The
Minuteman Bikeway is a 10-mile (16-kilometre) paved multi-use
rail trailA rail trail is the conversion of a disused railway easement into a multi-use path, typically for walking, cycling and sometimes horse riding. The characteristics of former tracks—flat, long, frequently running through historical areas—are appealing for various development. The term sometimes also...
located in the
Greater BostonGreater Boston is the area of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts surrounding the city of Boston. Due to ambiguity in usage, the size of the area referred to can be anywhere between that of the metropolitan statistical area of Boston and that of the city's combined statistical area which includes...
area of
MassachusettsThe 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...
.
Route
The
Minuteman Bikeway is a 10-mile (16-kilometre) paved multi-use
rail trailA rail trail is the conversion of a disused railway easement into a multi-use path, typically for walking, cycling and sometimes horse riding. The characteristics of former tracks—flat, long, frequently running through historical areas—are appealing for various development. The term sometimes also...
located in the
Greater BostonGreater Boston is the area of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts surrounding the city of Boston. Due to ambiguity in usage, the size of the area referred to can be anywhere between that of the metropolitan statistical area of Boston and that of the city's combined statistical area which includes...
area of
MassachusettsThe 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...
.
Route
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In BedfordBedford is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is within the Greater Boston area, north-west of the city of Boston. The population of Bedford was 13,320 at the 2010 census.- History :...
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The Minuteman Bikeway is a 10-mile (16-kilometre) paved multi-use rail trailA rail trail is the conversion of a disused railway easement into a multi-use path, typically for walking, cycling and sometimes horse riding. The characteristics of former tracks—flat, long, frequently running through historical areas—are appealing for various development. The term sometimes also...
located in the Greater BostonGreater Boston is the area of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts surrounding the city of Boston. Due to ambiguity in usage, the size of the area referred to can be anywhere between that of the metropolitan statistical area of Boston and that of the city's combined statistical area which includes...
area of MassachusettsThe 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...
.
Route
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In BedfordBedford is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is within the Greater Boston area, north-west of the city of Boston. The population of Bedford was 13,320 at the 2010 census.- History :...
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Railbanked line to Concord Reformatory |
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{{BS3||exSTR|||Bedford Depot Park||O2=fKBFa}}
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BillericaBillerica is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 40,243 at the 2010 census. It is the only town named Billerica in the United States and borrows its name from the town of Billericay in Essex, England.- History :...
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{{BS3||fWBRÜCKE|||Elm Brook||}}
{{BS3||fmKRZ|||Wiggins Avenue||}}
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LexingtonLexington is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 31,399 at the 2010 census. This town is famous for being the site of the first shot of the American Revolution, in the Battle of Lexington on April 19, 1775.- History :...
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{{BS3||fmKRZ|||Hartwell Avenue||}}
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Hanscom Air Force BaseHanscom Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located approximately south-southwest of Bedford, Massachusetts. The facility is a joint use civil airport/military base with Hanscom Field which provides general aviation and charter service.The host unit at Hanscom is the non-flying...
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Interstate 95Interstate 95 is the main highway on the East Coast of the United States, running parallel to the Atlantic Ocean from Maine to Florida and serving some of the most populated urban areas in the country, including Boston, Providence, New Haven, New York City, Newark, Philadelphia, Baltimore,...
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{{BS3||fmKRZ|||Bedford Street (Routes 4, 225)||}}
{{BS3||fmKRZ|||Revere Street||}}
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{{BS3||fBHF|||Lexington
B&MThe Boston and Maine Corporation , known as the Boston and Maine Railroad until 1964, was the dominant railroad of the northern New England region of the United States for a century...
Station||}}
{{BS3||fmKRZ|||Woburn Street||}}
{{BS3||fHST|||Site of B&M's Munroe Station||}}
{{BS3||fKRZu|||Pierce's Bridge (Maple Street)||}}
{{BS3||fWBANKr|||Arlington’s Great Meadows|||}}
{{BS3||fHST|||Site of B&M's East Lexington Station||}}
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ArlingtonArlington is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, six miles northwest of Boston. The population was 42,844 at the 2010 census.-History:...
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{{BS3||fHST|||Site of B&M's Arlington Heights Station||}}
{{BS3||fKRZu|||Park Avenue||}}
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{{BS3||fHST|||Site of B&M's Brattle Station||}}
{{BS3||fHST|||Site of B&M's Arlington Centre Station||}}
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U.S. Route 3U.S. Route 3 is a north–south United States highway that runs from its southern terminus in Cambridge, Massachusetts through New Hampshire to its terminus near Third Connecticut Lake at the Canadian border, where the road continues north as Quebec Route 257.In New Hampshire parts of US 3 are...
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Spy PondSpy Pond, also known as Spie Pond in the 17th & 18th centuries, is a kettle hole pond located near the heart of Arlington, Massachusetts, adjacent to the Minuteman Bikeway.-History:-Geological history:...
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{{BS3||fHST|||Site of B&M's Lake Street Station||}}
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CambridgeCambridge 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...
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{{BS3||fKBFe|||Alewife Station||}}
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The Minuteman Bikeway runs from
BedfordBedford is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is within the Greater Boston area, north-west of the city of Boston. The population of Bedford was 13,320 at the 2010 census.- History :...
to the
Alewife stationAlewife, 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...
at the northern end of the
Red LineThe Red Line is a rapid transit line operated by the MBTA running roughly north-south through Boston, Massachusetts into neighboring communities. The line begins west of Boston, in Cambridge, Massachusetts at Alewife station, near the intersection of Alewife Brook Parkway and Route 2...
in
CambridgeCambridge 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...
. It passes through the towns of
LexingtonLexington is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 31,399 at the 2010 census. This town is famous for being the site of the first shot of the American Revolution, in the Battle of Lexington on April 19, 1775.- History :...
and
ArlingtonArlington is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, six miles northwest of Boston. The population was 42,844 at the 2010 census.-History:...
on the way. Also along the route are several notable regional sites, including
Alewife Brook ReservationAlewife 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:...
,
Spy PondSpy Pond, also known as Spie Pond in the 17th & 18th centuries, is a kettle hole pond located near the heart of Arlington, Massachusetts, adjacent to the Minuteman Bikeway.-History:-Geological history:...
and "Arlington’s Great Meadows" (actually located in Lexington).
At its Cambridge terminus, the bikeway connects with two other bike paths: the
Fitchburg Cutoff PathThe Fitchburg Cutoff Path is a short, unpaved multi-use rail trail located in suburban Boston, Massachusetts.The 0.8 mile path runs from Brighton Street in Belmont, Massachusetts to the Alewife station at the northern end of the MBTA Red Line in Cambridge...
and the
Cambridge Linear ParkThe Linear Park is a mixed-use path, about one mile long, running through Cambridge and Somerville , and connecting the Minuteman Bikeway and the Fitchburg Cutoff Path near Alewife with the Somerville Community Path at Davis Square. The path is used for bicycling, walking, jogging, and inline...
which, in turn, leads to the
Somerville Community PathThe Somerville Community Path is a project to build a mixed-use path in Somerville, Massachusetts, from the Cambridge border near Davis Square to the Cambridge border near Lechmere Square. Roughly 0.8 miles of the path is finished and in use...
. Plans are underway to extend the Somerville Community Path to downtown Boston, which would create a much larger continuous bikeway accessible from the Minuteman.
At the Bedford end, the Minuteman Bikeway connects with the Narrow Gauge Rail Trail and the Reformatory Branch Rail Trail.
History
The path comprising the current Minuteman Bikeway has a long history. The trail closely approximates the route that
Paul ReverePaul Revere was an American silversmith and a patriot in the American Revolution. He is most famous for alerting Colonial militia of approaching British forces before the battles of Lexington and Concord, as dramatized in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's poem, Paul Revere's Ride...
took on his famous ride in 1775, which heralded the beginning of the American Revolution.
Along the way to becoming a railroad, the path's right-of-way was laid out east of Lexington in 1846 by the
Lexington and West Cambridge RailroadThe Lexington and West Cambridge Railroad was a railroad company chartered in 1845 and opened in 1846, that operated in eastern Massachusetts. It and its successors provided passenger service until 1977 and freight service until 1980 or early 1981....
and west of Lexington in 1873 by the Middlesex Central Railroad.
Railbanking of the line was first proposed in 1974, three years before passenger rail service was discontinued, and a full seven years before rail service was discontinued altogether (in 1981). In 1991, the final plan for the conversion was approved, and construction started on the original section of the bikeway. The path was dedicated in 1992 and completed the following year.
In 1998 the bikeway was extended from East Arlington to Alewife station (in Cambridge). In 2002 it was entirely repaved and in 2004 the Bedford Depot Park Enhancement Project was completed at its west terminus.
The property is currently owned by the
Massachusetts Bay Transportation AuthorityThe Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, often referred to as the MBTA or simply The T, is the public operator of most bus, subway, commuter rail and ferry systems in the greater Boston, Massachusetts, area. Officially a "body politic and corporate, and a political subdivision" of the...
and leased to the municipalities through which it passes on an interim basis.{{Citation needed|date=May 2008}}
Uses
Area residents use the bikeway for a host of activities, including
bicyclingCycling, also called bicycling or biking, is the use of bicycles for transport, recreation, or for sport. Persons engaged in cycling are cyclists or bicyclists...
, walking,
joggingJogging is a form of trotting or running at a slow or leisurely pace. The main intention is to increase fitness with less stress on the body than from faster running.-Definition:...
, and
inline skatingIn-line skates are a type of roller skate used for inline skating. Unlike quad skates, which have two front and two rear wheels, inline skates have two, three, four, or five wheels arranged in a single line...
. The main use of the path, however, is for casual biking. In the winter there is often enough snow on the bikeway for
cross-country skiingCross-country skiing is a winter sport in which participants propel themselves across snow-covered terrain using skis and poles...
. However, the Bikeway is now plowed from Alewife Station to the Bedford-Lexington border. No motorized vehicles are allowed except for powered
wheelchairA wheelchair is a chair with wheels, designed to be a replacement for walking. The device comes in variations where it is propelled by motors or by the seated occupant turning the rear wheels by hand. Often there are handles behind the seat for someone else to do the pushing...
s and emergency vehicles.
Future possibilities
New connections under contemplation include one from Lexington to the Battle Road Trail, one to the
Charles RiverThe Charles River is an long river that flows in an overall northeasterly direction in eastern Massachusetts, USA. From its source in Hopkinton, the river travels through 22 cities and towns until reaching the Atlantic Ocean at Boston...
bike path via the abandoned
Watertown Branch RailroadThe Watertown Branch Railroad was a branch loop of the Fitchburg Railroad that was meant to serve the town of Watertown, and the City of Waltham, Middlesex County, Massachusetts as an independent short line railroad. It also serviced the Watertown Arsenal. The line is no longer in use and portions...
, and one to the
Mystic RiverThe 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...
bike path following Alewife Brook. The Alewife Brook extension has received $4M from the
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, abbreviated ARRA and commonly referred to as the Stimulus or The Recovery Act, is an economic stimulus package enacted by the 111th United States Congress in February 2009 and signed into law on February 17, 2009, by President Barack Obama.To...
as the "Minuteman Bikepath Connector" project.
External links
{{Commons category}}