Proposal to the Milton Community preservation Commission

The Neponset River Greenway and the Blue Hills Reservation provide bicycling opportunities to Milton's north and to Milton's south. This proposal aims to provide "wayfinding signage" between the two amenities, directing bicyclists via the Blue Hills Parkway and Unquity Road.

This proposal echoes a similar successful project on the Randolph side of the Blue Hills Reservation, where the Randolph Conservation Commission funded wayfinding signage from residential neighborhoods toward Ponkapoag Pond. The same methods for producing the signage would be applied to the new proposal.

The timing of this project coincides with two state projects, one to the north and one to the south. To the north, the Neponset River Greenway extension should open by July. To the south, the Ponkapoag Pond Fisherman's Cove Improvements project is at the 100% planned stage.

This proposal is organized by the Randolph Greenway group, who organized the Randolph signage project too. That group will contribute some of the project cost and any unexpected cost overruns, as was done with the Randolph CPC. The group is headed by Randolph Town Councilor Jesse Gordon, who will publicize the project.

Our goal is to integrate the Randolph section of the Blue Hills to the Milton section of the Blue Hills Reservation, and then to connect the Blue Hills to the Neposnset Trail.

• It's a 25-minute walk (or a 10-minute bikeride) from Houghton's Pond beach to the Ponkapoag trailhead on the Randolph side of Exit 3.
• From there, it's a 15-minute walk to the Bog Boardwalk in Canton, a unique nature preserve deep into the Ponkapoag Bog.
• From there, the Ponkapoag Trail circumnavigates Ponkapoag Pond: an hour-long walk (or a 25-minute bikeride) to go all the way around (it's bigger than Houghton Pond!).
• It's a 20-minute bikeride from Houghton's Pond to the Neponset Trail. (It's a 30-minute bikeride the other way, becaue of the upphill)/
• It's a 20-minute bikeride along the Neponset Trail to Boston parks such as Pope John Paul Park.
• Presentation to the Milton CPC for wayfinding signage making the connection.

Bicycle or walk from Milton to Randolph

We're asking the Milton Community Preservation Committee to fund some new signs showing people the way to Ponkapoag Pond. Those signs will be placed...

• At Houghton's Pond, to encourage people to consider Ponkapoag Pond too. (Houghton's Pond is very crowded in the summer; Ponkapoag Pond is not).
• Along the Blue Hills Parkway, the direct route north from Houghton's Pond (that road has a marked bike route already, for the part outside the Blue Hills Reservation).
• Along the Neponset Trail, a multi-use path (that means pedestrian and bicycle) along the Neponset River, all the way from Dedham to Boston.

Beyond the scope of the current proposed project...

Bicycle from Milton to Boston

MassDOT and MassDCR are currently fixing the worst disconnection -- building a new pedestrian walkway from Tenean Beach to Morrissey Boulevard, past the rainbow gas tank. Currently bicyclists must bike along Morrissey Boulevard -- it has a sidewalk but it also has parts where I-93 ramps join the road. That is getting fixed -- here's the construction for the section of Morrissey Boulevard that currently is the bicycle route, and here's the construction for the multi-use path through the Rainbow Gas Tank which will replace the current bicycle route (photos taken January 3, 2025).

We're proposing with NepRWA to add wayfinding signage north and south of the MassDOT/MassDCR project, so people can find their way from the existing off-road paths to the new off-road path. With a few stretches on roads with traffic, those off-road paths continue all the way to Carson Beach in South Boston -- a total of 14 miles from Ponkapoag Pond.

• View slide presentation for Boston Community Preservation Committee (3 Mb PDF)
• Download slide deck of the same presentation in PowerPoint format (23 Mb PPT)

References

• Milton CPC Eligibility Application
  To the Milton Community Preservation Commission, May 30, 2025

• Ponkapoag Pond Master Plan and Fisherman’s Cove Improvements
  https://www.mass.gov/info-details/ponkapoag-pond-master-plan-and-fishermans-cove-improvements

• Ponkapoag Pond Master Plan, February 2023
  https://www.mass.gov/doc/ponkapoag-master-plan/download

• Ponkapoag Master Plan Public Information Meeting 2.22.23
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cww3LPQve_s
  Jesse Gordon Q&A at 51:00 about how the project is funded; Sen. Timilty later responds that it's in DCR budget (which could be ameneded by legislation), not separate line items (which means we don't need to lobby for funding during the budget period).
  Jesse Gordon Q&A at 1:10:50: announcing the "Welcome" sign at the Donovan School (and other usages)

• Ponkapoag Pond Master Plan & Fisherman’s Cove Improvements Public Meeting, December 8, 2021
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWctggys5Y0

• Boston Harbor[walk]s Kickoff on the Dorchester Shores, Boston Harbor Now, October 9, 2019 [with map]
  https://www.bostonharbornow.org/boston-harborwalks-kickoff-on-the-dorchester-shores/

• FILLING IN THE ‘MISSING LINK’: Greenway past halfway mark along Morrissey, By Cassidy McNeeley, Dorchester Reporter, July 24, 2024
  https://www.dotnews.com/2024/filling-missing-link-greenway-past-halfway-mark-along-morrissey

• NEPONSET RIVER GREENWAY: DORCHESTER-HYDE PARK, MASSACHUSETTS, -BIKE IT OR HIKE IT-, January 01, 2025
  https://bikeitorhikeit.org/neponset_river_greenway.htm

• Boston <> Blue Hills: Proposed Network, By Neponset River Watershed Association (MAPC map)
  https://neponset.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/Boston-blue-Hills-Vision-scaled.jpg