Senator Eldridge, Senator Barrett, and Representative Gentile Announce $240,000 MassTrails Grant to Sudbury’s BFRT Extension Project
Funds allow development and design of Bruce Freeman Rail Trail (BFRT)’s extension to the former CSX Corridor
Sudbury, MA – Senator Jamie Eldridge (D-Acton), State Senator Mike Barrett (D-Lexington), and Representative Carmine Gentile (D-Sudbury) are pleased to announce a MassTrails grant in the amount of $240,000 to the town of Sudbury, for advancing the Sudbury Bruce Freeman Rail Trail (BFRT) extension to the former CSX corridor. The grant focuses on the 1.2-mile section of the BFRT south from the junction with the Mass Central Rail Trail (MCRT) corridor to the Framingham city line.
The funds will provide for the development studies and design of a critical link for the MCRT and BFRT to connect to Route 20/Boston Post Road, allowing further extensions and connectivity improvements in the future.
The MassTrails program is a matching grant, requiring towns of application to provide a minimum of 20% of the total project cost. The town of Sudbury has allocated significant resources to the BFRT advancement, with funding totaling over $1,000,000 toward the design of BFRT 2D. In addition, Framingham also received a large grant from the Department of Conservation and Recreation, as part of the MassTrails grant announcement this year.
Recently, Sudbury approved the borrowing of $1,200,000 to acquire the CSX corridor. MassTrails funding will allow the town to continue advancing toward the next phase of BFRT – incredibly active transportation and recreational resource for the region from Lowell to the Concord Rotary. The BFRT infrastructure allows people of all ages and physical abilities to enjoy running, biking, walking, and other activities.
“With gratitude, I am pleased to announce the $240,000 grant to the town of Sudbury, allowing the next phase of design of the critical transportation asset,” said State Senator Jamie Eldridge (D-Acton). “The funding opens the door for utilizing broader space in the region, and therefore providing much-improved connectivity and walkability. I extend my gratitude to the Department of Conservation and Recreation for their support and approval.”
“The goal here is a continuous 25-mile trail,” said State Senator Mike Barrett (D-Lexington). “So here we’re filling in a nice piece of the puzzle. In the end, we will have opened up an off-road pathway that stretches from Framingham to Lowell.”
“The Bruce Freeman Rail Trail extension will further encourage and enable people to exercise outdoors and offer substantial positive benefits to our community,” said State Representative Carmine Gentile (D-Sudbury). “I am grateful to the Department of Conservation and Recreation for helping Sudbury access this crucial source of funding and look forward to the final completion of the BFRT from Lowell to Framingham.”
The MassTrails Grant Program is funded through the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation’s (DCR) capital budget, and from the motor fuel excise tax on off-road vehicles, including ATVs and snowmobiles, which is provided by the U.S. Department of Transportation and the Federal Surface Transportation Act, in coordination with the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT).
All MassTrails Grant Program applications are reviewed in consultation with an inter-agency MassTrails Team and the Massachusetts Recreational Trails Advisory Board (MARTAB). The program provides important funding for project development, design, and construction of shared-use pathways, which facilitate connections to where people live, work, and recreate.
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