As an essential element of the Emerald Necklace Park system, the bridge is on the National and State Registers of Historic Places. Now in disrepair, the closed pedestrian bridge has impeded convenient access to Riverway Park for over twenty years.  

“A pedestrian bridge over the tracks at Carlton Street will enhance use of the Longwood section of the park by making it accessible from Brookline.” (1986 Riverway Park historical research report).

Restoration of the footbridge is a high priority in the 1990 Emerald Necklace Parks Master Plan. This is reconfirmed in the 2001 update. Compliance with the Master Plan is the basis for Brookline to receive state funding for its share of the $90 million effort to dredge the Muddy River and re-landscape and improve Riverway Park. 

"The (Town) will agree to formally accept the Master Plan as the framework for all future park-related construction.  Future funding for additional capital improvements by the Commonwealth will be contingent upon the (Town’s) adherence to the Master Plan." (Grant Agreement #OP-BROO-86-02 between Brookline and the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Management)

 In 1999, the Town commissioned a feasibility study to examine various alternatives for the future of the bridge and their costs. Ammann and Whitney, a nationally-recognized engineering firm which supervised the restoration of the Statue of Liberty and the Verrazano Narrows Bridge, found that

   §   The bridge is in fundamentally sound structural condition.
  §   This footbridge restoration project would cost $385,000 and is an ideal candidate for up to 80% federal and state funding. Thus the Town’s share would be only $77,000.
  §   Demolition of the bridge would cost $121,000, all payable by the Town, since no funding is available for demolition.

"It is a timeless and remarkable example of steel bridge engineering during this relatively early period in the development and use of steel span structures." (Ammann & Whitney Feasibility Report)