On a beautiful Friday afternoon like today, I sometimes choose to bike the scenic route home. Today that meant a trip down the Upper Falls Greenway as opposed to the more direct line of taking Needham Street between my office and Winchester Street.
I’ve done this a few times and recently I run into the same issue: at the end of the Greenway a pair of trucks and a row of carefully placed granite block the route off. It’s understood that these also block the entrance if you’re entering from that point.
This isn’t a fluke and it isn’t an accident, I’ve now seen it three times and appears to be a concerted effort to reduce bike traffic. In the picture I posted you can clearly see a truck backed up against a large, deep puddle with another truck pulled up nearby. That doesn’t leave enough room to bike through; I need to get off the bike and navigate around the truck.
As far as I understand, the right of way is supposed to provide for access.
The granite blocks that border the path (carefully pushed together as to prevent cycling access, but not pedestrian access) leave the only accessible point as being a bit of overgrowth and some steep inclines. To give a sense of how tough these are to ride on, Nicole Freedman, Newton’s director of transportation and an Olympic cyclist, once went over her handlebars trying to get onto the Greenway by riding down these short inclines.
I noticed it last summer at one point as well. And it did seem intentional.
It has to do with the rights related to prescriptive easement. If a private property owner does not assert the blocking and prevention of yearly travel on a regular basis, an adverse possession by default based on tacit approval will usually prevail in court.
I don’t believe National Lumber has he easement. I think it’s the street. Also, as gas as I understand, the property where NewTV is, is required to allow access.
Isn’t National Lumber is encroaching on the MBTA land where the Greenway ends? (where adverse possession does not apply) As far as I know, National Lumber has always been good to the community, so I’d hope they will find a way to be more accommodating.
According to Shane Mark, Easy St. is a private road with right of way entry for utilities serving the abutting properties. That’s why the Greenway is restricted to a limited access point. We further explored ROW up to and inclusive of the encroached upon National Lumber – legal matter. Hall doesn’t have the appetite to challenge with executive turnover on the horizon. Hopefully, new occupant of corner office will have a more established priority instinct and leadership directive.
The encroachment matter (where lumber is stored just past the end of the Greenway) is between National Lumber and the state. Those trucks may very well be parked on National Lumber property, but the hypocrisy is clear. Hopefully NL can show more goodwill to the community.
Upper Falls neighborhood NewtonServes project today was working in the Greenway. There was a great turnout including a good sized group of Avalon residents who did a great job up on their end of the trail. I was working up that end this morning and the trail was looking good. I did take a stroll up to the end and the National Lumber trucks were indeed blocking the entrance today.
The planning report for the greenway talked about encroachment. The state map of property boundaries (unofficial, but usually pretty good) is on line at MassGIS OLIVER site, if you’re interested. What it shows:
Easy Street is public up to the back of the building at 19-31 Needham (NewTV is in that one). It’s an office condo, and that condo owns the top of Easy Street, up to the railroad RoW that is being used as the greenway. Natonal Lumber is to its north, but does not own any of Easy St.
The railroad property itself is 80 feet wide. National Lumber apparently has Stuff stacked on that property, beyond their own property line. The MBTA itself owns a sliver of land behind the 49 Winchester (Create-a-cook) building, reaching Curtis St.
I don’t see how National Lumber has any right to block the RoW or any exits from it.
My understanding is that National Lumber arranged a lease with the MBTA to continue using the land where they had formerly been encroaching, where there yard is.
That said, they shouldn’t be blocking the entrance with their trucks. I believe the city is on the case to get this resolved soon.