The proposed Bourne Rail Trail has received an offer of $20 million in federal stimulus money from the Cape Cod Regional Transit Authority.
That’s nearly enough to build the entire trail, according to the Friends of the Bourne Rail Trail — but only if the trail is built to a less expensive design than planned, with the trail replacing the railroad tracks instead of running alongside them.
That’s not what the state has been planning to do.
The Department of Transportation is planning a multi-phase construction project that would keep the tracks intact. But members of the Friends group say that between the cost and the need to widen the right of way, building the so-called “rail-with-trail” design would be difficult.
Ken Cheitlin, president of the Friends of the Bourne Rail Trail, said they’re asking the state to remove the railroad tracks instead of keeping them.
“We've had a lot of support … for many reasons, one of which is, frankly, that the rail-with-trail will never happen, in our view,” he said. “It's an extremely expensive project, based on design costs to date.”
He said widening the rail bed to accommodate both rail and trail could cost four times as much as a trail only.
“And the other part about it is, it doesn't give us the trail that people want,” he said. “It would run alongside an old, lightly used rail line. It would require takings of property.”
But pivoting to a no-rail plan has opponents — namely the Massachusetts Coastal Railroad, which uses the tracks for trash hauling and excursion trains.
And Clint Richmond, co-chair of the transportation committee of the Massachusetts chapter Sierra Club, said the chapter believes the tracks should be saved for future passenger rail.
“It’s a great opportunity to bring passenger rail to the Cape, serving Falmouth, the second-largest community on the Cape, the gateway to the Islands, and relieve congestion and have a low-carbon form of transportation,” he said.
Those who want the tracks removed point out that rails were already removed in Falmouth for the Shining Sea Bikeway. The Bourne Rail Trail would connect the Shining Sea Bikeway to the Cape Cod Canal.
