Town Meeting OK’s Community Path Right of Way

By Vincent Stanton, Jr.

On October 22,Town Meeting voted overwhelmingly to approve two warrant articles that clear the way for the town to assemble the right of way (ROW) for the community path.

Article 5 authorizes the Select Board to acquire the land necessary for the community path. That land totals 265,805 square feet, and most of it is owned by public or nonprofit entities: 45.2% by the MBTA, 40.3% by the Belmont Citizens Forum, and 8.9% by the Town of Belmont. The Belmont Citizens Forum has communicated to the town its intent to donate the 107,172 square foot parcel it owns. An additional 4.8% of the parcel is owned by commercial entities, and 0.8% is owned by residents.

Article 5 also authorizes the town to acquire the temporary easements necessary for construction of the path. They total 59,968 square feet.

The second measure, Article 6, allows use of Belmont Middle and High School land for the north-south path spur. This segment of the path will connect Channing Road to Alexander Avenue via a tunnel under the Fitchburg Line tracks and connections to the middle-high school campus. It will also coincide with the location of an existing sidewalk that hugs the eastern side of Harris Field and extends to Concord Avenue.

When Town Meeting member Stephen Rosales asked how much it would cost to acquire this ROW and how it would be financed, Community Path Project Committee chair Holly Muson explained that the land parcels had not yet been independently appraised, which will happen in a later stage of the highly structured Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) ROW acquisition process, so a precise answer is impossible.

However, she noted that in spring 2024, Glenn Clancy, the late town engineer, had estimated a budget of $630,000. That figure was based on his experience with the MassDOT ROW acquisition process during the Trapelo Road improvement project, and more recently the Wellington School Safe Routes to School pedestrian improvements.

Muson also pointed out that Clancy and the Community Path Project Committee obtained a $475,000 Mass Trails grant from the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation in 2024 and, as a condition of receiving that grant, a $160,000 appropriation of Community Preservation Act funds from Town Meeting, totaling $635,000.   

Vincent Stanton, Jr. is a director of the Belmont Citizens Forum.