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Improving MassDOT's “Frankenstein-monstrous solutions” for Allston turnpike
By HarryMattison on Thu, 09/18/2014 - 9:37am
What will happen here after spending $250 million of our money?
Tonight at 6:30 at the Jackson Mann Community Center, learn how MassDOT plans to spend 250 million public dollars to rebuild the Mass Pike in Allston.
At 4:30, learn how the Boston Society of Architects thinks this project should start the transformation of one of the last major piece of developable land in Boston.
Both meetings will be at the Jackson Mann Community Center, 500 Cambridge Street, Allston
Recent News:
Putting a real rail yard plan on the table - http://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/2014/09/16/putting-real-rail-yard-pla...
Design challenge issued for land near Allston tolls - http://allston.wickedlocal.com/article/20140917/NEWS/140916827
Follow the project on Twitter - https://twitter.com/PeoplesPike/
Join the Faceboook Group - https://www.facebook.com/groups/PeoplesPike/
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Comments
Complete neighborhoods
If this is to be an intentional development, and include housing, businesses, etc. the area needs to be complete, in that it needs good connectivity and transit (within and to other neighborhoods), it needs basic services (grocery stores, coffee shops, etc.), community spaces, and the like.
Think about the differences between what it would be like to live in the South End or South Boston and what it would be like to live in the Seaport or Kendall Square.
Allston has 90% of those
Allston has 90% of those things. It has parks grocery stores coffee shops restaurants and bar, what it needs though is transit connections, which i think is the big goal here. There is a reason bridj opened an Allston > FiDi/Seaport route. Whole station to send trains to both SS and Kendal would go a long way to help.
Then Allston is well connected to fenway/copley and Kendal/Seaport/FiDi
Admittedly more parks will be wonderful, and lower allston needs more open green space.
And the cambridge st overpass needs to be solved.
There is so much potential
There is so much potential here...I really hope that all the hard work of community activists on this one really pays off and the state doesn't blow it!
I think Kendall and the
I think Kendall and the Squidport are two very different places. Kendall has increased office space while decreasing traffic by encouraging walking, biking and public transit. I think its a great model for a newly developed area.
http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2012/07/24/kendall-square-car-traffic-f...
|40 percent increase in commercial and institutional space while automobile traffic actually dropped as much as 14 percent|
While the squidport has no subway, only a silver bus that makes the #1 bus look like a race car, wide streets with lots of highway ramps and tons of parking in every new development. Classic Menino design. Also, while Cambridge and the developers there have pushed for independent restaurants and cafes in Kendall, the seaport is chock full of chain restaurants and starbucks/Dunkin Donuts.
Kendall has a Red Line stop.
Kendall has a Red Line stop. But that's about it, and the newly-developed area extends almost a mile from there.
The E-ZRide and Galleria shuttles are better than nothing. But they don't compare with real transit service.
Let's say there was a frequent bus route from Brookline to Kendall. And another from Revere and Chelsea to Kendall. (Maybe combine them if the logistics work.)
And extensions of some existing buses from Somerville, Medford, Everett, and Malden to Kendall, where the jobs are, instead of sticking to 1920s trolley routes ending at Lechmere and Sullivan.
Plus some express buses from the suburbs direct to Kendall.
*That* would make for viable alternatives to driving.
Funny you should say this
I know a few years ago (~2008ish) it was suggested but never implemented that the bring back the 113 bus which would run from Chelsea Center to Kendall.
Let's say there was a
Bridj? I get its not MBTA, but there is a REASON they put the route in there.
http://www.bridj.com/schedule/
Interesting, but won't supplant MBTA
That looks useful for regular commuters/workers, and people with appointments who have the time in advance to reserve it. That is significant. However, it has a few disadvantages-- it requires planning and could fill up, it is still overstreet so subject to the whims of traffic (unlike the subway), and it will not be covered by the T pass. It also appears to be a little more expensive than the T. Tax deductibility helps higher income commuters more than mid and lower, and doesn't help people using it for shopping or other such purposes at all.
But if this is combined with expanded T or MBCR service, then great.
Olympics!
Last piece of major developable land in Boston, so let's use it to fulfill our World Class Olympic fantasies. 80,000 seat Olympic Stadium! Olympic Village! Complete overhall of the T to conform to Olympic standards ! Jobs!
It's Already Claimed
The land that Beacon Yard is on has been owned by, and planned for use by, Harvard for many years. The proposal is to move the turnpike over in a land swap with a portion of the yard in an effort to not make Harvard's parcel separated from Cambridge Street by the turnpike.
last major piece of developable land in Boston
>last major piece of developable land in Boston
No.
Sullivan Square?
Suffolk Downs? (NEW OPPORTUNITY ALERT)
also...
arborway bus yard (and a bunch of lots in the forest hills area)
southbay/newmarket - land there is far too valuable for a massive parking lot and strip malls - plus you're right off the red line...
Where do people get their food?
Not everyone can run into Savenor's for fresh lamb. The people of South Boston, Roxbury, and Dot need to buy food someplace. South Bay isn't perfect but it does the trick.
South Bay desperately needs
South Bay desperately needs direct subway service.
Sullivan Square WAS, but if
Sullivan Square WAS, but if the Wynn casino moves forward the community plan for the area will be scrapped and the millions Wynn promised to pay for traffic issues in Sullivan will be going to expand roads there so gamblers can pass through, not work on making it a better neighborhood with development and walkability.
A street !
A street !
Developable Land
Don't forget 16.5-acre Boston Globe property, Morrissey Boulevard from JFK T to the old Channel 56 building and the Columbia Point peninsula.
South Boston Waterfront transportation meeting tonight
Meeting tonight!
The objective of the South Boston Waterfront Sustainable Transportation Plan is to define and prioritize transportation system investments needed over the next two decades. At this meeting, a project update will be provided and agency heads from the project's sponsoring organizations will discuss their priorities for the South Boston Waterfront area and listen to your ideas.
The City of Boston, the Massachusetts Convention Center Authority, Massport, and MassDOT invite you to Community Meeting #2 on the South Boston Waterfront Sustainable Transportation Plan.
When: September 18, 2014 at 6:00 PM
Where: District Hall, 75 Northern Avenue, Boston
What is with all the meetings on the same day?
http://www.mass.gov/eea/docs/dcr/news/public-meetings/materials/rmp/2014...
Draft Resource Management Plan for the Charles River Esplanade-New Basin
Subject Area extends from the Boston Harbor to the BU Bridge
Thursday, September 18, 2014 - 7:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
Shriners Hospital for Children Auditorium
51 Blossom Street, Boston
Yep - let's further eliminate
Yep - let's further eliminate more potential for non-road based transportation solutions. We reduced the tracks at South Station in the late 70s' / 80s' and now we have to spend millions to restore it now that commuter service has expanded south of Boston. Of course we will never need any additional commuter rail servicing and coach storage facilities in the future, right? Shouldn't plan for that now by saving this for it's orginal purpose of non-road transportation?
Oh - I guess we can have our children and grandchildren try to buy back the land from Harvard in 10 years for billions of dollars when all of Boston's roads are hopelessly choked with cars because we didn't have the foresight to see what an incredible transportation asset this land right now and how it could be part of the Boston MPO's supposed commitment to "transit oriented development".
You need the transit infrastructure in the first place to have TOD!!
Why throw away an invaluable piece of transportation infrastructure for more auto-centric development? And please save the "rai-trail" use baloney. Do you plan on walking or biking miles to work in February during a snowstorm?