📣📣Our first community meeting for the Mystic Shoreline Revitalization plan will be held virtually on Wednesday, March 5th, 2025 from 6 PM to 7:30 PM, and will focus on envisioning accessibility and ecological improvements along the West Medford segment of the Mystic River shoreline. Click here to register.📣📣

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Mystic shoreline Initiative

The Mystic Shoreline Initiative aims to provide universally accessible recreation opportunities along, and improve the ecological health of, the Mystic Lakes and Mystic River in Arlington, Winchester and West Medford.

Background

The shoreline along the Mystic River and Mystic Lakes - which span Arlington, Winchester and West Medford, is a remarkable environmental resource, historical home to indigenous populations , and an invaluable area for land and aquatic recreation. The waters and park spaces are home to regionally significant river herring populations, nesting bald eagles and an enviable forested canopy.  It is also a treasured recreational resource to diverse populations from throughout the region, who find a recreation site at Shannon Beach and the lakes that is welcoming and can host a desired set of activities.

Although this shoreline has served as a valuable natural resource for human habitation, movement, recreation, and sustenance for millennia, its present condition provides little in the way of delineated access to water, nature, or conservation, exposing it to recreational overuse, erosion and habitat degradation. As demand for equitable access to these resources increases in the face of rising summer temperatures, a comprehensive effort is needed to ensure a resilient and welcoming shoreline for generations to come.

Responding to the archaeological and cultural significance of the area, the Mystic River Watershed Association (MyRWA) is fostering thoughtful partnerships with the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR), local municipalities and community members to provide universally accessible recreation opportunities along, and improve the ecological health of, the Mystic Lakes and Mystic River in Arlington, Winchester and Medford. 

Mystic Shoreline Revitalization

MyRWA has received generous funding to produce a plan, bringing together community members and stakeholders over the course of 2025 to identify accessibility and ecological improvements for the eastern shoreline of the Mystic Lakes, as well as the Mystic River in West Medford. To aid the plan’s development, MyRWA is using robust community feedback gathered as part of the Mystic Lakes Path process in 2024 (see below) to inform the plan’s Mystic Lakes segment, while a community steering committee will help to guide our process for the West Medford segment.

Our first community meeting for the planning process will be held virtually on Wednesday, March 5th, 2025 from 6 PM to 7:30 PM, and will focus on envisioning accessibility and ecological improvements along the West Medford segment of the Mystic River shoreline.

Click here to register for Community Meeting #1.

Additional community meetings and public engagement resources are expected to be promoted between February and June, 2025. To receive updates about the planning process and be added to our email list, please email shannon.collins@mysticriver.org.

Mystic Lakes Path

In 2024, MyRWA completed a conceptual design and land survey for Mystic Valley Parkway along the eastern shoreline of the Mystic Lakes in Winchester and Medford, incorporating robust community engagement. This work was made possible by a MassTrails grant and a generous contribution from the Lawrence and Lillian Solomon Foundation.

As part of this process, MyRWA identified a steering committee of ten residents to help guide the project and ensure a resident-led voice on the conceptual design. A series of public meetings were held between January and June 2024 to solicit public input and guide the design process.

The recommended conceptual design features hundreds of new trees and a new corridor of native understory plantings. Safety and accessibility improvements include a lane width reduction of Mystic Valley Parkway, a multi-use path, and secondary pedestrian footpaths where possible. Several pedestrian crossings of the parkway are also proposed to be redesigned and introduced. Various amenities to enhance the experience visitors to Mystic Lakes State Park include scenic overlooks, non-motorized boat launches, wayfinding and interpretative signage, seating, picnicking areas, and modifications to motor vehicle parking. Read the full report here.

MyRWA is currently working with community members and project stakeholders to advocate for funding of the project’s design development and construction.

Mystic to Minuteman Path

The Mystic to Minuteman project will create a safe, off-road walking and biking route along Mystic Valley Parkway from the Alewife Brook Greenway, along the Lower Mystic Lake to the Minuteman Bikeway in Arlington. In 2022, MyRWA published a feasibility study for the project in partnership with the Town of Arlington and DCR. The project is currently under design development and is funded through construction, courtesy of a Federal Earmark from US Congresswoman Katherine Clark and the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT).

questions, comments, thoughts? please feel free to contact

Karl Alexander, Greenways Program Senior Manager (karl.alexander@mysticriver.org)
Shannon Collins, Climate Engagement Associate (shannon.collins@mysticriver.org)