Sudbury Bruce Freeman Section May Be Done By Fall 2024

SUDBURY, MA — The first section of the Bruce Freeman Rail Trail in Sudbury is on track to be finished in time for locals to use it to peep fall foliage, according to town officials.

Construction on the 4.4-mile Phase 2D section of the trail from near Route 20 at Union Avenue to the Concord line began in January 2023. As of this week, work was between 60 and 65 percent complete, town planner Marcia Rasmussen told the Rail Trails Advisory Committee at a meeting Wednesday.

Rasmussen said construction crews still have a long list of items to complete, from water mains for hydration stations to flashing signals at road crossings. But work on the trail could wrap up by either September or October, she said. If the trail finishes on that timeline, it'll be almost exactly a decade since the town made its first moves to construct the trail, which is named after a former Chelmsford state representative who began championing the trail in the 1980s.

The section under construction now is one of two in Sudbury that will help complete the Bruce Freeman trail between Chelmsford and Framingham. Rasmussen also updated the trail committee about the Phase 3 section, which will run from Route 20 to 200 feet over the Framingham line. The town has submitted a 25% design proposal to MassDOT for Phase 3, a major milestone toward construction. By comparison, the 25% design submission for Phase 2D went to MassDOT in 2020.

The trails committee discussed hosting a public hearing in April on the Phase 3 25% design. The committee may also use that meeting to get feedback from the public on another crucial piece of the Bruce Freeman project: how the two trails will meet at the treacherous stretch of Route 20 between Union Avenue and Nobscott Road. Committee member Glenn Pransky reported that MassDOT is open to helping make the connection, but would wait to talk specifics until closer to the completion date of Phase 3.

Anyone who wants to experience the Bruce Freeman trail can do so right now: close to 16 miles of the trail is complete between the Concord-Sudbury line and Lowell, including a recently completed bridge across Route 2.