Selectmen Mull Entry Point for Freeman Rail Trail

Selectmen addressed the Bruce Freeman Rail Trail and the status of  during an abbreviated meeting Monday night. 

Town Manager Chris Whelan related that Town of Acton Planning Director Roland Bartl recently negotiated a Right of Entry Agreement with MassDOT’s Rail Division. The agreement allows Acton to continue the next step in the plan to connect the existing trail. Whelan asked Concord officials to sign off on their portion of the deal.

Concord selectmen signatures were required to negotiate with the state over where to place the trail and which pieces of existing land would have to be modified.

“I asked the state for permission for right of entry and the state said that it would first need selectmen approval,” said Whelan.

Director of Planning and Land Management Marcia Rasmussen related in a memo that Bartl began Right of Entry negotiations in September and has since worked with MassDot legal counsel, Acton’s Town Counsel, and counsel representing the project’s design consultant, Greenman-Pederson Inc. (GPI)

“We are ever hopeful that MassDOT will expedite the required signatures to allow GPI to begin their work to investigate existing bridge supports, confirm prior survey information and commerce design,” Rasmussen wrote.

Rasmussen also related that GPI has started "reviewing ownership title for portions of the right-of-way in Concord.”

Selectmen moved to sign on for their half of the Right of Entry with Acton.