Community group seeks to connect middle school with bike trail
“Since the rail trail was completed in 2019, the kids have literally beaten a path between the trail and the school buildings.”
A community coalition in Acton is working to connect the middle school to the Bruce Freeman Rail Trail.
The group says this will create a safer route for students to walk or bike to the Ellen Garrison Building at Acton Middle School.
Concordian Kristin Tolfree, co-coordinator for Mothers Out Front, which combats climate change and works to make streets safer for cyclists and pedestrians, is helping with the project. She said the plan feels logical.
“I bike my kids to school every day for the entire school year,” she told The Acton Bridge. “It seems like a no-brainer to have the middle school connected to the trail. It runs right next to it.”
Right now, students are already finding their own way. Phil Posner, a member of the Transportation Advisory Committee, says students are using unofficial routes.
“Since the rail trail was completed in 2019, the kids have literally beaten a path between the trail and the school buildings,” Posner said during a recent Select Board meeting on March 16, speaking as a community member and not as a TAC member.
He described one commonly used route as “the goat path,” while another, older path is “pretty steeply sloped” and not easily maneuvered.
“There’s really no practical access at this point in time for kids wanting to ride their bikes or walk to school,” he said.
Gaining support
Posner said the group has already presented the idea to several town committees and community organizations, including the School Committee, TAC, and Friends of the Bruce Freeman Rail Trail.
The Acton School Committee gave the project its blessing, and schools Superintendent Laurie Hunter said at the March 16 Select Board meeting that school officials are ready to meet about designs and “continue to help through the administrative work, too.”
The estimated cost for the connector path is about $465,000, according to Posner’s presentation at the Select Board meeting. That includes design, permitting, and construction.
So far, about $75,000 has been raised through private donations and contributions from the middle school Parent Teacher Group and the Friends of the Bruce Freeman Rail Trail, according to the presentation. Tolfree said the project is “funded for this year to start the design and permitting.”
Organizers plan to begin survey and design work this summer. That process includes mapping the route and identifying trees to avoid disrupting the surrounding forest.
Construction could begin as early as summer 2027, pending additional funding and approvals. Tolfree said the group hopes the path will be ready for use by the start of the 2027-28 school year. Posner said at the meeting that some delays could crop up.
To cover remaining costs, organizers plan to apply for Community Preservation Committee funding this fall and pursue state grants.
For Tolfree, the advantages outweigh the costs.
“It’s creating more access, it’s making a safer corridor for kids to get to school, it’s helping the environment,” she said. “There are so many benefits.”
