posted Apr 11, 2013, 8:25 AM by Jerry Reilly
We're recruiting volunteers to help spruce up the Upper Falls Greenway as part of NewtonSERVES on Sunday April 28. NewtonSERVES is the city's annual day of volunteer activity across the city. At last year's NewtonSERVES day, we did the heavy lifting and opened up the entire one mile trail, some of which had been impassable in recent years. This year, the work will focus on cleaning up trash and lighter trimming of vegetation. Sign up here. Be sure to bring some work gloves and some clippers if you have them. |
posted Apr 11, 2013, 8:17 AM by Jerry Reilly
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updated Apr 11, 2013, 8:18 AM
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The city's Upper Falls Greenway Working Group has been planning details of the project over recent months. The current plans are for construction to take place this coming fall. Iron Horse Preservation will remove the tracks and ties and lay down a new stone dust trail in their place. Various other details are also being worked out - signs, benches, fencing and some improvements by The Depot as well as the crossing at Oak Street.
The only hitch at the moment is a National Grid project to dig under the right of way at Easy St this spring. The city is holding off on signing the lease for the property with the MBTA until that work is completed.
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posted Dec 17, 2012, 6:49 PM by Jerry Reilly
The full board of aldermen voted unanimously tonight to allow the
city to enter into a 99 year lease with the MBTA for the old railroad
line behind Needham St. That's a big step forward for the Greenway
project. Over the last two months, the project was taken up three different aldermanic committees and received a unanimous vote of support by all three. Tonight's vote's was the last step in the aldermen's approval process.
Next up is signing the lease with the MBTA, filing with
the Conservation Commission, and doing some design work. If all goes as
planned, we'll have a new mile long park/walking/bicycle trail in Upper
Falls by the end of next summer. |
posted Nov 17, 2012, 6:02 AM by Jim Lerner
The Upper Falls Greenway plan got a unanimous "thumbs up" from the Board of Aldermen's Finance Committee this week. The Finance Committee needed to approve a request from the mayor for the purchase of an environmental insurance to cover the proposed park. There are still two remaining votes by the aldermen coming up - one from the Program & Services Committee followed by a vote by the full board. Once that's done, the city will be able to sign a lease for the property with the MBTA. |
posted Nov 7, 2012, 8:56 PM by Jim Lerner
The Aldermen's Public Facilities Committee voted unanimously tonight to authorize the city to enter into a 99 year lease with the MBTA for the Upper Falls Greenway right-of-way. There are still two more aldermanic votes ahead. The finance committee needs to vote on authorizing an expenditure for environmental insurance and then the entire Board of Aldermen will vote. From what we heard, tonight's vote was the biggest hurdle.
The aldermen were all clearly enthusiastic about the project, as evidenced by their unanimous vote and various comments they made. We expect the other two votes to happen in the coming weeks and to go smoothly. |
posted Jul 13, 2012, 6:37 AM by Jim Lerner
The MBTA Board of Directors voted at their July 11th meeting to enter into a 99 year lease of the railroad property to the City of Newton. The lease will cover the right-of-way of the old railroad tracks behind Needham St that runs from National Lumber to the Charles River. This is a crucial step on the way to having a new park Upper Falls by this time next year. Now that the MBTA Board has voted to proceed, the actual signing of the lease between the MBTA and the city should happen relatively quickly since it’s a standard lease and won’t require any protracted negotiation. Once the city has a lease in hand the project can kick into high gear. Tha MBTA board also voted to go forward with leases for Needham, Dover and Medfield for their tri-town Bay Colony Rail Trail which will be built a few miles down the same track from Newton. |
posted Jul 5, 2012, 11:35 AM by Jim Lerner
The MBTA's Board of Directors will vote at their July 11 meeting to proceed with the lease of the railroad property to the City of Newton. After the vote. it's expected that the signing of the lease should happen relatively quickly. Once the city has the lease in hand, the planning for the new park can kick into high gear. |
posted Jun 16, 2012, 5:43 AM by Jerry Reilly
Come take a walk on Saturday, June16 from 10AM to noon and have a free ice cream. The Greenway bike trail won't be built until next spring but in the meantime its a perfectly fine mile long walk. This spring, a Newton SERVES crew cleared the entire one mile length and its not perfectly passable for the first time in years.
Come take the walk on June 16. Start at The Depot at the corner of Oak and Chestnut St. Walk to the Charles River and you'll be handed a token. Walk to the opposite end and you'll be handed a 2nd token. Take the pair of tokens back to where you started , and turn them in at the Upper Falls Variety store for the ice cream or slush of your choice.
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posted May 25, 2012, 2:12 PM by Jerry Reilly
Last month an army of 50 or 60 volunteers cleaned up the entire mile+
route of the future Upper Falls Greenway bike trail and park as part of
NewtonSERVES. For the first time in years, you can now walk the entire
Greenway route, from the Charles River to National Lumber. To
celebrate, UpperFallsGreenway.org
is inviting everyone to walk the trail on Saturday June 2 from 10AM to
noon. Come on down, go for the walk, and get a sense of what the trail
will be when completed. To sweeten the offer, there's an incentive for
anyone who walks the entire trail. When you get to each end (Charles
River & Easy St/National Lumber) you'll be handed a token. Take the
pair of tokens to the Upper Falls Variety and trade them for an ice
cream or slush of your choosing. |
posted Apr 5, 2012, 2:19 PM by Jerry Reilly
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updated Apr 5, 2012, 2:20 PM
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