Council Discusses Future of Public Walkways in Town

By Adam Swift

The many public-way walking paths that wend their way through Winthrop can be part of the town’s charm, increasing the town’s walkability and putting residents in touch with their history.

But many of the paths have also not been properly maintained for decades, and can create privacy issues as they stretch between residents’ homes and backyards.

Correspondence read at Tuesday night’s by Council President James Letterie set off a short debate among members that is likely to continue at future meetings.

Letterie said he received the correspondence from a constituent near Summit and Sagamore Avenues requesting a discussion about the state of public ways in that area.

“I had received a correspondence quite a while ago saying it was an issue and I talked with the Town Manager and he is looking at trying to resolve this issue,” said Letterie. “There are several public ways throughout the town, and we should be more diligent in monitoring them, but we are also potentially looking into a scenario where we could eliminate them or see if property owners would be willing to take them over, which was a request here that we are looking at.”

Letterie noted that several of the public ways in town are easements that go between people’s homes and near their backyards. Because they are sometimes out of the way, Letterie said those public ways are not always used for the best purposes.

However, several councilors said the town should take a closer look at how those public walkways can be maintained before giving up on them.

“Those walkways were originally installed to access the train stations, and they are part of the charm of Winthrop,” said Precinct 4 Councilor Barbara Flockhart. “I think as a whole, they are well used.”

Precinct 5 Councilor Joseph Aiello noted that some of the public ways are easements on private property, and some are owned outright by the town.

Overall, Aiello said the public ways increase the walkability and connectivity of the town and that it would be a mistake to get rid of them.

“We do need to do a better job of maintaining them, and that is why we collect taxes,” said Aiello.

Councilor-at-Large Rob DeMarco said he often walks the paths with his daughters, but said he also said he understands the privacy concerns of some residents who live near them.

“These walkways, if they stay, they need to be maintained,” he said. “A lot of them haven’t been fixed in 70 years or even longer, and I’m not just thinking about the walkway from Revere Street up to Summit Ave., I’m also thinking about the walkway up into the Highlands by the old Century 21 building. Those haven’t been touched, and are actually somewhat dangerous.”

Council Vice President Stephen Ruggiero said the issue deserves a much longer conversation.

Ruggiero added that one of his neighbors had mentioned implementing an adopt-a-pathway program in the town, much like the one used for street intersections.