Cochituate Rail Trail Shows Success

By John Dieckmann

After we published an article on rail trails in our January newsletter (“Bikeway Building Booms Beyond Belmont”), well-known cycling advocate and expert John Allen pointed out that we didn’t include the Cochituate Rail Trail in Framingham and Natick. Since then, I have had the time to ride this trail and write this update.

The Cochituate Rail Trail (CRT) runs from the village of Saxonville in Framingham to the Natick Center commuter rail station along the right of way of the abandoned Saxonville Branch Rail Line. It is the culmination of advocacy dating back to the early 2000s. The Saxonville trail head is at the intersection of Concord Street and School Street (Route 126). Parking for about a dozen cars is available in the adjacent fire station parking lot. The trail passes under the Mass Pike in the original railroad underpass, reaching the Natick town line at Route 30.

The trail then crosses busy Route 30 over a substantial overpass and continues into Natick for another 2.4 miles to its current end point at Whitney Field and Mechanic Street. The trail crosses even busier Route 9 on another substantial overpass, then continues to the Natick Center rail station.

The Natick section is not officially open, but when I visited in April, the section from Route 30 to Whitney Field section was paved and the trail was in fairly heavy use. However the Route 9 and 30 overpasses are most definitely NOT open with both ends securely fenced off. For the able bodied, crossing Route 30 on foot takes a little patience, but is not too difficult. Alternatively, the Route 30 and Speen Street intersection is about 100 yards to the west and one can cross Route 30 with the traffic light.

By contrast, crossing Route 9 on foot should not be attempted. The traffic is very heavy and fast and there is a guard rail in the median. When I rode the trail, I took about a half-mile detour to Route 27 and crossed Route 9 on that overpass.

The overpasses will be complete and opened by this fall, maybe sooner. The half-mile section to Natick Center has been graded and crushed stone has been laid down, but paving will not be done until ongoing construction of upgrades to the station are complete.

The trail is a delight, passing alongside Lake Cochituate for a good part of its length. The design is first rate, with excellent signage, over a dozen benches at intervals, and frequent mileage markers. It is a true community path, tying many neighborhoods together and providing access to schools, parks, and shopping in the Golden Triangle area (Natick Mall, Shoppers World). Natick Center is vibrant and has several restaurants.

A spur trail called Wonder Bread Spur (in memory of the one-time ITT Continental Baking Factory, which has given way to residential and more retail development) connects directly to the Natick Mall.

While the CRT does not connect directly to any of the major paved rail trails in the area, a mostly off-road connection does exist between the Saxonville trail head and the future Framingham section of the Bruce Freeman Rail Trail. The Bruce Freeman Rail Trail will intersect the Hultman Aqueduct at Edgell Road two miles west of Saxonville. The aqueduct right of way is a greenway on the surface and is open to the public. A single-track footpath called the Carol Getchell Nature Trail connects most of the half-mile distance from the Hultman Aqueduct to the Saxonville trail head of the CRT.

John Dieckmann is a director of the Belmont Citizens Forum.