Region seeks special designation for Battle Road Scenic Byway

There will be a virtual public meeting on Thursday, April 30 at 7 p.m. on the efforts to nominate the Battle Road Scenic Byway, which includes Minuteman National Historical Park in Lincoln and other towns, as an All-American Road.

A National Scenic Byway is a road recognized as having one or more of six “intrinsic qualities” — archeological, cultural, historic, natural, recreational, or scenic. The program was established by Congress in 1991 to preserve and protect the nation’s scenic but less traveled roads and promote tourism and economic development. All-American Roads must have two of the six intrinsic qualities. The designation means they have features that do not exist elsewhere in the United States and are unique and important enough to be tourist destinations unto themselves.

There are 150 National Scenic Byways in the United States; 41 of them are All-American Roads. The Battle Road Scenic Byway was established in 2006.

The Lincoln Board of Selectmen submitted a letter to the Federal Highway Administration in support of the nomination and outlining the road’s history earlier this month. An All-America Road designation “will enshrine the storied Byway that sparked revolutionary thought and action essential to the American narrative and will continue to promote its status as a national tourist attraction,” the letter says.

Speakers at the virtual meeting will be Clarissa Rowe, chair of the Battle Road Scenic Byway Committee (BRSBC); Richard Canale, committee vice-chair and B.J. Dunn, Minute Man National Historical Park superintendent. To participate in the meeting, click here. For questions, contact Ali Carter at acarter@town.arlington.ma.us.