When did Victory Road become the middle of something? For more than a decade it marked where the Neponset River Greenway ran out. State planners flagged it in 2014 as part of "a critical gap" in the trail, a stretch between Conley Street and Victory Road along the western side of the I-93 embankment, according to the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation.
This fall, the state's newest Greenway mile and its newest Dorchester playground both sit on Victory Road. The parks along this edge of Dorchester Bay used to work as separate places you drove between. Today they link up into a single route you can walk with a stroller or ride on a weeknight. The route ends tonight, Thursday, October 29, at the park where the Greenway first began.
The missing mile, and what filled it
The extension from Tenean Beach to Morrissey Boulevard is 0.9 miles long. DCR describes it as a 10-foot-wide paved path with a new pedestrian crosswalk at Victory Road, a 670-foot elevated boardwalk over the tidal salt marsh in Dorchester Bay, and a large overlook deck facing the bay and the Boston skyline.
It didn't open with a ceremony. The Dorchester Reporter reported that the path quietly opened to the public on July 3, 2025. The formal ribbon-cutting came almost ten months later, on April 29, 2026. By then DCR said the trail ran about nine miles through Readville, Hyde Park, Mattapan, and Dorchester and into Milton, connecting to the Harborwalk and downtown.
The project has a long history. DCR traces the official Greenway effort to 1996:
- 2002: The first section opens, connecting Pope John Paul II Park to Central Avenue.
- 2010, 2015, 2017: Further extensions.
- 2014: The Conley Street to Victory Road gap is identified.
- July 2025: The Tenean Beach to Morrissey Boulevard link opens to the public.
- April 2026: That link is formally celebrated as complete.
DCR credits the work to a decades-long collaboration among the agency, MassDOT, neighborhood groups from Savin Hill and the Neponset shoreline, local elected officials, and the Neponset River Watershed Association and its Greenway Council.
The playground that landed on the same road
Five months after the trail celebration, the state reopened McMorrow Playground on Victory Road. DCR held the official opening on September 23, 2026, after a $1.1 million rebuild.
The new play structures follow a pollinator theme. The birds, insects, and mammals that help native plants survive are built into the equipment, and educational placards, maps, and signage explain what they do. The ground is now a poured-in-place rubber surface that meets ADA and Massachusetts Architectural Access Board standards. DCR also replaced the bubbler, added benches and accessible pathways, and planted trees for more shade. State Senator Nick Collins credited the design team at Shadley Associates.
The playground came second. DCR had already spent $400,000 on the adjacent baseball fields, finishing in 2024 with new dugouts, bleachers, and storage, plus a complete regrading of the fields. So in about two years, one stretch of Victory Road got rebuilt ballfields, a rebuilt playground, and a new Greenway crosswalk.
State Representative Dan Hunt connected the projects directly. In DCR's announcement, he pointed to "the new playground, improved paths and connections, and greater accessibility" as the improvements that would serve families at McMorrow. At the ribbon-cutting, he told the Dorchester Reporter:
"This park is a great collaboration with city and state really working hand and glove. It is an amazingly put together playground and ballfields."
Walking it as one route
With the gap closed, the parks along this shoreline read as stops on a single route. The Neponset River Watershed Association's Greenway guide lists the trail-side parks in this stretch as follows, and it calls out the water views at Tenean Beach and Port Norfolk:
- Victory Road Park, near the new crosswalk and a short walk from McMorrow Playground
- Tenean Beach, the southern end of the newest 0.9-mile section
- Senator Joseph Finnegan Park
- Pope John Paul II Park, which DCR describes as having water views, trails, and large athletic fields
- Neponset II Park
- Ryan Playground
North of Tenean Beach, the boardwalk and overlook deck are the newest pieces of the route, and the most open to the bay.
One section may still be off the route. In mid-April 2026, DCR closed the Greenway stretch next to Boston Bowl, behind 818 Morrissey Boulevard, for its $3.8 million Morrissey Boulevard Resilient Stormwater Pump Station Project. The Dorchester Reporter reported in July that DCR expected substantial completion in September, "which would allow the affected Greenway path to reopen," with the full project finished in spring 2027. DCR hasn't published a reopening notice yet, so check the agency's Neponset River Reservation page before you plan a ride all the way to Morrissey. If the detour is still in place, the Victory Road, Tenean Beach, and Pope John Paul II Park stretch sits south of the work zone.
Tonight: the Pumpkin Parade, where the trail started
The first Greenway section, finished in 2002, began at Pope John Paul II Park. Tonight that park hosts the Annual Pumpkin Parade. It runs from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at the Hallett Street entrance, and the rain date is Friday, October 30, at the same hours.
The Neponset Greenway Council, DCR, and the Neponset River Watershed Association host it. The listing promises music, games, and candy, plus a special treat for the best costumes and decorated or carved pumpkins. Candles are provided. The event is free and needs no registration. Organizers are also looking for volunteers, and NepRWA Greenways Coordinator Suzanne Hinton is the contact.
If you'd like a say in where the trail goes next, the Neponset River Greenway Council meets Wednesday, November 4, from 7 to 8:30 p.m. The meeting is open to the public. The agenda covers trail extensions, maintenance, enhancements, signage, and community events, and NepRWA's Andres Ripley has the location and agenda.
Where the loop meets a table
With the trail connected, a few places you used to drive to are now reachable on foot or by bike from this corner.
- Milkweed, 1010 Morrissey Boulevard. The Dorchester Reporter reported that Milkweed started dinner service on Thursdays through Saturdays on April 9, 2026. The menu is family-oriented comfort food, with dishes like salmon with bok choy and green Thai curry.
- Two Pence Market, 2 Eliot Street, Milton Village. It's just over the line from Lower Mills, near the Greenway's Milton end. Boston Chefs reported that it opened July 29, 2026, with coffee, bagels, prepared meals, seasonal produce, groceries, wine, and a walk-up Toscanini's Ice Cream window.
- Adams Village. Adams Village held its second Fall Fest this month. The Dorchester Reporter covered it, naming Landmark Pub, music from Cassidy Deadwater and Friends, vendors and games on Minot Street, and pumpkin painting. Down the block, Session House, an Irish pub planned for the former Scobie's space, got Licensing Board approval in September. The Dorchester Reporter noted it still needs approval from the city's entertainment licensing division for live music. No opening date has been announced.
On a clear evening this week, you could start at the new pollinator playground on Victory Road, cross at the Greenway's newest crosswalk, walk the boardwalk over the salt marsh, and finish with a carved pumpkin at Pope John Paul II Park. The playground, the crosswalk, and the boardwalk that link the route together have all opened since July 2025.
Joe's background is in construction and project oversight, so he watches how projects like the Victory Road crosswalk and the McMorrow rebuild change the way a corner of the city gets used. If you own near the Neponset and want to know how the new Greenway connections might factor into your plans, Joe Castro is glad to walk it with you. Let's get started. Schedule a consultation with Joe.
