The last section of the Watertown-Cambridge Greenway, a bike and pedestrian path, will begin construction in late summer or early fall.
A letter sent out by Leo Roy, commissioner of the state Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR), announced that the project will begin soon, and will create 1.25 miles of path along the former Boston & Maine Railroad tracks between Arlington Street/Nichols Avenue/Crawford Street intersection in Watertown and the entrance to the Cambridge Water Department at Fresh Pond. It will connect to the section already completed from Arlington Street to School Street in Watertown which is also referred to as the Community Path.
“The trail will offer additional opportunities for transportation and passive and active recreation and physical activity, while promoting community and economic growth through increased connectivity,” Roy wrote. “The multi-use Greenway will provide an important regional connection linking the Charles River Path system, the Minuteman Bikeway, the Alewife Greenway and the Mystic River Reservation into an interconnected off-road pathway network.”
The new section of the path will be 12 foot wide paved trail with two foot wide grass strips along both sides, according to the letter. Construction will also include removal of the railroad tracks and ties and cleaning up the overgrown vegetation. The pavement will be placed upon a new layer of gravel.
The path will cross at-grade at Arlington Street and Cottage Street in Watertown and will pass below grade at Grove Street and Mt. Auburn Street in Watertown and Huron Avenue in Cambridge.
The path will be under the control of the DCR, but the construction will be overseen by the Massachusetts Department of Transportation.