Route
The "Alewife Linear Park" segment of the Somerville Community Path is a continuation of the Cambridge Linear Park, which runs from the Cambridge-Somerville border west to Alewife Station, the Fitchburg Cutoff Path, and the Minuteman Bikeway. Proceeding eastbound, the bicycle and pedestrian paths diverge slightly just before Seven Hills Park, to pass through Davis Square. Pedestrians have grade-level crosswalks, and bicyclists are routed via nearby streets or may walk their bikes. They join again at Grove Street and continue to Cedar Street (though there is an MBTA busway linking Grove Street to College Avenue).
Community activists hope to finish a 2.5-mile (4.0-kilometre) extension of the Somerville Community Path by connecting this segment to the existing path in Lechmere Square in eastern Cambridge (at the North Point development).
The next segment to the east, from Cedar Street to Central Street, is in the design phase, funded by a tourism grant from the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority. This segment currently consists of disused railroad tracks under a forest canopy. A feasibility study was performed in 2006 on the segment from School Street in Somerville to the Cambridge border. Construction of the segment from Cedar Street to Lowell Street is "anticipated to begin in late 2012."
The final segment, from Lowell Street to Lechmere/North Point, is proposed to be built in conjunction with the Somerville-Medford extension of the Green Line light rail. This will mainly run alongside the active Lowell Line commuter rail tracks, except for a disused railroad right-of-way near Lechmere. The path would parallel that route, while connecting with the new stations to be built along the way. Cooperation between the projects is mandated by the state environmental review process; preliminary drawings have been published. As of December 2008, the Green Line extension must be completed by the end of 2014 under an agreement to meet federal clean air requirements. The Massachusetts Executive Office of Transportation has agreed to design the path extension as part of the Green Line project, but it will not be responsible for building the path.
The Urban Ring project may result in a connecting "rail with trail" path along the Grand Junction Railroad right-of-way.
Read more about this topic: Somerville Community Path
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