Minuteman Bikeway

The Minuteman Commuter Bikeway in Lexington, with abandoned tracks from former use as a rail line

The Minuteman Bikeway is a 10-mile (16-kilometre)[1] paved multi-use rail trail located in the Greater Boston area of Massachusetts. It runs from Bedford to Alewife station, passing through Lexington and Arlington along the way.

Legend
 In Bedford:
to Reformatory Branch Rail Trail
South Road
Bedford Depot Park
to Narrow Gauge Rail Trail
Elm Brook
Wiggins Avenue
in Lexington:
Hartwell Ave to Hanscom AFB

I-95 MA Route 128
Bedford Street (Routes 4, 225)
Revere Street
Camellia Pl. - Hancock Ave.
Lexington Depot
Woburn Street
Site of B&M's Munroe station

Pierce's Bridge (Maple Street)

to Arlington’s Great Meadows trails
Sickle Brook - Mill Brook
Site of B&M's East Lexington station
in Arlington:
Drake Rd.
to Arlington Reservoir Area
Site of B&M's Arlington Heights station

Park Ave.

Lowell St.
Forest St.
Ryder St.
Site of B&M's Brattles station

Brattle St.
Grove St.
Site of B&M's Arlington Centre station
Massachusetts Ave. (U.S. Route 3)
Spy Pond Field

Spy Pond

Linwood St.
Site of B&M's Lake St. station
Lake Street
to Alewife Brook Greenway

Massachusetts Route 2
in Cambridge:

to Fitchburg Cutoff Path
to Alewife Linear Park
Alewife station
 MBTA Red Line

The Minuteman Bikeway runs from Bedford to the Alewife station at the northern end of the Red Line in Cambridge. It passes through the towns of Lexington and Arlington on the way. Also along the route are several notable regional sites, including Alewife Brook Reservation, Spy Pond, "Arlington’s Great Meadows" (actually located in Lexington), the Battle Green in Lexington, and Hanscom Air Force Base.

At its Cambridge terminus, the bikeway connects with four other bike paths:

Plans are underway to extend the Somerville Community Path to downtown Boston, which would create a much larger continuous bikeway accessible from the Minuteman.

At the Bedford end, the Minuteman Bikeway connects with the Narrow Gauge Rail Trail and the Reformatory Branch Rail Trail.[4]

History

Map from 1946, where Boston & Maine Railroad (B&M) passes along the route of today's Minuteman Bikeway

The path comprising the current Minuteman Bikeway has a long history. The trail closely approximates the route that Paul Revere took on his famous ride in 1775, which heralded the beginning of the American Revolution.

Along the way to becoming a railroad, the path's right-of-way was laid out east of Lexington in 1846 by the Lexington and West Cambridge Railroad and west of Lexington in 1873 by the Middlesex Central Railroad.

Railbanking of the line was first proposed in 1974, three years before passenger rail service was discontinued, and a full seven years before rail service was discontinued altogether (in 1981). In 1991, the final plan for the conversion was approved, and construction started on the original section of the bikeway. The path was dedicated in 1992 and completed the following year.[5]

In 1998 the bikeway was extended from East Arlington to Alewife station (in Cambridge). In 2002 it was repaved in Arlington and in 2004 the Bedford Depot Park Enhancement Project was completed at its western terminus.[5]

In 2008, the bikeway was the fifth inductee into the national Rail-Trail Hall of Fame by the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy.[6]

The property is currently owned by the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority and leased to the municipalities through which it passes on an interim basis. The MBTA at one point planned to use this right-of-way to extend the Red Line to Arlington Center and Arlington Heights.[7]

Beginning in Spring 2015, the crossing of the path through Arlington Center is expected to be rebuilt to be less discontinuous.[8][9]

Uses

Area residents use the bikeway for a host of activities, including bicycling, walking, jogging, and inline skating. The main use of the path, however, is for casual biking.[5] In the winter there is often enough snow on the bikeway for cross-country skiing. However, it is now plowed from Alewife Station to Bedford.[10][11] No motorized vehicles are allowed except for powered wheelchairs and emergency vehicles.

Future possibilities

New connections under contemplation include one from Lexington to the Battle Road Trail and one to the Charles River bike path via Fresh Pond Reservation and the abandoned Watertown Branch Railroad. A portion of the latter path, at the Watertown end, has been completed and design work on the remaining section to Cambridge is expected to be finished in 2016.[12]

In April 2014, state officials announced that the Somerville Community Path would be extended alongside the Green Line Extension, creating a continuous 4.5 mile route from the Minuteman Bikeway to Boston’s Charles River Bike Path.[13] However, in May 2016 Green Line Extension was revised to save money and the path will terminate at Washington Street, Somerville, from there bike riders will have to use city streets, including the McGrath Highway, to reach the Charles River Bike Path and downtown Boston.[14]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Some sources list it erroneously as 11 miles. The confusion arises because the mile marker at the beginning of the trail in Bedford is 1 instead of 0. Wikipedia editors have measured the distance as shown on maps and in Google Earth, and it appears to be 10 miles to within a few hundredths of a mile. For further verification, see: Project for Public Spaces or About the Lexington Branch
  2. ↑ "Alewife Brook Greenway Corridor Improvement Project". Town of Arlington, MA. July 11, 2012. Retrieved 2013-08-15.
  3. ↑ "Patrick-Murray Administration Obligates 100% of ARRA Highway Funding One Month Ahead of Schedule". 2010-02-10. Retrieved 2010-03-02.
  4. ↑ Rail-Trails at Bedford Depot Park
  5. 1 2 3 Viser, Matt (2007), "Rage on the bikeway", The Boston Globe, Volume 272, Number 1, 2007-07-01, p.A1.
  6. ↑ Minuteman Bikeway inducted into Rail-Trail Hall of Fame
  7. ↑ http://boston.curbed.com/archives/2014/02/the-red-line-stops-in-arlington-and-lexington.php
  8. ↑ Project Update: September 25, 2014
  9. ↑ Map of Preferred Alternative - Arlington Center Safe Travel Project, March 21, 2013
  10. ↑ Gilsdorf, Ethan (June 29, 2008). "Popular bike trail gets even better". boston.com. Retrieved 2009-06-11.
  11. ↑ http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2010/01/24/on_minuteman_bikeway_in_winter_beginning_to_see_their_way_clear/
  12. ↑ http://www.mass.gov/eea/docs/dcr/news/public-meetings/materials/projects/2015-11-30-watertown-cambridge-presentation-c.pdf
  13. ↑ Conway, Abby Elizabeth (30 April 2014). "Somerville Bike Path To Extend To Boston". WBUR. Retrieved 3 May 2014.
  14. ↑ Report to the MBTA Fiscal and Management Control Board and the MassDOT Board of Directors, Green Line Extension Project Interim Project Management Team, submitted May 9, 2016
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