With new town engineer Lisa DeMeo and Stantec, a new engineering firm in place, the Wakefield/Lynnfield Rail Trail project is picking up steam.
“Everything is really falling into place,” said DeMeo, who came on in January. “Stantec is very experienced in rail trail design and has done many of them. It’s just a coincidence that they were selected before I came on board but I am very familiar with the company as the last trail I worked on was in Salisbury and Stantec was the design firm for that. The project manager assigned to this is the same one I worked with in Salisbury.”
The town has launched a new website that will provide important information and updates on the status of the project. The web page contains background information, frequently asked questions, reports related to the design and permitting process, plans, and important links.
The proposed trail will connect many of the landmarks of Lynnfield including Reedy Meadow, Lynnfield Middle School, the proposed library at Reedy Meadow Golf Course, Bethlehem School at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, and Lynnfield High School. It also passes within a quarter mile of the Summer Street School, Lynnfield Town Hall, and the town’s center commercial district.
The trail will provide a safe and convenient path for traveling between these locations and will be ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) compliant.
The Lynnfield section of the trail is a 2.8-mile-long, multi-use path extending from Nichols Lane in Peabody, through Lynnfield, to Fosters Lane in Wakefield. The Wakefield section will extend an additional 1.6 miles from Fosters Lane to the Galvin Middle School.
The trail consists of a 10- to 12-foot-wide asphalt surface for about 2/3 of its alignment and an elevated boardwalk through Reedy Meadow and low areas within the floodplain. The project also includes paved parking areas, safety improvements at roadway crossings, new signage and pavement markings, and landscape enhancements.
Located on the southern section of the former Newburyport Railroad that once connected Lynnfield to Newburyport, the corridor will connect to, via Peabody and Danvers, the Border to Boston Trail, a proposed 30-mile rail trail linking eight Essex County communities — Danvers, Wenham, Topsfield, Boxford, Georgetown, Newbury, Newburyport, and Salisbury.
The project is slated to receive funding from the State Transportation Improvement Program (TIP) in 2026. A total of $11,673,936 has been appropriated to fund construction, which includes $9,339,149 in federal funding.
Construction will take approximately two years due to restrictions on construction within Reedy Meadow because of the seasonal presence of rare and endangered species. Designated as Priority Habitat of Rare Species/Estimated Habitat of Rare Life, Reedy Meadow, the state’s largest freshwater cattail marsh, is a known habitat for the following endangered/threatened/special concern birds: American Bittern, King Rail, and Common Moorhen. Reedy Meadow is also a known habitat for the endangered Glaucous Sedge plant.
Approximately one mile of the Lynnfield section will pass through wetlands, floodplain, and/or rare and endangered species habitat. Most of this one-mile portion will be designed as an elevated boardwalk.
A timetable published on the website states that design and permitting will be completed by March 2026. A construction contract will then be awarded. Construction is likely to start in May 2026 with completion of the project in March 2028.
Residents in Lynnfield and Wakefield have been discussing the possibility of a rail trail since the early 2000s, when both communities formed volunteer committees. In 2007, the state allocated $30,000 for a feasibility study, which was completed later that year. In 2008, the state approved a $500,000 transportation bond bill to fund preliminary design and engineering.
But it wasn’t until 2017 when residents approved a Town Meeting article by just one vote, thereby authorizing the Board of Selectmen to enter into a lease with the MBTA and to develop a recreational path on the abandoned rail bed. In 2019, the town voted 585-380 at a Special Town Meeting to fund final design of the project.
Select Board Chair Phil Crawford said that while the project has been talked about for more than two decades, things have really started to move forward over the last year or so.
“Since the town took the lead on the contract and changed engineering firms things have really picked up,” Crawford said. “We’ll need a couple of years on the Reedy Meadow part of it due to environmental issues, but we are in a good position to get this done, especially with all of the TIP funding having been approved some time ago that’s still in place.”
Friends of the Lynnfield Rail Trail President Vince Inglese said Stantec’s familiarity with the project is a definite plus having conducted the original feasibility study “way back when”.
“Stantec has one of the best recreational paths out there,” Inglese said. “They are very experienced in this type of endeavor. We’re looking forward to this as it is going to be a fabulous asset to the community.”
