In 1975, the Newton Conservation Commission published a visionary plan called the Charles River Pathway for linking the entire Charles River water front with walking paths from Cutler Park in Needham to Watertown Square.
In the intervening years, the DCR has built a large chunk of those trails. We now have immensely popular continuous walking trails that runs from Auburndale to Boston’s Science Museum and from Needham St to Millenium Park in West Roxbury. Somehow we dropped the ball with the river front from Needham St to Auburndale. This week’s editorial in the Tab (OK, I wrote it) describes a few concrete steps for furthering that vision in Upper Falls. A few others suggestions not mentioned in the editorial, include extending the new Lower Falls Bridge bike trail to Riverside, and wrapping a trail from Riverside around the bank of the Charles and connecting to the Recreation Rd park and Auburndale.
Can we connect the entire Newton river front with one continuous walking trail?
I was wondering about those “concrete steps” Jerry, because near your neighborhood in the Falls, there are areas where without some concrete we won’t be getting through (too narrow spots). But is concrete environmentally the best material?
ad – OK, I’ll change “describes a few concrete steps ” to “describes a few specific plans” 😉
Thank you for writing that editorial – this issue has been on my mind for years. The need for a fix is especially acute along Quinobequin Road, where there’s not even a sidewalk to jog on.
Y – yes, Quinnobequin is an under appreciated park land with a lot of untapped potential. I think that’s largely because it’s one of those unconnected islands of park land.
Jerry — Maybe I read it too fast but what is the “possible connection between Hemlock Gorge and the Quinnobequin land under Route 9”? I know that there was a thought to use the underpass that is now the (soon to be) reconstructed runoff dam. Is there some other plan?
From a personal view, if they found a good way to make walking along Quinnobequin safe up to the point that the path opens, that would be a great improvement. A sidewalk or stonedust walkway would do the trick if there’s room.
Hoss – I’m glad you asked. The Tab accidentally dropped a short paragraph so that portion didn’t make a lot of sense. Here’s the original:
I hope that’s clearer. With no or little water flow through that channel, there would be enough room to construct a wooden walkway though the channel’s underpass.
Jerry, you didn’t say anything in the editorial about the section between Auburndale and Quinobequin. What do you think is currently the best way between these points, and how can it be improved? Is there a path along the section of the river going through the Weston Country Club? Unfortunately getting there involves a pretty dicey 1/4 mile on Route 30 in Weston where there is no sidewalk or road shoulder, before turning left to Park Rd.
I’m no expert on that part of the river but here’s my thoughts.
An old RR right-of-way runs from the Riverside parking lot, over 128, alongside the golf course, between back yards of houses and across a bridge over the river to connect to Rt16 in Lower Falls. There was a plan to turn all of this into a walking/bike path. Local opposition in Lower Falls by abutters caused that plan to be scaled way back and the only piece that was built was the beautiful new bridge over the river and the short connection to Rt 16. I’d love to see the rest of that path eventually be built.
From Riverside, there’s two possible ways to connect to the Lasalle boat house – on the east side of the river there is already rough, non-maintained trails that people seem to use. Those could be turned into real trails. Alternatively, you might be able to connect on the west side of the river through the Recreation Rd parkland and over the existing pedestrian bridge.
From there you can go via relatively quiet back streets (Charles St) to Auburn St.
I have no idea if there are other good potential walking routes to connect from the Lasalle boat house to Rt 30 along the river. Does anyone else here know?
Y – the RR route I mentioned from Lower Falls to Riverside does cut off much of the chunk of the river you mentioned by the Weston Country club. I don’t know much about that area … maybe its time for an exploratory walk down there.
Many years ago, I took an AMC-led walking tour of the entire Charles River riverbank in Newton. As we walked around the front of the Marriott Hotel, our guide told us that when the hotel was first built, the owner agreed to an easement for a walking path along the Charles for the length of the property. However, the huge thicket of evergreen bushes planted years ago between the hotel and the riverbank have effectively blocked that route for decades. Does anyone know where to find a record of that easement?
@Bruce – Usually the city’s GIS system shows easements but I don’t see one there.
@Jerry. This was a very thoughtful piece you wrote for the Tab. I can’t believe that something good won’t come from it even if the final products aren’t exactly what you outlined and articulated. One again, you have primed the pump and caused many to think about something that can only enhance the community.
Bruce, check the online database for the South Middlesex County Register of Deeds.
I walked over to a friends’s house in West Roxbury yesterday. About 3/4 of the 6 mile walk was on trails in the woods, along the river. It’s such a shame that even though I live a block from the river near Echo Bride, the first mile of the trip in my neighborhood was one of the least pleasant parts of the trip and was on city streets.
If the city had followed through on its portion of the Charles River Pathway plan as the DCR has done so successfully, that portion of my walk would have been nearly all riverside trails by now. According to the Newton on-line GIS maps, the city appears to have acquired the necessary easements for most of this path years ago, but then dropped the ball. It appears that the city could extend the Charles River walking trail from Needham St to Lower Falls with very little effort and expense.