MCRT Opportunities
The Mass Central Rail Trail is getting closer to completion every year - thanks to hard-working volunteers, organizations, municipalities, State agencies and legislators, foundations, businesses and the MCRT Alliance. All of the communities along the MCRT corridor are eager to see their sections completed.
We face more wide-ranging challenges – such as loss of MCRT right of way, missing bridges, and trails next to active rail facilities. Some are large or complicated issues – requiring new ways of looking at old problems. Most will require collaborative work at a State level. Fortunately, there are solutions – with good examples from other projects in Massachusetts, and rail trails in other states.
Here are a few specific examples:
Building a safe way to travel on the road 

Missing MCRT right of way in Clinton
The one-mile connection on Route 110- from Chace Hill Road in Sterling to the MCRT trail at South Meadow Road in Clinton requires traveling on a busy highway. There’s no breakdown lane, high-speed traffic is passing nearby, and this part of the road is within a protected watershed area. An alternative path is to build the trail on the east side of Route 110 adjacent to the reservoir, crossing Route 110 at the existing parking area before Chase Hill Road. Collaboration between state highway and watershed protection agencies will be needed.
Missing bridge over the Ware River
The hurricane of 1938 destroyed several MCRT bridges in the Ware River valley. One missing bridge - in Wheelwright (Hardwick) - separates two beautiful, rural sections, each over 2.5 miles long, developed by the East Quabbin Land Trust. The gap over the Ware River is about 150 feet long.
Connecting two iconic MCRT sections
Re-purposing unused railroad land for rail trail
Palmer, Ware, Berlin
Some sections of the MCRT corridor haven’t had any train traffic for over 50 years, but are still railroad property. Most will never be used as railroads, as adjoining sections are already developed as parks, conservation land or residential lots. It’s been challenging for individual towns to acquire these small but sometimes crucial parcels. A state-wide initiative to acquire and re-purpose this land would be a major step forward for the MCRT – and other trails across the state.