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Email us at savereformatorytrailbedford@gmail.com if you need more answers.
1. If Bedford doesn’t take land along the path by eminent domain, will we lose public right of way?
2. Does the town need to take this land for utilities?
3. Do we need asphalt to make the path ADA compliant?
4. If we vote for the Extension, can the Select Board adjust the plan?
5. Would there be separate lanes for walkers and cyclists to keep us safe?
6. What effects would this project have on our children
7. Would the Extension be safer once it’s paved?
8. Wouldn't only 4.34 acres of trees be removed?
9. How do we determine the full area of operations for the project?
10. Would the Extension have the same footprint as the Minuteman?
11. Will the tree canopy grow back?
12. Would endangered species be threatened by the Extension?
**See below for Zoom link to Dr. Windmiller's 10/6/22 presentation**
13. Could the Extension continue to the Concord portion of the RBT?
14. Is the Reformatory Branch Trail used now?
15. Are there any environmental benefits of the Extension?
NO.
The Town conceded that the public right of use can be expected to be sustained and would stand up to challenge in Court.
https://www.bedfordma.gov/sites/g/files/vyhlif6866/f/uploads/mm_bikeway_faq_stm_final.pdf, (See #28)
Maintenance easements could be used to access existing or future utilities.
In the past, the Town has been very reluctant to exercise Eminent Domain. The action creates anxiety and financial hardship for the citizens and businesses who are affected.
NO.
Access for current and future utilities could be addressed through easements with the landowners. The Town is demanding more land for construction of the Bikeway than would be needed to simply run utilities along the former railroad bed.
NO
A stone dust path can be fully ADA compliant. See Federal guidelines for creating ADA-compliant outdoor facilities and trails:
https://www.fs.usda.gov/sites/default/files/Accessibility-Guide-Book.pdf
Stone dust is commonly used in rails to trails projects across the country.
https://www.railstotrails.org/build-trails/trail-building-toolbox/design/surfaces/
The National Trail Surfaces Study[1] (PDF[2]) were funded by the National Center on Accessibility and they recommend "natural aggregates" over asphalt.
The Great American Rail Trail[3] is a non-motorized cross-country bike/walk path. It's still under development. They give a description of surfaces[4] that supports the fact that asphalt is not superior to crushed stone.
Be mindful that ADA accessible is a lesser standard that ADA compliant. A stone dust or aggregate surface can be fully ADA **compliant.** Great Meadow National Wildlife Refuge and the Old North Bridge of Minuteman National Park are ADA accessible. The two standards cannot be seen as equivalent.
[1] https://www.railstotrails.org/resource-library/resources/national-trail-surfaces-study/
[2] https://www.railstotrails.org/resourcehandler.ashx?name=national-trail-surfaces-study&id=26509&fileName=Ntl%20Trail%20Surfaces%20Study_2014_NCA.pdf
[3] https://www.railstotrails.org/greatamericanrailtrail/
[4] https://www.railstotrails.org/build-trails/trail-building-toolbox/design/surfaces/
NO
The project’s design documents are binding as is, with zero room for change by anyone, not the Select Board, Department of Public Works, or any Town body. When Bedford votes, we must accept the plan in its entirety, or not at all.
The Town would not run the project and therefore could not intervene to protect trees or control construction that is done on the trail or even on Concord Road. Quoting the DPW:
“As a TIP project, the design falls under MassDOT control and review. MassDOT (not the Town) will be advertising the project and supervising construction.” [ii]
The Massachusetts Department of Transportation documents on the Town website control the project:
[i] https://www.bedfordma.gov/sites/g/files/vyhlif6866/f/uploads/minuteman_tree_removal_plans.pdf
[ii] https://www.bedfordma.gov/sites/g/files/vyhlif6866/f/uploads/mmbw_extension_tree_removal_cover_memo.pdf
Extensive tree loss in the Jordan Conservation Area is a glaring example of what can happen in Bedford during a state-controlled project. There Massport created a large clear cut, ignoring ribbons the Bedford Conservation Commission had used to indicate which trees should be saved.
NO
The entirety of the Extension was designed as a Shared Use path. Consult the 100% Submittal, looking at cross sections, beginning on page 6:
This can be seen in the cross-section diagrams, the entirety of the path is designated “MIXED USE” or “TRAVEL LANE” or "SHARED USE."
There is no scheme for traffic segregation. This is confirmed in other text documents for the project, including the Tree Removal Cover Memo[1]. Stone dust shoulders would run along 75% of the paved path, so pedestrians would be frequently merging on and off the asphalt.
[1] https://www.bedfordma.gov/sites/g/files/vyhlif6866/f/uploads/mmbw_extension_tree_removal_cover_memo.pdf
Young children on foot or on bikes will not stay on the proposed stone dust shoulders. On the same asphalt concourse as adult cyclists and skateboarders, their erratic, non-linear tendencies would put them in jeopardy of collision from both oncoming bicycle traffic and passing cyclists approaching from behind.
Bedford Children’s Center face a construction site on their doorstep. They serve over 80 families and almost 100 children. Dust and vibration from construction and demolition would be feet from the building, and up against outdoor play spaces.
Parents who need to drop off and pick up their children would face a challenge. One side of the daycare’s driveway would be closed during a portion of the project. Concord Road traffic would be diverted onto the property itself. Kids would be forced inside. Portions of the path would be closed for 2-4 yrs.
After completion, the wooded trail, used for over 25 years for nature walks and leisurely strolls to Chip In Farm, would be a bicycle speedway. Children and staff would have to walk single file and be extra vigilant to avoid collisions with faster-moving traffic from behind.
In the end, a paved Extension might not be a place for children.
NO
From Hartwell Road to Bonnievale Drive, the path would have a one mile stretch of straight, flat pavement with no gates, baffles, bollards, or other traffic calming features. Human tendency is for wheeled visitors to accelerate, consciously or unconsciously, whether riding human-powered craft, or motorized vehicles.
Safety is already a serious concern on the Minuteman Bikeway, where speed limits are unenforceable. Sadly, a head on collision between two cyclists in Lexington resulted in a cyclist death in 2019.
Arlington has documented accidents on their portion of the Minuteman Bikeway. See page 17 in the link below.
https://www.arlingtonma.gov/home/showpublisheddocument/59899/637806097994400000
NO.
The Town website says 4.34 acres of trees would be cut from Town owned land:
Private land from abutters will also have some portion of their land cleared. MassDOT plans to use abutter's back yards to store and stage equipment and materials. Once the project is over, there is no plan to refurbish homeowner's back yards. At recent abutters' meetings, the Town was asked: how much private land will be cleared and used for this purpose? The Town had no answer.
WE CAN'T
The full Construction document, or 100% Submittal, has conflicting information about where the bulldozers stop.
Along the Extension, two sets of lines run the length of the stretch from the Railroad Ave parking lot, to the parking lot at Concord Road. First, there is the PROP CLEARING & GRUBBING wavy mark: Proposed Clearing and Grubbing. This mark indicates the proposed limit for tree clearing.
Outside of the first set of marks are the second set, labeled either TEMP CONSTR EASEMENT or PROP TEMP CONSTR EASEMENT. They are the Temporary Construction Easement and the Proposed Temporary Construction Easement. The drawings are dense, but one easy place to see the Easements is on page 31 of the 100% Submittal.
We can get an idea of the measurements for these easements. On page 8 of the 100% Submittal are two drawings of Extension cross section diagrams. The top line of both shows the marking " TEMP CONSTR EASEMENT/ (VARIES 5' - 25') ." So, including the 22' path itself, the Easements can potentially create a 73 foot clearance through the woods.
The reader should ask some questions:
NO.
The cross-section diagrams show the **path itself** will be 22' feet wide: 12' feet of asphalt, 3' feet of stone dust and 2' of shoulder on both sides. In all cases, the Proposed Clearing & Grubbing line is outside all totals of pavement + stone dust + shoulder. The construction easement on both sides of the trail is even farther out beyond the “proposed” clearing and grubbing line. Cross section diagrams show 25' on both sides.
Consult Massachusetts Dept. of Transportation’s 100% Submittal on the Town website. This is the master Construction plan. Cross sections for the stretch from Railroad Avenue to Concord Road, beginning on page 10:
NO.
Wherever tree canopy is removed, dormant seeds of invasive plants spring up: bittersweet, buckthorn, and Japanese knotweed. Invasives overwhelm native species, outcompeting them for space, sun, water, and nutrients.
Town documents show that root blocking technology is planned to go under the Extension, and to extend some feet away from the stone dust edge. The purpose of the root block is to prevent tree roots from growing under the path. Tree roots spread in wide circles. The roots spread out first, and the canopy follows. Wherever the roots are blocked, the canopy is also blocked.
YES
Blanding’s turtles are very much in danger if the path is paved. Dr. Bryan Windmiller, Director of Field Conservation for Zoo New England, has led the recovery plan for the local Blanding's population for the past 20 years. Potential changes to this path can spell disaster for the Blanding's.
Dr. Windmiller has said, “I believe that any alteration of the RBT that significantly increases either the volume of human traffic on the trail or, perhaps more significantly, the average velocity of bike traffic on the trail poses a substantial danger to the population restoration project that many, many people in Concord have worked hard to accomplish… “
See Dr. Windmiller's 10/6/2022 Zoom presentation, with maps that show the Blandings turtle nesting sites include West Bedford:
Blanding’s turtles have been reported building nests on Bonnievale Drive as recently as June 26, 2022. The turtles require both aquatic and terrestrial habitat. Nearly all nesting females and hatchlings need to cross the Reformatory Branch Trail. Increased and faster traffic would make them more vulnerable to being squashed and poached.
See the entry at the Zoo New England website for more information about Blandings turtles and Dr. Winmiller's work:
https://www.zoonewengland.org/protect/here-in-new-england/turtle-conservation/blandings-turtles/
NO
A clear majority of Concord voters chose to keep their path as it is at the May 2022 town meeting. Even if it had the will of its voters, Concord likely would find it doesn’t own parts of the path, as Bedford discovered. The federally owned Great Meadows National Wildlife Refuge that runs along the RBT in Concord makes an Eminent Domain land taking by Concord seem implausible.
YES
The path is currently a true multi-use path, enjoyed by people of all ages. If you aren’t familiar with our local gem, please treat yourself. You’ll likely see cyclists, pedestrians, dog walkers, bird watchers, and runners. In winter, cross-country skiers and snowshoers also enjoy the path.
Commuters to work and school use it daily. Today, the Reformatory Branch Trail accommodates anyone with the wherewithal to commute via bicycle.
THEY ARE UNKNOWN
The Extension went forward without key studies:
Without this work, the Extension cannot be said to provide any environmental or climate change benefits. These studies are the work of professionals, and represent weeks or sometimes months of work. Results may not be considered a foregone conclusion.
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