Casey Overpass Site
park
Arborway
address
42.301472, -71.108780
Neighborhood
Forest Hills
Hours
Dawn to dusk
Accessibility
Paved sidewalks and pedestrian paths provide accessible connections through much of the Casey Arborway, including routes between Forest Hills Station and the surrounding parks. Accessibility may vary depending on the route and current conditions.
Reconnecting the Emerald Necklace
About
The Casey Overpass once carried traffic above the Arborway, creating a major physical barrier between Forest Hills and the surrounding Emerald Necklace. Built in 1951, the aging elevated highway was removed as part of the Casey Arborway project and replaced with an at-grade, pedestrian and bicycle friendly parkway. The transformation created new green space, safer connections, and a landscape that reconnects the Emerald Necklace from the Arnold Arboretum to Franklin Park.
The redesigned site includes about 1.3 acres of new green space and 560 newly planted trees, along with miles of new sidewalks and bicycle infrastructure. Today, the Emerald Necklace Conservancy helps care for the growing urban canopy, including watering 35 of the newly planted trees as they become established.
explore for
A New Commute
Exploring New Connections
Green Infrastructure
did you know?
When the Casey Overpass was originally built, it was designed to carry traffic over the Forest Hills MBTA station and an elevated rail line. That elevated train line disappeared less than 25 years later, leaving the overpass serving a transportation system that had already fundamentally changed.
