Boston Celebrates Completion Of Jamaica Pond Pathways Project

From the City of Boston:

November 8, 2019

Mayor Martin J. Walsh and Boston Parks Commissioner Ryan Woods will join Jamaica Plain residents along with park advocates and users at 12 noon on Saturday, November 23, to celebrate the completion of renovations to the pathways encircling Jamaica Pond and the renaming of the boathouse in honor of Christine Cooper, longtime supporter of efforts to restore and revitalize the park.

The $4,770,000 project, funded by Mayor Walsh’s Capital Improvement Program, was done in two phases. The first focused on the area around Pinebank and the ball field and included new paving of pathways, repairs to entrances, a new bottle filler, new rules and bike signage, new benches, and new trees.The second phase involved all pathways surrounding the pond and the DCR multi-use path along the Jamaicaway and included the same scope of improvements along with bottle fillers, new exercise equipment, and a new accessible fishing platform. Additional upgrades included accessibility upgrades to the boat house plaza, addition of a runner’s path, and drainage improvements to help pond water quality.

The pathways project has produced major accessibility upgrades including: 100% of the entrances now meet ADA guidelines; an increase from one to three drinking fountain/bottle fillers that are ADA compliant; an increase in pathways that are ADA compliant from 60% to 95%; the boathouse plaza is now 100% ADA compliant including the pavement to the door of the boathouse and bandstand; and now over 50% of benches have an adjacent companion seat.

This project also has been designed to help water quality through drainage improvements. Swales were added on the uphill side of the pathway to retain and infiltrate storm water before crossing over the path into the pond. Sediment catchment has been added to the top of each cobble swale to allow sediment to settle prior to water flowing over the swale into the pond. The runner’s path was designed to funnel water to the cobble swales in order to avoid erosion along the pond edges.

Given the heavy usage by pedestrians and cyclists, signage around the pond is very important. The pathways improvement project upgraded signage in the park, added place identification signage, rules signage including new “no swimming/no skating” signs, “no feeding the wildlife” signs, and also bike rules signs and pavement markings.

The November 23 celebration will include refreshments provided by HP Hood LLC, the official dairy sponsor for the Boston Parks and Recreation Department’s 2019 park openings.

This press release was produced by the City of Boston. The views expressed here are the author’s own.