Friends of Natick Trails, town and state officials, and others who had a hand in getting the Cochituate Rail Trail extended to the revamped Natick Center MBTA station celebrated that connection at a ribbon cutting ceremony on June 25.
The event also commemorated one million visits to the Cochituate Rail Trail since it opened in 2021 (a counting mechanism showed just under one million on the morning of the event, but the assumption is that it doesn’t capture people who are walking it side by side…).
State Rep. David Linsky said “this is part of what Natick is all about, quite frankly. It is making Natick more accessible. It’s making Natick more friendly. It’s making Natick maybe get some more exercise, which is good for everybody.”
Josh Ostroff of the Friends of Natick Trails, and a former MBTA employee, shared some of the history of the trail, which he said Natick and Framingham residents were advocating for as far back as the 1990s. Local, state, regional, and federal agencies and other partners kicked into action years later to make the trail a reality.
“Planning, design, funding, local approvals seemed to take forever but they resulted in the almost 4-mile long trail that we now enjoy today,” he said.
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Congratulations to all. Let’s keep up the momentum and extend cycling options with the next critical connection in Natick via the Main Street Improvement project to finally add dedicated Bike Lanes in the Downtown Business District of Route 27 to fully connect the Cochituate Trail to the Common and all points south.