Misplaced Pages

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27-530: The street grid is internally disconnected, and the railroads and pond block access north, east, and south. The only through roads are the east-west Concord Avenue and north-south Alewife Brook Parkway . Public transit access includes Alewife Station across the railroad tracks, and buses on Concord Avenue connecting to Harvard Square . The area is largely industrial-commercial, with the Fresh Pond Mal and other stores on Alewife Brook Parkway. The mall includes

54-415: A dedicated road for large trucks to service the shopping areas by passing below the overpass. As traffic has grown over the past century, the original aesthetics of the parkway's southernmost sections have been largely lost. It is now a section of the principal route between the northwestern suburbs and Boston on the other, and consequently carries a large volume of commuter traffic. The Alewife MBTA station

81-597: A highway in the present right-of-way at some point before 1937. A drive-in theater was built in 1950, replaced by the Fresh Pond Shopping Center in 1962. The current indoor movie theater next to the shopping center was added in 1964. Along the southern end, Alewife Brook Parkway underwent further changes beginning in the late 1980s, including a new four lane overpass spanning the Fitchburg Line , new dedicated shoulder turning-lanes for exiting and entering

108-581: A movie theater multiplex. Also in the neighborhood are BBN Technologies , E Ink Corporation , an office of the Social Security Administration , a Best Western hotel, the Olympia Fencing Center and a large electrical substation . North of Concord Avenue and west of Alewife Brook Parkway a variety of light-industrial uses predominate, including Anderson & McQuaid Millwork, Longleaf Lumber's reclaimed wood warehouse and showroom,

135-521: A senior living center overlooking Fresh Pond; condominiums have gone up on Wheeler Street. In 2011, a developer purchased 70 Fawcett Street and was in the process of constructing a 428-unit residential complex. Blair Pond, on the western edge of Cambridge Highlands, is part of Alewife Brook Reservation , which continues north of the Fitchburg Line. Originally, the area was merely swampland between Spy Pond and Fresh Pond, drained by Alewife Brook. What

162-573: Is a prominent feature on the parkway, and there are shopping centers, parking lots, and office and apartment buildings lining the parkway between Alewife station and the southern terminus. The entire route is in Middlesex County . Fresh Pond Parkway Fresh Pond Parkway is a historic park and parkway on the western end of Cambridge, Massachusetts . It is part of the Metropolitan Park System of Greater Boston . The parkway

189-452: Is now Concord Avenue was laid out sometime between 1805 and 1812 as the eastern part of the Cambridge and Concord Turnpike , proceeding directly from the new West Boston Bridge to the center of Concord, Massachusetts . The Fitchburg Railroad opened in 1843, with stations on both sides of the wetlands (Blanchard Road and Brickworks). A spur to serve freight customers was constructed before

216-455: The Metropolitan Park System of Greater Boston , established in 1893. It was originally planned by landscape architect Charles Eliot as one section of a web of pleasure roads designed for their aesthetics . Nearby Alewife Brook was straightened and channelized between 1909 and 1912, and construction of the parkway was completed by 1916. Landscaping was performed by the famed Olmsted Brothers firm. Route 2 connected to Alewife Brook Parkway as

243-657: The National Register of Historic Places . It begins at Fresh Pond in Cambridge (linking to Fresh Pond Parkway via Concord Avenue), and heads north on the east bank of Alewife Brook , crossing into West Somerville and ending at the Mystic River on the Medford town line, where it becomes Mystic Valley Parkway . The entire length of Alewife Brook Parkway is designated as part of Massachusetts Route 16 (Route 16), while

270-670: The Charles River through western Cambridge was proposed by the landscape designer Charles Eliot as early as 1892. Eliot, a Cambridge resident, had already assisted the city in laying out the Fresh Pond Reservation lands, and believed that a parkway would provide improved access between the Charles River and the Middlesex Fells Reservation . In 1898 the Metropolitan Parks Commission, the predecessor of

297-671: The Fitchburg main line east of present-day New Street. It skirts Fresh Pond to the east, and provided passenger service to Waltham until 1938. Freight service continued until 2007 or 2009; the railroad was officially abandoned in 2011 and is being turned into a rail trail in segments. The curve of the Watertown Branch defines the rear boundary of the Fresh Pond Mall and the curve of the industrial buildings on New Street. By 1903, there were still sparse development improvements other than

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324-487: The MDC and the city over its route and funding. The connection of Gerry's Landing Road to Eliot Bridge, locally considered part of the parkway, was completed in 1958. As part of the construction of a new water purification plant on Fresh Pond, the northern section of the parkway was reconstructed. The work included new sidewalks, a bike path on the west side, and roadway realignment. Work was completed in 2002. The entire route

351-545: The Metropolitan District Commission (MDC) and today's Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR), began acquiring land for the parkway with the purchase of Lowell Park, formerly a portion of the Elmwood estate. Land takings continued in 1899, and the section between Gerry's Landing and Huron Avenue was completed in 1900. The northern section was completed in 1928-1930, following disputes between

378-567: The connection between the parkway and Memorial Drive , Greenough Boulevard, and the Eliot Bridge over the Charles River . A median initially separates the north and southbound lanes, which gradually narrows to little more than a jersey barrier at the intersection with Brattle Street , about 0.25 miles (0.40 km) to the northwest. This section bisects Lowell Memorial Park, with the Elmwood estate

405-481: The eastern rotary. The road is designated Massachusetts Routes 2 (northbound) and 16 (eastbound), and US Route 3 (northbound). The parkway runs roughly north, skirting just east of the Alewife T station to a large intersection (formerly a rotary), where the limited access highway carrying Route 2 to the west begins. The parkway runs north from this intersection, paralleling just east of the course of Alewife Brook, which forms

432-426: The facilities of the Cambridge public water supply. From the rotary it proceeds west about 0.2 miles (0.32 km) to its end at a larger rotary, where Concord Avenue continues west, and Alewife Brook Parkway continues north, carrying all three numbered route designations. The south side of this section continues to be the Fresh Pond Reservation, and the north side is heavily commercialized. A northbound parkway from

459-457: The left, and reaches its northern terminus at a small rotary near where Alewife Brook empties into the Mystic River . There it meets Mystic Valley Parkway , which runs from Arlington just to the west to Medford to the northeast. The Route 16 designation continues northeast. The parkway's total length is just over two miles (about three kilometers). The parkway, with the surrounding Alewife Brook Reservation (115 acres (47 ha)), forms part of

486-463: The only residence on the east. North of Brattle Street, the parkway has no median. In 0.4 miles (0.64 km) it reaches Huron Avenue, where Route 16 joins the roadway from the west. This section is residential on both sides. The southern portion of the parkway is canopied by mature trees, and has concrete sidewalks on each side, separated by a narrow green strip. North of the Huron Avenue junction,

513-404: The railroads, Concord Avenue, and a few nearby industrial buildings. The neighborhood was urbanized into a largely industrial area in the 1900s. 42°23′25″N 71°9′3″W  /  42.39028°N 71.15083°W  / 42.39028; -71.15083 Alewife Brook Parkway Alewife Brook Parkway is a short parkway in Cambridge and Somerville, Massachusetts . It is listed on

540-475: The reservoir to the Charles River Reservation . The parkway is part of Massachusetts Route 2 (Route 2) and U.S. Route 3 (US 3) for its entire length. The portion north of Huron Avenue is also part of Route 16 . Fresh Pond Parkway begins at a large interchange with Mount Auburn Street, a major east-west road in western Cambridge, and Gerry's Landing Road, which serves as

567-637: The rest of the local street grid, explaining some of the unusual present-day property lines. It ran diagonally from northeast (near the bend in Fawcett Street) to southwest (terminating near customers on Concord Ave at Smith Place). As of 2013, abandoned sidings can still be found south of the Fitchburg main line, which presently carries MBTA Commuter Rail service as the Fitchburg Line (though with no stops in Cambridge Highlands). The Watertown Branch Railroad began construction in 1847, diverging from

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594-415: The road turns northeast to skirt Fresh Pond, crossing the former Watertown Branch Railroad right-of-way, and running for 0.5 miles (0.80 km) to a rotary with Concord Avenue. It remains residential on the east side, until Lexington Avenue, when that side becomes commercial. The west side is lined by the Fresh Pond Reservation, with southbound access to a public parking area (limited to city residents) and

621-618: The scene shop of the American Repertory Theater , and the C.J. Mabardy disposal station, but since 2010 a steady encroachment of residential buildings has been occurring from the east. The Sancta Maria Nursing Facility and the Fayerweather Street School are also situated in this area. Near the Belmont line, a few streets in the neighborhood are mainly residential. There are also a few isolated houses on Concord Avenue, and

648-536: The shopping centers, enlarged roundabouts with obstructive center trees removed, new raised grassy medians down the center of the parkway, and new trees, light poles, and bike lanes integrated into the sidewalks. Some of the other amenities integrated in the new design included accessible ramps and stairs on the northbound side of the bridge leading to the Rindge Towers, new sidewalk access to Alewife station , Alewife Linear Park , bike trail adjacent to Jerry's Pond, and

675-543: The southernmost sections are also designated as part of Route 2 and U.S. Route 3 (US 3). It is managed by the Department of Conservation and Recreation with the Massachusetts Department of Transportation responsible for bridge maintenance. The southern terminus of the parkway is the westernmost of the two Fresh Pond rotaries, with Concord Avenue connecting the parkway to Fresh Pond Parkway at

702-453: The western boundary of Cambridge with Arlington. The first major intersection is with Massachusetts Avenue , which carries Massachusetts Route 2A eastward toward Porter Square , and Routes 2A and 3 westward into Arlington. The parkway continues to parallel Alewife Brook as it heads north into Somerville. After crossing Broadway, the parkway passes through a rotary-like interchange with Powder House Boulevard. It then passes Dilboy Stadium, on

729-452: Was built in 1899 and added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2005. Fresh Pond Parkway is a four-lane road (two lanes in each direction) stretching from Mount Auburn Street on its southern end to a rotary at Concord Avenue (formerly Cambridge and Concord Turnpike ) and Alewife Brook Parkway to the north. Much of the parkway acts as the eastern boundary for portions of the city's municipal Fresh Pond reservoir area and connects

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