# Bruce Freeman Rail Trail

The Bruce Freeman Rail Trail (BFRT) is a partially-completed rail trail in Massachusetts. The path is a 10-foot-wide (3.0 m) paved multi-use trail, available for walking, running, biking, rollerblading, and other non-motorized uses. It follows the right-of-way of the disused Framingham and Lowell Line of the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad. The constructed route connects with the Bay Circuit Trail, and Phase 2D will connect with the Mass Central Rail Trail—Wayside. The total planned length of the trail—which will eventually run continuously between Lowell and Framingham—is just under 25 miles (40 km). The trail is named for Bruce Freeman, a state representative from Chelmsford who advocated for the trail in the Massachusetts Legislature in 1985 and 1986 before his death. The trail is owned by the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) from Lowell to South Sudbury. MassDOT built the trail and takes care of serious issues. The towns have primary responsibility for maintaining the rail trail, and the 501(c)(3) nonprofit group Friends of the Bruce Freeman Rail Trail assists the towns with maintenance.

## Completed sections

The trail was divided into several phases of construction, and today 15.08 miles (24.27 km) are open:
* Phase 1: 6.8 miles (10.9 km) in Lowell, Chelmsford, and Westford (ending at Route 225). This segment opened on August 29, 2009. At the Lowell end, it begins at the Cross Point Towers with a parking lot and a corrugated metal tunnel under Route 3.
** Connector Trail northern extension (under construction): In 2019, MassTrails awarded $180,000 for construction of a short connecting trail under the Lowell Connector. As of May 2024, this segment was under construction and was expected to be completed in summer 2024. It extends the trail from Cross Point Towers to the Target shopping plaza on Plain Street.
** Future northern extension: Trail advocates want a further extension that would connect the BFRT to the Concord River Greenway to the east. The first phase of the CRG was completed in 2022; as of 2024, the city is negotiating with property owners for an expansion.
* Phase 2:
** Phase 2A: 4.9 miles (7.9 km) through Westford, Carlisle, and Acton (Route 225) to just north of Route 2). This segment began construction in June 2015 and opened on April 3, 2018.
** Phase 2B: 0.88 miles (1.42 km) in Acton and Concord, opened in May 2023 with a bridge spanning MA Route 2.
** Phase 2C: 2.5 miles (4.0 km) from Commonwealth Avenue to Powder Mill Road in Concord, with a short job through West Concord station where bikes must be walked. This $7.2 million segment began construction in July 2017 and opened on September 27, 2019.

## In progress sections

A further 9.5 miles (15.3 km) of the trail are under construction or in design:
* Phase 2:
** Phase 2D (under construction): 4.9 miles (7.9 km) from Powder Mill Road in Concord to the Mass Central Rail Trail—Wayside in Sudbury. Construction began in January 2023 and is expected to complete in mid 2025.
* Phase 3 (in progress, pre-construction): 4.6 miles (7.4 km) from the Mass Central Rail Trail—Wayside in Sudbury to Pleasant Street in Framingham, which is planned to be built in 3 sections. In July 2020, MassTrails awarded Sudbury $300,000 to purchase the right-of-way from South Sudbury to the Framingham line, and Sudbury became the railbanking trail sponsor for this section in December 2020. In December 2022, Framingham signed a purchase-and-sale agreement with CSX to purchase the right-of-way in Framingham, and Framingham became the railbanking trail sponsor for this section in December 2023.
** 1.4 miles (2.3 km) from the Mass Central Rail Trail—Wayside, Sudbury to Eaton Road W, Framingham. The 25% design is underway, and partial construction funding is on the draft Boston Region Metropolitan Planning Organization's Transportation Improvement Program for fiscal year 2029. In 2024, a MassTrails grant for final design of this section was awarded.
** 1.4 miles (2.3 km) from Eaton Road W, Framingham to Frost Street, Framingham. Also known as Framingham Phase 1, the 10% conceptual design is underway, the 25% design is targeted for summer 2025, and construction is estimated to start as early as 2028. In 2024, a MassTrails grant for design and permitting in Framingham was awarded.
** 1.8 miles (2.9 km) from Frost Street, Framingham to Pleasant Street, Framingham, including the rehabilitation of two bridges over Grove Street and I-90. Also known as Framingham Phase 2, it is hoped construction will start within a year of Framingham Phase 1.
    Framingham and Sudbury were awarded $648,000 in MassTrails grants in 2022 to design Phase 3. In 2023, Sudbury was awarded $192,000 in MassTrails grants to continue the design of Phase 3 from the 2D terminus in Sudbury to the Framingham town line. In 2023, Framingham signed a purchase and sale agreement with CSX for the Framingham segment.
* Bruce Freeman Rail Trail photos
* Approaching Maple Road, Chelmsford
* Mile marker, Acton
* Bridge over Route 2, Concord
* Bridge over the Assabet River, Concord
* Mass Central Rail Trail—Wayside Sudbury Phase 1 and Bruce Freeman Rail Trail Phase 2D construction

## Proposed connections

The Mass Central Rail Trail—Wayside is under construction in Sudbury and estimated to complete in 2025, which will create a connection with the Bruce Freeman Rail Trail.
The Upper Charles Trail Extension was proposed in 2022 by the Wellesley-based Solomon Foundation. It would connect the Bruce Freeman Rail Trail's southern terminus in Framingham with the existing Upper Charles River Rail Trail (passing through Sherborn, Holliston, Milford, and Hopkinton), as well as the Bay Circuit Trail.
A long term vision for the Concord River Greenway Park in progress is to connect to the Bruce Freeman Rail Trail in Lowell.
The proposed Boston-Worcester Air Line Trail (BWALT) would connect to the Bruce Freeman Rail Trail in Framingham.