Often compared to
Georges-Eugène Haussmann's Paris boulevards, Commonwealth Avenue in Back Bay is a
parkway divided at center by a wide grassy mall. This
greenway, called
Commonwealth Avenue Mall, is punctuated with statuary and memorials, and forms the narrowest "link" in the
Emerald Necklace. It connects the
Public Garden to
the Fens. Where Commonwealth Avenue reaches
Kenmore Square, the
MBTA Green Line B branch rises above ground and dominates the center of the roadway through the campus of
Boston University and the neighborhoods of
Allston and
Brighton. After leaving Boston and entering
Chestnut Hill in
Newton, the avenue passes by
Boston College and the terminus of the
MBTA Green Line B Branch. The trolley in the median is replaced by grass as the scenery becomes noticeably more suburban and residential, and the
Commonwealth Avenue Historic District begins. As the road continues out of
Chestnut Hill and into
Newton Centre, Comm Ave is still made up of two roadways separated by a grassy median lined with trees. The south side of the roadway contains the main, two-lane east-west roadway, with a one-way, westbound "carriage road" providing local access on the north side of the median. The section of Comm Ave from Chestnut Hill Ave in Brighton to
Route 16 in Newton is along the
Boston Marathon route, and is known to be especially hilly, containing the three “Newton hills”. The carriage road continues into
West Newton, and the road passes over the
Massachusetts Turnpike in the
Auburndale section of Newton. The avenue ends as it leaves Newton, crosses the
Charles River and interchanges with
Route 128. The linear stretch of Commonwealth Avenue between Kenmore Square and
Packard's Corner (where Brighton Avenue maintains a straight continuum and Commonwealth Avenue splits off) contains much of Boston University's campus. BU owns much of the property along and around this part of Commonwealth Avenue. ==History==