Sudbury Gets $240K For Bruce Freeman Trail Expansion To Framingham

SUDBURY, MA — Sudbury's piece of the Bruce Freeman Rail Trail got a major boost this week in the form of a six-figure MassTrails grant.

Sudbury will be able to use the $240,000 grant to design and pull permits for the second phase of the trail extending from near Route 20 south to the Framingham city line.

Sudbury's grant was one of 81 announced during an event in Brockton on Tuesday. Framingham also got a MassTrails grant for the Bruce Freeman Rail Trail: $408,000 to design a 3.4-mile portion of the trail from the Sudbury town line to Route 9.

Sudbury is poised to begin construction on the first phase of the Bruce Freeman Rail Trail in 2022; it will run from the Concord town line to near Route 20. Town Meeting in May approved a series of property easements to build the trail, and entered into a 99-year, $10 lease with the state to use a former rail corridor for a section of the trail.

Town Meeting also approved a $300,000 Community Preservation Act appropriation to design phase two of the trail. The grant awarded this week comes with a $60,000 town match requirement.

The Bruce Freeman Rail Trail will eventually span 25 miles from Lowell to Route 9 in Framingham. The trail is complete nearly through Concord, leaving just the Sudbury and Framingham sections left to finish.