Good News for Walkers and Cyclists: Linden Street Bridge Reopens
A long-awaited missing link on the Mass Central Rail Trail has been restored. According to the Waltham Times, the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation announced in late December that repairs to the Linden Street Bridge are complete, and the bridge is now open to the public.
The bridge had been closed since 2023, when a timber access ramp collapsed. The historic railroad bridge was already under structural scrutiny. After the ramp failure, officials deemed it unsafe and impassable even for people on foot.
What is the Mass Central Rail Trail?
The Mass Central Rail Trail is an ongoing project with an end goal of creating a 104-mile multi-use route from Boston to Northampton. It is the longest developing rail trail in Massachusetts.
Right now, 55 of the planned 104 miles are open. Those miles are not continuous. Instead, they are a series of 8–15 mile segments. About half are paved, and the other half are gravel.
The Mass Central Rail Trail has an official website that tracks the project’s progress and lists completed segments. The site also includes a very useful map showing paved sections, gravel sections, areas under construction, and on-road work-arounds.
Waltham’s portion of the trail runs 2.75 paved miles, from Route 117 to Beaver Street. The Linden Street Bridge restoration was not included in the original project to pave those 2.75 miles.
The Linden Street Bridge is actually a big deal.
As the Waltham Times noted in an earlier article, the Linden Street Bridge is more than a trail connection. It is also a historic landmark. This version of the bridge was built by the Pennsylvania Steel Company in 1894. Its distinctive lattice structure was added to handle increased railroad traffic.
The rail line changed hands multiple times before passenger service ended in 1975. The bridge remained in place and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1989.
Regular trail users have been frustrated by the bridge closure because it limited the trail’s usefulness. The trail was paved on both sides of the bridge, but walkers and cyclists had to detour onto local roads to get around it. Many users reported that this detour did not feel especially comfortable or safe for biking or walking, even when drivers were generally polite.
There was also a moment of confusion last fall when an opened gate made it appear that the bridge had reopened. Officials later re-secured the site and confirmed it was not yet officially accessible.
Waltham’s trail made whole.
That detour is finally behind us. With the bridge open again, Waltham’s section of the Mass Central Rail Trail is truly complete. This is great news for anyone who walks, runs, or bikes on the trail—and a satisfying step forward for the larger Mass Central Rail Trail vision.
