MWRA opens 40 miles of trails to public

BOSTON (AP)-- The agency that oversees water and sewer services to dozens of greater Boston communities is opening up 40 miles of previously closed trails to the public.

Officials with the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority say "No trespassing" signs along the trails that span from the Wachusett Reservoir in Clinton to Newton will be removed, opening them to hikers, bikers, skiers and others.

The trails run atop the Sudbury, Weston, Wachusett, and Cochituate aqueducts.

The trails, which are at most 100 yards wide and composed mainly of dirt or grass, run through Berlin, Boston, Clinton, Framingham, Marlborough, Natick, Needham, Newton, Northborough, Sherborn, Southborough, Wayland, Wellesley, and Weston. The trails are not contiguous.

An MWRA spokeswoman tells The Boston Globe opening the trails does not endanger the public water supply.