Rose Kennedy Greenway

Rose Kennedy Greenway
The Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway as seen from above
Map of Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway
Type	Linear park
Location	Boston, Massachusetts
Area	15 acres (61,000 m2)/1.5 miles (2.4 km)
Created	2008
Operated by	Rose Kennedy Greenway Conservancy
Status	Open all year (daily 7 a.m. to 11 p.m.)
Public transit access	South Station Aquarium Station Haymarket Station North Station
Website	http://www.rfkgc.org/

The Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway is a linear park located in several Downtown Boston neighborhoods. It consists of landscaped gardens, promenades, plazas, fountains, art, and specialty lighting systems that stretch over one mile through the Chinatown, Financial District, Waterfront, and North End neighborhoods. Officially opened in October 2008, the 17-acre Greenway sits on land created from demolition of the John F. Fitzgerald Expressway under the Big Dig.

The Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway is named after Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy, the matriarch of the Kennedy Family who was born in the neighboring North End neighborhood. Her son, Senator Edward M. Kennedy, played an important role in establishing the Greenway.

The Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway Conservancy was established as an independently incorporated non-profit organization in 2004 to guide the emerging park system and raise funds for an endowment and operations. In 2008, the State Legislature confirmed the Conservancy as the designated steward of the Rose Kennedy Greenway; the Conservancy operates with a lease from the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority (now Massachusetts Department of Transportation). Since February 2009, the Conservancy has operated the park, leading the maturation of this new civic space, strengthening its physical beauty, and encouraging a sense of a shared community in Boston.

The 2008 legislation established a 50%-50% public/private funding model. Today, each dollar from the state is leveraged by more than one dollar of private support.

In the 1940s, planning began for a "Highway in the Skies" that would alleviate traffic congestion and provide a direct route for moving goods in and out of Boston. Construction of the elevated Central Artery began in 1951 and was completed in 1959, displacing more than 10,000 residents and demolishing some 1,000 buildings. The limitations of the Central Artery soon became painfully clear, however. In 1991, after almost a decade of planning, construction began on the Central Artery/Tunnel Project, more widely known as the "Big Dig", which was recognized as one of the largest, most complex, and technologically challenging highway projects in the history of the United States.