A design for rebuilding Brookline's Davis Path footbridge over the MBTA Green Line D branch would add an elevator and stairs on the White Place side and a ramp down to Boylston Street on the south side. The design appears in the October 2026 presentation MassDOT posted for a scheduled Oct. 20 virtual hearing.

According to the hearing materials, the original span was built in 1911. It was removed in June 2020 after an engineering evaluation found it structurally unsound. The handout describes the reconstruction as a Town of Brookline project.

The new bridge would be about 59 feet long. A sloped walkway with a small set of stairs would connect the south-side ramp to Boylston Street Playground. The presentation says ramps and switchbacks would not fit in the White Place footprint, but stairs and an elevator would.

The project is at the 25% design stage, an early engineering milestone before detailed plans are finished. The October presentation estimates construction at $14.2 million. That estimate excludes property-acquisition costs and costs for the adjacent park. The presentation anticipates an 80% federal and 20% state funding split.

MassDOT's project tracker, reviewed Oct. 28, lists an estimated total contract cost of about $7.6 million. It shows the project's status as "25% Package Received" as of Aug. 6, 2025, with no contracts associated with the project. The tracker and the October presentation use different cost labels, and the documents do not reconcile the two estimates.

The October presentation's schedule sets these milestones, assuming funding is available:

  • 75% design: spring or summer 2027

  • 100% design approval: summer 2028

  • Advertising to contractors: spring 2029

Advertising for bids is a contracting step, not the date the bridge would open.

Construction is expected to take about two years, according to the presentation. Setting the bridge beams would require weekend Green Line shutdowns; the documents do not give dates. During working hours, White Place would be split into two parts for about eight to 10 months, with parking on one side only. A construction staging area in Boylston Street Playground would be in place for about 24 months.

The Town of Brookline would be responsible for obtaining the property rights needed for the work, including temporary or permanent easements, which are rights to use part of another owner's land. The handout identifies temporary easements at the hotel property at 111 Boylston St. and at 64 and 70-72 White Place. It also identifies a permanent easement in the town-owned playground.

Project questions can be sent to MassDOTProjectManagement@dot.state.ma.us, identifying project 613683.

Sources: MassDOT project notice; Design hearing handout; Design hearing presentation; MassDOT project tracker.