Belmont Community Path is getting back on track (and under the tracks)

Source of featured image above: MassDOT via Streetsblog MASS

On Wednesday, Streetsblog MASS published an update on the design of Phase 1 of the Belmont Community Path. The article mentioned a MassDOT public hearing (PDF of flyer) on the preliminary design, which was held the following day.

The project has been delayed for a few reasons, which Streetsblog outlines: the pandemic, MBTA objections to the construction method for the project’s proposed Fitchburg Line underpass near Belmont High School, and turnover of MBTA staff contacts for the project. Per MBTA input, the underpass had to be redesigned to a cut-and-cover.

So, it’s at a similar point as it was a few years ago. A July 2020 Streetsblog MASS article also mentioned a preliminary design public meeting. That one was held by the Town of Belmont’s Community Path Committee. I also posted about the project in November 2021, when 25% plans were completed — which of course ultimately needed revision.

Streetsblog notes that construction funding is anticipated in federal fiscal year 2026 (October 1, 2025 – September 30, 2026). My 2021 article mentioned estimated construction completion in 2027. Perhaps the project can hold to that date if construction is underway in the 2026 warm season, but perhaps the design delay means 2028 would be a more reasonable ribbon-cutting year. I will update this post if I find more info. The upcoming Community Path Committee meeting agenda (PDF) suggests that preparations are underway for an April site walk and 75% design input meeting. So it seems the project is back on track (with a new way to get under the tracks) and is stepping up its pace toward design completion.

To restate what I wrote in 2021, the connectivity benefits of this project are so many that they are hard to quantify. The 12-ft.-wide path will complete another segment of the Mass Central Rail Trail, and it would extend west from the existing Fitchburg Cutoff Path in Cambridge through the center of Belmont, where it would serve the high school, Town Hall, plenty of retail destinations, the post office, and the MBTA commuter rail station. Via the Fitchburg Cutoff Path it also extends the off-road connection to Alewife, enhancing bike-to-transit access to the T.

Alewife is one of the best regional trail crossroads in New England. From there, you can bike or walk northwest on the Minuteman Commuter Bikeway to Bedford, northeast on the Alewife Greenway path along Alewife Brook Parkway to the Mystic River and its trail system, southeast along the Community Path through Somerville and Cambridge, and south past Fresh Pond along the Watertown-Cambridge Greenway to Watertown. All that plus the Red Line transit connection. The only direction where you can’t go far off-road is west, and that’s where the Belmont Community Path will come in.