Another Gap’s Gone On the Northern Strand Trail In Everett

12:42 PM EDT on July 12, 2023

A paved path extends under an overpass in the distance alongside railroad tracks with rusty boxcars and a power line corridor, which run along the right edge of the photo. To the left is a retaining wall and some exposed rebar from an under-construction bridge abutment. — A newly-built portion of the Northern Strand Path runs under two Revere Beach Parkway overpasses to connect the trail through the City of Everett.

Work on a long-delayed segment of the Northern Strand Trail is finally nearing completion in Everett this summer, opening up a car-free pathway from the Mystic River to Malden, Saugus, and Lynn.

Since the Northern Strand Trail first opened in 2021, there's been a short gap in the pathway at the Revere Beach Parkway (see map below).

The Northern Strand Trail in Everett. A new trail segment under the Revere Beach Parkway roadways (dashed line) is nearly complete and accessible for trail users, though it remains under construction.

The City of Everett had hoped to complete the trail through that gap in 2021. But workers ran into unforeseen issues with the abutments on the Revere Beach Parkway bridge.

That work is still ongoing, as seen in the photos below. But fences on either end of the worksite are gone, and trail users are free to pass through on a newly-paved trail under two highway bridges.

A paved path extends into the distance alongside power lines and railroad tracks, at the left edge of the photo, and an under-construction bridge abutment (right). In the distance is the copper-colored tower of the Encore Casino. — The Northern Strand Path, looking south towards the Encore Casino. A newly-built segment of the Northern Strand Trail in Everett passes under the Revere Beach Parkway to connect two existing trail segments on either side of the highway. Work on the adjacent bridge abutment (visible to the right) is still ongoing.

A paved path passes under a highway overpass. To the left is a wall of exposed rebar over a concrete abutment. In the distance, the trail continues under a sunny field and passes under a second highway overpass next to some railroad boxcars. — The southerly Revere Beach Parkway underpass of the Northern Strand Trail, pictured in July 2023. Significant work remains to be done to finish the new bridge abutment (at left).

The new trail segment passes under two highway underpasses and runs alongside an MBTA railroad maintenance yard.

The southerly underpass, pictured above, carries the six-lane Revere Beach Parkway.

A smaller bridge to the north (pictured below) carries a two-lane frontage road and a two-way protected bikeway between Sweetser and Santilli Circles.

A view under a highway overpass. In the foreground are overgrown railroad tracks; to the right is a chain link fence and a freshly-paved multi-use path, which extends under the bridge and continues under a second bridge in the distance. — Looking south from Spalding Street in Everett.

In between the two highways, the trail passes through a garbage-strewn no-man's land that is technically Department of Conservation and Recreation parkland.

As we reported earlier this summer, the state is planning another extension of the Northern Strand over the Mystic River. In 2024, construction will begin on a bridge to carry the trail over the river into Somerville.