Watertown Bike Path Closer to Becoming a Reality

For over three decades, Bicycle and Pedestrian Committee member Janet Jameson
has been pushing to build something that many Watertown bicyclists have wanted: a Charles River/Alewife connector path.

Now, the dream is becoming a reality: what's commonly known as the Branch Path has opened. The finished section of path stretches from Randy's Car Wash on School Street to the intersection of Arlington and Nichols Streets.

With the availability of the path so close on the horizon, community excitement is at an all-time high, said Bicycle and Pedestrian Committee Secretary Brad Parson at this month's meeting.

"The community is behind this now, in terms of awareness and excitement," Parson said.

The general sentiment of the meeting was, "it's about time." The path has been in the works for at least 20 years and people are recognizing how much the path will bring to the Watertown community, committee members said.

The committee believes that the bike path is something the community needs to see in order to realize how much it will actually affect the neighborhood. Now that the path is marked and walkable, the committee said the excitement will only grow.

The path will be a benefit for the town, said State Rep. Peter Koutoujian, D-Waltham, in a press release from the state Department of Transportation (DOT).

"These improvements will create an even more vibrant and enjoyable community. This is a prime example of how our delegation can work with the administration to make something good happen for our constituents."

State Sen. Steven A. Tolman, who represents Watertown, said he is excited to see the progress of the path, according to the DOT press release.

"I am thrilled that this long-awaited project is moving forward and that funding has been awarded for the construction of Phase I of the bike path," Tolman said. "After over a decade of hard work by various government agencies, community groups, and my brother, former (state) Senator Warren Tolman, this multi-use path is now one step closer to completion. I hope that today's announcement is the first of many and that together we can continue to make Watertown an even better place to live and work."

The construction will not stop with the Branch Path. The second part of the plan is to extend a path towards Fresh Pond in Cambridge. But the land where the path will run belongs to the railroads, and may take longer to secure.

Bicycle and Pedestrian Committee chairman Steve Engler addressed the issue at hand in obtaining the railroad property, according to a story on Boston.com.

"We don't think they've used it in years, it's all overgrown," Engler said. "The challenge is to get the railroad to sell the land, and the state to buy it, but we want to motivate our officials to make this happen."

Watertown officials plan to meet with Cambridge representatives in the near future to jump start the second part of this operation.

For more information on the project, check out the committee's website at www.watertownbikeped.org.