Recent Streetsblog MASS posts about DCR

Walking from one side of McGrath Highway to the other along Mystic Avenue requires pedestrians to cross multiple highway ramps and walk along "sidewalks" like this one, in the middle of the roadway.

Somerville Preps Petitions for Lower Speed Limits on State-Controlled ‘Corridor of Death’

By Christian MilNeil | Feb 7, 2023 | No Comments

A new roadway safety law enacted at the end of December created a new process by which local municipalities could petition state agencies to reduce speed limits on state-owned roadways within their boundaries.

A high level overview showing the scope of DCR’s Arborway Parkways Improvement Project in Boston's Jamaica Plain neighborhood from Jamaica Pond (upper left corner) to Kelley Circle, Murray Circle (middle) and continuing alongside the Arnold Arboretum just past Forest Hills Road.

Changes Coming to Jamaica Plain’s Arborway Parkway

By Grecia White | Dec 30, 2022 | No Comments

In the Jamaica Plain neighborhood, the ongoing redesign project for the Arborway Parkway continues advancing closer to the final design phase with the goal of improving safety and accessibility for all corridor users including bicyclists and pedestrians. Serving as one of the links connecting a string of parks along Boston's Emerald Necklace, the Arborway extends […]

A historic black-and-white photograph of Charlesgate Park before the Bowker Overpass and Storrow Drive existed. The photo is taken from an elevated vantage point looking down at the Muddy River and the bridges that carry Commonwealth Avenue, Beacon Street, and Back Street over it. In the foreground two Model T-type cars drive along a mostly empty Commonwealth Avenue while a man crosses the street on foot in front of them. In the background is the Charles River and the Harvard Bridge, and the Great Dome of MIT is visible on the other side of the river in a mostly industrial riverfront district in Cambridge.

MassDOT Plans to Tweak Its Highway ‘Blunder’ in Back Bay

By Christian MilNeil | Dec 14, 2022 | No Comments

Under the agency's current plans, the Bowker Overpass, the four-lane highway viaduct which effectively obliterated Boston's Charlesgate Park in the mid-1960s, will remain in place for at least another decade.

A photo illustration of a proposed new shared-use path. A wide, paved path runs through the middle of the image and is lined on both sides by trees and shade. To the left is a wooden guardrail and a two-lane roadway.

DCR Proposes New Trail Connection from Hyde Park to Blue Hills

By Grecia White | Nov 17, 2022 | No Comments

Monday evening, the Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) presented conceptual design plans to connect the Neponset River Greenway to the Blue Hills via new and upgraded multi-use paths. Spanning 8.2 miles, the Neponset River Greenway begins in the Boston neighborhood of Dorchester and runs along the Neponset River through the neighborhoods of Hyde Park, […]

A small patch of fresh asphalt on a bike path running through the dappled shade of trees in the Southwest Corridor park

DCR Promises a Smoother Ride Is Coming Soon to the Southwest Corridor

By Grecia White | Sep 23, 2022 | No Comments

The agency will make more permanent repairs where tree roots had previously broken the pavement on the popular bikeway, and will also remove bumpy cobblestone curb ramps where the trail crosses local streets.

A rendering of the proposed Mass. Central Rail Trail bridge over the MBTA Fitchburg Line. The project proposes to highlight abandoned rail infrastructure, including the "tell-tale" that was intended to warn train crews about overhead obstructions ahead. Courtesy of Mass. DCR.

Planning Underway for Mass. Central Rail Trail Link Over I-95 in Waltham, Weston

By Christian MilNeil | Sep 19, 2022 | 1 Comment

The proposed trail is less than a mile long, but it would connect two much longer MCRT segments in Waltham and Weston.

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