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FOLLOW THE TRAIL USING YOUR GPS
For those of you who have requested GPS data that can be uploaded to your
GPS so you can follow the trail - here is your opportunity to test data now
available for Map 2 (Rowley Ipswich,Topsfield, Georgetown and Boxford).
Go to the bottom of the Maps and Guide page for more information and
instructions on how to participate in this test.
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TRAIL NOTICE - MAP 2
December 2011
Disregard Ipswich River "Bridge Closed" warning on map and in guide (Map 2 point S).
Bridge has been repaired and is now open.
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BAY CIRCUIT ALLIANCE--FALL 2011 NEWSLETTER:
The View From 3 Railroad Street: The Bay
Circuit Trail is a reality! If one counts spurs and
alternative Bay Circuit routes there are well over
200 miles of public trail to be enjoyed by walkers
hikers equestrians and both road and mountain
cyclists. With sufficient snow most of the trail
can be navigated on cross-country skis or
snowshoes. Of course, the Bay Circuit is still
relatively unknown to citizens of the Boston area,
but the times they are a-changing! The Bay Circuit
Trail was the cover story in the most recent
edition of AMC’s “Outdoors Magazine”, and a
special annual report edition of TTOR’s “Special
Places” featured “Boston’s Outer Emerald
Necklace”. Finally, this week Channel 5’s
Chronicle re-aired last fall’s thirty minute segment
on the Bay Circuit Trail. There’s a marked
increase in telephone and e-mail traffic, with
many requests for our map and guide sets.
STATE OF THE TRAIL:
Work on remaining gaps continues:
Lowell: BCA is partnering with our local
member, Lowell Parks & Conservation Trust, to
link the Merrimack River to the Bruce Freeman
Rail Trail via the Concord River Greenway. A
new Lowell volunteer group has been formed to
investigate alternative routes on either end of the
greenway to close the “Lowell Gap”.
Wayland/Sudbury: A portion of the long-soughtfor
Central Mass. Rail Trail will close a gap in the
BCT between Wayland Center and the Weisblatt
Reservation on Route 20 in Sudbury. A major
road block to this project was eliminated in 2011
by a lease agreement between two state agencies
(MBTA and DCR).
East Bridgewater: lawsuits by an abutter,
potential liability for existing environmental
hazards, and an extremely complex group of
interested parties, stand in the way of eliminating
the Bridgewater to East Bridgewater BCT Gap.
Enhancements to Existing BCT: They include
Recreational Trail Grant funded wet lands
crossings in Andover and Medfield, off-road
enhancements in Middleton, Wayland, Sudbury,
and Walpole. In Southborough, we anticipate
bypassing a section of local road and extremely
dangerous highway (Route 30) by opening an off-
road route on MWRA property near the Fayville
Dam.
New Bay Circuit Trail Mapping System: Our
new GIS-based mapping system went on line
ahead of schedule in 2011. Thanks are due to a lot
of hard work and creative effort by the transition
team and the generosity of Vin Antil of the
Trustees of Reservations electronic mapping
department, The coming year will see enhanced
features for the user, better trail planning data for
TMAC, and increased exchange of regional trail
information between interested Boston area
organizations and individuals.
The Future of the Alliance: Following a vote at
BCA Annual Meeting on May 17, 2011, the pace
of plans to assure a more permanent Alliance
organization has accelerated. In December, 2010
the directors of two of BCA’s statewide member
organizations voted to approve a joint sponsorship
of the Alliance. At the request of the BCA
Executive Committee, your Chairman has been
meeting with representatives of AMC and TTOR
to bring to the BCA Membership a detailed
proposal for new bylaws, a transition plan, and a
management governance and operational
structure. A BCA Membership meeting will be
called during the coming year to discuss and vote
on this proposal.
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In a recent issue of the AMC Outdoors (Oct.2011) there is an excellent article on the history of the BCT and the creation of the Bay Circuit Alliance.
See:
http://www.outdoors.org/publications/outdoors/2011/features/boston-area-bay-circuit-trail.cfm
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TRAIL NOTICE - MAP 8
July 2011
Trail in Sherborn has been closed due to a beaver dam flooding the trail. Section closed is from the CSX tracks to Barber Reservation. A temporary bypass is to follow the tracks southbound to Whitney St, take Whitney St east for 0.15 mi to power line, and turn left through brush to access Curve St cul-de-sac. Follow Curve St for 0.35 mi to Western Ave, and left on Western Ave for 0.18 miles to Barber Reservation parking lot.
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Bay Circuit Alliance News Items