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ミニットマン・バイクウェイ（ミニットマン通勤自転車道とも呼ばれる）は、マサチューセッツ州ボストン大都市圏にある全長10マイル（16キロメートル）[ 1 ]の舗装された多目的鉄道跡地トレイルです。ベッドフォードからケンブリッジのレッドライン北端にあるアレワイフ駅までを結び、途中でレキシントンとアーリントンの町を通過します。ルート沿いには、アレワイフ・ブルック自然保護区、サイラス・ダリン美術館、スパイ・ポンド、「アーリントンのグレート・メドウズ」（実際にはレキシントンにあります）、レキシントンのバトル・グリーン、ハンスコム空軍基地など、地域の注目すべき場所がいくつかあります。
ケンブリッジの終点では、この自転車道は他の4つの自転車道と接続している。
サマービル・コミュニティ・パスは2023年の夏にボストン中心部まで延伸され、ミニットマンからアクセスできるはるかに広い連続した自転車道ができた。 [ 4 ]
ベッドフォード側では、ミニットマン・バイクウェイはナローゲージ・レールトレイルとリフォーマトリー・ブランチ・レールトレイルに接続しています。[ 5 ]
現在のミニットマン・バイクウェイを構成する道は、長い歴史を持つ。この道は、 1775年にポール・リビアがアメリカ独立革命の始まりを告げる有名な騎行を行ったルートとほぼ同じである。
Along the way to becoming a railroad, the path's right-of-way (ROW) was laid out east of Lexington in 1846 by the Lexington and West Cambridge Railroad and west of Lexington in 1873 by the Middlesex Central Railroad. Part of the original track can be seen in Arlington, near Uncle Sam Plaza in front of the Cyrus Dallin Art Museum.
A concept to convert the rail corridor into a commuter bicycle path was first proposed in 1974, three years before passenger rail service was discontinued, and a full seven years before rail service was discontinued altogether (in 1981).[6] In 1991, the final plan for the conversion was approved, and construction started on the original section of the bikeway.[7] The corridor was railbanked in July 1992.[8]:3 The Arlington–Lexington section of the path was dedicated in September 1992; the Lexington–Bedford segment was delayed by water main construction and opened in May 1993.[9][10] In 1998, the bikeway was extended a short distance from East Arlington to Alewife station in Cambridge.[11]
In 2002, it was repaved in Arlington and in 2004, the Bedford Depot Park Enhancement Project was completed at its western terminus.[7] In 2008, the bikeway was the fifth inductee into the national Rail-Trail Hall of Fame by the Rails-to-Trails Conservancy.[12]
The property is currently owned by the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority and leased to the municipalities through which it passes on an interim basis as the ROW is railbanked.[8][13] The MBTA at one point planned to use this ROW to extend the Red Line to Arlington Center and Arlington Heights.[14]
The crossing of the path through Arlington Center was rebuilt in 2017 to be less discontinuous.[15][16][17]
Area residents use the bikeway for a host of activities, including bicycling, walking, jogging, and inline skating. The main use of the path, however, is for casual biking.[7] In the winter there is often enough snow on the bikeway for cross-country skiing. However, it is now plowed from Alewife Station to Bedford.[18][19] No motorized vehicles are allowed except for powered wheelchairs and emergency vehicles.
New connections under contemplation include one from Lexington to the Battle Road Trail and one to the Charles River bike path via Fresh Pond Reservation and the abandoned Watertown Branch Railroad. The Watertown Cambridge Greenway was completed in 2022.[20]
In April 2014, state officials announced that the Somerville Community Path would be extended alongside the Green Line Extension, creating a continuous 4.5 mile route from the Minuteman Bikeway to Boston’s Charles River Bike Path.[21] Officials had contemplated abandoning the path portion of the GLX in order to save costs, but after hiring new management, a contractor agreed to the parallel path while still cutting costs. The extension was completed in the summer of 2023.[4]
{{cite web}}: CS1メンテナンス: アーカイブサービスは非推奨になりました (リンク)