BrightView Continues to Enhance Boston’s Rose Kennedy Greenway

How do you create a beautiful environment when you have an elevated double-decker interstate running through the middle of your city? If you ask city planners in Boston, they’d tell you to bury the interstate and build a park on top of it.  And, that’s exactly what they did. Boston’s Rose Kennedy Greenway consists of 15 acres of plazas, lawns, and gardens that stretches for 1 ½ miles above an interstate that is now entirely under the city.

The project was known as “The Big Dig” and faced significant design and engineering challenges that disrupted the city for years.

“They were digging and pouring concrete for 12 years before we got involved,” said Sean Brosnan, Senior Vice President at BrightView Development. “We were awarded contracts to build three of the four parks and couldn’t wait to get involved.”

BrightView partnered with a local nursery and architects to identify and install plant materials. The original installation was completed in 2007 and consisted of 800 trees and 25,000 shrubs. BrightView was originally hired as a contractor for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, but ownership was passed to the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway Conservancy in 2008.

We’ve been working in Boston for many years and these projects help establish us as the premier landscape development company in the city. We take a lot of pride in how the greenway has improved this area and I know the city does too.
- Mark Marini, Operations Manager at BrightView Development

“We were the most familiar with the Greenway so it resulted in a smooth transition when they hired us for irrigation, new walkways, and site enhancements,” said Mark Marini, Operations Manager at BrightView Development. “The original design left plenty of open space for our teams to bring to life.”

The city is encouraging public/private partnerships that allow businesses to enhance the parks on public land if they are willing to fund it. So far, BrightView has installed a Boston Harbor Cruise kiosk center, a carousel inside Wharf District Park, and Mother’s Walk, a special walkway dedicated to mothers in which pavers can be purchased by anyone in the community.   

“These new ‘pocket parks’ are bringing thousands of visitors to the Greenway and our teams are proud to have a hand in transforming this central artery to the city,” Brosnan said.

What was once an interstate dividing Boston’s downtown area and its waterfront is now a series of parks filled with plantings, food trucks, seating areas, and fountains. BrightView manages the irrigation for all four parks and our maintenance teams are on-call to oversee future enhancements and any issues that arise.

“We’ve been working in Boston for many years and these projects help establish us as the premier landscape development company in the city,” Marini said. “We take a lot of pride in how the greenway has improved this area and I know the city does too.”