Representatives of adjacent community bicycle and community path organizations have attended Belmont Bikeway Planning Committee (the Committee) meetings throughout the year. The groups represented include Friends of the Somerville Community Path, Somerville Bikeway Committee, Waltham Bicycle Committee, Watertown Bicycle Committee and the Rails to Trails Conservancy. The purpose of their attendance was to coordinate the activities of the various groups.
Bob Livermore, Hank Thidemann, John Allis and Jim Pazzanese all attended a preliminary hearing on March 26th of the Alewife Reservation Planning Study Team being organized by the MDC. The study will plan for the future use and protection of the area. The project does not include the trail from Brighton Street to Alewife Station but borders it directly. One of the presenter’s goals was to maintain and improve the existing Alewife path from Alewife Station to Brighton Street in Belmont.
Members of the Committee attended the “Golden Spike” Bicycle conference held at Bentley College in Waltham. The conference was sponsored by the Rails to Trails Conservancy and was attended by many politicians in support of bicycle paths in the region with specific emphasis on the “Wayside Trail” alternative on the bed of the former Mass Central Railway.
The Committee lobbied for the striping of side lanes on the access roads to the McLean development for use by bicycle riders but was unsuccessful. Both the developers and the Belmont Planning Board opposed this suggestion.
The Committee sent a letter to Michelle Gougeon, McLean Hospital, in November confirming a conversation that the Hospital was still committed to including a trail on the McLean property parallel to Pleasant Street as per the Memorandum of Agreement with the Town.
The Committee joined the Friends of Belmont Community Paths to ask for the Selectmen’s support for obtaining permission for community participation in the improvement of the Alewife path section from Brighton Street to the Cambridge line. This support was granted and efforts are currently underway to implement the proposed project.
Respectfully submitted,
Bob Livermore, Co-Chair
Don Becker, Co-Chair
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