HomeMy WebLinkAbout1986-07-31-MCBIC-rpt.pdf July 31. 1986
To: Select men/Bikewav Corn mince
From: Jack Eddiso4
Subj: Bikeway Pro ress Report No. 4
In my Progress Report of May 16, I noted that the representatives of the
concerned towns had been told by State DPW officials that Secretary Salvucci
had not agreed to having the State pay for the design costs of the Minuteman
Commuter Bikeway_ Since that time. the town representatives and our
friends on Beacon Hill have been devoting our efforts to trying to change the
Secretary's mind on this issue. I wrote to him on May 20. (copy attached)
and mentioned the matter to the Governor at a reception on June 7, We
continued to meet with officials of the DPW, of CTPS and of the MBTA in May
and June until it became apparent that little was going to happen until the
question of the financing of the design costs was resolved.
We accepted the offer of State Representative Mary ,lane Gibson to negotiate
with the Secretary, while continuing through other friends to persuade him
of the merits of our case. The outcome of these efforts was the attached
letter of July 30 from the Selectmen to Mr Salvucci, with similar letters being
sent to him from Arlington and Bedford. We hope that the way has now been
opened for the Department of Environmental Management to proceed with
the design. Needless to say. we will be following up on implementation of the
design work. I plan to involve the Bikeway Committee in the design process
as soon as it. proves feasible.
On July 28 I received a call from a lawyer named Sidney Weinberg who said
he had been assigned by the META to handling the process of the legal
abandonment of the B&M right of way. As a former attorney for the B&M, he
is familiar with the case and believes he will be able to make a presentation
to the courts in early September. Meanwhile, he will he seeking from the
three towns affadavits stating our purpose in seeking permanent
abandonment.
As most of you will have noted, the Lexington DPW has done an effective job
of blocking off access to the ROW by.four wheel vehicles. The reseeding of
the shoulders of the railroad embankment has also been successful and there
seems to have been less misuse of the ROW than in previous summers,
thanks in part to the monitoring by the Lexington police.