Say Hello to the New Center Trail

While many Hopkinton residents probably don't remember when the train came through town, quite a few outdoor enthusiasts probably know where it's tracks used to be.

From the Milford border near route 85, looping out toward  before turning east toward Ashland; the railroad used to lead Hopkinton residents down to Woonsocket Rhode Island or out to Albany New York in its heyday.

Although the last passenger ticket was stamped in 1912, many areas where the tracks used to lie continue to remain unused, and belong to various groups in town that help maintain open land. 

Currently on the radar of the Hopkinton Trails Club and the is the Center Trail. In 2006 the trails club started cleaning and renovating the trail and at last year's Town Meeting the procured the funds needed to put create a better, longer lasting surface on the dirt trail.

"The idea for the trail came from Milford, but we wanted to make some softer, something a little more Hopkinton," Peter Lagoy, Chairman of the Downtown Revitalization Committee, said.

Initially, the idea for a unified trail system came in 1997 when the Upper Charles Trail feasibility study was conducted. The plan looked at one continuous trail that would start in Milford before passing through Hopkinton, Holliston, Sherborn and Ashland in a big loop.

Milford started the charge with their portion of the Upper Charles Trail which opened last year, but Hopkinton enthusiasts don't want to be left in the dust. Actually, some prefer the dust.

The Milford portion of the trail is paved, which makes it ideal for bikers, strollers and wheelchairs. The pavement can be difficult on runners though, so Hopkinton is opting to surface the Center Trail with stone dust, a softer surface that can be repaired without heavy equipment, but still generally holds it's shape for wheeled enthusiasts.

Hopkinton currently owns the portion of the old railroad tracks stretching from Loop Road, behind the , to Main Street, about seven tenths of a mile. 

The other several miles of the trail are split into portions that area all owned by private owners. Getting a continuous trail to connect to Milford and the other undeveloped portions of the trail will take a large amount of gifts to the town and negotiations between the town and landowners, for now the focus is on what currently exists in hopes that by improving that the town will be able to show what the trail can be.