By DAN TOMASELLO
LYNNFIELD — Three warrant articles pertaining to Phase 1 of the Lynnfield Rail Trail project is headed to Spring Town Meeting on Monday, April 28.
The rail trail, which will be funded by the Massachusetts Department of Transportation’s (MassDOT) State Transportation Improvement Program (STIP), will connect both Lynnfield and Wakefield via the abandoned MBTA rail bed. Phase 1 will go from Ford Avenue by Lynnfield Middle School to Nichols Lane in Peabody. Phase 2 will go from Ford Avenue, through Reedy Meadow via an elevated boardwalk and will end at Fosters Lane in Wakefield. The three warrant articles pertain to Phase 1 of the project.
Department of Public Works (DPW) Director John Scenna said during Monday’s Select Board meeting that MassDOT is requiring the town to take steps in order to “keep the project moving forward.”
Scenna said one of the warrant articles will request Spring Town Meeting to dedicate an unused portion of land on the Lynnfield Middle School property adjacent to the athletic fields that would be used to access the rail trail.
“The rail trail has always been proposed to connect both the high school and the middle school,” said Scenna. “It is one of the great features of the trail. It is one of the reasons why MassDOT has scored this project so high and is thinking of advancing it to construction in 2026. There is a parcel on the middle school property that needs to be dedicated for this purpose. The ask is for the Select Board to support that and allow that discussion to move forward as an article at Town Meeting for public vote.”
Anderson-Kreiger attorney Mina Makarious said the LMS parcel “doesn’t change the use of it.”
“It is dedicating that area for the use of the trail to be able to connect to the track and off of Ford Avenue,” said Makarious.
Stantec Consultants, Inc. Project Engineer Joe Rubino said a separate warrant article will pertain to the permanent LMS easement as well as temporary easements for St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, 127 Summer St., and another property located at 130 Summer St.
“Those are mostly required to allow workers to access parts of their property,” said Rubino. “The work limit for 130 Summer St. comes right up to the property line. It doesn’t go over. And for 127 Summer St., which is St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, we are reconstructing one of the driveway ramps in the corner close to their property line.”
Rubino said the third warrant article will request Spring Town Meeting to accept a portion of Ford Avenue that has not been accepted as a public way as a public way.
“The trail connects Ford Avenue to where it meets Perry Avenue,” said Rubino. “The missing leg of that intersection where we connect is the unaccepted portion of Ford Avenue. From here, this is where the trail also kind of loops through behind the athletic fields that is along the middle school property. It kind of loops back and rejoins the railroad right-of-way.”
Makarious concurred with Rubino’s viewpoint.
“The little end off of Ford Avenue would connect the public way off of Perry Avenue to allow the connection to the middle school,” said Makarious. “It is a requirement from MassDOT that rail trails need to start and end with connections to public rights-of-way. That is the closest and easiest to connect to for this phase. It is the same process as formally laying out a public way. There is a plan that was laid out I believe in 1960 or 1961 that only the portion that was paved at the time was accepted as a public way. The rest remained part of a subdivision way on paper, but was never accepted. The good news is you don’t have to redo the engineering because of that, but you do have to go through the formal right-of-way acceptance process.”
In addition to the three warrant articles, Scenna said the Select Board was required to approve an inter-municipal agreement with the city of Peabody.
“The rail trail ends at Peabody, and it is proposed to connect to Nichols Lane,” said Scenna. “Nichols Lane is a public way in Peabody. It is also the start of their rail trail. What the inter-municipal agreement does is state that Lynnfield will be constructing in Peabody. We will maintain whatever we build in Peabody until said time that Peabody connects to us.”
Makarious noted that the inter-municipal agreement with Peabody did not require a Spring Town Meeting vote.
The Select Board unanimously voted to approve the inter-municipal agreement.
Rubino recalled that the “Lynnfield Rail Trail was originally combined with the Wakefield Rail Trail.”
“In 2022, the Lynnfield Rail Trail was split off from the larger project in the hopes of being able to advance on a quicker timeline,” said Rubino. “As we got into the design, we recognized that the section of trail through Reedy Meadow posed a lot of design challenges and permitting challenges, and it also had a high construction cost. Due to that cost, in 2024 we made the decision to split the project in two separate phases, with the hopes of advancing Phase 1 on a sooner timeline.”
Rubino said Phase 1 of the Lynnfield Trail’s MassDOT project number 613163. He said Stantec submitted Phase 1’s 100 percent design to MassDOT in early February.
“That is under review,” said Rubino. “The town has been advocating to get construction funding for Phase 1 in fiscal year 2026.”
Rubino said Phase 2 for the Wakefield-Lynnfield Rail Trail’s MassDOT project number is 613867.
“That project is going to be required to go back through the project initiation and scoping process,” said Rubino. “It is kind of going to start at square one with MassDOT. We are also waiting for some Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection key guideline changes that will inform how we approach the permitting for that phase of the project.”
Rubino also said the town has “initiated a lease process” with the MBTA for the rail bed.
“That is currently in their hands to review,” said Rubino. “We will need a lease agreement for the rail right-of-way portion of the project.”
Makarious said the lease is “identical to the form that the town of Wakefield negotiated with the MBTA.”
“It shouldn’t take long to sign once everything is said and done,” said Makarious.
Rubino said the town has filed a Notice of Intent with the Conservation Commission for Phase 1’s work near wetlands. He said a public hearing will take place on Wednesday, March 19, beginning at 6:30 p.m. in the Al Merritt Media and Cultural Center.
Select Board Vice Chair Phil Crawford asked when is Phase 1 of the rail trail scheduled to be funded by MassDOT.
While Scenna said Phase 1 was originally scheduled to receive MassDOT funding in FY29, he said, “There is a strong possibility” it will get funded in the next fiscal year.
“There is a strong chance we can move into FY26,” said Scenna. “We are hoping to hear within a month. If we do move forward, it would go out to bid in FY26 and would go into construction late summer or fall of calendar 2026.”
Crawford asked Scenna “what is the game plan” for educating the public about the rail trail project.
Scenna said the ConCom’s March 19 meeting will pertain to “environmental matters.”
“If this were to move forward, I can absolutely commit that Public Works will be having neighborhood meetings with abutters to go over details,” said Scenna. “We will do that before the project goes out to bid. We want to try and do right by our people. This is a project for the whole community, but it is a project that abuts a smaller percentage of Lynnfield. I think that is prudent. We have had some initial discussions with residents of Ford Avenue and Perry Avenue about this connection and public way. We met with a group of them in Town Administrator Rob Dolan’s office, and they brought up some very valid points. I don’t really feel comfortable moving forward with constructing this unless we can make a commitment to those residents whether it’s through the installation of signs that say ‘resident parking only’ or something to that extent. I think those are the types of things we need to commit to. It’s way too early right now. Construction could happen next year or could happen in three or four years. Until there is a firm commitment that we are moving forward, all of those conservations are premature. We should continue to move up the ladder in terms of all of these technical requirements that have to be addressed regardless of today or three years from now.”
In response to a question from Select Board member Alexis Leahy, Chair Dick Dalton said the Select Board will be holding a public hearing on the Ford Avenue warrant article on Thursday, March 20, beginning at 6:15 p.m. in the Al Merritt Media and Cultural Center. He also noted that the Planning Board will be discussing the warrant articles.
“Warrant articles come back to us before they go officially go on the warrant,” said Dalton. “We either recommend or don’t recommend. There will be plenty of opportunities for public participation and input.”
Leahy encouraged residents to attend or watch the different meetings about the rail trail project.
“There are a lot of opportunities to get questions answered and really understand what is going on,” said Leahy.