Contrary to assertions published in last week’s (November 15) Bridge letters section, the defendants in the town’s lawsuit to preserve public access along Estabrook Road have very much sought to block the trail. That’s what necessitated the lawsuit in the first place.
In the course of the Estabrook Woods Access Study Committee’s (EWASC) public deliberations in 2016, the defendants threatened to shut off public access to the Estabrook trail entirely unless the town permanently reduced parking at the trailhead. This is why the EWASC’s #1 recommendation in November 2016 (available for viewing at concordma.gov) was that the Select Board urgently “work with town counsel and direct abutters on Estabrook Road to resolve legal uncertainties regarding the dirt road trail at the end of the paved public road in order to secure permanent public access at this location.”
Shortly thereafter, in spring 2017, the defendants reinforced their threat by replacing the rope across the road with two solid, lockable gates crossing the entire width of the trail, including the pedestrian gap. In April 2020, they locked the gates and posted signs declaring, “Woods Closed to the Public.” This is why the Land Court was forced to issue an emergency injunction in July 2020, enjoining the landowners to restore and refrain from further interfering with public access.
All this is recorded in the Land Court’s November 2022 decision determining that the 1932 discontinuance extinguished the town’s obligation to maintain the road, not the public’s right of access.
Thanks to the town, and the Massachusetts Land Court and Massachusetts Superior Court, for clarifying the public’s right to walk the entire length of the old road. I’ll be heading there this afternoon.
Michael Dettelbach
Assabet Avenue
