Image from a photo collection available at the Town of Sudbury BFRT Information web page
The primary segment of the Bruce Freeman Rail Trail (BFRT) in Sudbury, which has been under construction since January 2023, could be done by the fall, as reported by Neal McNamara in Patch.com earlier this month.
The 4.4-mile segment — Phase 2D — will go from the Concord line to near Route 20, through the center of town. Phase 3 is needed to carry the trail all the way into Framingham. McNamara, recapping a presentation by town planner Marcia Rasmussen to the Town’s Rail Trails Advisory Committee, also reports that Phase 3 is at 25% plans (PDF of planset). You can see what the Phase 3 unimproved corridor looks like today in these Town of Sudbury Nov. 2023 site visit photos (PDF).
When 2D is open, it will be a significant milestone in the vision for the 25-mile trail between Lowell and Framingham, the third 4-plus-mile segment in the corridor, after Phase 1 (~6.8 miles, opened 2009) and Phase 2A (~4.7 miles, opened 2018). Phases 2B and 2C in Concord have since opened (here is a trail map [PDF] of those newest segments from the Friends of the BFRT).
Phase 2D’s construction cost estimate is about $12M. The majority of the cost is covered by CMAQ funds (over $9M), with $500k in Transportation Alternatives, $240k in a MassTrails grant, and local match. The project is in the 2021-25 Boston Region MPO TIP.
The construction contractor is A.A. Will Corporation and the designer is Fuss & O’Neill.
Jeff Brubaker 