Just in time for the darkest days of the winter, the City of Somerville has finished its installation of new lighting along its Community Path, a segment of the Mass. Central Rail Trail.
Lighting along several segments of the Community Path was value-engineered out of the path's original construction, which was part of the much larger Green Line extension project.
For the first two years since its opening in early 2023, segments of the path in the industrial Brickbottom neighborhood, between the East Somerville station and the Red Bridge overpass, had been particularly dark at night:
After the City of Somerville took over control of the path in early 2023, the municipal government was free to install additional lighting with its own funds.
In the past year, contractors installed new downward-facing lights and electrical conduit to the underside of the steel railing between the path and the Green Line tracks.
The new lighting illuminates about half a mile of the path in the vicinity of the East Somerville Green Line station.
According to a City of Somerville press release, the lights are programmed to automatically turn on at sunset and off at sunrise.
The City of Somerville is considering additional safety upgrades to the Community Path, particularly where it intersects with city streets. To learn more about that project, visit voice.somervillema.gov/communitypathsafety.
