Have you ever climbed Buck Hill to enjoy the exhilarating 360-degree view, only to descend the Skyline Trail and experience fear and frustration trying to cross the stream of cars racing along Route 28?
As Randolph Town Councilor Jesse Gordon says, “crossing Route 28 at the Skyline Trail has been a problem for years… Cars speed by and hikers need to run across to access the other side of the park.”
If hikers could cross the road more easily, the park would be less crowded in this and and other well-known parts of the park. Visitors could also discover more of the hidden wonders of the park like the Great Cedar Swamp in the easternmost section.
A new study will recommend how to protect hikers crossing this dangerous roadway.
Thanks to members of the Friends, the Boston Region Metropolitan Planning Organization has agreed to perform the study this fiscal year.
When the study is completed in 2022, Friends members will then advocate for the state to implement the safety recommendations of the study to enable hikers to more safely explore the park.
A big thank you to our members for their advocacy in support of the Blue Hills.
https://arc-solutions.org/
That’s a great website!
Roadkill is part of how they would determine whether an underground passage would be useful.
Would a tunnel allow the timber rattlesnakes to expand beyond their current area? Would that be beneficial or detrimental to the Blue Hills? Why isn’t there already a wildlife crossing under Chickatawbut Rd for the timber rattlesnakes?
If it is rush hour, coming from the East, I follow the pipeline to the traffic light at the intersection of Chickatawbut and Route 28, cross the street, then follow the footpath to 2175 and follow the white triangle trails backwards to get back on the Skyline. Maybe mark the other side of the white triangle trail with the way back to the skyline?
That’s a great idea. We have suggested that the Skyline be re-routed, or at least have an alternative route to that intersection.
We’d love to see a wildlife crossing, and as a follow-up to the study, have asked that they look at whether that would be something that could benefit the wildlife significantly. It’s a great question about whether snakes would use a tunnel. It would make sense that they would. It would be good to see studies on it.
an On-demand pedestrian traffic light makes the most sense. There are some in Canton and technically they work fine – the problem is drivers ignoring the light and ripping right through.
A second issue is not enough parking on the rt 28 turnouts. They’re undersized and deeply rutted .
Good points! If you’d like to work on these issues, just let us know! We’re launching an Advocacy Committee this month.
Could we setup a temporary camera with heat mapping to track foot traffic in that area? That dataset can be used to help use better understand how best to proceed. We all know what the problem is, sounds like we just need the data to better visualize the volume of traffic prove it (both foot and vehicle traffic).
Not really a need for study, the problem is obvious. The best solution would be a tunnel…
bridges are hard to maintain, and harder to ascend. Grade crossing will just annoy drivers and hikers.
Mr Saeger, Thanks so much for your comment! A tunnel would be safe for pedestrians — and could be also used as a wildlife passage. It’s definitely a great idea. The question is whether the foot traffic is worth the considerable expense of building a tunnel. That’s one of the options that will be looked at in the study.