More parkland, paths could be coming to the banks of the Neponset in Hyde Park

The Boston Conservation Commission this evening is scheduled to review state plans to turn what is now a large grass field and poison-ivy-infested woods along the Neponset near the Shops at Riverwood into a new park with trails, a river observation platform and a performance area.

Separately, the Metropolitan Area Planning Council and the Neponset River Watershed Association are studying the idea of connecting the Neponset Greenway path, which now ends in Readville, to the Blue Hills Reservation on the other side of Neponset Valley Parkway.

Conservation Commission approval is one of the last things the state Department of Conservation and Recreation needs before it can begin turning the former Doyle Playground off River and Rosa streets into a riverside park. The commission's hearings begin at 6 p.m. DCR plans originally called for construction to have begun last fall.

People of Hyde Park Wanting Equal Representation first began fighting to do something with the nearly one-acre parcel - which runs along the river to the old dam behind the shopping-mall property - in 2016. Through local fundraising and grants, the group and the Southwest Community Development Corp. raised enough to hire a design firm to plot out a new park, even as POWHER members were spending time cleaning up the River Street side of the parcel and erecting a river-themed mural.

DCR plans call for carving a walking trail right along the river, with an observation deck at one point. Invasive species - including the poison ivy and Norway pines will be removed and replaced with native species. Benches and picnic tables will be put in. Boulders, including the ones that now sit along River Street, will be moved to make them appear more naturally situated. The area in front of the POWHER mural will be lined with permeable paving stones, so it could be used as a performance area.

The Neponset River Watershed Association is planning a Doyle Park Day at the site on May 6 to introduce the proposal.

The site today:

Further up the Neponset, in Readville, MAPC and the river group are currently conducting a survey to gauge public interest in the possibility of creating "a continuous greenway corridor" that would link the Neponset Greenway, which now runs along the Neponset from Dorchester to Turtle Pond Parkway, to the Blue Hills Reservation, a part of which extends into Boston at Fowl Meadow, just on the other side of the parkway.

There are several greenways that exist or are planned between downtown Boston and the Blue Hills, but they don’t all create a continuous connection to the places people may want to go. We’re hoping this project can help fill a long-overdue gap in the greenway network to allow more people to access the region’s largest public park by foot, bike, or other wheeled device.

The idea of connecting Boston to the Blue Hills Reservation for bucolic rides and walks is not new. In the 1890s, Boston city planners proposed connecting the city's Emerald Necklace with the reservation via parkways, back when that still including horses in the planning. The result was West Roxbury Parkway - which passed through the state's new Stony Brook Reservation - and Neponset Valley Parkway.