Hurdle Cleared for Wayland Rail Trail, Bike Path to Town Center

Miles of abandoned railroad tracks have sat overgrown and unused for years, but rail trail advocates in Wayland and beyond are hoping to bring new life to the old tracks very soon.

According to Larry Kiernan, who heads the Friends of the Wayland Rail Trail, said the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation just this month received permission from the Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority (MBTA) to remove the miles of unused railroad ties from the trail.

Kiernan explained that the DCR entered into a 99-year lease with the MBTA in 2010 related to the 24 miles of the Mass Central Rail Trail (MCRT) that runs though Waltham, Weston, Wayland, Sudbury, Hudsun and Berlin. Now, with the permission to remove the ties, Kiernan is hopeful real progress can be made in creating a recreational path for Wayland.

"We are getting closer and closer to building a proper trail," Kiernan told Patch via email. "Wayland can now work with DCR to build a linear park that crosses our entire town, that will connect several neighborhoods together and also to Claypit Hill School, the library, the town center and the Sudbury River."

In particular, that connection to Wayland Town Center could happen sooner rather than later. 

Wayland Town Planner Sarkis Sarkisian said he and Kiernan have been working together to create true bike path access to Wayland Town Center via the rail trail. The hope is to have the path completed as part of Wayland's 375th anniversary celebration.

Sarkisian said the plan is to remove the railroad ties from Wayland Town Center to Plain Road -- leaving some tracks in place at the Wayland Depot in recognition of their historical significance -- and install a hard-packed gravel surface appropriate for biking.

Sarkisian said a local company, Iron Horse, will remove the tracks for "basically nothing" except that the company keeps the discarded railroad ties.

"Trail use by walkers and bikers has gone way up since the opening of the new town center development," Kiernan said. "It would be great if we could get [the trail section] done in the 375th year as a town. I will be disappointed if we are not removing tracks by the spring, ideally we would start removing tracks this fall." 

Kiernan said that only three miles of the MCRT runs through Wayland, but the Wayland section plays in integral role in connecting the other portions of the trail and building the full Bay State Greenway (BSG) envisioned by the Massachusetts Department of Transportation.

The Wayside Trail, which is the 24-mile section involving Wayland, is at the top of the BSG priority list for the next 100 miles of trail to be created.

"When you look at the BSG map you can see the important connections our east/west trail provides for the the many north/south trails," Kiernan said. 

Anyone interested in learning more about the Wayland Rail Trail is encouraged to sign up for email updates from the Friends of the Wayland Rail Trail.

"We expect we will need to demonstrate support for the trail and the list of friends is the quickest way to communicate what is needed," Kiernan said. "We will also have some events."