Massachusetts Bikeway Resources

 http://www.massbike.org/bikeways/resource.htm		 MassBike
MassBike Bikeways
MassBike keeps an online summary of all of the existing and proposed bikeway projects we know about in Massachusetts, grouped by region:
Boston
Boston Metro 		North Shore
Southeast Mass. 		Central Mass.
Western Mass. 		Cape Cod & Islands
New maps of existing and proposed bikepaths in the northern half of metropolitan Boston and Western Massachusetts are prototypes of what we plan for the entire state.

Bryce Nesbitt has mapped existing and proposed trails for the entire state, and most of this trail information is also available from Mass GIS as a geographical data file, and some of it is our online maps of Metro Boston and Western Mass.

Here are pages for bikeway projects around Boston:
Emerald Necklace Greenway
Neponset River Greenway 		Minuteman Bikeway [map]
Wayside Rail Trail
We also have up-to-date reports on snow-plowing of urban paths. Within the regional pages, there are links to many projects which have there own web pages, including many interesting bikeway projects in other parts of the country. There is also an annotated bibliography of bikeway resources.

East Coast Greenway [Massachusetts]
In addition to the descriptions of this Maine to Florida mostly-off-road bikeway on the ECG Alliance web site, check out Lynne Tolman's description from her Worcester Telegram & Gazette column. Possible routes through Massachusetts are online here.

Commonwealth Connections
This vision of a coordinated network of greenways and trails in Massachusetts was released by the Greenways Program of the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Management in 2002. MassBike helped make sure that the state's potential bikeways, as well as its current ones, were included. The report is available as a 2.9Mbyte PDF file.
Massachusetts Bicycle Facilities Inventory
Prepared for the state by MassBike in 1995, this inventory was the basis for the State Bicycle Plan, the draft and final versions of which are online here.

A Survey of Bicycle Transportation Routes in the Boston Metrowest Area
This survey of routes suitable for bicycle travel in communities west of Boston was done by John Allen in 1993 under a contract from the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Management (now part of the Department of Conservation and Resources).

Berkshire and Connecticut Valley Bicycle Route Survey
This report was written by John Allen in 1993 under a contract issued by the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Management to survey potential bicycle touring routes in the Connecticut and Berkshire valleys. He updated it for the web in 1999.

A Massachusetts Greenway Network
This paper, by MassBike Bikeways Coordinator Doug Mink, discusses connections between existing and proposed bikeways across Massachusetts.

Bicyclists Sharing the Path
Bicyclists need to ride differently on bikepaths than on streets. Doug Mink talks about how bicyclists should deal with pedestrians and other path users, a topic omitted from most bicyclists' education.

Intermodal Resources
In addition to pages compiled by John Allen on using New England ferries with a bicycle and getting to Logan Airport by bicycle there are other links to pages describing ways to use a bicycle in conjuction with other modes of transportation.

Bicycling Books
Brief reviews of books on bicycling in Massachusetts, both in and out of print, from the subscribers to the massbike e-mail list, originally compiled by Anne Anderson.

massbike E-mail List
A 300-member electronic forum for announcing and discussing any issues concerning bicycling in Massachusetts.

Laws and Legislation
In addition to text and commentaries on Massachusetts laws, including DEM trail regulations, MassBike maintains as complete a list as possible of state bike laws for the whole US.

Getting on Track: Common Sense Ideas to Expedite Rail Trail Development in Massachusetts.
This May 2001 State Legislature Post Audit and Oversight Committee report urges the Mass Highway Department to do something about the fact that "Massachusetts has approved and funded only 41.5% of its enhancements funds, and has only completed 17% of its enhancements projects."

Bike and Trail Groups
We have brief descriptions of and pointers to most of the bike groups in Massachusetts and bicycle activist groups all over the world.

Last updated October 7, 2004 by Doug Mink