New Section Of Rail Trail Unofficially Opens In Natick

NATICK,MA — If you can't wait for the grand opening later this year, a new piece of the Cochituate Rail Trail opened to the public recently.

Last week, contractors in charge of building rail trail bridges over Route 30 and Route 9 opened the Route 30 span to the public. The Route 9 bridge is still under construction and could open within a month, a MassDOT spokesperson said Friday.

The two bridges are part of a larger expansion of the trail that, when complete, will span about 4 miles from Saxonville in Framingham to downtown Natick. The 1.4-mile section from Saxonville to Route 30 opened in 2015.

The two rail trail bridges were initially raised in October and November, but contractors shut down construction during the winter months. The project was supposed to be done in June, but labor shortages delayed the project.

A MassDOT spokesperson said the full grand opening of the Natick Cochituate Rail Trail section could happen in late summer.