The Board of Selectmen will be holding a hearing this evening to discuss the bike path extension under consideration by the DCR. The DCR intends to extend the bike path from Central Ave along the Neponset out to Mattapan Square will it will link up with the path there that runs along Truman Parkway.

The DCR held a hearing last month (view post here) and the general consensus appeared to be in favor of the extension. However, there are 5 different scenarios being considered and that is where the disagreement comes in. Residents of Capen Street in particular take issue with a couple of the scenarios that would directly impact their neighborhood.

In short, the options include a path that would run on the Mattapan side of the river, one that would run along the Milton side, and three that would involve a bridge that cuts over at a point from Mattapan to Milton.

You can find the presentation that the DCR gave last month here. It provides thorough explanations for each of the options.

The Milton Bicycle Advisory Committee has published their reommendation on their web site. They recommend:

As the Committee seeks to improve cycling resources and access for Milton residents, we recommend that the path follow the Milton side of the river.  In order of preference, our choices are:

#1 Option (D) provides the most access for Milton and Boston residents, with greater proximity to the river and access to Ryan Park.

#2 Option (A) provides very good access, but limited mostly to Milton residents.  Like Option (D), it is a practical and family-friendly route for cyclists.  It also has the least risk of archeological complications, and the most visibility from the well-traveled MBTA line.

#3 Option (B) would be our third choice, selected out of deference to some residents of the Capen Street neighborhood.

You can find their full recommendation here.