Tag: Gateway Path

Arboretum Gateway Path Tour and Feedback Session This Saturday, December 3, 2016 at 10am at Mendum Street Gate

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Rozzie Gateway Path Entrance (image courtesy Halvorson Design Partnership, Inc.)
Rozzie Gateway Path Entrance (image courtesy Halvorson Design Partnership, Inc.)

RSVP Link

Saturday, December 3, 2016
10am-11am
Meet at Mendum Street Gate

Join WalkUP Roslindale along with representatives from the Arnold Arboretum and path design consultant Horsley Witten Group for a site tour of the proposed Arboretum Gateway Path, focusing on the segment closest to Roslindale. We’ll provide updates on progress for this initiative which will improve access to the park from Roslindale Square, as well as provide a better active transportation link between Roslindale and Forest Hills. We’re also eager to get your feedback on path design, including surface materials, lighting issues, and proposed routes. This will be an opportunity to meet fellow Roslindale residents who love to walk. And at present, the weather forecast is good!

Meet at the Arnold Arboretum, Peters Hill at the Mendum Street Gate (corner intersection of Mendum and Fairview) at 10am, this Saturday, December 3. The event should run about an hour. RSVP so we can plan for the group size, and spread the word.

Two Greenway Partner Sites are in Roslindale!

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We were a bit busy this past week, so not much time to post, but wanted to make sure folks knew that both the Arboretum Gateway Path and the American Legion Greenway have been selected by LivableStreets Alliance to be Greenway Partner projects! The selections were made public at the Tour de Streets event a week ago Saturday. Links here:

This means LivableStreets Alliance has committed to working with both WalkUP Roslindale and the American Legion Corridor Coalition and helping them move forward. This is great news and we all deeply appreciate the work LivableStreets Alliance is doing all around the region on the interrelated issues of walking, bicycling, and transit connectivity.

Gateway Path Tour June 2016

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A highly dedicated group of over 15 walkers/cyclists attended the WalkUP Roslindale/Rozzie Bikes led tour of the proposed route of the Roslindale-Arboretum Gateway Path as part of the ongoing LandLine tour series this summer. Photo gallery below.

We (your co-hosts, Alan Wright and Matt Lawlor) were honored with the presence and commentary of Nina Brown from the Arboretum Park Conservancy, who spoke about APC’s efforts on extending the Blackwell Path, and from Matthew Jordan (Director of Finance) and Andrew Gapinski (Manager of Horticulture) from the Arnold Arboretum, who gave us a sense of the Arboretum’s perspective and continued support for the RAGP concept. Peter Sutton, from MassDOT Planning, represented the LandLine Coalition.

We started at the northern end of the Blackwell Path, across from Forest Hills station, and wound our way down the Blackwell Path, its proposed extension route, and then up Peters Hill and into the densely-wooded MBTA property adjacent to the Needham Line tracks to the shelter at the southern end. We owe special thanks to Peter and key MBTA staff, especially Mark Boyle (Director of Real Estate), for allowing us to access this portion of the route on very short notice. We concluded our tour at the recently-installed bike corral on Cohasset Street in Roslindale Square, which is getting brisk use along with the adjacent parklet. We look forward to more opportunities to walk/bike the proposed Gateway Path route with neighbors and friends from Roslindale and around the region.

REMINDER: Arboretum Gateway Path Ride/Walk – THIS Friday, June 24, 2016 4pm @ Forest Hills entrance to Blackwell Path

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Just a reminder that WalkUP Roslindale members Alan Wright and Matt Lawlor will be leading a ride/walk along the approximate route of the proposed Arboretum Gateway Path this coming Friday, June 24, 2016 starting at 4 pm at the Forest Hills entrance to the existing Blackwell Path. The ride/walk is part of MAPC’s LandLine summer rides. More info can be found here. We would love to see a strong turnout for this event!

Community Vision Report for Gateway Path Complete

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Gateway Path Report
Gateway Path Report
We are delighted to make public today a nearly-100 page report created by Tufts UEP students Jaissa Feliz, Liz Pongratz, Alexandra Purdy, and Mason Wells. The report culminates several months of collaboration between Tufts UEP, Livable Streets, WalkUP Roslindale, and many individuals and organizations in and around Roslindale. The executive summary is reproduced below; be sure to check out the whole report for data, images, and other key details. We believe this document will be invaluable in moving the project to implementation, and are grateful to the Tufts students for their hard work, insight, and commitment to this effort. Please spread the word.
Read More

Roslindale Bulletin on Gateway Path Visioning Session

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As usual, Jeff Sullivan at the Roslindale Bulletin has the scoop on the Gateway Path. Check out their latest front-page article reporting on our Visioning Meeting, Many in favor of Roslindale JP Gateway.
2014-04-06 Roslindale Bulletin on Gateway Path

Roslindale Gateway Path Visioning Session Smashing Success

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Tonight’s Roslindale Gateway Path Visioning session was a smashing success. The turnout was extraordinary, filling the large double-room meeting space in the Roslindale Community Center just about to capacity. In addition to many people who live, work, and play in Roslindale and adjacent neighborhoods (including notably JP and West Roxbury), several city councilors, state legislators, and state agencies (including the MBTA and MassDOT) sent representatives who actively participated in the event. The meeting reflected tremendous energy and enthusiasm for the project, and sparked many new ideas and concepts that we and our collaborators at Tufts and the Livable Streets Alliance will be synthesizing over the coming weeks.

In case you weren’t able to make it, here is the presentation that kicked off the event, but most of the 90 minute meeting was spent gathering community input in small groups. Stay tuned for more news at our path page and send any additional comments to path@nullwalkuproslindale.org.

In the meantime, a snapshot from the beginning of the meeting, as people were still streaming in:

Attendees at Gateway Path Visioning Meeting
Attendees at Gateway Path Visioning Meeting

And now that we’ve had the world premier at tonight’s session, a special feature: drone footage of the first segment of the proposed route, starting at the Roslindale Village Commuter Rail station. Thanks to Larry McInnes for shooting, directing, and cinematography, and Alan Wright for starring in this motion picture:

Finally, the event was well covered on social media. Sampling of recent tweets below.

Tweets about Gateway Path Visioning Session
Tweets about Gateway Path Visioning Session

Finally, an after-event photo of many of the organizers, presenters, facilitators, along with some WalkUP Roslindale Steering Committee members:

Gateway Path Visioning Session Organizers, Presenters, and Facilitators
Gateway Path Visioning Session Organizers, Presenters, and Facilitators

Arboretum Gateway Path in the Roslindale Bulletin

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Roslindale Bulletin - Gateway Path Picking up Steam
Roslindale Bulletin – Gateway Path Picking up Steam

The latest Roslindale Bulletin features an article by Jeff Sullivan on the Arboretum Gateway Path initiative, including interviews with several WalkUP Roslindale members and allies from RozzieBikes and LivableStreets Alliance. Check out the article, and be sure to RSVP for our upcoming vision session on March 30 at 6:30pm at the Roslindale Community Center and respond to our survey about the path project.

Please Fill Out a Gateway Path Survey

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Update 4/16/16: the survey is now over; keep an eye on http://walkuproslindale.org/gateway for news.

In advance of the upcoming visioning session for the Arboretum Gateway Path, we and our partners in the Tufts Urban Environmental Policy Planning program are conducting a survey to better understand the needs of the community. Please complete the survey and spread the word to your neighbors!

Also hot off the presses, check out these posters for the upcoming event:

The Rozzie Arboretum Gateway Path

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A top WalkUP Roslindale initiative is a new multi-modal “gateway path” into the Arnold Arboretum directly from Roslindale Square. An introduction to our vision is below; you can also print this PDF flyer as a quick introduction to the project.

Rozzie Gateway Path Entrance (image courtesy Halvorson Design Partnership, Inc.)
Rozzie Gateway Path Entrance (image courtesy Halvorson Design Partnership, Inc.)

The Arnold Arboretum is not only Roslindale’s greatest park, but among the most beautiful urban open spaces anywhere. In 1880 Frederick Law Olmsted wrote: “On (these) acres much the best arboretum in the world can be formed.” Today, some of Olmsted’s “emerald necklace” plan has been realized, but much remains to be done.

We envision a new entrance to the Arboretum close to Roslindale Square, to make the park more visible and accessible to residents and visitors. The Rozzie Gateway Path would start adjacent to the commuter rail platform, and continue at grade into the park, allowing access to the open space without the need to surmount the large hill that lead to the Mendum Street gate.

The Path will continue straight parallel to the commuter rail tracks toward Bussey Street, and then connect up with the Bussey Brook Meadow path and on to Forest Hills.

Key Benefits

  • Better access to the Arboretum from Roslindale Square (and thus to transit node, businesses, Farmers Market, etc.)
  • Washington Street lacks pedestrians amenities [1] and is unsafe for bicyclists; the Gateway Path will provide a better alternative to reach Forest Hills, where walkers and cyclists can avail themselves to the many amenities around Forest Hills; continue on to the Southwest Corridor Park; or board the Orange Line. And of course vice-versa — folks coming down the Orange Line or the Southwest Corridor will have a superior route to visit Roslindale Village.
  • Current routes from Roslindale to Forest Hills through the Arboretum have steep hills and are more than twice as much distance as the proposed path
  • Hubway Bike-Share stations could be available at both ends, providing a quick, easy, low-stress route to connect Rozzie with JP and the Orange Line
  • Possibilities for improved Arboretum access from underserved neighborhoods, particularly the Archdale area

Discussion of the full route is still very much open. The crossing at South Street and Bussey presents the biggest challenge, although not an insurmountable one. For the penultimate section on the north side of South/Bussey, the route could proceed on either side of South Street subject to consideration Boston Water and Sewer Commission and flood-plain issues. With these caveats, below is one of the paths we are considering:

Rozzie Gateway Proposed Route (one of many!)
Rozzie Gateway Proposed Route (one of many!)

We have made significant progress in moving from idea to reality; if you’d like to learn more, please join our email list or contact us directly. We’d love to hear your suggestions or other feedback!

Footnotes    (↵ returns to text)

  1. An earlier version of this post (pre-3/9/16) suggested Washington Street is “unpleasant” for pedestrians. We discovered some people misinterpreted this statement as derogatory; the intent was to summarize the lack of crosswalks, benches, curb cuts, as well as the occasionally overly-narrow and poorly-maintained sidewalk space, rather than to suggest there is anything inherently wrong with or undesirable about this corridor. We intend to push hard for better walkability along this corridor, and the path effort is no substitute for that.↵