Private Organization Will Govern Big Dig Greenway

BOSTON-The battle over the Rose Kennedy Greenway–the 27 acres of open space that was created Downtown thanks to the Big Dig–is officially over. The state, the city and the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority, which oversees the massive highway project, agreed to establish a private, non-profit organization to govern the funding and long-term use and management of the property, which is above the underground portion of the Central Artery.

Gov. Mitt Romney, Senate president Robert Travaglini, Mayor Thomas M. Menino and Massachusetts Turnpike Authority chairman Matthew J. Amorello joined US Sen. Edward M. Kennedy to announce the creation of the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Conservancy Inc. The city says the creation of the conservancy is a “key step” in determining the future of the Greenway. Planning efforts for the Greenway are already under way by the Turnpike Authority and the city notes that the conservancy will continue to focus on connecting the property with city neighborhoods, communities and the Boston Harbor.

“With a renewed spirit of partnership and collaboration, we are poised to take full advantage of this historic opportunity that will create for Boston a new landmark destination,” says Menino. “Our city’s vision to reconnect our neighborhoods to each other and to our harbor, to make the Greenway a true common ground, is becoming a reality.”