Neponset River Greenway: August 2000

[September 1999] [October 1999] [November 1999] [March 2000] [May 2000] [August 2000] [October 2000] [May 2001] [October 2001] [January 2002] [July 2002] [November 2002] [March 2003]	Neponset River Trail: On to Construction! September 1, 2000 Over one million dollars has been spent removing lead- and arsenic-contaminated soil from the right-of-way on which the Neponset Trail will run in Milton and Boston. After that part of the project was completed in June, the site was prepared, Federal funds were match (and more), and the rest of the construction will be entirely covered by ISTEA Enhancements money. Due to changes in the landscape required by the cleanup, new construction drawings had to be prepared. The same company, Planners Collaborative, which did the original drawings did the new ones for the main part of the trail.	Neponset Trail after cleanup behind Keystone Apartments in Dorchester
	There is enough money to build a connection on an easement between the Boston Gas tank and the Southeast Expressway, almost to the existing path around Columbia Point. The Greenway Council was given the choice of waiting a bit for the MDC to design that path or proceeding with the main trail immediately and putting of the connection until another day. We voted to wait for the drawings, possibly delaying paving until 2001, but getting a longer path when it is done. Even with the delay, path construction should go out to bid during September 2000, with construction starting by late fall. It is unlikely that any paving will happen before next spring, though.	MDC Neponset Planner Cathy Garnett, with her predecessors Rich Kleiman and Dave Queeley
	The first segment of the Neponset Trail, a quarter-mile through Pope John Paul II Park in Dorchester, was completed before the park dedication on June 16, where a number of state dignitaries spoke. I had my first near collision with a jogger on the path days after it was opened.
	Neponset Trail in Pope John Paul II Park	Massachusetts Governor Paul Cellucci speaking at the dedication of Pope John Paul II Park

-Doug Mink
Neponset River Greenway Council
MassBike/MetroBoston

Neponset River Trail: On to Construction!