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The Official Massachusetts Department of Transportation Ribbon-Cutting Ceremony for Phase 2A of the Bruce Freeman Rail Trail will be held at NARA Park, 25 Ledge Rock Way, in Acton on May 11 at 3:30 p.m.
Following the official ribbon cutting, the Friends of BFRT will host a celebration featuring ice cream, cake and live music. Attendees will receive a commemorative yellow bandana imprinted with a map of the trail designed by Westford resident Bill Harman.
Event updates will be available here.
Almost three years after ground was broken in 2015, this 4.8-mile section of the rail trail was completed and opened for use on April 3.
The new section begins at the intersection of Routes 27 and 225 in Westford, runs a short distance through Westford and Carlisle, and ends 4.9 miles further south to a temporary terminus behind the Teamworks building in east Acton.
The trail runs through natural areas and wetlands, past a historic pencil factory, and behind businesses on Great Road. The trail crosses Great Road via a handicapped accessible bridge which has a ramp leading down to the busy state roadway.
Parking for this section of the rail trail is available at several locations:
- across from 1000 Main Street (Route 27),
- NARA Park off Route 27,
- behind Goulds’ Plaza on Great Road,
- at Patriot Plaza, 179 Great Road across from Pedal Power Bike and Ski (weekends).
Parking locations for the entire BFRT trail can be found here.
The new trail extends the established 6.8-mile Bruce Freeman Rail Trail from Lowell, through Chelmsford, to Westford that opened in 2009.
Another 3-mile section in West Concord is scheduled to open in 2019. Connecting these two sections will be a 0.8-mile bridge across Route 2 that is programmed for construction in 2020. Eventually the trail will extend through Sudbury and into Framingham with plans for the BFRT to follow 25 of the original 26-mile Framingham and Lowell Railroad line, which was subsequently operated by several much larger systems.
