Assabet River Rail Trail

Bridge completed in 2017 on Assabet River Rail Trail in Maynard
Assabet River Rail Trail south of Washington Street in Hudson

The Assabet River Rail Trail is a multi-use path under construction in Marlborough, Hudson, Stow, Maynard, and Acton in Massachusetts. As a conversion of the abandoned Marlborough Branch of the Fitchburg Railroad, it is a rail trail. When completed, the end-to-end length will be 12.5 miles (20.1 km). The right-of-way parallels the Assabet River in the midsection; at the north end it veers north to the South Acton train station on the MBTA, and the south end veers south to Marlborough.

History

This railroad branch was progressively lengthened, so that it reached from the Acton station to Maynard by 1849, was extended through Stow to Hudson in 1850, and reached its Marlborough terminus in 1855. Passenger service was discontinued in the reverse fashion, so that Marlborough's service ended in 1930, Hudson and Stow in 1939, and finally Maynard in 1958. The branch continued to provide freight service into the 1960s. The last remaining rails and railroad ties, in Acton and Maynard, were removed in 2014.

In 1851 transcendentalist Henry David Thoreau, who lived in Concord, wrote in his famous journal about a trek to Boon's Pond, which on the return included a walk along the railroad tracks that are now part of the rail trail.[1]

Status

In 2005 the south end of the Trail, length 5.1 miles, was completed, from Marlborough to a Route 62 parking lot in northeast Hudson. Construction of 3.4 miles of the north end (from the Acton train station, south and west, to White Pond Road, which is at the Maynard:Stow border) began in 2016. Expected to be open for use by fall 2017 or spring 2018. A groundbreaking ceremony for the north end was held on July 21, 2016.[2] Completion of the north end will leave a four-mile gap. The east end of this section is a dirt road known as "Track Road." Beyond that, there are no bridges over the two crossings of the Assabet River and some parts are private property. Maps and updates are at the ARRT website.

References

  1. ↑ Thoreau’s walk to Boon’s Pond (pages 452-462)
  2. ↑ "Groundbreaking ceremony set for Assabet River Rail Trail, July 21". Wicked Local Maynard. 19 July 2016.
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