Southwest Corridor Park
🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆 Freeway That Never Was — 4.7-mile linear park through Boston built on the route of a cancelled highway — community victory!
Southwest Corridor Park is a 4.7-mile linear park through Boston’s Roxbury, Jamaica Plain, and Back Bay neighborhoods — built on land cleared for Interstate 95’s extension into downtown Boston, which was cancelled in 1972 after massive community opposition. Instead of a highway, the community demanded a park. The result is one of America’s most innovative urban parks — a greenway stretching from Back Bay Station to Forest Hills alongside the MBTA Orange Line. The park connects diverse neighborhoods that highway construction would have destroyed.
Visitor Information
| Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Location | Boston (Roxbury → Back Bay) |
| Length | 4.7 miles |
| Entry Fee | Free |
| Story | Highway cancelled → park built! |
Frequently Asked Questions
What highway was planned here?
Interstate 95’s “Inner Belt” extension would have demolished thousands of homes in Roxbury and Jamaica Plain. The 1972 cancellation was a landmark victory for community activism — and Boston chose a park instead of a highway.
About Southwest Corridor Park
Southwest Corridor Park is a 4.7-mile linear park through Boston’s Back Bay, South End, Roxbury, and Jamaica Plain neighborhoods — built on land cleared for a highway that was never constructed. The community successfully fought the highway in the 1960s-70s, and the corridor became a park and Orange Line subway route instead. It’s one of the great civic victories in Boston’s history.
Things to Do
Walking and cycling the 4.7-mile paved path, using the community gardens, playing on the basketball and tennis courts, and exploring the diverse neighborhoods along the route. The park connects to the Emerald Necklace at Jamaica Plain.
Insider Tips
Highway revolt victory: Southwest Corridor Park exists because residents successfully stopped a highway from being built through their neighborhoods in the 1970s. Pro tip: The 4.7-mile linear park follows the route of the cancelled I-95 extension through Roxbury, Jamaica Plain, and the South End — arguably Boston’s most successful community victory. Orange Line: The park parallels the MBTA Orange Line — integrating transit and greenspace.
Best Time to Visit
Year-round: Urban linear park with transit access. Summer: Community gardens and playgrounds active. Spring: Tree blossoms along the corridor. Fall: Urban foliage walk.
Frequently Asked Questions
What highway was stopped?
In the 1960s-1970s, Massachusetts planned to extend I-95 through Boston’s neighborhoods — demolishing thousands of homes. Communities (especially in Roxbury and Jamaica Plain) organized massive resistance. Governor Francis Sargent cancelled the highway in 1972. The abandoned highway corridor became the Southwest Corridor Park and the relocated Orange Line — a national model for defeating urban highways.
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