5 research outputs found
Recommended from our members
Aqueduct Trail Network Development in Metro Boston
The Massachusetts Water Resources Authority (MWRA) and the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC) are collaborating with associated cities and towns to open up 40 + miles of existing and former aqueduct right-of-ways are available to be permitted for public access for the first time in the western suburbs of Boston. Four aqueducts are being considered for public access.
The first one-mile section along the Weston Aqueduct in Framingham opened to the public in October 2012. By eventually connecting these aqueducts with existing trail systems, we are ultimately creating a 50+ mile continuous greenway network, primarily using existing public land permitted at no cost to municipalities, requiring minimal investment, and creating a maintenance partnership between the MWRA and cities and towns.
The MWRA is working with each of the communities to issue public access permits. Each town will be able to conduct limited improvements to the right-of-way to allow for improved hiking, cycling, and dog-walking activities. A number of schools are adjacent or close to the aqueduct corridors and will provide car-free access for children to walk between school and home. Sections of these aqueduct corridors have been used as informal trails for a number of years. Under the new policy, public access activities will now be authorized and maintenance responsibilities will be split between the MWRA and municipalities.
MAPC is working with each of the communities to connect the disjointed aqueduct segments into a seamless, continuous, connected greenway network. Working through each town’s public process, MAPC is identifying the trail segments that will connect with existing regional rail trails, including the circumferential Bay Circuit Trail around Boston and numerous others. MAPC expects to complete an implementation plan in 2013 that identifies the proposed alignment of the completed aqueduct trail network system
Recommended from our members
BART Access and Office Building Performance
This paper addresses the question of whether office buildings near BART stations command higher rents or achieve higher occupancy levels than their more distant competitors. Contemporary urban economics suggests that they should: that office buildings near transit stations should have a competitive advantage over more distant buildings, and that such advantages should translate into higher rents, higher occupancy rates, and ultimately higher building values. Contrasted with this view is that of the commercial real estate broker, that mass transit accessibility is one of many building features which, depending on current market conditions, may or may not be rewarded in the marketplace
Recommended from our members
A Greenway Network Vision for Metro Boston
Urban greenways are attractive for walking and especially for bicycling because they offer a pleasant and near-traffic-free environment in an area with high population density and rich with destinations. Unfortunately, urban greenways are often not connected to one another, requiring cyclists to negotiate heavy traffic getting from one greenway to another and thus diminishing their utility. In the Boston region, a planning and visioning effort is underway to promote the vision of a network of connected greenways offering continuous pleasant, low-stress routes by bicycle or by foot between origins and destinations across the urban area. The network plan emphasizes both connecting existing greenways and creating new greenways. Opportunities for new greenway corridors are described, including radical road diets that remove two lanes from overly-wide roads in order to create parkland strips that can host a shared use path.
Greenway network planning involves balancing the desire to increase the network’s reach and connectivity by adding segments against the need to preserve the integrity of the “greenway” brand. We show that using strict criteria that emphasize low traffic stress, an extensive and dense greenway network is feasible using creative engineering solutions such as road diets and cycle tracks. Evaluation measures examine the quality, reach, geographic distribution, and connectivity of the network
Recommended from our members
BART Access and Office Building Performance
This paper addresses the question of whether office buildings near BART stations command higher rents or achieve higher occupancy levels than their more distant competitors. Contemporary urban economics suggests that they should: that office buildings near transit stations should have a competitive advantage over more distant buildings, and that such advantages should translate into higher rents, higher occupancy rates, and ultimately higher building values. Contrasted with this view is that of the commercial real estate broker, that mass transit accessibility is one of many building features which, depending on current market conditions, may or may not be rewarded in the marketplace