The Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) Division of Urban Parks owns much of the shoreline as the Neponset River Reservation, including an abandoned railway line which is in the process of becoming the ISTEA-funded Neponset Trail, a rail-trail from the mouth of the estuary at Tenean Beach in the Port Norfolk neighborhood of Dorchester, through the Pope John Paul II Park, along a salt marsh, then parallelling the "High Speed Line" trolley toward Mattapan, as part of the Neponset River Masterplan.

Pope John Paul II Park, next to the Southeast Expressway on the estuary of the river, which contains 1/4-mile of the Trail, opened on May 1, 2001. The rest of the trail, downstream to Port Norfolk and upstream to Central Ave. in Milton, has been cleared of contaminated soil which was found along much of the railroad right of way. Construction went out to bid in April 2001, and bids were received by May 2. Construction started in September 2001, and by January 2002, the trail was paved except for a stretch along the salt marsh. Paving of that segment was completed during the second week of October 2002. A future extension along the harbor (actually still the Neponset estuary) from Victory Road in Dorchester to Morrissey Boulevard on an easement between the Boston Gas tank and the Southeast Expressway has been designed, and funding came through in the fall of 2001; construction should start if post-9/11 security concerns can be addressed. A future extension along the river to Mattapan is possible, as are bikelanes on the Truman Parkway along the Neponset River from Mattapan to Readville. Development of a masterplan for this part of the river will precede any construction. A path along the Mother Brook, a major tributary of the Neponset in Dedham and Hyde Park, is being studied.

The Neponset River Watershed includes all or portions of the communities of Boston, Canton, Dedham, Dover, Foxboro, Medfield, Milton, Norwood, Quincy, Randolph, Sharon, Stoughton, Walpole, and Westwood.

The Boston Natural Areas Fund and the Trust for Public Land completed sequential 4-year and 3-year grants to develop community support and a vision for a greenway including the MDC's current project, but extending all the way from the mouth of the river to Readville, Boston's southernmost neighborhood.

Contacts

Greenway Council MassBike Representative: Doug Mink (email)

Last updated May 19, 2005

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