Building a Bridge at Dorchester Lower Mills

December 6-7, 1997

The rotting bridge over the Neponset River in Dorcheset Lower Mills was the only obstacle preventing people from walking or biking the Neponset River Greenway from Central Ave. in Milton to Neponset Circle in Dorchester. In the fall of 1997, Rich Kleiman, Metropolitan District Commission project manager for the Neponset River Greenway, got materials and some labor from his agency and asked the community for volunteers to help fix the bridge. After getting rained, snowed, and sleeted out of three weekends, the Neponset River Greenway bridge in Dorchester Lower Mills was redecked on Saturday, December 6 from 7:30 am to 4:00 pm and Sunday, December 7 from 9:00 am to 1:00 pm.

Volunteers, working with staff from the Metropolitan District Comission, removed the old ties from bridge.

New stringers were placed on the bridge's beams,

Thick planks were nailed, with 8-inch spikes, to make a travel surface.

The last tie being removed on Sunday morning.

Thanks to volunteers from neighborhoods on both sides of the river, as well as bicyclists from around the metropolitan area, gave up their weekend to connect this trail. Michael Hering from the MassBike board, Milton Trimitsis, MassBike member from Dorchester, and Jack Starmer, a cyclist from Milton, among others, put in a lot of work.

Thanks to the MDC for supplies and leadership, especially to Neponset Greenway project manager Rich Kleiman, who organized the bridge-building project, and David Lenhardt, the MDC engineer who designed the bridge and was elected to pound the final spike, one from the original bridge. Other MDC people who made this project possible include Julia O'Brien, Director of Planning, Ralph Daniels of the Planning Office, landscape architect Pete Jackson, Jimmy Ippolito of the Reconstruction Division, Jimmy Griffin of the Central Services Division, Samantha Overton, and Commissioner David Balfour.

Doug Mink made the first bike trip across the new bridge

View upstream from the middle of the new bridge

The bridge, which still needs good railings, can be reached by walking or biking along the right-of-way, which is separated from the Ashmont-Mattapan trolley by a 4-foot-high chain link fence. You can enter the trail in Milton at Central Avenue or the Adams St. MBTA station or in Dorchester at the Butler St. MBTA station.

All photos except that of the first bike on the bridge are by Doug Mink. That picture was taken by Sarah Mink.