Wellesleyites might enjoy sledding, skiing and skating during their free time, but the path shown here that leads from Cliff Road to the Wellesley Hills MBTA commuter rail platforms has made Wellesley residents’ treks back and forth to the trains during winter more of an extreme sport than many are up for.
It took a newbie at the station — Wellesley’s Cimarron Buser — to cut through bureaucratic fingerpointing and get someone to agree to maintain the path.
“The history behind this little path seems to be one of a typical bureaucratic black hole,” he writes. “The walkway from Cliff Road down to the ‘T’ platform at Wellesley Hills is unmaintained, since both the ‘T’ and ‘Wellesley’ claim it’s the other guy’s problem. I’ve heard from regulars that local residents sometimes come and shovel to help out.”
Initial calls made and letters sent last month by Buser to Wellesley DPW officials and the MBTA/Massachusetts Bay Commuter Railroad Co., resulted in finger pointing. However, followup letters — including one sent from State Rep. Alice Peisch’s office that included a map of the area (in yellow) in question, helped to clear things up. In all, at least 10 letters went back and forth among all the parties.
The map, according to Buser, clearly showed that the path was on MBTA land. And in the end, the MBTA and MBCR agreed, with the MBTA apologizing for the confusion and the MBCR pledging to clear the path.
Of course, doing so will be a challenge if the winter storms keep up their pace.
(The picture of the path shown here was taken by Buser before this week’s snow and ice storms. He says it has been worth more than 1,000 words.)
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