OP-ED: THE GREENWAY IS COMING
March 7, 2007The Boston Globe
With apologies to Paul Revere, “The Greenway is coming! The Greenway is coming!”
The region has waited years for this news, and can be forgiven for believing that the Greenway would never come to fruition.
Certainly, the Greenway’s progress has not always been smooth. Funding has been uncertain, designs have been in flux, and the tragedy in the tunnel last summer temporarily brought everything to a halt. But the momentum is shifting. Questions and concerns are behind us, and yes, the parks are being built.
Now is the time for us to imagine that Boston will one day have its Rose Kennedy Greenway. In fact, that day is coming soon.
The Rose Kennedy Greenway Conservancy, the non-profit created to steward the Greenway, has pledged to make the Greenway “open, green, excellent, and available to all.” Those ideals echo a vision that was developed collaboratively well before the Conservancy was created; a vision of the Greenway as an urban retreat with open space, parks and gardens, not commercial development.
The Conservancy has embraced that vision, and two recent events made clear that neighborhood, political and business leaders share that vision as well.
Earlier this week, some of Boston’s most well-known public officials, including Mayor Tom Menino, Governor Deval Patrick, Senators Ted Kennedy and John Kerry, Senate President Robert Travaglini, former Governor Bill Weld, and Turnpike Authority Chairman John Cogliano, came together with prominent business leaders and members of the Conservancy to pledge their support to make the Greenway flourish. The Kennedy family in particular has already been generous with their time and financial resources, giving a huge boost to the Greenway’s progress.
Late last week, the Central Artery Completion Task Force, a group of dedicated, knowledgeable citizens from neighborhoods surrounding the Greenway, met with City and State officials at City Hall, as they have done regularly for years. Their expertise, offered tirelessly at community meeting after community meeting for nearly two decades, has already made the Greenway parks better. Their continued involvement will make the parks thrive.
These meetings demonstrated a shared dedication among the state, the city, the neighborhoods and the business community -- a clear sign of hope for the Greenway.
Of course, none of this would matter if progress were only taking place in meetings. You can also see it outside, on the land once clogged with cars on the elevated highway. Thousands of shrubs and more than 700 trees are in the ground, and ready to blossom this spring. In a few months the first water will spray from the Greenway’s fountains.
By this summer, the fencing will come down, and the corridor will cease to look like a construction zone and start to feel like the tree-lined corridor it is becoming. The public will have its first chance to experience the Rose Kennedy Greenway, and for many it may come as a welcome surprise.
In a city where residents, commuters and visitors have come to accept construction as a way of life, it’s not surprising that many have not recognized parks and plazas steadily rising up behind the chain link fence. In a city where we too often expect to be disappointed, it is not surprising that every glitch in the Greenway’s planning and construction was assumed to be fatal.
But the Greenway is moving forward despite those glitches. Museums designed for areas of the corridor bisected by highway on/off ramps have finally received funding to build above the ramps. Unrealistic plans for three blocks near South Station have finally been scraped, clearing the way for new, inspiring designs. The specifics of governance and funding are not yet final, but we’re getting closer, because everyone is united in a common purpose. The parks won’t be fully established until 2008, but this summer there will be grass and flowers and trees.
Taken together, this all means one thing: this is the time to start expecting the best instead of the worst. This is the time to let ourselves imagine the possibility that the largest public works project in history will emerge as it was meant to: with a glorious series of parks envisioned as a gift to those who endured the construction for so many years.
Boston is a truly extraordinary city, whose vibrancy is too often one of our best kept secrets. This summer, it’s going to get even better, and now is the time to let ourselves enjoy it.
The momentum, the unanimity of will, the determination to get this right, is palpable. So mark your calendars, because I have an invitation for you. This summer, come on down to the Greenway. Take a walk, sit on a bench, and take a deep breath.
Just don’t be surprised if you feel the corners of your mouth turning upward. Don’t be alarmed if you feel something quite unfamiliar.
It’s called joy, and it’s what happens when we let ourselves appreciate living in a truly spectacular place.
Peter Meade is the Chairman of the Rose Kennedy Greenway Conservancy, the non-profit organization created to steward the Greenway.
Contact:
Nancy Brennan
Rose Fitzgerald Kenney Greenway Conservancy
617-292-0020
info@rosekennedygreenway.org