet of their front doors or back doors. One homeowner's driveway will be diminished to the point where they may not even park a second vehicle on their own property.

Committee members voice their objections to the Extension. They highlight the discrepancies between information presented by the Select Board in March, and information now available about full details of the eminent domain.

Blandings Turtle Lecture Recording

Dr. Bryan Windmiller has spent nearly twenty years working on a recovery plan for the threatened Blandings' turtle population of the Great Meadows Area.

Hear him speak about the successful recovery of this regionally important rare species population. Learn about the potential impacts of changes to the Reformatory Branch Trail on the Blandings Turtle of the Great Meadows Area.

Click this link to view a Zoom recording of the presentation:

https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/share/DEUcJ7YF18LM7v-dvvy6mT2UqXqBBqrgmmSCYe2nzPiDpJhFX5r8flFw3V-t7cpt.diFC71gz5lubu-bH

See more information about Blandings turtles at the Zoo New England website:

https://www.zoonewengland.org/protect/here-in-new-england/turtle-conservation/blandings-turtles/

BARC VOTES TO NOT SUPPORT THE EXTENSION

At the Thursday Sept. 22nd meeting, Bedford Arbor Resources Committee voted unanimously to NOT support the Extension.

Members worked on a unanimous statement of reasons to oppose the project:

https://www.bedfordma.gov/sites/g/files/vyhlif6866/f/uploads/barc_statement_on_mmbw_exte

The Chairman of BARC put in two requests to the Town Manager to take down all references on Town websites of any statements to the contrary.

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The primary goal of this list is to send reminders to vote, and occasional news updates. Next vote is November 14th at Bedford Town Meeting.