Boston to Blue Hills

Boston to Blue Hills

Creating a vision for walking, biking, and rolling connection from the Neponset River Greenway to the Blue Hills Reservation

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Boston to Blue Hills

The Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC) and the Neponset River Watershed Association (NepRWA) are conducting a community process to determine if community members are interested in a walking, biking, and rolling connection from the Neponset River to the Blue Hills Reservation. 

This project will have multiple opportunities for community engagement. To date, MAPC and NepRWA have met with numerous community groups, advocacy organizations, as well as local and state officials to hear their feedback. A full project timeline is available below.

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Background

The Blue Hills Reservation is one of the largest parks in the Boston region, with several high points, and relatively close access to open space to the City of Boston. Although it’s one of the most popular parks, it’s not easily accessible by foot, bike, or public transit. 

This project aims to create a vision for a continuous greenway corridor (or multiple) between Boston and the Blue Hills. We are broadly defining a “greenway” as a corridor of open space for walking, cycling and rolling. The greenway could be a combination of shared use paths and protected bike lanes (with adjacent sidewalks).  

There are several greenways that exist or are planned between downtown Boston and the Blue Hills, but they don’t all create a continuous connection to the places people may want to go. We’re hoping this project can help fill a long-overdue gap in the greenway network to allow more people to access the region’s largest public park by foot, bike, or other wheeled device. 

Note: By “rolling” we refer to other types of personal wheeled mobility besides bicycling, such as wheelchairs, walkers, scooters, mopeds, skateboards, and more. 

The Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) is working on a similar project to connect the Readville area to the Blue Hills via a walking, biking, and rolling connection. This is a separate, but related project. Learn more

Project Team

Throughout this project, if you have any questions or concerns, feel free to reach out to the project team. 

Marah Holland (Project Manager)
Senior Transportation Planner, MAPC
617-933-0748 

David Loutzenheiser
Senior Transportation Planner, MAPC

617-933-0743 

Najee Nunnally
Community Engagement Specialist, MAPC

617-933-0795

Andres Ripley
Greenways Manager, NepRWA

781-575-0354 x301

The Central Transportation Planning Staff (CTPS) to the Boston Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) recently finished a project to evaluate improved transit options from Boston to the Blue Hills. To learn more about their project, View the Final Story Map.

Project Timeline

Spring 2022 Project Begins
Summer - Fall 2022 Project team begins meeting with local, regional, and state partners 
Winter 2022 - 2023 Public survey open for feedback
Spring 2023 Site visits and in-person public engagement activities begin
Summer 2023 Draft vision is available for public review 
Fall 2023 Final vision is developed. Request for Proposals (RFP) is released for a consultant to develop a feasibility study 
Winter 2023 - 2024 Consultant is chosen and begins work 
Spring 2024 Public meeting to share feasibility study progress
Summer 2024 Final feasibility study is released for public review 

 

How Can I Be Involved?

There are numerous ways to get involved with the project and provide your input. Here are a few current and upcoming opportunities: 

Icon of map with a location arrow on it. Site Visit

Join a site visit in the spring or summer to look at possible routes.

Icon of two people with a two way arrow between them. Public Meeting

Join a public meeting to hear updates and share your thoughts.

Icon of an envelope Email List

Subscribe to our email list to stay updated on this project. 

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Follow this page for updates as the project progresses.

Resources

Landline: Our plan for a connected greenway network
LandLine is MAPC's vision to connect our greenways and trails into a seamless network. The plan has been developed in coordination with the LandLine Coalition, a group of 40 volunteers representing a number of local agencies and advocacy groups.


LivableStreets Alliance’s Emerald Network
The Emerald Network is a vision for 200 miles of seamless shared-use greenway paths in the urban core of Boston and its adjacent cities. 


Boston’s Green Links Project
Boston Green Links is a citywide plan to connect people in every neighborhood to Boston’s greenway network. We do this by installing new paths and bike facilities, and safer road crossings. 


Go Boston 2030
Go Boston 2030 is the City of Boston’s comprehensive transportation plan. This plan envisions a city where all residents have better and more equitable travel choices. 


Department of Conservation and Recreation’s (DCR) Parkways Master Plan
The Plan articulates a vision for an interconnected network of walkways and bikeways throughout metro Boston that provide residents of all ages and abilities with access to recreational destinations and healthy transportation opportunities.