Gateway Park's shoreline walkway runs along the Mystic, with Somerville's Draw Seven Park on the other bank. But a person walking or biking from that spot today can't cross the river directly. When MassDOT approved the crossing that will fix this, it described the bridge as a direct connection "where none exists today."
So Everett's paths have a lopsided shape. Head north or east and you can ride for miles. Head south toward the river and you hit a dead end. On September 23, 2026, that lopsided shape got a contractor and a price tag, and the trail work around Santilli Highway is pulling the same way. This fall, the network still runs the old way, and October brings a couple of good chances to ride it.
The trail already reaches Lynn
The Northern Strand Community Trail is the backbone. Bike to the Sea, the nonprofit behind the trail, says the trail is now fully paved from Everett through Lynn after the state's 2020 to 2022 construction project, with safety improvements at every road crossing.
Everett's own piece of it reaches farther south than many people realize. The extension under Route 16 is open and links the Everett Community Growers segment at Water Street to the Mystic Riverfront and the Encore area. In 2025, a cleanup on that stretch included painting and a ribbon-cutting for a new mural under Route 16.
Bike to the Sea lists two easy Everett access points:
- Behind Gateway Center, the retail area off the Revere Beach Parkway side of the city
- Rivergreen Park, where the trail heads north and enters Malden behind Bell Rock Cemetery
One caveat: that map is a 2025 snapshot, not a live feed of construction. Its own notes said some final improvement work could happen over the winter on the Route 16 section.
Where the river edge stops
Down at the water, three Everett spaces carry most of the riverfront walking.
Encore Boston Harbor's waterfront includes a six-acre park and a Harborwalk along the Mystic. The Northern Strand reaches the riverfront there.
Gateway Park has a paved shoreline walkway that runs south to the DCR connector and on to Encore. The city's project page lists improvements still to come: a new boardwalk closer to the Malden River and its bank, more trees, shrubs and perennials for pollinators, and stream and wetland restoration. In February 2026, Everett received $850,000 toward that boardwalk near where the Mystic and Malden rivers meet. It's funded, not finished, so don't expect new planks there yet.
Rivergreen Park has an accessible paved path that starts at Rivergreen Drive. It runs along South Creek, past the sports fields and courts near North Creek, and ends at Airforce Road. Smaller stabilized footpaths and raised wood crossings branch off into the park's natural areas.
Put those together and you have a waterfront you can walk end to end, plus a trail that runs north to the coast. What's missing is the river crossing. The Mystic River Watershed Association describes the Mystic Greenways as a collection of segments along the Mystic, the Malden, Alewife Brook and the Harborwalk, not one continuous trail.
The crossing now has a contractor
MassDOT's board approved a $78,686,777 design-build contract with Barletta Heavy Division, Inc. and TYLin International on September 23, 2026. The Mystic River Pedestrian and Bicycle Bridge will connect the Gateway Park trail and boardwalk to Draw Seven Park in Somerville. Plans include new lighting, wayfinding signs, landscaped approaches, and improvements along the riverfront. The Department of Conservation and Recreation will own and maintain the bridge once it's done.
The city's announcement lists where the bridge will lead: Assembly Row, Draw Seven Park, the Northern Strand Trail, the Mystic River Greenway, the Malden River Greenway and Everett's Lower Broadway District. Mayor Robert J. Van Campen put it this way:
"For too long, the Mystic River has been a barrier between Everett and our neighboring communities. This bridge will give residents more options to get to work, connect to public transit, and walk or bike instead of sitting in traffic."
There's no firm timeline yet. MassDOT's September release confirms the award but gives no construction or opening dates. The contract runs on a clock that starts at a Notice to Proceed, and we haven't found a published date for one. From that point, the contractor has 958 days to deliver "full beneficial use," or about two and a half years. The Mystic River Watershed Association has said it expects construction to start by the end of 2026. An October 2025 Streetsblog Mass report projected completion by the end of 2029, but that was before the contract was awarded.
For anyone who walks Gateway Park, here's a useful detail: the contract requires the walking and biking connection between Draw Seven Park, the Somerville waterfront path and Everett's Harbor Walk to stay open during construction.
The second link is going in on the Santilli side
While the bridge closes the gap at the river, a smaller project is filling another gap near Santilli Circle. On May 21, 2026, Everett awarded its Northern Strand Trail Connection, listed in bid documents as the Wellington Connector, to JJ Phelan for $2,401,671.01. The work includes:
- Connecting to the Northern Strand south of the Santilli Circle Connector
- Improving the existing crossings at the Santilli Circle Connector and Santilli Highway
- Building a shared-use path along the north side of Revere Beach Parkway, linking the existing path to the River Trail to the west
The contract set on-site work to start May 26, 2026, with substantial completion by June 15, 2027 and final completion by June 30, 2027. Those are the dates in the contract. We haven't found a city notice confirming that crews have started or announcing a detour, so if you ride around Santilli, expect signs to change before trail maps do.
Here's where the three pieces stand:
| Project | Where | Status as of early October 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Mystic River Pedestrian and Bicycle Bridge | Gateway Park to Draw Seven Park | Contract approved Sept 23; no published start date |
| Northern Strand Trail Connection | Santilli Circle, Santilli Highway, Revere Beach Parkway | Awarded May 21; contract completion June 2027 |
| Gateway Park boardwalk | Mystic and Malden confluence | $850,000 secured Feb 2026; described as coming |
October's best chance to ride the whole loop
The bridge doesn't exist yet, but there's a guided way to ride the network across the river. The annual Fall Colors Ride, run by Bike to the Sea and the Mystic River Watershed Association, is set for Sunday, October 25. It starts and ends at Night Shift Brewing, 87 Santilli Highway, right on the road where the trail connection work is focused.
- Meet: 10:45 a.m. outside Night Shift Brewing
- Length: a little over 15 miles, about 90 minutes, mostly flat
- Route: Northern Strand in Everett and Malden, then the bike paths on both sides of the Mystic and Malden rivers through Somerville and Medford, with some on-street stretches
- Rules: free; helmets required; recommended for riders 8 and up
- Parking: Night Shift lot, Norman Street and Santilli Highway
Registration is on the Mystic River Watershed Association event page. Those on-street stretches are exactly the kind of riding the bridge is meant to replace.
If you'd rather walk, the watershed association is hosting a community nature walk on Saturday, October 17 with Massachusett educator Thomas Green. It covers about a mile of paved Mystic River Path starting at the Condon Shell.
There's one more new stop just upriver. Malden River Works Park in Malden opened October 4, 2026, with a dock, native plantings and play structures. The boathouse is planned for a second phase. A 2025 greenways update counts more than 10 miles of connected greenways on the Medford side after the half-mile Clippership Connector was finished. Draw Seven Park, the bridge's Somerville landing, has been under a DCR-led redesign since construction began in 2024. The watershed association called it "soon-to-reopen" in late September, so check its status before planning a ride there.
At Madelyn Garcia Real Estate, we keep track of these riverfront projects because they shape how people get around Everett every day. If you're thinking about what a closer path, a new crossing or a quieter commute could mean for your property, reach out for a free home valuation and local market consultation, in English or Spanish. We're happy to talk it through.
