The Battle Road Scenic Byway: Road to Revolutions

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Byway Resources, Stories, and Boundaries

Community Forums in each Battle Road Scenic Byway town (Concord, Lincoln, Lexington, and Arlington) were held in December 2009 and January 2010.

See below for highlights from these meetings.

One Road, Many Revolutions! The American Revolution started here. World-renowned classic literature was written here. The environmental movement was seeded here. Innovations in aerospace and electronics technology were developed here.

The Battle Road follows the approximate path of the British regulars during the battles that marked the start of the American Revolution on April 19, 1775 – where the “shot heard round the world” was fired. The byway runs roughly parallel to Route 2 along approximately fifteen miles of roads in the communities of Arlington, Lexington, Lincoln, and Concord, including part of the Minute Man National Historical Park. Not only is this route famous for its role in the American Revolution; The Battle Road Scenic Byway is a Road to Revolutions because of literary, environmental, and technological revolutions that have occurred along the Byway throughout its history through today.

The communities of Arlington, Lexington, Lincoln, and Concord, the Minute Man National Historical Park, MAPC, and the Massachusetts Executive Office of Transportation are collaborating to help conserve this historic route and to highlight its archaeological, cultural, historic, natural, recreational, and scenic qualities. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts officially designated The Battle Road Scenic Byway on November 6, 2006. With funding from the Federal Highway Administration’s Scenic Byways program and a match from the Massachusetts Highway Department, MAPC is developing a Corridor Management Plan for the byway in conjunction with the project partners, to be completed in the spring of 2011.

The Corridor Management Plan

A Corridor Management Plan (CMP) is a written document that specifies the goals, strategies, and responsibilities for conserving and enhancing a scenic byway’s most valuable qualities. The CMP can address issues such as tourism development, roadway safety, roadway signs, and preservation of historic structures. Using words, pictures, and maps, the CMP provides an assessment of current conditions, a realistic set of goals for the future of the byway, and a commitment to taking steps towards those goals. The process of developing a CMP includes inventories of the intrinsic qualities that form the byway’s story; public outreach, involvement and participation; and developing recommendations and implementation steps.

Development of the CMP will assist the four towns and the Minute Man National Historical Park in reaching agreement about how best to preserve the area’s intrinsic resources while expanding economic opportunities, developing a balanced tourism industry, and accommodating future development. The work of creating the CMP will be carried out by MAPC staff in partnership with and oversight from a Working Group composed of representatives from each community, the MMNHP and MAPC. The CMP process and approval will occur with local participation and control, and the Selectmen in each town will have approval authority for acceptance of the final CMP.

Byway Resources, Stories, and Boundaries

Community Forums held in December 2009 and January 2010 are an opportunity to provide input on the following draft documents.

DRAFT Byway Resource Inventory Spreadsheet Updated 12/15/09
DRAFT Battle Road Scenic Byway Story/Themes Updated 12/15/09
DRAFT Overview Map of The Battle Road Scenic Byway
DRAFT Map of the Byway Resources in Arlington Updated 12/15/09
DRAFT Map of the Byway Resources in Lexington Updated 12/15/09
DRAFT Map of the Byway Resources in Lincoln Updated 12/15/09
DRAFT Map of the Byway Resources in Concord Updated 12/15/09
Presentation given in each town: Byway Resources, Stories, and Boundaries: A Community Forum

December 14, 2009 Concord Community Forum Highlights:

Concord Community Forum Photos

December 16, 2009 Lincoln Community Forum Highlights:

Lincoln Community Forum Photos

January 14, 2010 Lexington Community Forum Highlights:

Lexington Community Forum Photos

January 28, 2010 Arlington Community Forum Highlights:

Arlington Community Forum Photos

Project Documents

Project Maps

Map of the Battle Road Scenic Byway
Sampling of Resources in Arlington, MA
Sampling of Resources in Lexington, MA
Sampling of Resources in Lincoln, MA
Sampling of Resources in Concord, MA
See Byway Resources, Stories, and Boundaries above for links to detailed resource maps for each town
See Roadway Subcommittee information below for links to roadway-specific maps
See Google Earth Virtual Tours below to explore the byway with interactive maps

Google Earth Virtual Tours

Please Note: The Virtual Tours listed above are based on how they were presented during our public community forums. As such, the information in the individual .kmz files overlaps with the other files. In time, we may simplify the tours by eliminating redundant information, but until then the best thing to do is turn on and off individual layers to view what you would like to see. Please contact Manisha Bewtra if you have questions about using the Google Earth Virtual Tours.