The proposed Bourne Rail Trail/Shining Sea Bikeway Extension project (the “BRT”) will create a 6.5-mile multi-use path in Bourne connecting the Cape Cod Canal Recreation Path with the Shining Sea Bikeway. Completing the project would create approximately 24 miles of uninterrupted trail on the Upper Cape running from Sandwich to Woods Hole.

The BRT would be developed on land that is owned by the Massachusetts Department of Transportation. The land, known as the Falmouth Secondary Line, has historically been used as a railroad corridor. The BRT would make this publicly owned land available for use by the public and connect two existing recreation paths.

The Cape Cod Commission completed a feasibility study of the BRT in the spring of 2017. The study provided three options with rough cost estimates for completing the project: “rail-with-trail,” where the track is retained and the trail is built alongside the track; “rail-to-trail,” where the track is removed to accommodate the trail; and a hybrid approach. Importantly, the Commission’s study recommended that the project move forward to the next phase of planning and design.

The project, up to now intended as a “rail-with-trail” design, has been separated into four phases. Phase 1, considered the least problematic as “rail-with-trail,” is at 75% design and scheduled for construction in 2025. Due to the difficulty, largely from cost and environmental perspectives, of a “rail-with-trail” approach with respect to Phases 2 and 3, no other phases are yet scheduled for construction. The fact that Phase 4, relatively easy to design compared to Phases 2 and 3, is still not even at the 25% design stage, reflects the huge challenges with the “rail-with-trail” approach.

The Town of Bourne Select Board has demonstrated enthusiastic interest and consistent support for the project to date, establishing in 2017 a town administrator’s committee to advise the town on moving the project forward. Most recently, in March 2023, the Select Board unanimously endorsed a pivot from “rail-with-trail” to a “rail-to-trail” approach, and asked Governor Healey to direct removal of the rail line and construction of the trail on the rail bed.

Yes. To date, support for the pivot to the “rail-to-trail” approach has been publicly expressed by Congressman William Keating, State Senator Susan Moran, and State Representative David Vieira.

Yes. The Friends fully support the pivot from “rail-with-trail” to “rail-to-trail” to create the BRT. The Town of Bourne has worked diligently over the past five years in attempting to design a “rail-with-trail” project, but we believe this effort has demonstrated that this approach is infeasible due to the undesirable features of the “rail-with-trail” design, extraordinary costs, significant environmental impacts, and the number of years it has taken merely to design Phase One of the project, which is recognized by all involved as the most feasible for a “rail-with-trail” approach.

The Town of Bourne has worked diligently over the past five years to design a “rail-with-trail” project, but the conclusion of many interested parties, including the Town Administrator’s Advisory Committee on Pedestrian Bicycle Pathway and the Town of Bourne Select Board, is that “rail-with-trail” is not a feasible approach. Major concerns are project cost (now estimated at four times the cost of “rail-to-trail"), timeline, inadequate rights of way, environmental impacts (i.e., the need to construct 11 new bridges over sensitive waterways) and the overall quality of the “rail-with-trail” product. The 75% design plans for Phase One of the “rail-with-trail” project include a 6’ fence separating the path and the railway, which many believe would create a physical, psychological barrier in the community and would be an eyesore. In recent months, several residents in Cataumet have voiced their concerns about the proposed “rail-with-trail” design in that village.

Yes. Approximately $20 million in federal funding from The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (“ARPA”) and other sources has been obtained by the Cape Cod Regional Transit Authority to support the design and construction of the BRT as a “rail-to-trail” project. This is an unprecedented level of funding that will expedite the completion of the BRT by several decades. It is likely that additional funds raised by the Friends of the Bourne Rail Trail will ensure that the trail features amenities beyond the basic asphalt pathway.

The BRT is being sited on publicly owned land that has historically been used as a railroad corridor. The Massachusetts Department of Transportation currently leases the right to use the railroad to Mass Coastal Railroad.

Yes. The Falmouth Secondary line is an active railroad line entirely on publicly owned land that serves the Upper Cape Regional Transfer Station. The line serves Mass Coastal Railroad, a private business that operates a construction debris disposal service on behalf of another private company, Cavossa Disposal Corporation. There was a substantial fire at the Upper Cape Regional Transfer Station in December 2022, that destroyed railcars and damaged the facility. It is not known to the Friends if this fire has impacted current operations at the facility. The only income derived by the four Upper Cape towns from operation of the Falmouth Secondary rail line is approximately $20,000 per town per year, paid by Cavossa Disposal Corporation to lease the transfer station. In addition to the debris disposal operation, Mass Coastal runs a “dinner train” periodically during the summer that runs down the Falmouth Secondary line and back. Those uses by that private company are the only current uses of the track.

The Falmouth Secondary line is not part of the Strategic Rail Corridor Network (STRACNET). It is a connector line to that network. At some point in its very distant history (thought to be during World War II), it is believed that the Falmouth Secondary line served operations at Joint Base Cape Cod. It has not been used by the military for decades and, today, the rail line on the base is overgrown, missing in places, and overall impassable. Base officials have stated in the past that the rail line is an “asset” they would like to retain, but have never offered any explanation why the railroad is important to the Base’s strategic mission. More recently, base officials have expressed receptiveness to the idea of removal of the line, perhaps in recognition of the fact that far better alternatives already exist for the military in event of an emergency and need for sudden movement of personnel and equipment on or off the base, including use of the airfield on the base, and the commandeering of roadways and bridges (with new bridges coming that will be vastly superior to old tracks over an old train bridge built in the 1930’s). As with the Shining Sea Bikeway, an agreement could be put in place for covering or removing the BRT if, at any point in the future, it is determined the Falmouth Secondary rail line is needed for public purposes.

No. Some decades past, the Falmouth Secondary rail line was used by the four Upper Cape towns to remove municipal trash by train. None of the towns currently use that line nor are we aware that any town has plans to resume that practice. Each of the towns now has an alternative in place that is working well. Bourne and Falmouth’s trash goes to the Bourne ISWM facility, and the town of Bourne has assured Sandwich and Mashpee that its trash could easily be accommodated at the Bourne ISWM facility, at a preferred rate.

Yes, but the impact of the train in this regard is greatly exaggerated. By the train operator’s own admission, his use of the train saves 3,500 truckloads per year. That is approximately nine trucks per day or fewer than two trucks every four hours. The notion that Mass Coastal Railroad’s use of the Falmouth Secondary line mitigates local truck traffic is marginal at best.

No. There are no plans contemplated for such a use. Commuter rail down the Cape, should it ever happen, will be by way of the Cape Cod Canal rail line.

In order to reassure the military and the four Upper Cape towns that, if at some point in the future, it is deemed important for the military and/or the towns to have rail access, the Friends of the Bourne Rail Trail retained a designer to demonstrate, through a preliminary design, the feasibility of constructing a new rail line running from the Bourne Integrated Solid Waste Management facility near Joint Base Cape Cod, along MacArthur Boulevard, to the rail line adjacent to the Cape Cod Canal. There is no current plan for construction of such a line, nor is the construction of such a line relevant to the removal of the exclusively private use Falmouth Secondary line to serve an important public purpose, the BRT.

Signing up for the Friends of the Bourne Rail Trail email updates, attending public meetings, and contacting your Selectmen and state and federal representatives/senators to let them know that you support the project are all great ways to help move the project along. The widespread public support that the project has received has been absolutely critical.

The Friends of the Bourne Rail Trail is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that is dedicated to the development of a rail trail in Bourne. To show support for the project and sign up for news and updates, please click here. To donate, please visit our Donate page. All contributions, large or small, will be gladly accepted and well used to help make this project a reality.