Old Fall River Road bike path team meets the public Nov. 17 as neighbors ask about front yards
Organizers say no design option has been picked. The project's only drawings show the path inside the public right of way at three sample spots, and any money for final design or construction would have to come later from each community.
DARTMOUTH The team designing a walking and bike path along Old Fall River Road will show residents its first round of work Tuesday, Nov. 17, and its own notice says no design option has been picked yet.
The Northern Scenic Greenway would run about 9.8 miles from Sanford Road in Westport along Old Bedford Road and Old Fall River Road to New Plainville Road and Mount Pleasant Street in New Bedford, according to the South Coast Bikeway Alliance. It would close a gap between the finished paths in Fall River and New Bedford.
The meeting runs from 6 to 8 p.m. in the Dartmouth High School auditorium, 555 Bakerville Road. It is hosted by the alliance with the Southeastern Regional Planning and Economic Development District, known as SRPEDD, and Pare Corp., the engineering firm doing the preliminary design.
A flyer shared on social media urges neighbors on Old Fall River Road in Dartmouth, Old Bedford Road in Westport and New Plainville Road in New Bedford to attend. It says the alliance "wants to take up to 25 feet of your front lawn to create a bikepath." The flyer gives a 5:30 p.m. start, while the organizers' notice says 6 p.m.
What the record shows about the 25 feet
None of the project records posted by the alliance, SRPEDD or the town of Dartmouth calls for taking 25 feet of front yards. The alliance's meeting notice and a Nov. 9 release say the team has finished assessing existing conditions and is beginning to develop "a range of context-sensitive alternatives," and that "no preferred alternative has been selected."
The only cross sections the alliance has published are three concept drawings by Goode Landscape Studio, which it calls illustrative renderings of "a roadside shared-use path within the right-of-way." The measurements on the flyer, 1, 5, 5, 3, 11, 10 and 3 feet, match the drawing for Old Bedford Road in Westport just north of the Interstate 195 overpass.
That drawing labels the corridor a 50-foot right of way, and its figures add up to about 50 feet before and after. It puts a two-way path, two 5-foot path lanes with a 1-foot edge, where a 6-foot and a 4-foot strip sit beside the pavement today, and draws the car lanes, shoulders and the 12.5 feet on the far side the same as now.
The Dartmouth drawing, on Old Fall River Road near Cold Brook Lane, shows an 8-foot path with a 1-foot buffer, and the New Bedford drawing, on New Plainville Road near Turners Pond, shows a 10-foot path and a 4-foot buffer in a 14-foot strip. Each marks the same 50-foot right of way before and after, and none of the three shows a path and buffer wider than 14 feet. The project page says further study "will yield more accurate design options."
A right of way is public land, and it can extend past the pavement into ground that looks like part of a yard. Along Old Fall River Road it varies from 40 to 60 feet, and many longtime residents consider the strip beside the street part of their front yards, The Dartmouth Week reported in June.
SRPEDD's 2021 feasibility study, which recommended this route, rated it as one that "requires minimal land takings," based on MassDOT estimates of where the public rights of way lie, and said exact impacts would be settled in design. It added that with most funding sources, "costs associated with any right of way takings necessary are the sole responsibility of the municipality."
Who is running it and who pays
Dartmouth, Westport and New Bedford hired SRPEDD for the "Closing the Gap" study, which compared four routes, and the three communities jointly endorsed the northern one in 2024, according to the alliance. Its questions sheet says a South Dartmouth route had too many wetland, bridge and right of way obstacles, Route 6 is a heavily traveled artery, and the rail line beside I-195 is in use and crosses wetlands.
This phase is paid for in part by a state Department of Conservation and Recreation MassTrails grant, Community Preservation Act money from the three communities, and gifts from private donors, the alliance says. The 2025 MassTrails award was $285,000 for permitting, design and engineering, with a $90,000 local match, WSAR reported from the state's list of recipients, and the East Coast Greenway Alliance lists the same award.
Dartmouth Town Meeting approved Community Preservation money on Oct. 15, 2024, toward that match, for a survey and preliminary design of the town's 5.4 miles, the bikeway alliance says. SRPEDD administers the design contract, according to the June 18 minutes of the Dartmouth Pathways Committee, and the committee's Sept. 29 minutes record that Pare was hired and at work, with Dartmouth public works head Tim Barber as the town's contact.
The 2021 study's planning estimates, which left out right of way and permitting costs, put a path on Old Fall River Road from the Westport line to North Hixville Road, 2.5 miles, at about $4 million to build and $418,000 to design. A path on Westport's Old Bedford Road, 1.83 miles, was put at about $1.1 million to build and $134,000 to design.
What happens next
The study and preliminary design must be finished by June 2027 under the grant, The Dartmouth Week reported. The alliance calls the overall timeline uncertain and says each community takes responsibility for final design and construction after the preliminary design.
At a June 18 Pathways Committee meeting, many residents spoke against the project, citing land takings, dangerous conditions and the disruption of a scenic byway, the minutes show. Committee members answered that design had not begun, that the only money in hand is for preliminary design, and that any further design or construction would have to go to the Select Board and Town Meeting.
"There's every effort being made to produce a pathway within the right-of-way," alliance President Sandra Medeiros, who also sits on the Pathways Committee, told The Dartmouth Week in June. "We know that there are some constraints, we know that there are wetlands, we know that there are historic walls, we know that there are trees," she said.
How to weigh in
Residents, businesses and property owners can review the work so far at the Nov. 17 meeting and give feedback on priorities and concerns, the alliance says. The Pathways Committee posted notice that it will attend, and its next meeting, Thursday, Nov. 19, at 5:30 p.m. in Room 315 at Town Hall, 400 Slocum Road, lists the greenway on the agenda. The alliance takes questions at thesouthcoastbikeway@gmail.com, and the committee can be reached at 508-910-1802.
South Coast 360 reached out to the South Coast Bikeway Alliance, the Town of Dartmouth, SRPEDD, Pare Corp. and the Massachusetts Department of Transportation and will update this story with any response.
Label: Reported by us, from the town's posted records.
Notes
The meeting time, place, hosts and the statement that no preferred alternative has been selected come from the South Coast Bikeway Alliance's Nov. 4 notice and its Nov. 9 release posted by the Town of Dartmouth. Every measurement comes from the three concept drawings on the alliance's project page, which we compared line by line with the flyer; the 14-foot figure is our reading of those drawings. The route comes from the alliance's overview map. The land takings rating, the takings cost line and the cost estimates come from SRPEDD's 2021 study. Pare's hiring, the town contact and what the committee told residents come from the Dartmouth Pathways Committee's posted minutes and agendas. The right of way widths, the June 2027 deadline and Sandra Medeiros's words come from The Dartmouth Week; the grant amounts come from WSAR and the East Coast Greenway Alliance, citing the state's award list. We checked each date and weekday against a calendar.
Corrections
No corrections to this story. If something here is wrong, tell us. Every correction is dated on the story and listed in our public log.
Sources (16)
- South Coast Bikeway Alliance, "Northern Scenic Greenway Public Meeting" (notice and flyer)Posted Nov. 4, 2026. Read Nov. 10, 2026.
- South Coast Bikeway Alliance press release, "Public invited to Northern Scenic Greenway public meeting on November 17, 2026," posted by the Town of DartmouthFile dated Nov. 9, 2026. Read Nov. 10, 2026.
- South Coast Bikeway Alliance, Northern Scenic Greenway project page, overview map and concept drawings 3 (Westport Old Bedford Road), 6 (Dartmouth Old Fall River Road) and 8 (New Bedford New Plainville Road) by Goode Landscape Studio with SRPEDDRead Nov. 10, 2026.
- South Coast Bikeway Alliance, Northern Scenic Greenway frequently asked questionsRead Nov. 10, 2026.
- South Coast Bikeway Alliance, Dartmouth page (Oct. 15, 2024 Town Meeting vote, 5.4-mile Dartmouth section)Read Nov. 10, 2026.
- SRPEDD, "Closing the Gap" Phase 2 feasibility study report (right of way method, Table 1 cost estimates, Table 17 northern route scoring)Report dated June 2021. Read Nov. 10, 2026.
- SRPEDD, "Closing the Gap" Phase 1 existing conditions report and Phase 2, combined (road widths and traffic counts)Phase 1 draft dated September 2020. Read Nov. 10, 2026.
- Dartmouth Pathways Committee, minutes of June 18, 2026Read Nov. 10, 2026.
- Dartmouth Pathways Committee, minutes of Sept. 29, 2026Read Nov. 10, 2026.
- Dartmouth Pathways Committee, agenda for Nov. 17, 2026 (attending the public meeting)Read Nov. 10, 2026.
- Dartmouth Pathways Committee, agenda for Nov. 19, 2026Read Nov. 10, 2026.
- Town of Dartmouth, Dartmouth Pathways Committee page (contact)Read Nov. 10, 2026.
- The Dartmouth Week, "Tensions escalate over Northern Scenic Greenway bikepath project," by Abby Van SelousPublished June 19, 2026; right of way widths, the June 2027 deadline and the Medeiros quotes. Read Nov. 10, 2026.
- WSAR, "Bike path from Fall River to New Bedford? State grant funding could make it happen," by Pete BraleyOctober 2025; $285,000 award and $90,000 match. Read Nov. 10, 2026.
- East Coast Greenway Alliance, "Massachusetts awards $2 million in support of East Coast Greenway and adjacent projects"Oct. 17, 2025; $285,000 award. Read Nov. 10, 2026.
- Town of Westport, news post "South Coast Bikeway - Northern Scenic Greenway Public Meeting"Posted Nov. 5, 2026. Read Nov. 10, 2026.