A new rail trail to be born

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jass

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A short one. If I were in town, I would like to take pictures before the rails go away. But seriously, it took a decade of work to make a 2/3mile path? Come on.

To start here:
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&sou...943,-71.166215&spn=0.000997,0.002411&t=h&z=19

And end here:
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&sou...744,-71.155577&spn=0.000997,0.002411&t=h&z=19

An amazing intersection mind you. 6 streets and a rail crossing? That must have been fun to see in action.




PATRICK-MURRAY ADMINISTRATION ANNOUNCES WATERTOWN MULTI-USE PATH, INTERSECTION IMPROVEMENT PROJECTS

WATERTOWN ? Friday, January 15, 2010 ? As part of the Patrick-Murray Administration?s Massachusetts Recovery Plan, Governor Deval Patrick today announced the construction of a multi-use path and various intersection improvements in Watertown will move forward this spring.

?Across the Commonwealth, we are investing in bike and pedestrian improvements and expanding multi-use paths to improve public health, strengthen our communities and boost the quality of life for residents,? said Governor Patrick.

The Charles River/Alewife Connector multi-use path in Watertown will construct a path along an abandoned rail corridor from School Street to the Arlington Street intersection (at Nichols Avenue, Coolidge Hill Road and Crawford Street), with a spur connecting the new path to Arsenal Street across from the Watertown Mall parking lot. The $847,000 project will fully fund the project as designed, including the removal of existing railroad rails and ties followed by construction of a ten-foot wide asphalt path with grass shoulders over a distance of approximately two-thirds of a mile. In addition, under a $1.4 million project approved in late December the intersections of Spring and Summer, Mount Auburn and Summer, and Arlington and Nichols at the eastern limit of the new multi-use path will be resurfaced and traffic sensing devices and new, more accessible sidewalks with wheelchair ramps will be installed.

?I am thrilled that this long-awaited project is moving forward and that funding has been awarded for the construction of Phase I of the bike path,? said Senator Steven A. Tolman. ?After over a decade of hard work by various government agencies, community groups, and my brother, former Senator Warren Tolman, this multi-use path is now one step closer to completion. I hope that today?s announcement is the first of many and that together we can continue to make Watertown an even better place to live and work.?
 
Architectural drawing for the path can be found here. I went to one of the Mass Highway meetings last summer. They're not too sure when they'll be able to extend the path to fresh pond and Alewife. The railroad is refusing to talk to MDOT about selling the "active" rail part.

So for now it will be a path that doesn't really go anywhere.
 
I've walked that ROW and it is really overgrown. The rails have been taken over by nature.

And that active part is the most sorry excuse for a railroad I've ever seen. After a rail once I actually came upon an engine towing 2 cars stuck in the mud because the tracks sunk in.
 
jass said:
A short one. If I were in town, I would like to take pictures before the rails go away. But seriously, it took a decade of work to make a 2/3mile path? Come on.

To start here:
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&sou...943,-71.166215&spn=0.000997,0.002411&t=h&z=19

And end here:
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&sou...744,-71.155577&spn=0.000997,0.002411&t=h&z=19

An amazing intersection mind you. 6 streets and a rail crossing? That must have been fun to see in action.




PATRICK-MURRAY ADMINISTRATION ANNOUNCES WATERTOWN MULTI-USE PATH, INTERSECTION IMPROVEMENT PROJECTS

WATERTOWN ? Friday, January 15, 2010 ? As part of the Patrick-Murray Administration?s Massachusetts Recovery Plan, Governor Deval Patrick today announced the construction of a multi-use path and various intersection improvements in Watertown will move forward this spring.

?Across the Commonwealth, we are investing in bike and pedestrian improvements and expanding multi-use paths to improve public health, strengthen our communities and boost the quality of life for residents,? said Governor Patrick.

The Charles River/Alewife Connector multi-use path in Watertown will construct a path along an abandoned rail corridor from School Street to the Arlington Street intersection (at Nichols Avenue, Coolidge Hill Road and Crawford Street), with a spur connecting the new path to Arsenal Street across from the Watertown Mall parking lot. The $847,000 project will fully fund the project as designed, including the removal of existing railroad rails and ties followed by construction of a ten-foot wide asphalt path with grass shoulders over a distance of approximately two-thirds of a mile. In addition, under a $1.4 million project approved in late December the intersections of Spring and Summer, Mount Auburn and Summer, and Arlington and Nichols at the eastern limit of the new multi-use path will be resurfaced and traffic sensing devices and new, more accessible sidewalks with wheelchair ramps will be installed.

?I am thrilled that this long-awaited project is moving forward and that funding has been awarded for the construction of Phase I of the bike path,? said Senator Steven A. Tolman. ?After over a decade of hard work by various government agencies, community groups, and my brother, former Senator Warren Tolman, this multi-use path is now one step closer to completion. I hope that today?s announcement is the first of many and that together we can continue to make Watertown an even better place to live and work.?
Click to expand...
"An amazing intersection mind you. 6 streets and a rail crossing?" That must have been fun to see in action. I drive thru that intersection 2-3 times a day(I work out of Watertown) it is hell! I remember about 10-12 years ago haveing to go with Sen Tolman and take pixs for this bike path, wondered what happen to it? They did build a bike path on Arsenal st I do my daily run down it everyday!Its weird cause its fenced off here and there and not really used if even offically open?
 
It's too bad that Guilford is giving them a hard time about the row. I got to cross the railbed last year going over to Fresh Pond and it's unusable. I think a lot of people in the town would really enjoy the path. It's great to hear that somethings going to be done about that intersection too.
 
I bet Guilford would love to abandon the right-of-way, but first the branch's only freight customer, Newlywed Foods, would have to agree.
 
Newlywed Foods hasn't received rail shipments from Pan Am in years. It's my understanding that they get their ingredients shipped to Beacon Park by rail and trucked over. I can't see why Pan Am won't sell the line from Grove Street to Fresh Pond. Before the state was willing to buy it Pan Am (then guilford) filed papers for abandonment. Then didn't continue the process.

Boston02124 the fenced off part of the path near Arlington Street was built by Lexus of Watertown as a consession for building their garage on the right of way.
 
crash575 said:
Boston02124 the fenced off part of the path near Arlington Street was built by Lexus of Watertown as a consession for building their garage on the right of way.
Click to expand...

Wow, thats crazy. What a stupid bike path. It LOOKS very nice, but is clearly pointless. Perhaps one day they will extend it and make it useful?

Nice find.

This PDF
http://watertownbikeped.org/documents/Phase1-4.pdf

Doesnt exactly bring muhc confidence. It looks like the bike path will cross that intersection with no big changes planned.

The grove street terminus looks like crap too.
http://watertownbikeped.org/documents/Phase1-5.pdf

Isnt that an underpass right now? Shouldnt it be kept as an underpass?
 
The Nichols Ave intersection reconstruction is a different project set to happen later in the year. MassDOT doesn't want to stripe a crosswalk diagonally through the intersection because it would require a longer light cycle. Instead it will have standard crosswalks.

Grove street does have an overpass but the path will end right before the bridge. The EOT owns the rest of the right of way until right before cottage street (actually up until newlyweds). Phase two from Nichols Ave to Grove Street is designed but not funded. Phase III Grove Street to Fresh Pond isn't.
 
I want to check this out but I can't make it...

Community meeting about the path

Tufts graduate students will hold a community meeting Thursday, March 4, 7 p.m., in the Council chamber at Town Hall, 149 Main St. Tufts is also doing an online survey at www.surveymonkey.com/watertownpath.
Click to expand...
Bike and pedestrian path would bypass Watertown Square?s dangers
By Jen Thomas, Staff Writer
Wicked Local Wellesley

A decades-old plan to connect the Minuteman Bikeway to the Charles River might finally have some legs ? and wheels.

Beginning this spring, a section of the proposed path from School Street to Arlington Street along an abandoned rail line will be constructed with the help of state funds. The $847,000 project will cover 2/3 of a mile, and will include the construction of a 10-foot-wide asphalt path with grass shoulders.

?It?s been a really, long complicated process,? said Janet Jameson, a member of the Watertown Bicycle and Pedestrian Committee, who said residents have been working toward a connector path since the 1980s. ?The exciting part is that there is money to actually build the part from School to Arlington ? I hope in my lifetime to be able to see the full path built.?

The eventual goal is to have a complete community path that will extend from the Minuteman path in Cambridge, through Watertown Square, and to the multi-use paths that run along the Charles River. An old railroad route that runs from Fresh Pond in Cambridge is seldom used and could more or less be the outline of a rail trail for the community.

Members of the Bicycle and Pedestrian Committee hope that an eventual trail will circumvent the high-traffic intersection at Watertown Square that proves so dangerous for cyclists and pedestrians.

?Getting through Watertown Square is daunting as it is, so this network would bypass that. That just makes sense,? said Deb Peterson, a member of the Bike and Pedestrian Committee.

A research team of graduate students from Tufts University?s Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning program are working with the town to determine just how a path could work.

?We?re trying to figure out areas we can put the path, what are the obstacles, what kinds of designs make sense for the community, for business owners and for residents,? said Kris Carter, a first-year student on the team.

Other than the section slated for construction this spring, the plan for the rest of the path is still uncertain.

?We hope that because this one segment is being built, we hope it will encourage more building,? Jameson said.

Next Thursday, the Tufts team will host a community meeting to solicit community input on the fate of the path. The students are also collecting surveys and are hoping residents will help spur some action on the path.

?We want to make sure residents and business owners have a say in what happens next,? Carter said.

The group is looking to identify all the property owners and working with them to discuss options for development.

?The idea is to have a way for people to get around town that isn?t cars,? Jameson said.
Click to expand...
 
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