Bay Circuit trail gets state boost

Liability change opens more land

Al French of the Bay Circuit Alliance welcomes the change in the recreational use statute. (Mark Wilson/Globe Staff/File 2008)

A short tweak to a little-known state law has eliminated one big barrier to the completion of the Bay Circuit Trail, a 200-mile walking path through suburban Boston that volunteers have been stitching together for two decades.

The amendment, signed by Governor Deval Patrick at a ceremony last week, extends liability protection to businesses that open their land to free public recreation. Trail organizers say they hope the amendment will smooth negotiations with utilities, such as National Grid, and persuade businesses to open land to the Bay Circuit Trail.

The circuit links the North Shore to the South Shore by connecting existing trails on public land and private land trusts, stretching in a loop from Plum Island in Newburyport to the waterfront Bay Farm Conservation Area at the Kingston-Duxbury line. Where offroad paths are not available in the string of communities between Route 128 and Interstate 495, the trail would use public streets.

For years, volunteers developing the trail have coveted land owned by National Grid and other utilities, such as the dirt trails beneath power lines. But the utilities have been reluctant to allow the trail to be routed over their land, citing potential liability costs if a hiker got hurt, said Alan French, chairman of the nonprofit Bay Circuit Alliance, which is developing the trail.

A section of state law known as the recreational use statute was designed to protect landowners who allow free public recreational use on their property, except in cases of gross negligence, which have been tightly defined by the courts.

"But when we would talk to the lawyers for National Grid about access, they were unsure" whether the statute applied to them, French said, since its wording protected "any person" who owned land, but did not mention companies. "The bill that just was signed nails it down that a corporation like National Grid is protected," he said.

The new law doesn't compel utilities to permit trails on their land; that access still must be negotiated, French said, but "it's another small step adding up to getting public access to utility and railroad land." He said he is looking at several places, including in Andover and in East Bridgewater, where the Bay Circuit Trail could be improved by moving it off public streets and onto utility-owned property.

The amendment is not specific to the Bay Circuit Trail, and could benefit environmental groups developing hiking trails and bike paths around the state, said French.

"It eliminates one more reason why a corporation in the past has been reluctant," he said. "It won't solve overnight the nature of a litigious society, but I'm feeling good about it."

State Senator Sue Tucker, a Democrat who represents the Second Essex and Middlesex District, has been helping French push the amendment for at least four years. "It's a huge victory for hikers and the volunteers working on developing recreational space, and I'm so excited to see this passed," she said.

Shannon Larson, director of real estate services for National Grid, said in a statement that the company backed the legislation "because it will eliminate the disincentive for landowners, including utilities, to work with communities on providing access to their property for recreational trails."

French, who runs Moor & Mountain, a backpacking gear store in Andover, has been working on the Bay Circuit Trail since 1990. The concept for the trail dates to 1929, when it was proposed as an undeveloped greenway similar to the Frederick Law Olmsted parks around Boston.

The Bay Circuit Trail curves through more than 30 communities, mostly staying between Route 128 and I-495. It connects state and municipal forests, parks, and conservation land with trails on undeveloped land owned by private trusts and conservation groups.

There are still some short gaps in the trail where busy city streets are the only option to connect wooded paths. The Bay Circuit Alliance will continue to look for ways to move more of the trail off-road, said French.

Trail maps and information are available at www.baycircuit.org.