NEWS FLASH
There is a strong effort in Bedford in opposition to an RBT trail paving land taking article. Their Select Board is bringing this back to a special town meeting on Nov. 14.
Friends of the Reformatory Branch Trail in Bedford Massachusetts have asked us to include here the link to their website which is here.
Concord’s cherished natural Reformatory Branch Trail in rare species habitat, home to the endangered Blanding’s Turtle and Britton’s Violet, is now at risk of development.
This hidden gem passes through woods, wetlands, and fields from the intersection of Lowell and Keyes Roads into the neighboring town of Bedford and runs for about a mile along the edge of the US Fish and Wildlife Service’s Great Meadows National Wildlife Refuge.
The RBT is enjoyed by walkers, bird watchers, dog walkers, joggers, and bicyclists of all levels and ages. One occasionally sees people on horseback.
This year, a bikeway advocate has submitted a citizen petition article for the Concord Town Meeting 2022. This Article 46 asks the Town for $75,000 to hire a consultant to perform a feasibility study for the Reformatory Branch Trail. The Article highlights minor grading and drainage issues. However, this Article would put Concord into the position of making a down payment on planning for major development including possible conversion of the trail into an extension of the Minuteman Bikeway. There is no consensus that development on the trail is desirable, realistic, or appropriate. Bikeway development threatens the recovery of endangered species, the safety of slower recreational users, and the health of ecosystems around the trail.
Since the summer of 2020, a few individuals in Concord, in coordination with paving advocates in Bedford, have advocated on our town committees to plan for extending the Minutemen Bikeway through Concord. The strategy, as can be seen in a Bedford Bicycling Advisory Committee session of November 4, 2020 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0QS2XdZRoKs minutes 48:00 – 1:13:00), is to use the planning in Bedford to pressure Concord while exploiting any development study in Concord to convince reluctant citizens in Bedford to agree to paving their portions. Bedford’s Minuteman Bikeway extension is now indefinitely on hold as Bedford Town Meeting has not authorized the taking of private land by eminent domain but any study in Concord would revitalize efforts to obtain the necessary taking and easements.
Some of these bikeway advocates in Concord, not having convinced our committees, are nevertheless now asking the town to hire a consultant to formulate plans for development of the trail. Consultants are not needed for ordinary maintenance. Rather than facilitate a public conversation, Article 46 would circumvent one by making the prejudgment that Concord has decided to begin planning for major development of the trail.
Meanwhile, a friend of the trail is proposing Article 47 which encourages the owners of the trail to maintain it in a natural condition. It recommends that the trail be kept unwidened and natural, even when including any future drainage work or adaptations for mobility needs.
Please check the Concord Town Meeting 2022 Warrant link above to read about Articles 46 and 47.