OWNERSHIP
CONTEXT
CONDITIONS
HISTORY
DESIGN ISSUES
PLANNING PROCESSES
TESTIMONIES

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OWNERSHIP:
Metropolitan District Commission (MDC)

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CONTEXT:
-- The Arborway is a critical part of the historic, interconnected park system designed by landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted in the late 1800s. The Arborway connects the Arnold Arboretum to Franklin Park via the Forest Hills MBTA Station.

-- Forest Hills is the terminus of the Southwest Corridor Park and provides a biking and pedestrian connection to the downtown area.

-- The Forest Hills MBTA Station is a critical transportation center at the nexus of a wide array of commercial, industrial, residential, and open space uses. Forest Hills Station is the terminus of the Orange Line, a stop for the Needham Commuter Rail, a hub for bus transport (15 bus routes stop at the Forest Hills Station), and in future years will once again mark the terminus of the Arborway Green Line Trolley service.

-- The pedestrian connection between Forest Hills Station and the Arnold Arboretum was strengthened in 2002 by the opening of a pedestrian footpath between the two.

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CONDITIONS:
Pedestrians attempting to walk from the Forest Hills Station to Franklin Park must first cross four lanes of traffic at the Arborway to reach the Southwest Corridor Park. There is one crosswalk and a walk light to facilitate this crossing. At the entrance to the Southwest Corridor Park, there is excellent color signage about the Southwest Corridor Park, as well as a map of and some information about the area as a whole. It is not clear from the map how people should access areas such as Franklin Park and the Arnold Arboretum. There are no signs directing people to Franklin Park.

The pedestrian then must travel over an overpass and walk across four lanes of what is often extremely busy traffic at Washington Street. The pedestrian must proceed under the shadow of the concrete Casey Overpass, beside the vacant 18-acre Arborway Yard area and along a narrow, landscaped pathway. There is a bench to sit and rest near the intersection of Arborway and Washington.

After passing by the Arborway Yard, the pedestrian walks beside 500 Arborway, the sprawling office complex owned and operated by the MBTA. Here, there is less room for landscaping, although grass and bushes are still present. By the time the pedestrian reaches Forest Hills Street, however, the walkway is nothing more than a sidewalk bordering a chain-link fence. An unattractive one-acre pole yard owned by the City's Department of Public Works is located at the corner. In June 2002, the crosswalk at the two-lane Forest Hills Street is faded. The pedestrian must cross a third major street -- Forest Hills Street -- to finally access Franklin Park.

Once the pedestrian has crossed the street, he or she reaches a narrow, unsigned entrance to the park at a gap in the stone wall. The path is often strewn with trash and is sometimes overgrown. The path leads into the Wilderness woodland section of Franklin Park, which is not heavily used.

The pedestrian could enter the park here or else continue around Morton Circle to the main vehicular entrance to Franklin Park on Circuit Drive. The large, rustic wooden sign for Franklin Park and all its component pieces is designed for drivers rather than pedestrians. Circuit Drive is dominated by cars. For pedestrians who choose to access the park via Circuit Drive, there is no grand entryway other than the wooden sign and no map to help them orient themselves. There is only a sign prohibiting drinking of alcoholic beverages in the park at the top of the overpass for Cemetery Drive.

There are sidewalks on both sides of Circuit Drive. If no one has parked in the bike lane, there is room for bikers on the street. This section of the parkland is not extensively used and the first major feature a pedestrian sees upon walking into the park is the Shattuck Shelter for the homeless and the two towers of the Lemuel Shattuck Hospital. "The Shattuck" includes a high security area for prisoners with mental and physical ailments. Thus, this area is heavily policed.

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HISTORY:
As designed by Frederick Law Olmsted in the late 1800s, the final section of the Arborway was a grand approach to Franklin Park with many species of shrubs in the median. There was a formal gate at the entrance to the park at Forest Hills. There were differentiated walking trails, bridle paths, and carriage roads that began at the entrance. Changes in this section of the Arborway were accelerated when the Casey Overpass was constructed in the 1950s.

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DESIGN ISSUES:
-- The description above outlines many design issues, such as unsafe road crossings, the domination of cars, lack of orienting signage, and the trashy, "lifeless" woodlands at Morton Circle. 

-- According to Bernard Lynch, director of maintenance for the Boston Department of Parks and Recreation, the Parks Department hopes to clear out the woodlands at the edge of Forest Hills and the Arborway at Shea Circle/ Morton Circle in 2002. According to Lynch, as of the spring of 2002, this is a lifeless area. 

-- Between the intersection with South Street and the intersection with Morton Circle/ Shea Circle, the Arborway is also known as "New Washington Street." Street signs carry this name, although most City maps label the entire stretch of road from the Arboretum to Franklin Park as the Arborway, which was the original plan for the Emerald Necklace. Most local residents seem to refer to this stretch of road as the Arborway, as opposed to New Washington Street.

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PLANNING PROCESSES:
-- The Arborway Master Planning process is being run by the Boston Department of Parks and Recreation. The planning process is funded by a Department of Environmental Management Historic Landscape Preservation Grant with partners from City and State government, as well as the Arnold Arboretum and the Emerald Necklace Conservancy. 

-- In 2002, the MBTA and community are in the midst of a planning process to redevelop the 18-acre Arborway Yard with a bus storage facility as well as an eight-acre chunk of community land that is likely to include a greenway connector to Franklin Park. 

-- The return of the Arborway Green Line Trolley to Centre/ South Street is in the planning phase and will impact this area significantly.

-- The Boston Redevelopment Authority is considering running a Forest Hills master planning process.

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TESTIMONIES:
"My kids still remember the time we tried to bicycle from Forest Hills to Franklin Park. It was very scary" (Christine Poff, director of the Franklin Park Coalition, April 2002).

"I took my daughter to see a concert in Franklin Park. There was a long line for the shuttle bus at Forest Hills and I thought - why not walk? So I walked with the carriage and went by Shattuck Hospital and there was a cop standing there. That cop looked at me like I was the biggest idiot in the city to be walking by this high security medical area with my child. The look I got. I will never forget it. It said, 'You big fool'" (Carter Wilkie, Roslindale resident).

"Some areas of Franklin Park have been let go and need to be reclaimed. We are concentrating on the area around Cemetery Road up to Williams Street and down to the circle at Morton Street. There is no life in that area" (Bernard Lynch, director of maintenance for the Boston Department of Parks and Recreation).

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