THE GREAT GREENWAY HOAX

Earlier this year a proposal was put forth by Andrew Sullivan, using the name Sudbury Greenways, to construct a so-called ‘greenway’ on the right of way on the rail corridor known as the Bruce Freeman Rail Trail.  It was promoted as a quick and easy fix, and would cost the town almost nothing.  It sounded too good to be true.

The Sudbury Greenways funding proposal depended on Sudbury obtaining, free of charge, the steel rails from the Massachusetts Department of Transportation.  Sudbury would then give the rails to Iron Horse Preservation Society, which would remove the rails, sell them, and use the proceeds to construct the greenway.  The crux of the arrangement, and for the greenway proposal to be viable, is that Sudbury must get the rails from Mass DOT, Rails and Transit division, (not the MBTA) for free.  If the transfer of the rails from Massachusetts Department of Transportation, Rails and Transit division, to Sudbury to Iron Horse cannot be done, the whole scheme falls apart. 

 The Bruce Freeman Rail Trail is controlled by the MassDOT Rail and Transit division, not by the MBTA.

Here’s why it won’t work.  As a matter of policy, the Massachusetts Department of Transportation, Rails and Transit division, does NOT give away its rails.  It does NOT give them to a town, an individual, or an organization.  It has never done so.  When rails are taken up from a MassDOT right-of-way, they are reused or stockpiled for use at a later time.   

This was all public knowledge.  Last July, senior town staff, including the DPW Director, Town Planner, and Conservation Coordinator told Sudbury the Iron Horse model would not work.  They presented the Board of Selectmen with the pros and cons of the four rail trail options.  For greenways, they noted: “CON:  MA DOT reuses their rails, so cannot use Iron Horse for this project.  Town bears total cost.” 

Mr. Sullivan’s Sudbury Greenways proposed funding mechanism will not work because Sudbury cannot get the rails from MassDOT to give to Iron Horse.  It’s a plain and simple fact.  And without those rails, the greenway can’t go anywhere. 

What Mr. Sullivan and Sudbury Greenways doesn’t tell you is that without Iron Horse it would cost Sudbury well over a million dollars to put in a greenway, at least double the cost of a MassDOT standard rail trail.

Mr. Sullivan has been in touch with MassDOT, and he knew Sudbury could not get the rails.  Why didn’t he level with the town?

Two years ago, the residents of Sudbury voted to bring the Bruce Freeman Rail Trail to Sudbury.  They also voted to accept an offer from the Friends of the Bruce Freeman Rail Trail to put $50,000 towards the cost of the initial design study for a Massachusetts Department of Transportation standard rail trail.  Those votes were not binding.

With an expanded Board of Selectmen, the Bruce Freeman Rail Trail has moved forward.  Last December the BOS asked the Community Preservation Committee for $150,000 for the initial design study for a Massachusetts Department of Transportation standard rail trail, built to MassDOT standards.  In January, the Community Preservation Committee approved the Selectmen’s request for those funds.  Now the issue will go to town meeting in May, and this time the vote is for real.

Every inch of the Bruce Freeman Rail Trail, all 15.5 miles, from Lowell to the Concord/Sudbury town line has been built, or will be built, by the Massachusetts Department of Transportation to MassDOT standards.  The towns along the trail pay only for the design studies, a small fraction of the actual cost of the rail trail.  State and federal funds pay for construction and all other costs.

Mr. Sullivan’s Sudbury Greenways proposal was misleading and a non-starter from the very beginning, because it was based on a false premise, one that could not work. 

Indeed, Mr. Sullivan’s proposal was too good to be true.

Len Simon