Bike Path

Update Fall 2022

On August 15, 2022, the Town of Billerica, in conjunction with the Town's Consultant, VHB, submitted the 75% Design Submittal, along with the 1st Structural Bridge Design Submittal, to the Massachusetts Department of Transportation.
 This Submittal was the result of extensive engineering and design work based on comments received from MassDOT on the 25% Submittal, comments received from the public at the Public Hearing, and from field investigation at multiple locations. The Town expects to receive comments from MassDOT in November and anticipates working on the securing right of way and environmental permitting during 2023.  The project is currently slated to bid in 2024.

Background

The Town of Billerica has been working over two decades to advance construction of the Yankee Doodle Bike Path throughout town.  The construction of Phase 1 of the bikeway will connect the Town of Billerica regionally from the center of town, to the Minuteman Bikeway in Bedford, via the Narrow Gauge Bikeway. The completion of this section would provide an alternative mode transportation corridor from Billerica to Arlington, with connections to many other surrounding communities. The addition of this approximately 4 mile bike path to the community will provide a handicapped accessible link between educational, recreational and conservation areas in the southern portion of the Town.  

As part of the design, the Town's Consultant, VHB, has conducted an Alternative Analysis for the bikepath alignment.
 The purpose of this analysis is to evaluate various path alignments and to develop a report for the Yankee Doodle Bike Path Committee to use as a tool to select a preferred path alignment. The locations where this analysis was completed were: at the northern end of the project, at a parcel currently owned by the Cabot Corporation, where the abandoned rail bed intersects with Route 3; and at the southern end of the project.  For the purposes of the analysis, the project has been divided into 4 sections.

Section 1 extends from the Billerica High school to Richardson Street.

Section 2 extends from Richardson Street to Middlesex Turnpike.

Section 3 extends from Middlesex Turnpike to just north of Route 3.

Section 4 extends from Route 3 to the Bedford Town line.

In February 2015, the Town submitted the Project Initiation Form (PIF) to MassDOT to request funding through the State and Federal Transportation Improvement Programs.