Neighborhood objects to one bike path plan
Neighbors in the Capen Street area of Milton want the state to come up with a more ecofriendly path for the extension of the Neponset River Trail — one that won’t entail blasting rock and cutting down trees near their homes.
“It’s not scenic, and it would definitely be disruptive,’’ Andrew Synnott said of the proposed route through his street.
The state Department of Conservation and Recreation has proposed five options for filling the 1-mile gap — from Milton to Mattapan Square — in the Neponset River Trail, which is used extensively by bicyclists, walkers, and rollerbladers.
The 10-foot-wide trail now winds along the Neponset River from Pope John Paul II Park in Dorchester to Central Avenue in Milton, where it ends abruptly. The path picks up again in Mattapan Square and continues — with some construction still underway — to Hyde Park.
The choices for filling the gap include building a path on the Mattapan side of the river, building on the Milton side, or building a bridge so bicyclists can cross and travel on both sides. One proposed route includes two bridges; two other routes have a single bridge in the design.
Synnott and his neighbors object to the route that comes down the Red Line trolley right-of-way and crosses Capen Street.
“It would require them to cut down a whole lot of trees and do blasting,’’ Synnott said. “It would make the train more visible and more noisy.
“When we went to the first meeting, DCR spoke very eloquently about going along the river,’’ he said. “So I was a little disappointed [when the agency proposed] bringing the bike path along the [trolley line], nowhere near the river. . . . It would be more pleasing to have a river bike path that goes along the river.’’
Neighbor Joseph Mazzotta said he also was puzzled about why a green-friendly project like a bike path would create such a broad swath of environmental destruction. “It seems like a lot of cutting down of trees,’’ he said.
But bicycle advocates see merit in the route, calling it “practical and family-friendly,’’ according to a letter from the Milton Bicycle Advisory Committee.
The committee’s top choice is the route on the Milton side of the river that crosses Capen Street, and also branches into Mattapan to Ryan Park, a popular spot with playgrounds, playing fields, and picnic areas.
Synnott and his neighbors favor the route that starts in Milton, avoids their neighborhood altogether, and crosses into Mattapan, going through Ryan Park.
For their part, Mattapan residents and officials have said they’d like the trail extension to be on their side of the river.
The Department of Conservation and Recreation has been collecting feedback, and so far there’s no consensus, said Commissioner Rick Sullivan.
Milton selectmen will discuss the five scenarios for the bike path extension at their meeting tonight and invite residents to offer their opinions. The meeting begins at 6:30 p.m. at the Milton Senior Center, 10 Walnut St.
Johanna Seltz can be reached at seelenfam@verizon.net. 
