South Bay Harbor Trail, BOSTON, MA

Save the Harbor, Save the Bay and the City of Boston Transportation Department contracted with Design Consultants, Inc., to design the 3.5-mile South Bay Harbor Trail (SBHT). The multi-use, multimodal trail connects the Ruggles MBTA station and the nearby neighborhoods to the Boston Harbor waterfront at the Fan Pier.

The DCI team prepared a survey of the corridor and carefully included open space, traffic equipment, private property and public agency concerns in a corridor which included frequent changes by the Central Artery Project. The trail uses existing roadway right of way and Chapter 91 access ways while connecting to numerous destination points including Ruggles and Broadway T stations, the Cross Town Development, Fan Pier Development, the Children’s Museum and Federal Court House.
Although corridor conditions were extremely urban, the DCI designers utilized established trail design criteria for the length of the trail. Recognizing that a wide spectrum of user groups and types were likely, DCI designed an on-street route for a portion of the trail which would facilitate commuter journey to work travel. DCI advanced the project by pursuit of transportation enhancement funding and numerous project meetings with the Boston Transportation Department, BRA, CAT, MBTA, property owners and the Urban Land Institute (ULI).

Client: Save the Harbor, Save the Bay • 59 Temple Street, Suite 304, Boston, MA 02111 • 617-451-2860
Boston Transportation Department • 1 City Hall Plaza, Room 721, Boston, MA 02201 • 617-635-4354

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