Northeast - Safety of bike paths in metro Boston

I have a question that came up in the Road Cycling forum, and is of interest to me because I'm able to ride my bike only at night during the week.

My question is: what bike paths would you consider safe to use at night? The safety issue I am most concerned about is CRIME: while I could hit a bump and crash, or collide with a lightless rider, on any of Boston's fine streets, the scenario that I'm worried about is someone stabbing me for my Cannondale. I'm comfortable getting around the city at night, but there's something extra unnerving about being alone in pitch blackness.

And I'm just getting a little bored of laps around the Common, up and down Comm Ave, and stuff like that.

So, I've listed the following bike paths, with links to maps where available. If anyone has any experience riding these at night, or knows about paths to avoid, please let us all know! Extra bonus points for identifying particular sections of a path to avoid!


The Esplanade path along the Charles River, and more generally the which runs from the Museum of Science to West Newton. Picture at http://www.massbike.org/bikeways/crmap.gif .
The Minuteman Bikeway (http://minutemanbikeway.org/Pages/intro.html) from Alewife to Lexington and Bedford.
The Linear Park (http://www.pathfriends.org/scp/)path in Somerville.
The Fitchburg Cutoff bike path (http://www.massbike.org/bikeways/metro_boston.htm#charles), which I've never ridden but which is pictured here (http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Cambridge,+MA,+United+States+of+America&ie=UTF8&ll=42.394828,-71.151602&spn=0.010459,0.019097&t=h&z=16&om=1).
The Fresh Pond (http://www.cambridgema.gov/CWD/fpr_circulationandaccessmaps.cfm) loop in northwest Cambridge.
The Jamaicaway bike path and its continuation around Jamaica Pond and into Arnold Arboretum. The Hub on Wheels (http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/Hub-on-Wheels-45-Mile-Route) went right through this in the first 15-20 miles or so. JP riders, weigh in!
The Lallement (http://www.mhd.state.ma.us/downloads/maps/bikes/south.pdf) bike path along the Orange Line near Franklin Park.


If anyone has any other suggestions/nominations, feel free to mention them, of course.

I should also mention two related threads: Rails to Trails violence (http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=310440), and Where to ride around Boston (http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=54517), the latter of which had information about nice night rides in downtown Boston and around the Fenway.

I think a treatment like the first thread, specific to Boston-area paths, would be quite helpful! And if enough people weigh in, maybe this could become a resource thread (along with second thread I listed above) for new members in the Boston area.

My question is: what bike paths would you consider safe to use at night? The safety issue I am most concerned about is CRIME: while I could hit a bump and crash, or collide with a lightless rider, on any of Boston's fine streets, the scenario that I'm worried about is someone stabbing me for my Cannondale. I'm comfortable getting around the city at night, but there's something extra unnerving about being alone in pitch blackness. fwiw, I think this tends to be more a psychological issue than a fact based crime issue.

I have never read of anyone being mugged, murdered or accosted on the Minuteman Bike Path at night, but every night when I get on in Bedford and ride through that initial dark section before the 128 overpass and entering Lexington Center, my mind always thinks that there are serial killers waiting in the swamps. In many ways, its relief when I see another cyclist coming from the other direction because, as my mind goes, if there's a serial killer up ahead, they would've killed that guy first.

Anyway, here's another thing to keep in mind -- in the dark, nobody can read the labels on your bike. A Huffy barreling down the Esplanade has the same silhouette as an Independent Fabrication Off-Road, so don't worry about your pricey gem making you a stab magnet. Everyone's equally vulnerable, which is, imho, not at all.


The Esplanade path along the Charles River, and more generally the which runs from the Museum of Science to West Newton. Picture at http://www.massbike.org/bikeways/crmap.gif .


pretty safe. my girlfriend takes the Esplanade and Memorial Drive bike path every other day on her commute home from work and has never reported any problems or worries.

The Minuteman Bikeway (http://minutemanbikeway.org/Pages/intro.html) from Alewife to Lexington and Bedford.


the Minuteman is regular part of my commute. I ride the Bedford to Arlington Center section all the time, and aside from sullen Arlington High School students sneaking cigarettes in the shadows, I've never even had anyone look at me twice on that path.

The Fresh Pond (http://www.cambridgema.gov/CWD/fpr_circulationandaccessmaps.cfm) loop in northwest Cambridge.


take this occasionally when getting groceries at Whole Paycheck or heading through Concord Ave. to visit friends in Porter. At night, I never see anyone but cyclists on this path, much less pedestrians or potential muggers. In the daytime and early evening, it's full of dog walkers from chi-chi Huron Village. Believe me, if any of these folks got mugged while walking their poodles, Cambridge Police would cleanse Fresh Pond and salt its earth.

The Jamaicaway bike path and its continuation around Jamaica Pond and into Arnold Arboretum. The Hub on Wheels (http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/Hub-on-Wheels-45-Mile-Route) went right through this in the first 15-20 miles or so. JP riders, weigh in!


generally decent though a little narrow and pavement can use some improving. The Riverway between Rt. 9 and the Sears building has historically been a popular meeting spot for clandestine gay sex, so I've tended to avoid that stretch at night (and find that riding along Kent St. to be a lot faster and more flexible, not to mention fewer possibilities for embarassing views of some fellow's wing-wang)

The Lallement (http://www.mhd.state.ma.us/downloads/maps/bikes/south.pdf) bike path along the Orange Line near Franklin Park.


fwiw, this is better known as the Southwest Corridor. Every time I hear someone mention the Lallement, I pause and think that some group put in a new a bike path somewhere in Roxbury.

used to take this more often when I was living in Brookline and/or doing volunteer work at Bikes Not Bombs. It can be scary for some because JP and Roxbury still look like ghettoes, but I've never had a problem. Nowadays, it's chock-a-block with fixie hipsters anyway, so you're more in danger of being taken out by a jackass learning to skid on his Langster than you would by some hoodlum thinking he can stick a shiv in a guy going at 18 mph.

Lack of pavement maintenance and frequent stop lights at intersections make it sub-optimal as a bike path. I much tended to prefer riding on Washington St. You still have to stop, but at least you're not dealing with all of the little mini-speed bumps in freeze/thaw pavement.

oh, and regarding the Fitchburg Cutoff ... I never knew it had a name! Wow, cool.

oh, yeah, and totally safe. When I've felt like dawdling on my commutes, I'll take the Fitchburg Cutoff to Alewife and start on the Minuteman from there (rather than ride directly to Arlington Center, which is where I usually jump on the bike path). I've only ridden it a dozen times this year, and almost every one of those times has been alone.

also, if you're not really comfortable around total darkness ... get lights! bright lights! it helps a lot, and you can think of it as blinding a potential mugger so that they can't get a bead on you with their switchblade.

also, on the Minuteman past Arlington Heights, the street lamps just stop working around there and it gets really dark. I suspect that Arlington keeps the lights on the path because it's still used as a pedestrian lane for folks walking in from Alewife, but Lexington couldn't be arsed to keep the lights on in the fall or winter, after usage drops dramatically.

Wow, spokenword, thanks for taking the time to respond! The feeling you described when entering a dark, deserted path is exactly what I meant.... I had a feeling that the bike paths were safe -- the biggest danger is probably running into a light-less cyclist, or riding through an extended dog leash -- but the prospect of being surprised by someone is just spooky in its own special way.

And I'm working on the lights -- I was riding the Cambridge side of the Charles River bike path last night with a five-LED "be-seen" cheapie light. Your suggestion seems like a wise one, as it didn't throw much light and I was surprised once by a nasty dropoff, and the faintly-illuminated cone ahead of me certainly didn't add to my feeling of safety. Although I did feel pretty safe -- there was hardly anyone around at all at about 10 PM.

Maybe I'll re-post in a few weeks with an update after riding around on these... meanwhile, if anyone has any horror stories or radically different opinions, please post!