The planning for the Riverside development project has been unfolding over recent years. It’s a big project combining housing, retail and office on the site of the Riverside train station. Like all big projects it has elicited a variety of concerns from the nearby neighborhoods- traffic impact, school impact, etc. Much of the energy and discussion has been focused on the possible downsides of the development.
I’d like to shine a light on a possible upside to the project – The Riverside Pathway. This is a fairly simple, low cost plan that could be added to this proposal that would be a wonderful new amenity, particularly for the people of Lower Falls as well as the rest of Newton’s citizens. Many people have been working for some time on essential pieces that will be needed to construct this trail. Now’s the time to focus on the entire trail as an easily achievable goal.
Lower Falls is effectively an island. It’s cut off from the rest of Newton by Route 128 and the primary links to the mainland of Newton are by two busy roads. (Rt 16 and Grove St). There is an unused railroad bridge (#1 and #2 on map) that connects Lower Falls directly to the Riverside property. For the price of a pair of boltcutters, the gate to that bridge could be opened and Lower Falls would have a new pedestrian footpath to Riverside Station on the ‘mainland’. The path would start at Deforest Rd in Lower Falls and cross Rt 128 (#1) and 128 exit ramp (#2). Between the #1 and #2 railroad bridges there’s a small strip of woods between the teaming highway that’s a pleasant little surprise.
Just as is, the path is certainly walkable. The railroad tracks and ties are long gone but the surface is railroad gravel – not the best walking surface. Dumping dirt on top of the gravel and rolling it would be a simple and cheap big improvement. Chances are there’ll be truck loads of dirt on site once the construction begins.
Once inside the Riverside property, some sort of walking path would need to be included in the new Riverside development project to get pedestrians from there, across the property to Riverside T station (#3). As part of the development project, this is a relatively simple piece.
Opening up that piece of the footpath by itself would be of great benefit to Lower Falls’ers on foot but it could also be the start of a 3/4 mile long river walk that would connect to Riverside Park and extend all the way to the Lasell boathouse.
Continuing on the red route on the map, the path would run along the hillside between the Riverside property and the Charles River to the existing unused pedestrian underpass (#6) under the commuter rail tracks. At the moment, there is a very rough, little used trail along that hillside. With little effort and expense that existing trail could be turned into a real walking trail and be connected to Riverside.
Halfway along that hillside path there is a lovely wrought iron pedestrian bridge (#4) that has just been beautifully restored by the DCR. The bridge crosses the river to the Recreation Rd Park (#5) which is a sizable and pleasant chunk of riverfront public parkland in Weston. At the moment, that bridge is a bit of a mystery. It’s a beautifully restored bridge to nowhere on the Newton side of the river since there seems to be no officially sanctioned public access.
Continuing along, the trail would pass through the pedestrian underpass (#6) below the commuter rail.
That underpass looks a bit shabby at the moment but some trash clearing and a coat of paint would work wonders. You’d probably want to put up a fence to keep the trail separated from the commuter rail tracks. The trail would then continue down to the Lasell boat house to another pedestrian bridge (#7) across the Charles that I believe is already scheduled to be refurbished soon. Alongside the boat house is another under utilized DCR park with picnic tables and a playing field.
From here a pedestrian can walk down quiet Charles St to Auburn St and into Auburndale.
Over recent years, many people have been working on some of the details of this plan. In fact this plan was first laid out in detail way back in 1975 by the Newton Conservation Commission. What needs to happen next, to make it a reality, is to treat it as a single integrated project and to tie it in to the Riverside redevelopment project. We need the DCR, the MBTA, the City of Newton, the Riverside developer, the Conservation Commission and the neighbors to work together on this.
The entire route from Lower Falls to the Lasell Boat House is 3/4 miles, most of it along the river front. This portion of the river has long been neglected since it’s encircled by highways, ramps, and rail yards. Despite all the nearby traffic, once you get down to the riverfront it’s quite pleasant and scenic.
Back in 1898 this stretch of river was described like this: “Within ten miles of Boston, there is a stretch of river scenery that cannot be surpassed in the United States”. Now with 128 and the Pike in the immediate neighborhood, this portion of the river will never live up to that 19th century description, but there are still plenty of modest pleasures to be had there.
Over the last 25 years or so, the Dept of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) wove together waterfront paths that stretch from Watertown to Auburndale along the river. This path system has quietly grown into one of the most treasured natural assets of the citizens of Newton. It’s time to continue that work further upstream. The Riverside project presents the perfect opportunity to create a new 3/4 mile of riverfront path. Best of all The Riverside Pathway can be done quickly and extremely cheaply using existing public land and infrastructure that’s now being wasted.
Go Jerry!
and can’t this also tie into the development? Aren’t there proposed paths on the property (in the special permit) to get to a river outlook?
@Adam – I’m just the messenger. There’s been lots of people working on this for quite a while. I’m just trying to help focus some attention on it.
@Adam – Yes, I believe there are proposed paths on the Riverside property and a river overlook platform in the current plans. Those would definitely be part of this, and be tied in.
Yes, dumping dirt on the path would be simple and cheap. The problems with that approach are that the dirt will leave your shoes dirty, will turn to mud when it gets wet, and will grow weeds that will need mowing or will become difficult to walk through. That’s why a stone dust surface is nice. It’s permeable, but not a good growing surface, and stays pretty clean. It does cost more money though.
Sounds like there’s a lot of DCR land involved in all of this. Maybe this is a simple matter of lobbying, petitioning, buttonholing…
Jerry, an(other) outstanding idea.
An alternative to going under the commuter rail tracks is to wrap around the base of the railroad bridge with a deck, like at Hemlock Gorge. This provides an accessible, at-grade path from the DCR park. Renovating the rail underpass is also a good choice, but probably expensive and not obviously ADA accessible.
@Jim – if someone can come up with the cash for a stone dust trail -great. If not, I’d be perfectly happy with a plain dirt trail. There’s miles of them all over the city that I use now. Yes they can get a bit muddy after rain abd require periodic trimming but that’s fine by me.
@Nathan -I’ll have to head down there and take a look at that bridge.
The Charles River Pathway on the north side of the city from Bridge Street to North Street is just a dirt path. There is boardwalk in one swampy place, but that is it.
I have neighbors who bike to work in Cambridge whenever the weather’s decent and can take the pathway by the river most of the way.
I just realized something. Even though Margaret Albright has a demanding day job that often requires downtown meetings, even though she’s on the School Committee and a leading member of other Newton civic related organizations, she also makes good blog posts in the Newton blogosphere.
If anyone would like a walking tour of the proposed route, join me on
SaturdaySunday at 1PM at the Lasell boat house. We can walk the route, talk about details and alternatives, etc. The route will be a bit dicey in parts so wear some footwear suitable to rougher terrain. If you never been down there, it’s an interesting and little known corner of the city, so come check it out.From Auburn St in Auburndale, follow Charles St under the Turnpike, bear right and go to the end to the boathouse.
Send me an email at [email protected] if you’re planning on coming … or just show up.
Let’s make that Sunday at 1 PM instead – Less chance of rain.
@Josh, I’ve been involved in open space issues in the city for more than 20 years. I’m really glad Jerry is championing this. Filling in the missing segments of the Charles River Pathway has been a dream of many open space advocates for decades.
BTW – Last year, the city re-wrote it’s official “Recreation and Open Space Plan”. One of the goals mentioned there was further developing the Charles River Pathway system – which this project would certainly do.
Also, in preparation for re-writing that plan, the city hosted an on-line Open Space Survey and encouraged citizens to answer a long series of questions about their priorities and what they most valued about Newton park lands.
Unfortunately, I don’t have a link to the survey results handy but as I remember the results, in question after question, citizens mentioned walking trails and ‘passive recreation’ as being their most important priorities.
Jerry – for those who are interested but don’t know the location, where’s the Lasell boat house?
Mgwa – directions are above. (Auburn st to Charles st, under the pike, bear right to end)
Jerry – Oops, sorry I missed that. Brain-fogged with a cold :(
The city’s Open Space survey results are here: http://www.newtonma.gov/gov/planning/lrplan/os/survey.asp
and the 2013-2019 Open Space Plan is here http://www.newtonma.gov/civicax/filebank/documents/46818
Ten hikers turned up today to walk the mile and a half round trip of the Riverside Pathway today. Walking and talking, the crew checked out the route, discussed needed improvements and potential obstacles. Here’s a few photos from the walk.
Nice walk! In almost 20 years of living in Newton, I had no idea that these paths existed. Sorry to have missed the party; I, my wife and a couple of our kids came along a little later. We couldn’t figure out how to get over Route 128, so we followed Recreation Road back to the restored footbridge.
Sorry we missed you Robert. FYI just before you get to the ramp to Recreation Rd u head up the hill yo the corner of the fence around Riverside. Just around the corner you step up to the old RR bridge across 128.
Jerry, I wish I could have joined you also, but had a play to go to. What is this Lasell boathouse used for? Do they have a crew team?
Yes, I believe so. Although there’s not much going on there this time of year.
@Robert Welbourne. I joined today’s walk. I’ve lived here most of my 77 years and had no idea this adjunct area to the old Norumbega Park even existed. The main thing I came away with was the potential for a great trail here that interconnects with other trails in the City. I also came away with a layman’s feeling that this can be done safely and expeditiously with rather inexpensive improvements and upgrades. I’m in one of the pictures with Jonathan Yeo on top of the big hill that borders 128. There’s a fantastic view to Prospect Hill and beyond. This could be a kind of centerpiece for this trail system if some way could be found to fence off the top from 128 which I think is more than 100 feet below.
Safety first.
Several months ago, the state police closed the tunnel access under the MBTA tracks, cutting off the only decent riverside connection between Auburndale and Lower Falls. The reason for this action is revealed below:
“statement from the MBTA’s Commuter Rail Department:
This underpass was closed at the specific direction of the State Police who recently got involved due to the police that demanded that it be closed while they were present to make certain it was closed.
The underpass is a long abandoned remnant of the former Station that used to exist on the site – the underpass connected the two platforms. No one is authorized to use the underpass as its entrances are very close to the live tracks. MBTA personnel do not use the underpass and we would like to remove it permanently as it is liability. There are a number of issues with this structure beyond just the brickwork. The brick lining has become delaminated and is falling. Recently, a rabbit was fatally hurt by a falling brick which prompted the State Police involvement.
The MBTA does not have any plans to reopen this underpass. Thank you.”
@Nathan. Thanks for posting this. A few weeks back I went to the tunnel area to retrace the route that Jerry, Jonathan Yeo and others took on the bright February day two years ago. I meant to comment at that time.
I seem to recall it was one of the very few nice days between several extended periods of snow and cold weather. I don’t want to second guess the MBTA, but it seems to me that some basic reconstruction and repairs including handrails at the stairs could have made the tunnel area safe and secure. This certainly puts a crimp in any plan for a Riverside Pathway.
If I read that correctly, the state police closed it because of a dead rabbit?
@Chuck: Sounds like the hare got brained!
Closing the tunnel also rules out rabbit transit!
wow, this is interesting… I sent this to DCR (not sure if they are in charge of this part of Charles)
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is there a plan to develop Riverside Pathway.
I took a bike ride today from Wellesley via Recreation Road (maybe it’s Weston) , cross over what looks like a newly restored bridge that leads to nowhere…
Also in the afternoon tried to cross Charles river next to Lasell College Boathouse on Charles Street in Newton but that bridge is fenced off.
So there’s a new bridge that crosses Charles River but leads nowhere and there’s Recreation Road access but another bridge is falling apart and fenced off…
Either of the passes would be nice to cross from Weston/Wellesley onto Newton.
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Our local State Rep, Kay Kahn, has been really trying to get this going. Twice she’s put together on-site meetings with representatives from the DCR, the MBTA, Lasell College, City of Newton and neighborhood supporters in an effort to jump start this project. Each time the various parties voice general support for the idea of this trail but to date not much has happened.
Most recently we’ve had a significant step backward when the MBTA closed the underpass at Charles Street that goes under the railroad tracks. I wish I had more concrete progress to report. What I’ve learned so far is that anything that involves many overlapping jurisdictions and city/state entities typically moves at a glacial pace. I still have hope that we will ultimately get there largely because Rep Kahn continues to be pretty steadfast and tenacious in trying to get the DCR, MBTA, City of Newton and Lasell to make this happen.
To add to the mix, the state is beginning to think about that the I-90/128 interchange will look like without the toll plaza. I heard that there will be discussions soon about reconstructing and possibly removing ramps. Most of that is on the Weston side of the river, but it’s another agency and another project in the works. Perhaps it’s an opportunity to open up more river access? Maybe Rep. Khan can encourage MassDOT to contribute to the trail as some sort of environmental and/or alternative transportation improvement?
I’ve been walking and biking, rowing and kayaking through that beautiful area since 1974.
IMO, the underpass at the old Riverside commuter rail stop could be easily renovated into a viable part of the path, and safely separated from the train tracks.
Rethink the grade. Get rid of the stairs on the South side and make a smooth transition exiting straight out from the grade at the floor of the underpass to a path heading down the bank towards the beautifully restored footbridge to Recreation Rd. Fork left and create another accessible path rising up to run parallel to the existing rails to the back of Riverside Green Line Station.
Nobody wants to walk through a tunnel that ends in a blind turn up a flight of stairs – that’s just not safe.