Unfortunately, it seems that as the popularity of bike paths has grown, the time and costs to construct these bike paths are growing even faster. Here in Massachusetts, they just opened the first 6-mile section of a new rail trail called the Bruce Freeman Rail Trail. Located west of Boston, it will eventually connect miles of bucolic countryside and beautiful suburban towns. However, getting this first section constructed was not easy or cheap. The first section of this trail took 25 years to complete, and when completed costs for this rail trail are expected to approach $1 million per mile. As more and more towns consider these rail trail and similar multi-use path projects, they certainly must be wondering why it took 25 years, and questioning how they can justify costs of nearly $1 million per mile.

Want to go for a Bike Ride? Great, Everyone in the Car.

Like many of you - I have a house in the suburbs with a garage full of bikes, but no safe places to ride with my family. If I want to ride with my kids, I have to load the bikes in a car and drive them upwards of an hour to get to a trailhead. Which is why converting unused railroad lines to create multi-use paths seems like a great solution. The land is already cleared, hardened, and grated for proper drainage. And in many cases (at least here in MA), the land is own by the highway department, so it is deeded to the Rail Trail organization at no cost. Best of all, the cost of removing the rails and ties is more than offset by the sale price of the rails. Recent estimates put the value of the rails and ties at about $100K per mile. So theoretically before constructions starts, you've starting with a surplus. Ah-ah. Not so fast...

Get Ready for a Long Haul

As stated earlier, the Bruce Freeman trail took 25 years to complete phase 1. Twenty-five years is likely more than a quarter of most of our lives. In fact, Bruce Freeman, the founder of the Bruce Freeman Rail Trail project didn't live to see it open. And just to keep this timetable in perspective, in the 25 years following 1956 when President Dwight Eisenhower initiated a federally funded program to create a national interstate highway system, we had over 200,000 miles of highways constructed. Also by comparison, this same railroad line that the Bruce Freeman Rail Trail resides on (the Old Colony Railroad line) was initially constructed in less than 18 months. So certainly some of this has to do with political will and prioritization, but it has even more to do with cost.

Public Service or Public Works Project?

Here in MA, the funding for the Bruce Freeman Rail Trail project was controlled by the MA Highway Department, which seems sadly ironic. This means the same contractors who build the state's highways and bridges are also building the bike path. It seems hard to believe that these contractors with their enormous overhead and massive infrastructure are the best companies to work on these projects. In fact, since the funds for projects like this are government controlled funds, you have to question whether rail trails are seen as public service projects, or as public works projects. In other words, does the government department controlling the funds believe the primary benefactors of the project are the contractors or the general public? When I was a kid, my boy scout troop would have built the same trail over a summer just to earn merit badges. Instead, these projects have become big business for a short list of state contractors.

With this said, state governments are not the only ones slowing down this process and building up its costs. Then you have a long list of lawyers, environmental studies, engineering assessments, politicians, abutters and due process to contend with. All of which I understand need to be part of the process. But let's keep this in perspective. Do they really think a path used by mom's pushing strollers, joggers and weekend cyclists will have more environmental impact than diesel fed locomotives hauling everything from livestock to industrial waste? Do abutters really feel their property is worth more next to a railroad than a bike path? In fact, national studies have proven that properties on and close to bike paths sell for a higher value than similar homes in towns without these paths. In towns that have bike paths now, the bike path has become a defining characteristic of the town; a centerpiece of its culture and priority.

Takers Matters into Your Own Hands

If you have 25 years to waste, don't read this last section. The only viable alternative to government funded, bureaucratically driven projects is to take matters into your own hands. Skip the public funding option, and look for ways to make yours a community service project - using local groups, businesses, volunteers and donations to make it happen. Use your town meetings to showcase plans and get it on the ballot. Nothing gets people thinking about something faster than when they have to vote on it. Form a committee of like-minded people who can reach out to local businesses and canvass neighborhoods to find support and donations. If so, perhaps the project you start will actually get completed while you are still young enough to use it.

Need resources, information and materials to support your cause? Try some of the links below for tons of reference materials:

Bruce Freeman Rail Trail - Studies of existing and proposed Trails and More... http://brucefreemanrailtrail.org/trail_plans/rail_trail_studies.html#proposed

Rails-to-Trails Conservancy - http://www.railstotrails.org/index.html

Bikes Belong Coalition - http://www.bikesbelong.org/