For immediate release Contact: Wendy Fox

March 15, 2007 617-626-1453

Public Meeting Scheduled on Marking Bike Lanes

Along Brush Hill Road and Truman Parkway

BOSTON – The Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) has scheduled a public meeting for Wednesday night, March 28, at the Hyde Park Community Center to discuss plans to begin marking bicycle lanes along Brush Hill Road and Truman Parkway from Mattapan Square in Boston to Paul’s Bridge in Readville and the Neponset Valley Parkway in Readville and Milton.

The initiative, meant to provide better bicycle access along the Parkway, a wide, four-lane roadway with a seven-foot-wide shoulder. The painted bicycle lane will occupy five feet of the shoulder. Plans are to eventually create a raised bicycle path along the Parkway by extending the curb another few feet into the roadway and developing a raised bike and pedestrian path alongside, similar to paths along the Esplanade in Boston.

The initiative is one of the early-action items of the Neponset River Master Plan Phase II, completed by DCR in July 2006. The protection and enhancement of the ecological systems along and in the Neponset River was a guiding principle in developing the plan. Both passive and active recreation opportunities were promoted, while protecting and enhancing the river as a living system. The Master Plan Phase II was made possible through the thoughtful participation of numerous individuals and organizations. The continued involvement of the public as it is implemented is critical to the plan’s success.

The March 28 meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Hyde Park Community Center, 1179 River Street, between the Hyde Park Cooperative Bank and Hyde Park Savings Bank. It is within walking distance of Fairmont Station on the Commuter Rail. Input will be solicited from drivers, abutters, local public officials, and the cycling community as to where the lanes will be installed and the rules that will govern their use by cyclists and their observance by other drivers. DCR staff members will be available to talk to attendees. A brief presentation at 7:15 p.m. will be followed by a question-and-answer period.

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