....................480 Adams Street, Suite #208, Milton Massachusetts, USA • 617.696.7758
 
 
 
 

DCR Ready to Roll
with Bike Path

By Scott MacKeen
Staff Writer
5/27/10
The Department of Conservation and Recreation has released five possible scenarios for continuation of its Neponset River Greenway bike-path project, which will connect trails along the river through Milton and several Boston neighborhoods.

The continued leg of the path, which is currently in the design phase, will connect the 2.4-mile Lower Neponset River Trail, which runs from Pope John Paul II Park in Dorchester to Central Avenue in Milton, with the section currently under construction from Mattapan Square along Brush Hill Road to Truman Highway in Hyde Park.

Of the five possible paths being considered, four include bridges being built across the river. Under different scenarios, the trail could run exclusively through Milton or Mattapan – or parts of both communities – before reaching its final destination of Mattapan Square.

One option would have the 10-foot-wide path run on the southern side of the river entirely through Milton, beginning at Central Avenue and following the MBTA trolley line westbound toward Capen Street, where it would cross the river and meet the Mattapan Square section.

Under a second option, the path would likewise follow the trolley line through Milton, but it would cross over to the north and follow the Mattapan side of the river beginning near Ryan Playground.

A third option, the only one that would not involve a river crossing, would have the trail run entirely along the northern side of the river in Mattapan, where it would follow close to Riverdale Road and River Street and also cut through Ryan Playground.

Under the fourth option, the path would run entirely on the Milton side but also include a portion that would veer to the north across the river, through the playground before connecting to River Street, where that path would follow existing sidewalks.

The last, most expensive option, would include four separate river crossings along the path, beginning on the Milton side and crossing back and forth along the route.

The five options were presented to a public meeting in Mattapan on May 17. The project is being run through a partnership of the DCR and Boston-based Crosby Schlessinger Smallridge LLC, a landscape architect firm.

Although the final amount will not be known until an option is chosen, the bike path is expected to cost somewhere between $3 million and $4 million, depending upon the number of river crossings, according to Deneen Crosby, the project manager.

DCR spokeswoman Wendy Fox said the DCR has not determined a funding source.

There are some issues related to conservation and Native American artifacts discovered along the north side of the river, Crosby said. The project requires approval from the Milton and Boston conservation commissions. Placing the path on the river’s north side would require “significant tree removal” in some areas, Crosby said.

Although most at the public meeting expressed support in the having the bike path, there were differing options as to where it should be located. Many Mattapan residents felt most if not all of the trail should run through that community, as Milton and other portions of Boston already have portions of the path. The $3 million section along Brush Hill Road and Truman Highway is expected to be completed and open to the public by early June, according to Fox.

Some Mattapan residents who spoke also felt the options to have the new portion of the path run through Ryan Playground would be best, as they said the recreation area is currently underutilized.

Milton residents who live on Capen Street were concerned that the path would run too close to their homes under option one. However, others felt the path would be an asset whichever option is chosen.

The DCR plans to send representatives on a site walk of the proposed path and hold at least one more meeting before deciding on an option.

The DCR’s Web site, www.mass.gov/dcr, outlines the five options for the bike path.

Meanwhile, the town is continuing the planning of its own bike-path project separate from the DCR trail.

The proposal, which is being coordinated through a partnership with the Department of Transportation and a private consulting team hired by the town, seeks to narrow the Central Avenue corridor from Brook Road to School Street. According to Public Works Director Joe Lynch, it would involve new curbed planting strips and a two-way multi-use lane on the Turners Pond side of the street, which would be 8 feet wide. The lane would be designed for bicycle travel but vehicles would not be prohibited from entering the space, Lynch said.

Additionally, the project would include repaving and drainage improvements.

The town is currently working to acquire federal funds for the estimated $3.75 million project.

“It’s very, very competitive,” said Lynch of the process of attaining funding. He said the project is up against hundreds of others in the state for potential inclusion on the Transportation Improvement Plan list, which then would qualify it for federal money.

The town is only about 25 percent along in the design phase of the project and Lynch said he was not prepared to provide visuals of what the new lane would look like.

The initiative originated several years ago when U.S. Rep. Stephen Lynch asked communities to submit plans for infrastructure improvements, to which Walter Heller, the DPW director at the time, responded with the plan.

The project would link the bike path to the Neponset River Greenway path and connect road improvements to those made in the Central Avenue business district.

Lynch said the town continues to work with “stakeholders” in the neighborhood, including residents who have expressed concern that adding the bike path would eliminate on-street parking on Central Avenue.
“We would lose a lane of parking” under the proposal, Lynch said, although he added that there are ways to mitigate parking concerns in the design.

He said the project will only move ahead if there is community-wide acceptance.