The Fitchburg Cutoff Path is a short, unpaved multi-use rail trail located in suburban Boston, Massachusetts.
The 0.8 mile (1.2 km) path runs from Brighton Street in Belmont, Massachusetts to the Alewife station at the northern end of the MBTA Red Line in Cambridge. At its Cambridge terminus, the trail connects with three other multi-use paths—the Minuteman Bikeway, the Alewife Brook path and the Cambridge Linear Park, which, in turn, leads to the Somerville Community Path.
The Fitchburg Cutoff Path largely runs through Alewife Brook Reservation, with several side paths through the reservation leading to the Little River and a nearby industrial park. The trail heads are marked by small signs: on the east end, across the street from the Alewife station passenger pickup "kiss and ride" area, and, on the west end, just north of where the MBTA rail line crosses Brighton Street. The west end is served by the MBTA #78 bus, with a stop just south of the railroad tracks.
A $4.67M upgrade for the path, including a new pedestrian bridge at Alewife is in process. The path was temporarily closed for construction on September 1, 2010. The new bridge and the eastern part of the path remain closed for the construction of a storm water management wetland near Alewife Station that is expected to be completed in 2013.
The proposed Mass Central Rail-Trail would represent an extension to Northampton, Massachusetts.
Read more about Fitchburg Cutoff Path: History
Famous quotes containing the words fitchburg and/or path:
“The Fitchburg Railroad touches the pond about a hundred rods south of where I dwell. I usually go to the village along its causeway, and am, as it were, related to society by this link. The men on the freight trains, who go over the whole length of the road, bow to me as to an old acquaintance, they pass me so often, and apparently they take me for an employee; and so I am. I too would fain be a track-repairer somewhere in the orbit of the earth.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“It is the way unseen, the certain route,
Where ever bound, yet thou art ever free;
The path of Him, whose perfect law of love
Bids spheres and atoms in just order move.”
—Jones Very (1831–1880)