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Health & Fitness

Dispatch From Upper Falls - Bike Trail News

Upper Falls Greenway moves forward

The Upper Falls Greenway, the plan to transform an overgrown and abandoned rail line into a new mile long park/walking trail/bike trail in Upper Falls just took a big step forward.

The MBTA Board of Directors voted yesterday to enter into a 99 year lease of the railroad property to the City of Newton.  The lease will cover the right-of-way of the old railroad tracks behind Needham St that runs from National Lumber to the Charles River.  This is a crucial step on the way to having a new park Upper Falls by this time next year.

Now that the MBTA Board has voted to proceed, the actual signing of the lease between the MBTA and the city should happen relatively quickly since it’s a standard lease and won’t require any protracted negotiation.   Once the city has a lease in hand the project can kick into high gear.

Find out what's happening in Newtonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Tha MBTA board also voted to go forward with leases for Needham, Dover and Medfield for their tri-town Bay Colony Rail Trail which will be built a few miles down the same track from Newton.

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