Boston Cap Park Closer to Reality

A proposed greenway would cap a 0.75-mile subterranean segment of Boston’s Red Line subway with a linear park, reports Daniel Roche in The Architect’s Newspaper. “With $300,000 in funding from the MassTrails program, a state initiative, and an additional $368,000 from the city of Boston; officials, community leaders, and designers are gearing up to build a new pathway for walkers and bikers, dubbed The Dorchester Greenway.”

According to Roche, “Today, the stretch between Fields Corner Station and Ashmont Station is below grade, topped by a derelict asphalt carpet. For years, community activists have sought to build a park on the land currently owned by the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA).” Local advocates say the greenway would provide new public green space and stitch the neighborhood back together. Cap parks are becoming an increasingly popular way to utilize space above active or defunct freeways or subway lines, although some projects, like one in Denver, have triggered gentrification and displacement concerns.