Letter: Rail Trail was opposed at first, too

I attended my first Weston Town Meeting in 1997, when the town voted against the Wayside Rail Trail. At the time, the opposition voiced a myriad of familiar complaints: concerns about public safety, concerns about the benefit to non-residents (especially those pesky cyclists!), and concerns about property-value deflation for abutters.

Today, almost 30 years later, the Mass Central Rail Trail is a recreational jewel through the center of Weston. The Rail Trail detractors were wrong then, and the Route 30 detractors are wrong now.

My son attended Weston High School, and he loved to bike to school. His path often included the stretch of Route 30 from River Road to Wellesley Street, and I worried about him every day. A shared-use path would have been much safer for him.

I look forward to the day when future WHS and WMS students can bike to school along Route 30 on a shared-use path, instead of in the road. If built, the improved Route 30 will be another jewel for the town.

Kent Lundberg, Meadowbrook Road