FMCB – WalkMassachusetts

Comment to the Fiscal Management Control Board Regarding Commuter Rail Contract Renewal

By WalkBoston | June 19, 2020

Dear MBTA Fiscal Management Control Board,

The commuter rail contract being considered must allow flexibility in providing improved service on the commuter rail lines, especially those that will be bearing the brunt of construction activities on highways. Certain commuter rail services may be called upon to help commuters when highway construction brings reductions in lanes available and congestion for vast numbers of commuters. Case in point – the Worcester branch, where planning for mitigation of highway construction on the Turnpike in the Allston interchange area should be underway and planned for implementation prior to the construction on the highway. In this way an option will be provided for commuters to avoid the highway by using a rail alternative during the construction period and hopefully afterward as well. Along with this heightened attention to commuters should be a commitment to construction of new services, including an early opening of a new station at West Station, a critical component of the Allston planning. Pedestrian access to this and other stations must be considered as well to assure access to the newly improved services and to workplaces in the city. This pedestrian access includes the proposed pedestrian way along the south border of the project adjacent to Wadsworth sand Platt Streets, and along the proposed Cambridge Street Bypass, which provides additional access to West Station on air rights above the rail lines (and which has not been included in MassDOT projections of traffic, despite a long-term need for the new street leading to West Station.)

Sincerely,

Bob Sloane
Senior Project Manager
WalkBoston

Allston Multimodal Project Outline for Purpose and Need Task Force Letter

By WalkMassachusetts | October 28, 2019

October 28, 2019

Dear Secretary Pollack, Mr. Miller, and members of the MassDOT Board and Fiscal Management and Control Board,

We, as members of the Allston I-90 Multimodal Project, have appreciated MassDOT’s commitment to an open and collaborative process over the past five years. We are eager to continue this collaboration as the state and federal environmental permitting processes commence. It is therefore extremely disappointing that the project team has refused to share a draft Purpose and Need statement with the Task Force. The development of the Purpose and Need is a crucially important element of the process; we are concerned that denying the Task Force an opportunity to contribute to this essential step will delay the process and jeopardize our collective ability to achieve the best outcome for this project.

We thus respectfully submit an outline of the Purpose and Need, drafted by a number of Task Force members on behalf of the many stakeholders that have participated in the Allston I-90 process to date.

Purpose and Need:

Replace the structurally deficient I-90 viaduct, Cambridge Street Overpass, and Franklin Street Pedestrian Bridge
Improve the functionally deficient I-90 interchange in order to improve highway safety and maximize the amount of land to be made available for non-highway uses
Provide a new network of street connections between the new interchange and existing city streets that prioritizes multimodal operations and safety, and complies with the City of Boston Complete Streets Guidelines, Vision Zero policy, and 25mph speed limit
Reinstate passenger rail service to an area where it was discontinued when I-90 was originally built
Provide a four-track station and associated rail and bridge infrastructure to enable passenger rail service along the Grand Junction line, and transfers between that line and the Worcester-Framingham line
Provide multiple new bicycle, pedestrian, and bus connections between the area south of I-90 and Lower Allston and the Charles River, reconnecting the two halves of the neighborhood that have long been divided by rail and highway infrastructure
Repair the large gap in the urban fabric that has historically separated North and South Allston due to the rail and turnpike open cut design, by providing decking over new rail and highway infrastructure sufficient to support continuity of people-oriented land uses connecting North and South Allston
Expand and enhance the Paul Dudley White Path and parkland along the Charles River in what is currently the most dimensionally constrained and functionally, aesthetically, and ecologically deficient section of the Charles River Reservation as a direct result of the impacts of I-90 and Soldiers’ Field Road
Repair the eroded, manmade edge of the Charles River in order to restore the riverbank conditions and aquatic and riparian habitat of the Charles River, expand tree canopy, minimize untreated stormwater outflows to the River, and provide for stormwater flood resilience
Provide a significantly improved safety, noise, and vibration buffer between highway and rail infrastructure and adjacent residential areas and parklands
Build a new “People’s Pike” bicycle and pedestrian corridor that provides a direct, safe, low-stress connection between the Allston neighborhood and the Charles River, as called for in the City of Boston 2013 Bicycle Network Plan
Address public health, environmental justice, and issues of open space access and equity for residents impacted by the highway, as called for in the City of Boston Open Space Plan 2015-2021

We look forward to continuing to work in an open and collaborative manner with your agencies to expediently permit a project that will meet all of these important needs.

Thank you,
Henrietta Davis, Former Mayor of Cambridge and Task Force member
Jason Desrosier, Allston Brighton Community Development Corporation, Task Force member
Anthony D’Isidoro, Allston Civic Association, Allston resident, and Task Force member
Laura Jasinski, Charles River Conservancy, Task Force member
Harry Mattison, Allston resident and Task Force member
Galen Mook, Massachusetts Bicycle Coalition, Allston resident, and Task Force member
Ari Ofsevit, LivableStreets Alliance, Cambridgeport resident, and Task Force member
Jessica Robertson, Allston resident and Task Force member
Bob Sloane and Stacey Beuttell, WalkBoston, Task Force member
Stacy Thompson, Livable Streets Alliance

CC:
Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley
State Senator William Brownsberger
State Senator Sal DiDomenico
State Representative Michael Moran
State Representative Kevin Honan
City Council President Andrea Campbell
City Councilor-at-large Michelle Wu
City Councilor Mark Ciommo
Chief of Streets Chris Osgood
Boston Planning and Development Agency Director Brian Golden
Kate Fichter, MassDOT
Michael O’Dowd, MassDOT

Comments on the re-design of Melnea Cass Boulevard

By WalkMassachusetts | June 8, 2015

June 8, 2015

Patrick Hoey, Transportation Planner
Boston Transportation Department
Room 721
Boston City Hall
Boston, MA 02201-2021

Dear Mr. Hoey,

WalkBoston is pleased that the Boston Transportation Department (BTD) conducted a public meeting that provided an opportunity for area residents and others to comment on the re-design of Melnea Cass Boulevard (MCB).

WalkBoston is well aware of the tremendous progress that has been made in trying to plan for and design an inviting, practical, pedestrian-friendly Melnea Cass Boulevard that will serve the local community as a city street and neighborhood asset. WalkBoston nevertheless finds that, despite significant improvements, the redesigned boulevard will continue to function primarily as an arterial roadway and not as a community-enhancing street.

BUS RAPID TRANSIT (BRT) CORRIDOR
The city’s decision to “reserve” a major swath of land along MCB for a possible future Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) corridor seems to WalkBoston to be an obstacle to the boulevard’s ability to serve the neighboring community as well as it could.

As we have discussed, buildings sited close to a street will fall within a driver’s line of vision. This perceived narrowing of the street’s width automatically slows speeds and makes it easier, safer and more practical for people to cross the road and better use the corridor. BTD’s current approach of reserving open land for BRT passage means that buildings will not be developed bordering the boulevard, thus seriously compromising its ability to function as a multimodal city street.

Practically speaking, if the “Urban Ring” BRT is ever built, its passage through the high-income areas of the Longwood Medical Area, Museum of Fine Arts, Fenway, Boston University, Back Bay, Charles River and Cambridge will doubtless run through a tunnel. Putting the one-mile Roxbury MCB portion in a tunnel would be a much easier cut-and-cover proposition than the rest of the route. Roxbury deserves this option so that new buildings can be built closer to Melnea Cass and the road will be humane in scale.

If land is not reserved for the BRT the width of the re-designed roadway corridor can be substantially reduced, resulting in the preservation of many trees, especially those on the north side of the roadway. For example, between Shawmut and Washington the roadway is shifted 40-60 feet north to provide a 40-foot wide sidewalk in front of Parcel 9. We assume this excessively wide space is incorporated into the design to preserve the BRT corridor.

However, if this sidewalk’s width were reduced it would not be necessary to remove many mature trees. WalkBoston also notes that the inclusion of parking on several blocks along MCB results in a wider roadway corridor that would provide space for a future BRT. However, the parking also results in the removal of mature trees. Developments along MCB have on-site parking, such as Tropical Foods. Hence WalkBoston questions the need for creating new parking on MCB.

OTHER SUGGESTED ADJUSTMENTS
We support the proposed design elements mentioned in the letter from the Friends of Melnea Cass Boulevard (FMCB) – narrower curb radii (like those currently on MCB), improved signal timing and leading pedestrian indicators, and raised roadway crossings on streets intersecting with MCB. We also support recommendations made by Livable Streets to reduce traffic signal cycles to 80 seconds to encourage walker compliance, and bus stops located within 50 feet of a crosswalk and on the far side of the traffic signal to provide for signal priority. WalkBoston would like to discuss with BTD and its consultants how signal timing will work for pedestrians and how crosswalks might be straightened to shorten crossing distances. At high pedestrian crash locations such as MCB/Washington, perhaps an all-way WALK would be a safer signalization option for walkers, provided wait times were a reasonable length.

WalkBoston suggests wide crosswalk widths of 14-15 feet (such as those in Peabody Square in Dorchester and Huntington Avenue at the YMCA) with generous vehicle stop lines. We would also like BTD to assess whether more space could be found for wider sidewalks, for instance at areas like Tremont to Harrison Avenue and other locations.

Finally, we would like a fuller description of what is planned from Hampden Street to Massachusetts Avenue — trees, sidewalk, bicycle lanes, why parking has been added with the consequent loss of trees.

PRESERVING TREES
The issues of tree plantings and tree removal are of vital concern for pedestrians. Our 2013 summer walk showed how important mature trees are in providing shade and protection from traffic along MCB. WalkBoston hopes the City can find ways to preserve as many trees as possible as described above. Wider, tree-lined sidewalks are more appealing than specially built median strips put in place for trees. In our experience trees and plantings in medians rarely flourish, or even survive, and most importantly, they do not provide shade for walkers.

Currently the plans show two-way bicycle lanes on both sides of MCB. If the lanes were reduced to one lane on each side, the cycle track could be reduced from 10 to 8 feet or less, again, resulting in the preservation of trees. As suggested by other commenters, WalkBoston urges the layout of curving pathways for bicyclists and walkers in order to preserve mature trees.

THE TREMONT/MELNEA CASS BOULEVARD INTERSECTION
We are uncertain about the redesign of this intersection and the elimination of the slip lane. It seems a desirable change until one considers the effect of two right-turn lanes into MCB plus an additional lane added on the Tremont crossing. Both seem to create difficult conditions for pedestrians. Thus, we request traffic information in order to help us to assess the impacts of this design. (A recent Transportation Research Board publication may provide some helpful information on pedestrian impacts and benefits from slip lanes: A Report on the Development of Guidelines for Applying Right-Turn Slip Lanes – available at: http://www.trb.org/SafetyHumanFactors/Blurbs/172629.aspx)

WalkBoston would like to see these and other adjustments to the current design in order to further improve the pedestrian experience along the redesigned boulevard. We would, of course, be glad to assist in this design effort.

SOME PROCEDURAL REQUESTS
In order to address our detailed questions regarding the MCB design, we request that you schedule a working session with BTD and its consultants. WalkBoston understands that the FMCB have requested or will soon request a similar meeting and we would be happy to have a combined BTD, FMCB and WalkBoston meeting on these areas of concern.

Thank you so much for the City’s detailed and extensive work with WalkBoston and the Roxbury community on this important street. We believe the outcome will be better for everyone.

Sincerely,

Dorothea Hass and Ann Hershfang

cc: Representative Byron Rushing
Representative Gloria Fox
Senator Sonia Chang-Diaz
Austin Blackmon, Environmental Cabinet Chief
Councilor Tito Jackson
Councilor Ayanna Pressley
Councilor Michael Flaherty
Friends of Melnea Cass Boulevard
Livable Streets
Boston Cyclists Union
United Neighbors of Lower Roxbury
Whittier Tenants Task Force
Madison Park Development Corporation