Swampscott getting a start on its rail trail

The Town of Swampscott, MA, is getting started on building its two-mile rail trail vision.

Construction started this week on a short (two-block) initial segment of the trail, from Beach Bluff Ave. to Seaview Ave. at the Marblehead line. The 10-foot-wide, stone dust path will run along the East Coast Greenway corridor and help fill in a gap in the off-road ECG route between the Northern Strand Community Trail (running from Everett to Lynn) and Marblehead Rail Trail. It will also enhance bike-ped access to the Swampscott station on the MBTA Newburyport Commuter Rail line.

The $118,000 construction phase of the first segment is funded by a $100,000 MassTrails grant (PDF) and a $20,000 match from the Solomon Foundation.

According to the Town of Swampscott website, the “Swampscott Rail Trail will be a 2-mile linear park throughout the town for every neighborhood, every resident, and every age”. The website goes on to give a planning background of the trail vision. It was recommended in a 2003 recreational trail study, the 2013-2020 Open Space & Recreation Plan (PDF) — this 2013 document was already calling the rail trail “long-awaited” — and the Swampscott 2025 Master Plan (PDF) — which lists “Construct the Swampscott Rail Trail” as its first transportation and circulation recommendation. This legacy of planning document recommendations translated into a May 2017 Town Meeting approved warrant article “to move forward with the Rail Trail and to provide funding for the design and engineering of the trail as well as the costs for the acquisition of the easement rights” (Town webpage linked above). This warrant article was subject to referendum in a town-wide election the following month, and it was affirmed by a sizable margin.

So, it’s been a long time coming for Swampscott to get to this point!