Bruce Freeman Rail Trail

The Bruce Freeman Rail Trail is a partially-completed rail trail in Massachusetts. The path is a 10-foot-wide (3.0 m) paved multi-use trail, available for walking, running, biking, rollerblading, and other non-motorized uses.[1] It follows the right-of-way of the disused Framingham and Lowell Line of the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad.[2] The constructed route connects with the Bay Circuit Trail, and Phase 2D will connect with the Mass Central Rail Trail.[3] The total planned length of the trail—which will eventually run continuously between Lowell and Framingham—is just under 25 miles (40 km).[1][2]

Bruce Freeman Rail Trail in South Chelmsford

The trail is divided into several phases of construction:[2]

• Phase 1: 6.8 miles (10.9 km) in Lowell (starting at Cross Point Towers), Chelmsford, and Westford (ending at Route 225). This segment opened on August 29, 2009.[1] In 2019, the state awarded $180,000 for construction of a short connecting trail under the Lowell Connector.[4]
• Phase 2:

• Phase 2A: 4.9 miles (7.9 km) through Westford, Carlisle, and Acton (Route 225) to just north of Route 2). This segment began construction in June 2015 and opened on April 3, 2018.[5][6]
• Phase 2B: 0.8 miles (1.3 km) in Acton and Concord, set to open in June 2023 with a bridge spanning MA Route 2.
• Phase 2C: 2.8 miles (4.5 km) from Commonwealth Avenue to Powder Mill Road in Concord, with a short discontinuity at West Concord station. This $7.2 million segment began construction in July 2017 and opened on September 27, 2019.[7][8] An additional 0.6 miles (0.97 km) from Powder Mill Road to the Concord/Sudbury town line will be added later.[9]
• Phase 2D: 4.4 miles (7.1 km) in Sudbury from the town line to the Mass Central Rail Trail. Construction began in January 2023 and is expected to complete in early to mid 2024.[10]

• Phase 3: 4.8 miles (7.7 km) from the Mass Central Rail Trail to Route 9 in Framingham. In July 2020, the state awarded $300,000 to purchase the 1.4 miles (2.3 km) of right-of-way in Sudbury from the Mass Central Rail Trail to the Framingham line.[11] Framingham and Sudbury were awarded $648,000 in state grants in 2022 to design Phase 3.[12] In December 2022, Framingham signed a purchase-and-sale agreement with CSX to purchase the right-of-way.[13]