West Canton Street and Southwest Corridor Park
Why is it significant?
Step onto the scenic pedestrian and bicycle path of the Southwest Corridor Park at West Canton Street.
Key Facts
| Place | West Canton Street and Southwest Corridor Park |
|---|---|
| Address | W Canton St & Carleton St, Boston, MA 02116, United States |
| Geo Coordinates | 42.34180, -71.07200 |
| Part of Walk | South End, Victorian Squares and SoWa Arts: Boston's Brownstone Heritage |
| Generated | Generated |
Step onto the scenic pedestrian and bicycle path of the Southwest Corridor Park at West Canton Street. Stretching for 4.7 miles from Back Bay Station all the way to Forest Hills, this fifty-two-acre linear green park represents one of the greatest grassroots civil disobedience and community planning victories in American urban history.
In the 1960s, state highway planners condemned hundreds of homes along this rail corridor to construct the Southwest Expressway, a massive eight-lane interstate highway (Interstate 95) that would have sliced through the heart of Boston's historic neighborhoods.
A heroic coalition of South End, Roxbury, and Jamaica Plain residents, civil rights activists, and environmentalists organized massive protests, demanding that the highway project be canceled. In 1972, Governor Francis Sargent took the unprecedented step of halting the highway and redirecting federal funds into public transit and parkland, submerging the Orange Line subway tracks and creating this vibrant parkland instead. Today, the park features community vegetable gardens, tennis courts, children's playgrounds, and perennial flower borders tended by local neighborhood volunteers. Walking along the path, you see commuters cycling to work, neighbors tending tomato patches, and children playing on grassy lawns where roar of highway traffic was once planned.
Standing in this sunlit green corridor with historic South End brownstones on one side and community gardens on the other, the triumph of citizen activism is deeply moving. This park stands as living proof of what united communities can achieve when they fight for their neighborhoods and their environment. This beloved greenway continues to serve as a vital recreation corridor where city residents gather to garden, exercise, and celebrate the enduring strength of grassroots community action. This inspiring public park demonstrates the enduring power of community members to shape their urban environment.
Walk east along West Canton Street toward Harrison Avenue and the bustling SoWa Arts District.