This project will dedicate half of the mile-long Greenough Boulevard to recreational use and complete a 2½ mile Herter-Greenough loop path linking three cities together.
Greenough Boulevard is twice as wide as needed to accommodate all traffic.
Greenough Boulevard crowds the river's edge and degrades the experience for park visitors.
By committing half the road to recreational use, there is ample room for walkers, runners, and cyclists. (Artist's rendering)
This is one of the most bucolic stretches of the Charles River Basin.
Pedestrians, runners, and cyclists are all crowded to the shore where erosion results.
Putting Greenough Boulevard on a "road diet" will limit cars to the inner two lanes of this four lane roadway, reduce the amount of asphalt next to the river, and restore valuable parkland, while accommodating the same volume of automobile traffic.
Greenough Boulevard crowds the banks of the river and provides minimal separation between pedestrians, cyclists, and cars along most of the corridor. High speed roads and the lack of safe crosswalks make it very difficult to reach Greenough Boulevard or Herter Park on foot. Despite these drawbacks, these sinuous, tree-lined banks along the river are among the most beautiful in the entire Charles River Basin.
A narrowed roadway and expanded river park will reclaim this greenway and complete the Herter/Greenough loop path. It will also extend the tremendously popular Sunday closures of Memorial Drive up river on a year-round basis. A 2½ mile Herter-Greenough loop made accessible by new crosswalks at several intersections will serve tens of thousands of residents in the cities of Boston, Cambridge, and Watertown.
Livable Streets Alliance
Civic leaders from three communities
Alta Planning and Design