MassDOT continues to be a leading state transportation department when it comes to building out Massachusetts’ statewide walking and bicycling network. Central to this network are the Bay State’s many shared use paths. In a news release earlier this month, MassDOT touted an additional 20 miles of paths that opened last year across the Commonwealth.
I mean “across the Commonwealth” quite literally: the new path segments include ones in Williamstown and Mattapoisett, and it’s hard to find two Mass. municipalities farther from each other, excepting those on the Cape or the islands.
MassDOT’s role in the MassTrails initiative and its implementation role in managing the design and construction of many of the Commonwealth’s shared use paths shows how the agency recognizes the transportation value of shared use paths. The new highlighted segments include:
- The Shining Tides Section of the Mattapoisett Rail Trail: 1.5 miles, part of the South Coast Bikeway and East Coast Greenway
- An extension of the Somerville Community Path: 2-mile rail-with-trail adjacent to the MBTA Green Line Extension
- Two sections of the Mass Central Rail Trail in Hardwick and Holden
- Mohican Trail in Williamstown
- Bruce Freeman Rail Trail section in Acton and Concord
- Several others, with 14 projects in total
And MassDOT hopes to surpass the 20-mile total in 2024, aiming for another 25 miles.
The trail investments are guided by the MassTrails Priority Network Vision Map, which was released in May of last year.
Jeff Brubaker 