Farewell to Royal Road’s Dirt Jumps

By Vincent Stanton, Jr.

In late July 2022, the town dismantled the dirt bike track built by Belmont teens on town land between Royal Road and the Fitchburg Line (see “Whither the Royal Road Woods?” BCF Newsletter, January/February 2022.) 

The bike track, originally constructed in 2020 shortly after the parks were closed because of the pandemic, was expanded in 2022 by a different group of teens. After winter and spring storms, which eroded the earthen jumps, it needed a complete rebuild. The 2022 bike track network at one point extended across the wetlands at the bottom of Royal Road (a feature removed by neighbors in coordination with the Department of Public Works (DPW.) 

Other features included a tire swing, a 150-foot zip line connecting two trees along upper Royal Road, an improvised play structure, and a hut along the far west edge of the property near the Clark Street bridge. A very steep drop near the bridge ending in a series of moguls became a popular ride. 

The DPW used heavy equipment to dismantle the existing jumps and to remove the other structures. To make clear to all residents that that use of the land would require town permission, six signs were posted along Royal Road in August. 

The July 2022 dismantling followed an earlier, less extensive cleanup by the DPW in April 2021, accompanied by a warning from the Select Board that the Royal Road dirt bike path was “not an approved Town activity, [and that] the Town could be liable for injuries.” Indeed, injuries have occurred. However, the 2021 intervention did not stop use of the dirt bike track. 

Dirt bike proponents have not advanced a plan for the town to consider. Perhaps that is because a town-sanctioned and regulated activity would not have the spontaneous, kid-directed quality that has characterized the dirt jumps.

Vincent Stanton, Jr., is a Royal Road resident and a director of the Belmont Citizens Forum. Stanton provided all images accompanying this article.