The Mary Ellen Welch Greenway (formerly the East Boston Greenway) is a
rail trail
A rail trail is a shared-use path on railway right of way. Rail trails are typically constructed after a railway has been abandoned and the track has been removed, but may also share the right of way with active railways, light rail, or streetcar ...
and park in
East Boston
East Boston, nicknamed Eastie, is a neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts annexed by the city of Boston in 1637. Neighboring communities include Winthrop, Revere, and Chelsea. It is separated from the Boston neighborhood of Charlestown and do ...
that is located along the path of a former
Conrail
Conrail , formally the Consolidated Rail Corporation, was the primary Class I railroad in the Northeastern United States between 1976 and 1999. The trade name Conrail is a portmanteau based on the company's legal name. It continues to do busin ...
line. The
greenway connects several significant
open space areas in East Boston, including
Piers Park
Piers Park is a public park owned by Massport located on the southwest side of East Boston, overlooking Boston Harbor and downtown Boston. Designed by Pressley Associates Landscape Architects of Boston, the park was conceived to reclaim a condem ...
, Memorial Stadium,
Bremen Street Park
Bremen Street Park is an 18-acre urban park, located in East Boston, Boston, Massachusetts. The park runs parallel to both Bremen Street and the Mass Pike/ Route 1A and acts as a green space buffer between Logan International Airport and the resi ...
, Wood Island Bay Marsh and
Belle Isle Marsh. When completed, the line is expected to be 3.3 miles in length.
History
![Bicycle parking at Logan Rental Car Center](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/29/Bicycle_parking_at_Logan_Rental_Car_Center.agr.JPG)
Originally, the line in
East Boston
East Boston, nicknamed Eastie, is a neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts annexed by the city of Boston in 1637. Neighboring communities include Winthrop, Revere, and Chelsea. It is separated from the Boston neighborhood of Charlestown and do ...
was built for industrial usage by the
Grand Junction Railroad and Depot Company
Grand may refer to:
People with the name
* Grand (surname)
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* Grand Mixer DXT, American turntablist
* Grand Puba (born 1966), American rapper
Places
* Grand, Oklahoma
* Grand, Vosges, village and c ...
. At points, the Greenway parallels the tracks of the former
Boston, Revere Beach and Lynn Railroad
The Boston, Revere Beach and Lynn Railroad was a narrow-gauge passenger-carrying shortline railroad between East Boston and Lynn, Massachusetts, from 1875 to 1940. Part of the railroad's right of way now forms the outer section of the Massachus ...
, now the
MBTA's Blue Line. After
Conrail
Conrail , formally the Consolidated Rail Corporation, was the primary Class I railroad in the Northeastern United States between 1976 and 1999. The trade name Conrail is a portmanteau based on the company's legal name. It continues to do busin ...
abandoned the tracks, the area became a dumping ground, and the area was first cleaned up by residents in 1978. Supported by the Lila Wallace-Reader's Digest Fund, the Boston Natural Areas Fund and local advocates,
The Trust for Public Land
The Trust for Public Land is a U.S. nonprofit organization with a mission to "create parks and protect land for people, ensuring healthy, livable communities for generations to come". Since its founding in 1972, the Trust for Public Land has compl ...
started the process to acquire the abandoned rail corridor to transform into a greenway and bike trail.
In 1997, The Trust for Public Land received 1.2 miles of the corridor as a donation from Conrail. Mitigation funds from the Massachusetts Highway Department and EPA paid for the clean-up costs. A year later the first 1/2 mile segment was transferred from The Trust for Public Land to the city.
The entire community was not necessarily supportive of the idea at first, as the local
chamber of commerce
A chamber of commerce, or board of trade, is a form of business network. For example, a local organization of businesses whose goal is to further the interests of businesses. Business owners in towns and cities form these local societies to ad ...
wanted to use the route as a truck route to
Logan International Airport
General Edward Lawrence Logan International Airport , also known as Boston Logan International Airport and commonly as Boston Logan, Logan Airport or simply Logan, is an international airport that is located mostly in East Boston and partially ...
. This idea gained little support, and construction of the East Boston Greenway began in 1999. In 2007, the Greenway opened.
Points of interest
The Greenway passes through
Bremen Street Park
Bremen Street Park is an 18-acre urban park, located in East Boston, Boston, Massachusetts. The park runs parallel to both Bremen Street and the Mass Pike/ Route 1A and acts as a green space buffer between Logan International Airport and the resi ...
, where there is an entrance to the Blue Line
Airport Station An Airport station or Airport Station may refer to a train station named as such or similarly. For other train stations located at an airport and named otherwise, see list of airport stations.
Airport station may refer to:
* Aeroport (Moscow Metr ...
. Free shuttle buses connect the station to the airport terminals. A branch off of the Greenway leads to the East Boston Memorial Stadium and to the Logan Airport Rental Car Center, where there is also bicycle parking. Off of Bremen Street, the East Boston YMCA is located at the former engine house for the line, and was constructed in 1909.
See also
*
Emerald Necklace
The Emerald Necklace consists of a chain of parks linked by parkways and waterways in Boston and Brookline, Massachusetts. It was designed by landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted, and gets its name from the way the planned chain appears ...
, a similar greenway also in Boston
*
Bremen Street Park
Bremen Street Park is an 18-acre urban park, located in East Boston, Boston, Massachusetts. The park runs parallel to both Bremen Street and the Mass Pike/ Route 1A and acts as a green space buffer between Logan International Airport and the resi ...
, a park along the East Boston Greenway
*
Piers Park
Piers Park is a public park owned by Massport located on the southwest side of East Boston, overlooking Boston Harbor and downtown Boston. Designed by Pressley Associates Landscape Architects of Boston, the park was conceived to reclaim a condem ...
, the park at the harborside Greenway terminus.
References
External links
*
Map of the proposed route of the greenway
{{coord, 42.3756, N, 71.0300, W, scale:2500, display=title
East Boston
Parks in Boston
Bike paths in Massachusetts