OWNERSHIP
CONDITIONS
ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES
DESIGN ISSUES
PLANNING PROCESSES

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OWNERSHIP:
Metropolitan District Commission (MDC)

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CONDITIONS:
Traffic:
This section of the Arborway has four lanes of fast-moving through-traffic, rather than the eight lanes of the southern section of the Arborway. From Murray Circle to the Casey Overpass, homes on the western side of the Arborway are accessed by a separate, slow-moving, two-way residential street. Homes here range from single- to multi-family residences.

Traffic on this section of the Arborway is rapid and almost constant, thus it is difficult for pedestrians to cross the street and access the Arboretum. The speed limit is 30 miles per hour along the Arborway but 40 miles per hour is a more typical pace when traffic is flowing freely. In response, the MDC installed a quick-response pedestrian crosswalk on the Arborway just south of the main gate to the Arnold Arboretum near the intersection with Centre Street. A pedestrian walk signal typically appears about 15 seconds after someone pushes the button.

Murray Circle, Goldsmith Brook, and the Main Gate to the Arnold Arboretum:
Along Murray Circle, the Arboretum and the Monastery of St. Clare are bordered and protected by a dense forsythia hedges and a high wall. There are loose stones and dead wood in this area, as well as a small veterans memorial. South of Murray Circle along the Arborway is a wild section of the Arboretum that is not as meticulously maintained as other sections. Goldsmith Brook runs through this land along the western side of the Arborway, dips under the main gate of the Arboretum, runs through the Arboretum for about a hundred yards, joins with water flowing in from the adjacent wetland, and flows underground and beneath the Arborway.

Parking:
Cars typically park along the western edge of the Arborway along the edge of the Arboretum in order to access the main gate of the Arnold Arboretum. On a pleasant day, the line of cars can extend almost the entire length of the Aborway between Casey Overpass and Murray Circle. Even school buses occasionally park along this stretch, making getting into and leaving parking spaces difficult and, according to some visitors, dangerous. Parking is not permitted within the gates of the Arboretum except for employees and special visitors of the Arboretum.

Trees on the Arborway:
Unlike the overmature red oaks on the Arborway north of Murray Circle, the oaks south of Murray Circle have not been physically damaged by motor vehicles because they are either set back from the road or on a stretch of the Arborway that functions as a residential road rather than a speedway. Although these trees show signs of aging, the comparison between these and the scarred trees in the northern section of the Arborway is dramatic.

Perimeter of the Arboretum along the Arborway:
A stone wall borders the Arborway and the Arnold Arboretum. Parts of the wall are deteriorating and in need of significant repair. The wall is owned by the City of Boston, although according to Robert Cook, director of the Arnold Aboretum, the Arboretum is amenable to subsidizing or paying for the needed repairs.

One part of the fence is reinforced with a chain link fence that ends abruptly and arbitrarily between about half way between Murray Circle and the Casey Overpass. The fence is emblematic of the difficulties Arboretum staff face. They seek to present a welcome face to the community while at the same time protecting their collections from those who would violate them.

Forested and concrete medians:
The fast-moving and residential lanes of this section of the Arborway are separated by a forested area that ranges from a few feet wide to more than 220 feet wide. Where the forested area is narrow, there is a high black chain link fence between the residential side and the high-traffic side of the Arborway. Close to the Casey Overpass, the grassy median becomes forested parkland with a steep gradient that separates the upland one and two-family homes from the street below. This area is almost entirely unmanaged and overgrown. There is some trash and leaf build-up in the area. There is a dense, stagnating, natural stand of a fast-growing species of cherry tree that covers much of the landscape. There is a steep gradient and a ragged path that connects the homes with the street below.

The forested area between the two sections of the Arborway has no sidewalk or edge. It would be difficult to walk or bike here safely. A narrow, unsightly concrete median divides the thoroughfare lanes. Blades of grass poke through the concrete along its edges, creating what is often a messy appearance during the warm months.

Casey Overpass and a second entrance to the Arnold Arboretum:
Just before the Casey Overpass, a sidewalk appears along the eastern side of the Arborway, across the street from the Forest Hills gate to the Arboretum. This sidewalk is approximately 250 feet long and offers access to the pedestrian walk over the Casey Overpass. Although there is no formal crosswalk at this location, people frequently sprint across the heavy Arborway traffic here to access the Forest Hills gate to the Arboretum.

This entrance to the Arboretum has space enough for four or five vehicles. It is handicapped-accessible because of a small area hump of asphalt that functions as a ramp to the sidewalk.

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ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES:
-- As with other sections of the Arborway, aging red oaks are a management issue here that should be addressed. 

-- The median between the thoroughfare and residential sections of the Arborway has gone essentially unmanaged and is not as well utilized as it could be. Stagnating forest stands could be thinned to allow an appropriate number of the trees to thrive.

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DESIGN ISSUES:
-- Vehicles, especially school buses that are carrying children to the Arboretum, park along the Arborway, creating difficult conditions for loading, unloading, and merging back into fast-moving traffic.

-- Part of the stone wall along the edge of the Arboretum is breaking up from the inside, whereas most of the outside of the wall is in good condition.

-- When a car parks too closely to the curb at the Arborway entrance to the Arnold Arboretum near Casey Overpass, it becomes difficult or impossible for handicapped visitors to use the ramp and access the Arboretum. For example, on April 16, 2002, this handicapped-accessible point was partially blocked by a vehicle. A woman in her late 60s struggled to pull her frail, wheelchair-bound mother over the partially blocked bump and the elderly woman almost toppled onto the concrete as a result. 

-- Where the grassy median between the residential and thoroughfare lanes is protected from traffic by a fence, the grass grows well. Where the median is not protected, SUVs and other all-terrain vehicles can drive over the median to access the quiet residential road. When traffic is backed up on the thoroughfare lanes, drivers will often make this choice. As a result, the unprotected medians have deep scars from tire tracks. Little grass grows on them. Concrete at the side of the road is breaking up in some spots. Stone barriers along the median have hindered, but not stopped, this activity. 

-- Parking along the western edge of the Arborway can be a harrowing experience because oncoming traffic is fast and the parking lane is narrow. 

-- There is no facilitated opportunity to cross the Arborway between the quick-response crosswalk near the main entrance to the Arboretum and the Forest Hills area.

-- There is no sidewalk along the edge of the forested median. This hinders access and safety for pedestrians and cyclists.

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PLANNING PROCESSES:
The Arborway Master Planning process began in the spring of 2002 (see entry for Arborway (as a whole)).

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