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If the MCRT is the longest rail trail in the northeast at 104 miles, what are some other long ones?
I've been waiting over 20 years for this to get built. Why does it take so long to build a long trail in Massachusetts?

Though rail trail development in Massachusetts happened in a few places in the 1970s and early 80s, (Cape Cod and Northampton come to mind.) piecing together a long trail is a very heavy lift so to speak. It isn't an easy thing for municipal or state officials to take a lead on this stuff without top-level (i.e.  the Governor) pushing for this to happen.  Ex-Governor Baker was on-board with the MCRT and he knew how important this is. We are optimistic that Governor Healey knows this too. Want to get involved? Reach out to us at info@mcrt.org.

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What happened to the trail in Weston?   In Belchertown?

In 1996, Weston voted down the trail, but in 2006, the MBTA decided to offer up a lease of the entire Wayside section of the MCRT--about 24 miles--to the Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR), the State Parks agency.  Together, they hammered out a deal, and Weston and Wayland were built.

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Sudbury and Hudson are under construction as of 2025. 

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In Belchertown, the trail idea was also voted down there in 1996.  A couple of years after the vote, a 501c3 land trust --the Belchertown Land Trust -- was formed and over the next 20 years, they quietly, simply bought available pieces of the corridor and later donated them to the town.  (9.5 miles total. 6.8 miles protected. 72% protected.) 

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The town has been awarded multiple grants in the past few years to begin to improve their town-owned sections.  Inch by inch as we like to say.  Here's a great story in Commonwealth Magazine from the spring of 1998 about the experience in  both Weston and Belchertown. 

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More questions? 

Email us at info@mcrt.org.

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