On the Edge

By Vivien Li

Guests at the recent dedication of the Deer Island memorial honoring Judge David Mazzone, who oversaw the Boston Harbor Project, marveled at the cleanliness of Boston Harbor as well as the extensive public access system along the waterfront. Begun during the mid-1980s, the HarborWalk public access system provides waterfront access and public amenities, including parks, open spaces, free binoculars, exhibits and signage, and sitting areas for the public to enjoy the water’s edge. Construction of a HarborWalk segment is required as part of any new or rehabilitated waterfront development project in Boston.

In its 2007 annual assessment of the HarborWalk system, The Boston Harbor Association estimated that more than 80 percent of the HarborWalk public access network has been built. Some of the most attractive, user-friendly segments opened during the past year, including new walkways with public amenities at the Institute of Contemporary Art, InterContinental Hotel on the Fort Point Channel, NStar property on the Reserved Channel, Harborview residences in Charlestown, Massport’s Navy Fuel Pier in East Boston, Boston Redevelopment Authority’s Sargent’s Wharf in the North End, Lewis Wharf in the North End, and the Department of Conservation and Recreation’s West Link in Dorchester. Additional walkways and public amenities will open in the next few months at Battery Wharf/Regent Hotel in the North End and across from the Federal Reserve Bank on the Fort Point Channel.

TBHA’s assessment noted a marked improvement in the maintenance of city waterfront segments and parks in the past few years, with upkeep approaching the high standards found at Massachusetts Port Authority’s waterfront parks and the General Service Administration’s Moakley Courthouse park in South Boston.

As the remaining waterfront parcels in Boston are developed and the HarborWalk system nears completion in the next decade, it is appropriate to consider measures that will improve the experience for all who use the waterfront.

In a number of locations where the HarborWalk has been built and amenities such as exhibits and public rest rooms provided, the general public doesn’t know of these amenities due to the lack of signage. Installation of additional HarborWalk and interpretive signage can readily remedy this.

To further enhance the visitor’s experience to the waterfront, free programming should be expanded along major waterfront properties. Kudos to the Boston Harbor Hotel at Rowes Wharf, which for close to 10 years has sponsored a 10-week series of free concerts, films and dances enjoyed by the general public, and to the Institute of Contemporary Art, which in its first summer this year sponsored a dazzling array of free performances and music along its HarborWalk.

Hopefully, in time, Boston's waterfront parks and open spaces will be used morning, noon and night, and in all seasons. Along Shanghai’s Bund waterfront promenade, for example, many hundreds can be observed early morning before rush hour performing tai chi, while in the evening, thousands of families and couples stroll or take pictures along the same walkway. Canadian cities long have embraced outdoor winter festivals with activities to attract visitors during colder months.

Earlier this summer, Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino proposed the expansion of bicycle paths, including along the waterfront, while Gov. Deval Patrick initiated a complementary program to support additional bike lanes.

Given the strong promotion of bicycling by the city and the state, it is timely to examine whether the minimum 12-feet width of the HarborWalk is sufficiently wide enough to accommodate increased bicycle usage together with pedestrians, rollerbladers, families with strollers and those in wheelchairs. A number of developers on their own already have built significantly wider HarborWalk segments.

It often is said that Boston’s waterfront will be the new Boston of the 21st century. With continued creative planning, it can be a prime resource and source of enjoyment for all.