Alewife Brook Parkway
Encyclopedia
Alewife Brook Parkway is a short parkway
in Cambridge
and Somerville, Massachusetts
. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places
. It begins at Fresh Pond
in Cambridge (linking to Fresh Pond Parkway
via Concord Avenue), and heads north on the east bank of Alewife Brook, crossing into West Somerville and ending at the Mystic River
on the Medford
town line, where it becomes Mystic Valley Parkway
. The entire length of Alewife Brook Parkway is designated as part of Massachusetts Route 16
, while the southernmost sections are also designated as part of Massachusetts Route 2 and US Route 3.
rotaries, where Concord Avenue connects the parkway to the Fresh Pond Parkway
at the eastern rotary. The road is designated Massachusetts Routes 2 (northbound) and 16 (eastbound), and US Route 3 (northbound). The parkway run roughly north, skirting just east of the Alewife T station to a large intersection (formerly a rotary), where the limited access highway carrying Route 2 to the west begins. The parkway runs north from this intersection, paralleling just east of the course of Alewife Brook, which forms the western boundary of Cambridge with Arlington. The first major intersection is with Massachusetts Avenue
, which carries Massachusetts Route 2A eastward toward Porter Square
, and Routes 2A and 3 westward into Arlington. The parkway continues to parallel Alewife Brook as it heads north into Somerville. After crossing Broadway, the parkway passes through a rotary-like interchange with Powder House Boulevard. It then passes Dilboy Stadium on the left, and reaches its northern terminus at a small rotary near where Alewife Brook empties into the Mystic River
. There it meets the Mystic Valley Parkway
, which runs from Arlington just to the west to Medford to the northeast. The Route 16 designation continues northeast. The parkway's total length is just over two miles (about three kilometers).
(115 acres (46.5 ha)), forms part of Boston's Metropolitan Park District
, established in 1893. It was originally planned by landscape architect Charles Eliot as one section of a web of pleasure roads designed for their aesthetics
. Nearby Alewife Brook was straightened and channelized between 1909 and 1912, and construction of the parkway was completed by 1916. Landscaping was performed by the famed Olmsted Brothers
firm. Route 2 connected to Alewife Brook Parkway as a highway in the present right-of-way at some point before 1937.
Along the southern end, Alewife Brook Parkway underwent further changes beginning in the late 1980s, including a new four lane causeway overpass
spanning the Fitchburg line
of the Commuter rail
, new dedicated shoulder turning-lanes for exiting and entering the shopping centers, enlarged roundabouts with obstructive center trees removed, new raised grassy medians down the center of the parkway, and new trees, light poles, and bike lanes integrated into the sidewalks.
Some of the other amenities integrated in the new design include handicap ramps and stairs on the northbound side of the bridge leading to the Rindge Towers, new sidewalk access leading to the Alewife T station
, Alewife Linear Park, bike trail adjacent to Jerry's Pond, and a dedicated road for large trucks to service the shopping areas by passing below the overpass.
As traffic has grown over the past century, the original aesthetics of the parkway's southernmost sections have been largely lost. It is now the principal connector between Route 2 and the western suburbs, on the one hand, and downtown Cambridge and Boston on the other, and consequently carries a large volume of commuter traffic. The Alewife MBTA station is a prominent feature on the parkway, and there shopping centers, parking lots, and office and apartment buildings lining the parkway between Alewife and the southern terminus.
-television affiliate WBZ
questioned whether the remaining 118 rotaries
such as the ones featured at Alewife Brook Parkway and Fresh Pond Parkway should be scrapped across Massachusetts
.
Parkway
The term parkway has several distinct principal meanings and numerous synonyms around the world, for either a type of landscaped area or a type of road.Type of landscaped area:...
in Cambridge
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston area. It was named in honor of the University of Cambridge in England, an important center of the Puritan theology embraced by the town's founders. Cambridge is home to two of the world's most prominent...
and Somerville, Massachusetts
Somerville, Massachusetts
Somerville is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, located just north of Boston. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 75,754 and was the most densely populated municipality in New England. It is also the 17th most densely populated incorporated place in...
. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
. It begins at Fresh Pond
Fresh Pond, Cambridge, Massachusetts
Fresh Pond is a reservoir and park in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Prior to the Pond's use exclusively as a reservoir, its ice had been harvested by Boston's "Ice King", Frederic Tudor, and others, for shipment to North American cities and to tropical areas around the world.Fresh Pond Reservation...
in Cambridge (linking to Fresh Pond Parkway
Fresh Pond Parkway
Fresh Pond Parkway is an historic park and parkway, found in the westernmost neighborhoods of Cambridge, Massachusetts. The site was built in 1899 and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2005....
via Concord Avenue), and heads north on the east bank of Alewife Brook, crossing into West Somerville and ending at the Mystic River
Mystic River
The Mystic River is a river in Massachusetts, in the United States. Its name derives from the Wampanoag word "muhs-uhtuq", which translates to "big river." In an Algonquian language, "Missi-Tuk" means "a great river whose waters are driven by waves", alluding to the natural tidal nature of the...
on the Medford
Medford, Massachusetts
Medford is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, in the United States, on the Mystic River, five miles northwest of downtown Boston. In the 2010 U.S. Census, Medford's population was 56,173...
town line, where it becomes Mystic Valley Parkway
Mystic Valley Parkway
Mystic Valley Parkway is a short parkway in Arlington, Medford, Somerville, and Winchester, Massachusetts. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and forms part of Route 16....
. The entire length of Alewife Brook Parkway is designated as part of Massachusetts Route 16
Massachusetts Route 16
Route 16 is an east–west state highway in Massachusetts. It begins in the west at an intersection with Route 12 and Route 193 in Webster, just north of the Connecticut state border...
, while the southernmost sections are also designated as part of Massachusetts Route 2 and US Route 3.
Route description
The southern terminus of the parkway is the western of the two Fresh PondFresh Pond, Cambridge, Massachusetts
Fresh Pond is a reservoir and park in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Prior to the Pond's use exclusively as a reservoir, its ice had been harvested by Boston's "Ice King", Frederic Tudor, and others, for shipment to North American cities and to tropical areas around the world.Fresh Pond Reservation...
rotaries, where Concord Avenue connects the parkway to the Fresh Pond Parkway
Fresh Pond Parkway
Fresh Pond Parkway is an historic park and parkway, found in the westernmost neighborhoods of Cambridge, Massachusetts. The site was built in 1899 and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2005....
at the eastern rotary. The road is designated Massachusetts Routes 2 (northbound) and 16 (eastbound), and US Route 3 (northbound). The parkway run roughly north, skirting just east of the Alewife T station to a large intersection (formerly a rotary), where the limited access highway carrying Route 2 to the west begins. The parkway runs north from this intersection, paralleling just east of the course of Alewife Brook, which forms the western boundary of Cambridge with Arlington. The first major intersection is with Massachusetts Avenue
Massachusetts Avenue (Boston)
Massachusetts Avenue, known to locals as Mass Ave, is a major thoroughfare in Boston, Massachusetts, and several cities and towns northwest of Boston...
, which carries Massachusetts Route 2A eastward toward Porter Square
Porter Square
Porter Square is a neighborhood in Cambridge and Somerville, Massachusetts in the USA, located around the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue and Somerville Avenue, between Harvard and Davis Squares...
, and Routes 2A and 3 westward into Arlington. The parkway continues to parallel Alewife Brook as it heads north into Somerville. After crossing Broadway, the parkway passes through a rotary-like interchange with Powder House Boulevard. It then passes Dilboy Stadium on the left, and reaches its northern terminus at a small rotary near where Alewife Brook empties into the Mystic River
Mystic River
The Mystic River is a river in Massachusetts, in the United States. Its name derives from the Wampanoag word "muhs-uhtuq", which translates to "big river." In an Algonquian language, "Missi-Tuk" means "a great river whose waters are driven by waves", alluding to the natural tidal nature of the...
. There it meets the Mystic Valley Parkway
Mystic Valley Parkway
Mystic Valley Parkway is a short parkway in Arlington, Medford, Somerville, and Winchester, Massachusetts. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and forms part of Route 16....
, which runs from Arlington just to the west to Medford to the northeast. The Route 16 designation continues northeast. The parkway's total length is just over two miles (about three kilometers).
History
The parkway, with the surrounding Alewife Brook ReservationAlewife Brook Reservation
Alewife Brook Reservation is a Massachusetts state park located in Cambridge, Arlington, and Somerville. The park is managed by the Department of Conservation and Recreation.-Description:...
(115 acres (46.5 ha)), forms part of Boston's Metropolitan Park District
Metropolitan Park System of Greater Boston
The Metropolitan Park System of Greater Boston is a system of reservations, parks, parkways and roads under the control of the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation in and around Boston that has been in existence for over a century...
, established in 1893. It was originally planned by landscape architect Charles Eliot as one section of a web of pleasure roads designed for their aesthetics
Aesthetics
Aesthetics is a branch of philosophy dealing with the nature of beauty, art, and taste, and with the creation and appreciation of beauty. It is more scientifically defined as the study of sensory or sensori-emotional values, sometimes called judgments of sentiment and taste...
. Nearby Alewife Brook was straightened and channelized between 1909 and 1912, and construction of the parkway was completed by 1916. Landscaping was performed by the famed Olmsted Brothers
Olmsted Brothers
The Olmsted Brothers company was an influential landscape design firm in the United States, formed in 1898 by stepbrothers John Charles Olmsted and Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr. .-History:...
firm. Route 2 connected to Alewife Brook Parkway as a highway in the present right-of-way at some point before 1937.
Along the southern end, Alewife Brook Parkway underwent further changes beginning in the late 1980s, including a new four lane causeway overpass
Overpass
An overpass is a bridge, road, railway or similar structure that crosses over another road or railway...
spanning the Fitchburg line
Fitchburg Line
The Fitchburg Line is an MBTA line that runs from Boston's North Station to Fitchburg, Massachusetts. The line is along the tracks of the former Fitchburg Railroad, which was a railroad line across northern Massachusetts, United States, leading to and through the Hoosac Tunnel. It is one of the...
of the Commuter rail
MBTA Commuter Rail
The MBTA Commuter Rail serves as the regional rail arm of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, in the United States. It is operated under contract by the Massachusetts Bay Commuter Railroad Company a joint partnership of Veolia Transportation, Bombardier Transportation and Alternate...
, new dedicated shoulder turning-lanes for exiting and entering the shopping centers, enlarged roundabouts with obstructive center trees removed, new raised grassy medians down the center of the parkway, and new trees, light poles, and bike lanes integrated into the sidewalks.
Some of the other amenities integrated in the new design include handicap ramps and stairs on the northbound side of the bridge leading to the Rindge Towers, new sidewalk access leading to the Alewife T station
Alewife (MBTA station)
Alewife, located at the intersection of Alewife Brook Parkway and Cambridgepark West in Cambridge, Massachusetts, is a local intermodal transportation hub. It is the northern terminus of the MBTA's Red Line, and a bus terminal for several local routes and one intercity route. It opened in 1985.The...
, Alewife Linear Park, bike trail adjacent to Jerry's Pond, and a dedicated road for large trucks to service the shopping areas by passing below the overpass.
As traffic has grown over the past century, the original aesthetics of the parkway's southernmost sections have been largely lost. It is now the principal connector between Route 2 and the western suburbs, on the one hand, and downtown Cambridge and Boston on the other, and consequently carries a large volume of commuter traffic. The Alewife MBTA station is a prominent feature on the parkway, and there shopping centers, parking lots, and office and apartment buildings lining the parkway between Alewife and the southern terminus.
In media
In February 2010, CBSCBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
-television affiliate WBZ
WBZ-TV
WBZ-TV, virtual channel 4, is a CBS owned-and-operated television station, located in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. WBZ-TV's studios and office facilities, shared with sister station WSBK-TV , are located in the Allston-Brighton section of Boston, and its transmitter is located in Needham,...
questioned whether the remaining 118 rotaries
Roundabout
A roundabout is the name for a road junction in which traffic moves in one direction around a central island. The word dates from the early 20th century. Roundabouts are common in many countries around the world...
such as the ones featured at Alewife Brook Parkway and Fresh Pond Parkway should be scrapped across Massachusetts
Massachusetts
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...
.