Weymouth receives federal grant funds to extend Back River walking trail
Weymouth, MA – October 28, 2015 – The Town of Weymouth will receive $175,000 in federal Land and Water Conservation Funds to expand its network of walking trails along the Weymouth Back River. A new pathway will snake through the Town’s capped landfill offering panoramic views of the River’s waterways and wildlife. A direct connection will be made to the southern terminus of Great Esker Park, adding about a half mile to the Back River’s existing pedestrian and bicycle trails.
“This new trail is a fabulous way to reuse the Town’s landfill and make it easier for more people to walk along the Back River and enjoy its beauty,” said Mayor Susan Kay. “It is also another wonderful investment in Weymouth’s parks and open space. In the past two years, we have used grants, CPA funds, and meals tax money to makeover five parks. Now we have the opportunity to create a new one.”
The idea of a pedestrian pathway extending the full length of the Back River was first proposed in 2001 under the Town’s Master Plan. By 2005, design guidelines and a sketch plan for the trail had been developed. The Town’s Grant Writer Nicholas Bulens used these and other planning documents to prepare the Town’s LWCF application. The proposed trail was described as an “ideal” LWCF project – developing more pedestrian trails near water resources that are within walking distance to homes and public transit.
The entrance to the new pathway will be developed at Wharf Street – a residential neighborhood in East Weymouth with a nearby pedestrian connection to the Jackson Square commuter rail station. The project will build on other park developments, completed or underway by the Town, which have moved the community closer to its vision of a full-length Back River Trail. In 2010, Community Preservation Act (CPA) funds were used to open the Herring Run Pool Park in Jackson Square as well as acquire the 1.3-acre Kibby property adjacent to Abigail Adams State Park in North Weymouth. The Town plans to start developing the Kibby property in the next couple of months, expanding the area of continuous walking paths and open space at the state park by over 10 percent.
The federal LWCF uses royalties paid by energy companies drilling for oil and gas on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS) to support the acquisition, development, and renovation of park, recreation, and conservation areas. Nearly 4,000 acres have been acquired and hundreds of parks renovated using $95.6 million which Massachusetts has received from the state side portion of the federal program since 1965. The Division of Conservation Services administers the state side LWCF program in Massachusetts.