Minute Man National Historical Park Battle Road Trail Improvements to begin

Date: November 9, 2017
Contact: Margie Coffin Brown, 978-318-7830
Contact: Phil Lupsiewicz, 978-318-7833

***Battle Road Trail rehab in Hartwell area is delayed a week and will start on Nov 27th.***
Concord, MA. Minute Man National Historical Park has announced that the Battle Road Trail, located in Lexington, Lincoln, and Concord, Massachusetts will begin an extensive rehabilitation beginning November 15, 2017. Sections of the trail at Hartwell Tavern will be closed. There will be a pedestrian trail detour, which is narrow and impassable to bicycles or strollers and is not sutiable for running or jogging. The project begins November 27 to December 31, 2017. Additional work at North Bridge will begin April 23, 2018.

The 5 mile Battle Road Trail, a signature feature at Minute Man National Historical Park, has become a major focus of historical programming and recreational use since its completion in 1998. The trail runs from Meriams Corners in Concord, through to the Ebinezer Fiske house site on the eastern boundary of the park in Lexington. The trail runs through the battlefield where 700 plus regulars marched to Concord on the morning of April 19, 1775 and while on their return to Boston, encounter minute and militia companies from adjoining towns and engaged in a “running battle” all the way to Boston.

“This is the first major rehabilitation to the Battle Road Trail, in quite a long time, and is long overdue.” said BJ Dunn, Superintendent at Minute Man National Historical Park. “I see the heavy use of the trail and I think the community and visitors to the trail will understand the brief inconvenience of the partial and temporary trail closure when they see the repairs and maintenance, which will improve the trail surface and drainage,” added Dunn. Funding for the project is made available from the National Park Service (NPS) Fee Demonstration Fund. These fees are collected by national parks as entrance fees and are used to address internal improvements in parks.

Henry General Contracting, Inc, from Springfield, Massachusetts, has been awarded the contract for the project. In addition to the areas around the Hartwell Tavern area, sections of North Bridge trail will be partially closed beginning April 23, 2018 and continue to the end of June, 2018.

Questions about the project can be directed to Margie Coffin Brown, Resources Manager at Minute Man National Historical Park. Margie Coffin Brown can be reached at [e-mail].

-NPS-