Litter on Waltham’s Mass Central Rail Trail draws concern from users

Last November Waltham unveiled its nearly 3-mile-long segment of the Massachusetts Central Rail Trail.

Now users of the MCRT are voicing concerns about trash that visitors leave behind on the trail, littering a community resource.

The Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation, the state agency responsible for maintaining the MCRT, said it follows a carry-in, carry-out policy for many of its properties and encourages visitors to minimize litter.

The goal is to maintain spaces like the MCRT with as little impact on the environment and visitors as possible through reliance on communal responsibility, according to a DCR spokesperson.

Relying on users themselves to keep the trail clean, however, is proving ineffective.

Jimmy Becker, a longtime Waltham resident, walks along the trail daily.

“It’s a pigsty,” said Becker. “The city is being totally naive if they think the state is going to take responsibility for picking up the trash, so I don’t know why the city won’t put trash receptacles out. They put trash receptacles in other parks.”

Waste receptacles exist at designated points along the trail to minimize the amount of motor vehicle use needed on the trail to collect waste, according to the DCR spokesperson.

Sonja Wadman, executive director of the Waltham Land Trust, a nonprofit focused on conserving the city’s green spaces, organizes regular cleanups of the MCRT.

Keeping the trail clean, she said, is a responsibility that the land trust’s trail steward volunteers have taken on in place of DCR.

DCR, Wadman said, is seeing accelerated cuts to funding and staffing.

“I’m not at all surprised that [DCR staff members] are not available to install the trash receptacles since they can’t service them,” Wadman said. “The city could put a couple of receptacles along where [the trail] crosses the main streets, where their guys could pull over and service those.”

Both Wadman and Becker mentioned Waltham’s Public Works Department, located along the trail itself, as a potential solution.

“They [Public Works Department] would literally walk out the door to empty the trash, and yet they don’t,” Becker said, “it’s just odd to me.”

The Waltham Public Works Department declined a request to comment.

The location of retailers along the trail, Becker added, contributes to the mess.

“You can see all the trash from Dunkin’ Donuts and 7-Eleven. People are pigs, and that’s not the city’s fault,” he said. “At a minimum they should put some barrels there where all this retail area is.”

Waste on the trail poses risks for wildlife as well, according to Wadman.

During MCRT cleanups, Wadman’s stewards focus on micro-trash that animals may mistake for food.

“It’s definitely detrimental to wildlife, to their experience in our open spaces, and it’s super detrimental to our experience of enjoying nature,” she said.

Following correspondence with multiple city officials, Becker said he is still waiting to see Waltham take any action.

“They built this beautiful rail trail that is a big resource, and they’re letting it go to pot while they’re playing chicken with the state,” he said. “I don’t know what to call it other than being naive.”