A ribbon cutting ceremony for the recently completed Pony Truss Trail will be held on Thursday morning, June 17, 2021 from 10 am to Noon. Please join Massachusetts DCR Commissioner James Montgomery, EEA Assistant Secretary Kurt Gaetner, State Representative Kay Khan, Newton Mayor Ruthanne Fuller, the Riverside Greenway Working Group (RGWG), Newton Conservators and others to celebrate the restoration of the historic Pony Truss Trail completed In March 2021 with grants from the Mass DCR Recreational Trails Program and Solomon Foundation. Following the ceremony, tours of the trail will be available.
Since the 1850s the Pony Truss Bridge and Pony Truss Trail brought folks to the banks of the Charles River Lakes District to walk, boat, and enjoy the beauty of the Charles River. The Pony-Truss trail, named after the key trail landmark the Pony Truss Bridge, is identifiable on maps dating back to 1875; it provided a footpath for canoeists traveling from Boston on the trolley to Riverside Depot to walk to boathouses at Riverside Park across the Pony-truss bridge.
The rerouting of the Lower Falls Branch of the Boston & Albany Railroad to its current location on the Newton (south) side of the Charles created a steep slope (approximately 40%) above the trail. Much of the trail overlies a sewer right-of-way parallel to the River edge. The trail is almost entirely on land owned and managed by the Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR). The trail segment from Riverside Station and the Two Bridges Trail where box stairs will be built is owned by the Mass DOT. The entire trail is under the purview of the Newton Conservation Commission.
With the restored Pony Truss Bridge in 2013 and now the Pony Truss Trail in 2021, together with planned trail connections in the next few years, the legacy of “The Riverside Recreation Grounds” as the “Riverside Greenway” is being restored. Instrumental in this process has been the Riverside Greenway Working Group of which Newton Conservators is a member along with the Solomon Foundation and others.
Directions: For the location of Riverside Park use this link: https://goo.gl/maps/nWmmRm3YxAoaSVi86. Access the park from Recreation Road on the North side of Leo J Martin Golf Course; or from Grove St take the access road (I-95 North, stay to the right after passing under the RR Bridge. Park in the lot for Riverside Park or along the access road from Grove St.
