Upper Assabet Riverway Plan

Regional cooperation for river conservation and recreation
Located along the upper Assabet River, Westborough, Northborough, Marlborough, Berlin, and Hudson form part of the I-495 corridor, one of the fastest-growing areas in Massachusetts. Because of growing interest in these communities in both river conservation and river protection, a group of volunteers and staff from these communities worked with OAR and Sudbury Valley Trustees to improve regional cooperation around river conservation and recreation.

Inspired by the 1986 Assabet Riverway Plan, this group created the Upper Assabet Riverway Plan to help municipal governments, planning agencies, town volunteers, conservation organizations, and others meet these challenges. The Plan contains general chapters on the river corridor’s biodiversity, recreation, the health of the Assabet River, the regulatory environment, and general recommendations. Chapters about Westborough, Northborough, Marlborough, Berlin, and Hudson provide community-specific information, including high priority lands for conservation. The Plan provides bylaw comparisons for the upper Assabet communities, a series of maps showing protected and high priority lands, and recommendations to help communities take advantage of recreational opportunities and strengthen environmental protection.

OARS and our partners wish to thank our funders, Intel Massachusetts and the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Management Greenways Grant Program for their support.

The plan is available in PDF format below. We have broken it up into sections to make it easier for most people to download (the maps are pretty big).

AttachmentSize
introduction920.24 KB
upper assabet watershed map182.8 KB
appendix139.64 KB
berlin85.84 KB
berlin maps1.41 MB
hudson126.75 KB
hudson maps1.88 MB
marlborough92.94 KB
marlborough maps1.76 MB
northborough95.44 KB
northborough maps1.77 MB
westborough101.5 KB
westborough maps914.43 KB