Dorchesterway

The Dorchesterway was a Parkway in Boston, Massachusetts in the United States. He was scheduled as the last part of the planned by Frederick Law Olmsted in the 19th century Emerald Necklace system of parks and parkways, but was never completed.

Background

The present Emerald Necklace has an L-shaped profile. It starts at the Boston Common near Downtown Crossing and leads to the Arnold Arboretum, located both in Forest Hills and in Roslindale on the border with West Roxbury. From there, the Emerald Necklace leads back across the Arborway to Franklin Park.

Olmsted's original plans involved to continue the system of the Emerald Necklace over the Dorchesterway to the shores of Dorchester Bay in Boston Harbor to form in this way a U-profile, what a Necklace ( Necklace ) comes closest creatively. It was also planned to Columbia Road in Dorchester, and to tie the Strandway in South Boston with the local Marine Park and the Pleasure Bay to the Emerald Necklace.

Nevertheless:

" ... Conditions of Columbia Road When the parks system what being established [ ... ] precluded this vision from becoming a reality. When Columbia Road which formally designed in the late 1800s, there already what a Relatively high density of buildings. The road had street rails thatwere used by a streetcar trolley connecting Upham Corner and Franklin Park. There was a grass strip in the center and roads on Either side, one for commercial traffic and the other for pleasure traffic. As a result, Columbia Road failed to serve the purposes of Either the Work or the pleasure travel travelers well, and there was not enough room for what Olmsted Considered a proper parkway. "

" ... Keep the state of the Columbia Road at the time of construction of the parking system, this vision became a reality. When the Columbia Road was planned in the late 19th century, there was already a relatively high density of development. On the road ran rails, joined with the Franklin Park on the trams Upham Corner. There was a green stripe in the middle and roadways on each side - one for work and one for leisure traffic. As a result, Columbia Road was neither the one nor the other users to satisfy page. There was not enough room for the expansion of a construct under which Olmsted envisioned a decent Parkway. "

Current Situation

The area around the planned Dorchesterway was almost a century neglected and was abandoned to urban decay, but has undergone some aesthetic improvements in the last decade. The Boston Department of Parks and Recreation planted new trees, sowed grass and set new planter along a portion of the Columbia Road. Nevertheless, the greening is overall still very sparse because of dense development, which is why the route is not called Parkway. For the same reason the Columbia Road is not an official part of today's Emerald Necklace.

Planning for the future

It is quite conceivable that at some point in the future a whatever type Dorchesterway connects the Emerald Necklace of the coast. Members of the Emerald Necklace Conservancy develop ideas for long-term development of the Boston park system and proposed to use the Columbia Road to improve the connections between Franklin Park, Marine Park and Pleasure Bay. It has also been discussed, to provide a compound of South Boston. According to the association, this is also the desire of many citizens of Boston.

In 2004, the Boston Redevelopment Authority published a strategic plan for improvements in Roxbury. In this setting up an MBTA line on the Columbia Road is seen as a way much better to connect the residents of the Emerald Necklace. The planners also recommend a comprehensive redesign of the road with trees and antique street lamps to give the character a boulevard to Columbia Road.