MassPaths Bikepath Snow Plowing Report
Friday, January 5, 2018 (Updated to following Thursday)

Bike paths and lanes are integral parts of the bicycle transportation network, and these reports are provided to encourage their use by bicyclists who might otherwise not venture out in the snow, and to encourage their proper maintenance (which includes snow plowing) by the responsible agencies given in bold type below. If they are not plowed while the snow is still soft, paths with significant foot traffic become unskiable within a day, and remain a mess for everyone until the ice melts.

A "bomb cyclone" hit Boston with 17 inches of snow in an all-day storm on Thursday, followed by a temperature drop to single digits which kept a lot of cyclists off the street for a few days, but not everyone. I covered a lot ground on Friday, but stayed home, except for a two-mile ride to our farmers market and back, on Saturday and shoveled. Sunday, I took off for 3 days in 60F temperatures in Austin, Texas, but I biked all over metro Boston after I got back. As usual, I found out that some paths, tracks, lanes were well-plowed, and that others, even in the same town, were not.

Please send updates and reports on the conditions of other paths in Massachusetts to Jessica Mink.

Arnold Arboretum
1.5 miles of park roads which are mostly closed to automobile traffic with no intersections
Boston Parks and Harvard University
Lower road from Forest Hills to Visitor Center clear by the time I used it on Friday, a week after the storm. I expect that all of the roads were clear by then.
Blackwell Footpath
A half-mile gravel path connecting the Forest Hills MBTA station and the South St. Arboretum entrance
Boston Parks and Harvard University
It didn't look plowed when I biked by on Washington St. and can be pretty icy.
Roslindale Bike Lanes
Two miles of bike lanes on both sides of Washington St. from Forest Hills to Roslindale Square and to West Roxbury on Belgrade Ave. and buffered and wide bike lanes along American Legion Highway
Boston Public Works Department
They need repainting pretty badly in a lot of places, and cars tended to be parked on them, where parallel parking was allowed next to them. Belgrade Ave. and Cummins Highway bike lanes were clearer than Washington St.'s.
Centre St. and VFW Parkway Bike Lanes
DCR, plowed by MassDOT
Not checked but probably partly clear.
Arborway Bike Lanes
Bike lanes through Forest Hills
Department of Conservation and Recreation
The two-way cycle track which is complete along the Arborway west from South St. remained totally unplowed for a week, but the rain may have melted it.
Arborway sidewalks
1 mile of wide paved shoulder which is unmarked but usually clear of parked cars during rush hour
Department of Conservation and Recreation and Boston Parks
They were mostly clear a week after the storm, except where the plow missed the sidewalk west of the Arboretum main entrance and an unplowed stretch in front of a couple of houses on the southbound side between Jamaica Pond and the Arboretum. I bypassed the second by using May St. to Pond St.
Morton St. Buffered Bike Lanes
Cemetery Rd. to Harvard St.
MassDOT
Not checked
Franklin Park Roads
Much of the park loop road is closed to motorized traffic and there are bike lanes on the main road.
Boston Parks and Public Works Departments
Not checked yet.
Centre/South Bike Lanes
A mile of bike lanes through the heart of Jamaica Plain from Jackson Square and the Southwest Corridor to Forest Hills
Boston Public Works Department
Mostly blocked by parked cars.
Jamaicaway Bikepath
1.5 miles of mostly bike/ped-separated paths paralleling a busy 4-lane parkway; two intersections with traffic lights
Boston Parks Deparment
Immediately after the storm, they were plowed to ice and hard-packed snow, but by the following week, they were totally clear despite continuing sub-freezing temperatures which kept the snow around.
Prince St.
A future contraflow lane around high-speed Parkman Drive which feeds into the Perkin St. bike lanes
Boston DPW
I used this most mornings. It was plowed edge to edge and sharable with cars.
Perkins St. Bike Lanes
1.5 miles of mostly bike/ped-separated paths paralleling a busy 4-lane parkway; two intersections with traffic lights
Department of Conservation and Recreation
Barely plowed except at intersections, but travel lanes were wide enough to share.
Olmsted Park Paths
3/4-mile of mostly bike/ped-separated paths built over Riverdale Road, across Leverett Pond from the Jamaicaway.
Brookline Park Department
Plowed and icy right after the storm, but mostly clear the next week.
Brookline Ave. Path
Mixed-use path from Riverway ramp to Riverway intersection
Brookline Park Department
Packed snow the day after the storm, but clear a week later.
Parkway and Netherlands Rd. Contraflow bike lanes
Two one-block contra-flow lanes plus and contraflow cycle track
Brookline Park Department and DPW
The bike lanes were pretty clear, but the cycle track had snow piled on it.
Muddy River Path
12-foot-wide 0.6 mile shared bike/ped path with no intersections
Brookline Park Department and DPW
Very icy, but with 40 years of ice biking experience, I biked it without studded tires. The surface was a mixture of packed snow and white and black ice, and mostly clear the next week.
Brookline Ave. Bike Lanes
From Longwood Ave. to Park Drive Boston Transportation Department
Not clear the day after the storm.
Boston Bike Lanes
Boston Transportation Department

Commonwealth Ave. Bike Lanes Not very clear, at least around the B.U. Bridge.
N. Harvard St. bike lanes Not fully plowed except near intersections
Harvard Ave. bike lanes Cars parked into bike lane much of the time.
Sullivan Square buffered bike lanes were clear to curb through rotary and Alford St. (Rt.99) to Mystic River bridge, which was also clear to curb and quite ridable.
Brookline Bike Lanes
Town of Brookline
By a week after the storm, the Harvard St. bike lanes were pretty clear.
B. U. Bridge Bike Lanes
Boston to Cambridge Department of Conservation and Recreation,
Plowed By MassDoT
Two-thirds clear on the day after the storm
B. U. Bridge west sidewalk
Boston to Cambridge
Department of Conservation and Recreation,
Plowed By Mass. Highway Department or B.U.
Fairly clear the morning after the storm.
Harvard (Mass. Ave.) Bridge bike lanes
Cambridge to Boston Department of Conservation and Recreation,
Plowed By Mass. Highway Department
Clear a week after the storm
Longfellow Bridge bike lane
Cambridge to Boston Department of Conservation and Recreation,
Plowed By Mass. Highway Department
A week after the storm, inbound lanes and outbound sidewalk were clear.
Charles River Bikepaths
Narrow, shared bike-ped path with few intersections
Department of Conservation and Recreation
The Cambridge side upstream from the BU Bridge looked impassable on Friday morning, but it was clear by the next week
J.F.K. Park
Wide, shared bike-ped path from river to Harvard Square
Department of Conservation and Recreation
Clear a week after the storm
Western Ave. Cycletrack
Cambridge Cambridge DPW
Not checked.
Lincoln St. to Cambridge St. MassPike Bridge
Bike/Ped connection from Harvard Square to Allston's Harvard Ave. district via Franklin St.
Massachusetts Turnpike Authority
Totally clear by the next week
Southwest Corridor Bikepath
Separated Bike/Ped path with poorly-designed intersections
Department of Conservation and Recreation
Not checked yet
South Bay Harbor Trail
Bike/Ped path from the Federal Court House up Fort Point Channel to the Southwest Corridor
City of Boston
Not checked yet.
Neponset Trail
Mostly paved Bike/Ped path
Department of Conservation and Recreation
Plowed to packed snow. Probably to pavement by the next week.
Beacon St. Cycle Track
Parking-separated path from Park St. to Oxford St.
City of Somerville
No report yet.
Somerville Community Path
Wide rail trail from Davis Square to Cedar St.
City of Somerville
Not checked yet
Mystic River Paths
A variety of paths in East Somerville and Malden
Mostly DCR
Not checked yet.
Red Line Linear Park Path
Alewife MBTA station to Davis Square over Red Line
City of Cambridge City of Somerville
Not checked yet
Danehy Park Paths
City of Cambridge
Not checked yet, but probably fairly clear.
Cambridge Bike Lanes
Striped lanes of varying widths on major and connecting streets
City of Cambridge
Brookline St. bike lane not clear day after storm
Vassar St. Cycle Track
Buffered bike lanes from Main St. to Memorial Drive (almost)
City of Cambridge
Clear except at intersections a week after storm
Brattle St. Cycle Track
Parking-buffered bike lanes between Brattle Square and Mason St.
City of Cambridge
Clear on morning after storm except at Mason St. end where there was a big pile of snow which forced cyclists into narrowed main lane.
Mass. Ave. Cycle Track
Parking-buffered bike lanes outbound before and after Harvard Square
City of Cambridge
Bike lane cleared, but big piles of snow blocked path at every intersection.
Green St./Franklin St. Bicycle Boulevard
Narrow one-way streets parallel to Mass. Ave. from Central Square to Harvard Square/I>
City of Cambridge
Streets mostly clear and quite ridable
Fresh Pond Bike Path
Parallel to Fresh Pond Parkway in Kingsley Park
City of Cambridge
Not checked yet.
Alewife Brook Trail
DCR
Boardwalk sections aren't plowed. No report on the rest.
Fitchburg Cutoff Trail
DCR
Not checked yet.
Concord Ave. Cycle Track
Buffered bike lanes from Belmont to Fresh Pond Parkway
City of Cambridge
Not checked
Alewife Parkway Bridge Sidewalk
Connection from Minuteman Bikepath to Fresh Pond and beyond
Department of Conservation and Recreation
Not checked yet.
Minuteman "Commuter Bikeway"

Towns of Cambridge, Arlington, Lexington, and Bedford
Watertown Bike Path

Town of Watertown
Not checked yet.
Upper Charles Reservation
Watertown, Newton, Waltham
4+ miles of paved and unpaved bikepaths
Mass. Department of Conservation and Recreation
Not checked yet
Newton Bike Lanes
City of Newton
Not checked yet.
Medford Bike Lanes
Town of Medford
Not checked yet.
Revere Beach Reservation
Revere
Shared use paths (or very wide sidewalks)
Mass. Department of Conservation and Recreation
Not checked yet.
Northern Strand Community Trail
Everett and Malden
Shared use path
Everett and Malden DPW
Not checked yet.
Stony Brook Reservation
Hyde Park
4+ miles of paved bikepaths
Mass. Department of Conservation and Recreation
These paths aren't plowed because they get relatively little transportation use and because they are used by cross-country skiers like me. There are marked narrow bike lanes on Enneking Parkway through the reservation which are probably clear. After this snowfall, the paths should be pretty bikable, though there will be ice.
Former Metropolitan State Hospital
Belmont, Waltham
paved bikepaths
Mass. Department of Conservation and Recreation
Not checked yet.
Assabet River Rail Trail
Hudson and Marlborough, so far
Town of Hudson, City of Marlborough (so far)
Not checked yet.
Northampton Bikeway
East-west across the City of Northampton
City of Northampton
Craig Della Penna, who lives next to the path, has reported that it is the intention of the DPW to make it passable ASAP after a storm. If the storm is significant, then they plow it repeatedly --sometimes 10-12 times during the course of the storm to ensure its usability.
Norwottuck Rail Trail
Northampton to Amherst
Department of Conservation and Recreation
No report.