After Two Close Calls, A Convincing Win For Trail Supporters

LYNNFIELD, Ma. - At 7 p.m. the line to get into the Lynnfield Middle School auditorium was already down the hall and out the front door. Town Moderator Joe Markey delayed the start of Thursday's Special Town Meeting 15 minutes to give residents a chance to file in, with the final count close to 1,000.

Less than an hour later residents voted and the result was an overwhelming win for supporters of the Wakefield-Lynnfield Rail Trail. With 585 voting yes, 380 voting no, Article 1 passed. The vote authorized the town to spend $348,000 to fund its part of the final design costs. It means that the rail trail construction could start as soon as the spring of 2020 and residents could be riding their bikes on the path a year later. But it's government, and that means it could take time according to Patrick Curley, who opened the night speaking in support of the rail trail.

"The final design and engineering has to take place, and into the permitting. There's a process to this," said Curley. "It can't happen next month. Now that we've got this victory tonight and a clear mandate by a very significant margin, that speaks volumes to the Mass Department of Tranportation, the governor's office, and all the other stake holders. It significantly increases the chances of having the rail trail started before where we're currently scheduled, which is 2023-24. We hope to see more information from the MassDOT on this in the coming months.

"This was the last major hurdle we had to clear to make this a reality ... we're just delighted with the response tonight. We delighted with the citizens who voted for this. It's a clear mandate. In fact it's the strongest mandate we've had in the last three years."

This certainly wasn't the first time the rail trail received voter support, but it was the first time it wasn't a close call. At the April 2017 Town Meeting the trail won by a single vote, 342-341. And last April in a non-binding vote, the trail project was advanced by a vote of 1,858 Yes to 1,677 saying No.

"The Friends of the Lynnfield Rail Trail are extremely pleased with the vote this evening," said Vince Inglese. "I think it's a strong mandate by our residents that they want to proceed with the final design and get this rail trail built sooner rather than later."

Inglese paid tribute to those in town who carried the torch before him.

"It's been a long road. I think about those who started well before us. Mr. Richard Simmons, the chair of the Recreation Path, Janet Long, who chaired Recreation Path, all helped us tremendously. The Friends started three years ago to look to move this forward and bring it to a vote and again we're very happy we could get this yes vote."