Preliminary Trail Route to be Presented, May 18

The Ashland Upper Charles Trail Committee (AUCT) will hold a public forum at 7 p.m. on Thursday, May 18, at the Ashland Community Center. The preliminary route for extending the Upper Charles Trail into Ashland will be presented.
Two years ago, interested residents asked the Ashland Board of Selectmen (BOS) to appoint a town-sanctioned committee to work on making the trail a reality. With BOS support, there is now a nine-member committee, AUCT, working on the trail.
During the past year, with support from Ashland’s Planning Board, AUCT was able to hire a trail planning company, Alta Planning + Design. Alta brings a wealth of national experience, including the planning and design of more than 8,000 miles of trails.
At its public forum in March, the committee encouraged residents to offer their ideas of where and how the trail should go through town. Alta presented the recreation, health and economic benefits of connecting Ashland destinations by foot and bike. Because Ashland does not have an intact abandoned rail bed, the proposed trial will probably be a combination of on-road and off-road paths. Attendees had many questions in regard to the trail surface, screening for abutters, state park access, funding, terrain and road crossings. The consultant used this information to develop a preliminary route.
For more information, contact Town Planner Sheila Page at spage@ashlandmass.com or 508-532-7927 or AUCT Chair Joel Arbeitman at joelarbeitman@gmail.com.