Boston Harborwalk
| Boston Harborwalk | |
|---|---|
Under Charlestown Bridge in 2008.
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| Established | 1984 |
| Length | 47 mi (76 km) |
| Location | Boston, Massachusetts |
| Trailheads | Numerous access points |
| Use | Walking, bicycling, inline skating |
| Hiking details | |
| Trail difficulty | Easy |
| Season | Year round |
| Sights | Boston Harbor |
| Hazards | Follows edges of piers, some stairs; portions of proposed route are incomplete |
| Website | www |
Boston Harborwalk is a public walkway that follows the edge of piers, wharves, beaches, and shoreline around Boston Harbor. When fully completed it will extend a distance of 47 miles (76 km) from East Boston to the Neponset River.
The Harborwalk is a cooperative project of the City of Boston, the Boston Planning and Development Agency, the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection,The Boston Harbor Association, and private property developers. Since 1984, the project has established parks, walking paths, educational sites, transportation facilities, and other amenities along the harbor. Many developers of private land along the harbor have been required under the provisions of the Boston Zoning Code and of Chapter 91 of Massachusetts state law to set back new buildings from the water and to provide publicly accessible waterfront pathways.
A map of the proposed route shows that the completed Harborwalk will consist of a continuous trail from Charlestown in the north to Dorchester in the south, plus many other discontinuous trail segments. A map and trail guide describe the current status of the route. An interactive map highlights sights along a portion of the walk in downtown Boston. As of 2016, 38 of the originally planned 47 miles of trail have been completed. Following the September 11 attacks, plans to extend the Harborwalk to the four miles of shoreline around Logan Airport were abandoned. As an alternative, planners are now considering an inland route connecting the Harborwalk through the East Boston Greenway to Constitution Beach.
The Harborwalk connects with many other trails. From north to south, these include the following:
Sculptures and memorials, including some by noted artists, have been placed at many locations along the Harborwalk. Playful fish sculpture benches by Judy Kensley McKie and sculptures by Susumu Shingu and David Phillips have been created for Eastport Park, South Boston. Sculptures by Tony Smith, Willem de Kooning, Luis Jimenez, Dennis Oppenheim, William G. Tucker, and Sol LeWitt are located on the University of Massachusetts Boston campus. Between the Institute of Contemporary Art and the John Joseph Moakley United States Courthouse, a series of artworks by Ross Miller evoke moments in the history of Fan Pier. "Untitled Landscape" by David von Schlegell is located at Harbor Towers.
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Wikipedia