Brookline To Reenvision Beacon Street Inspired By Olmsted

BROOKLINE, MA — Have you ever wondered why Brookline doesn't create a multi-use path alongside the MBTA Green C-line tracks through Town, where people can more easily exercise and bike safe from cars- similar to the Southwest Corridor trail that runs from JP to Back Bay or the trail that runs along the Muddy River? Well, with the help of $35,000 from a state grant, the town is edging closer to looking into the feasibility of doing just that.

The Baker-Polito Administration Monday awarded $4 million in MassTrails Grants to 55 local trail projects, including $32,000 to Brookline, throughout the state. The grants are supposed to support the state’s network of trails with projects dedicated to the construction, maintenance, and improvements for a variety of public trails, including hiking trails, bikeways, and shared-use paths.

MassTrails grants are matching grants and require that proponents provide a minimum of 20 percent of the total project cost or in-kind services for the project. The total cost of the consulting services for transportation engineering, landscape architecture and public engagement by Toole Design is around $200,000. Some $50,000 is coming from the state budget surplus from 2019, thanks to the efforts of Rep. Tommy Vitolo. And Town Meeting approved using $117,000 of Brookline’s 2019 rideshare-trip tax revenues toward the study.

The funds will be used to conduct a feasibility study and create a conceptual design for the re-opening and restoration of the Bridle Path along the median of Beacon Street in Brookline. The project is inspired by Frederick Law Olmsted's original Bridle Path design that provided for a separated multi-use path for pedestrians, bicycles, and micro-mobility devices along the entire 2.2 miles.

For years, several residents have been pushing for the project. Friends of the Beacon Street Bridle Path put together a test run of the path last year (see video below) and it brought out a number of people to test it out. Friends of the Beacon Street Bridle Path called it a success.

"I'm thrilled that Brookline will be moving forward with further examination of reopening Beacon Street's historical Bridleway in fulfillment of a resolution adopted by Town Meeting in Fall 2018," said Brookline resident Jules Milner-Brage who has been part of the Friends of Beacon Street Bridal Path.

Frederick Law Olmsted, who designed the Emerald Necklace and Central Park in New York designed the Brookline section of Beacon Street that runs between Cleveland Circle and Audubon Circle. Originally, in the mid-1880s he envisioned it as a centerpiece avenue for Brookline.

His design included a landscaped median for streetcar tracks that later become the C branch of the Green Line, wide sidewalks, and trees running along the curbs and on either side of the railway in the middle of the street. It looks much the same today.

But, his version included a 20 foot "bridle way" for horseback riders along the streetcar tracks and under the trees. As horses were replaced with cars, that bridle way was replaced with parking.

But that parking area is extra long. The Friends of the Beacon Street Bridal Path aren't asking that parking be eliminated at all, just that the parking area be shorted to add the multi-use path alongside the tracks.

The Brookline Select Board will need to formally adopt the contract with the consultants, Toole Design, which is something the board is likely to do at their August 11 meeting.

Then, Toole Design will begin the Beacon Street analytical work, in collaboration with staff in Brookline's Public Works and Planning Departments.

Milner-Brag estimates a Toole-and-Town effort update by the end of 2020.

"The MassTrails Grant Program invests in path improvements and construction which allow for more access to important destinations, giving residents safe, healthy, and low carbon travel options as well as options for active recreational activities," said Massachusetts Department of Transportation Secretary and CEO Stephanie Pollack in a statement. "Now more than ever, the public is seeking transportation options due to the pandemic and this funding creates, enhances, and maintains networks of multimodal, shared-use pathways which help people get to where they need to go while reducing their carbon footprint and lowering pollution."

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