End of three-part series
FOR US, the Allston interchange is more than a highway project. It’s a way to fix the mistakes of the past, reunite long-separated neighborhoods, and lay the groundwork for an equitable economic expansion of Boston.
We believe the all-at-grade option for the throat section of the project, along with the project’s other amenities, offers the best chance of achieving our goals. Here are 10 reasons why.
Safer roads: A significantly improved and less expensive at-grade Turnpike and Turnpike ramp system, with a nearly flat profile and a gently curved alignment, can replace the current viaduct, with its reverse curves and rollercoaster profile.
Better rail service: Significantly improved passenger rail is achievable, with a new regional West Station providing a two-track Worcester branch, two tracks for the eventual Grand Junction connection to Kendall Square and North Station, and flexibility for adding capacity for improved intercity rail to Worcester and Springfield and eventually all the way to Hartford, New Haven, and New York, as well as to the Berkshires and Chicago.
The new infrastructure can provide greater speed and comfort for rail passengers by replacing the current double-reverse-curved rail lines with smooth, gentler curves.
Some rail improvements can be implemented relatively early on in the construction process, allowing more frequent two-track service throughout the construction period. This will mitigate the traffic disruption of commuters during construction. It will also get more people to continue to use transit, rather than autos, so that eventual growth in jobs will not mean growth in auto use and congestion.
Walking, biking, boating: Open space, as well as pedestrian, bicycle, and boating conditions, can be improved by relocating the problematic narrow wooden part of the Paul Dudley White Path at the BU Bridge, which reduces the width of the river available to boaters. The relocated path can be wider, and eliminate the current blind corner, and result in safer conditions for pedestrians and bike riders, as well as more room for boaters. Further to the west, where the path is currently confined to the narrow sidewalk of the off ramp from Soldiers’ Field Road to the River Street Bridge, the geometry of the Soldiers’ Field westbound off ramp can be modified to provide a wider space to provide for better access from the Paul Dudley White Path to the River Street bridge.
This improved path can be complemented by rebuilding a green river bank to replace the crumbling current bank, and planting shade trees along it.
The eventual replacement of the nearly 100-year-old Grand Junction Bridge over the river can be designed and constructed with bicycle and pedestrian paths as cantilevers to provide connectivity between the esplanades on the Cambridge and Allston sides of the river.
Connectivity: An Agganis connector, similar to the pedestrian connection between Harvard Yard and Harvard Law School, can connect the South Allston community, as well as Brookline and BU, to the Paul Dudley White Path, providing access to the Charles River basin.
Along the southern edge of the infrastructure adjacent to the isolated South Allston neighborhood, a buffer park can be provided, adequately wide to support a dual path pedestrian and bicycle connection from the Agganis connector to the Allston Depot and Franklin Street, providing improved connectivity between North and South Allston, and to the river.
Buffer park: A park could provide a suitable buffer between the South Allston environmental justice community and the noisy rail and highway activities that will be relocated slightly to the north, and should be provided with a vertical wall to reduce noise. The buffer park will also provide maintenance access to the city of Boston storm sewer currently located under the southernmost track, green space to reduce heat island effects, and rainfall absorption. The vertical noise wall can also be capped by a deck with air rights development to the north, further reducing noise exposure in the South Allston neighborhood.
The buffer park can continue to the west, with replacement of the current deficient Cambridge Street bridge. The park and bicycle path can also serve as a buffer for the historic Allston Depot, by relocating the rail to available space slightly to the north.
Promenade: A supplemental promenade can be located on the northerly side of a new Cambridge Street South, part of the urban grid serving the new development near West Station, connecting from Cambridge Street at North Harvard street to the new Agganis Way connector.
Traffic: A Cambridge Street bypass road can connect from the high point of the newly replaced Cambridge Street bridge directly to the eastbound on-ramp to the Turnpike, near West Station, so that traffic from Allston, Brighton, and Brookline destined for the Turnpike will not conflict with traffic exiting from the west.
This design would both avoid ramp traffic backing up onto the east-bound Turnpike, and ensure that urban traffic destined for the Turnpike will not overload the pedestrian-friendly urban grid streets. This new Cambridge Street bypass can also link the historic center of Allston at the Depot to the new regional center at West Station.
Bus: A bus and bike access road on Malvern Street, from Commonwealth Avenue to West Station, can provide a connection from Brookline and South Allston to West Station, North Allston, and Harvard Square.
Viaduct removal : The structurally deficient Cambridge Street viaduct passing over the Turnpike ramps and abandoned rail link to another former CSX yard, between Seattle Street and Soldiers’ Field Road which divides the area, can be replaced with a less expensive at-grade street with an urban design to unify the two sides of the street.
Foundations for growth: Learning from the Prudential Center, where decking over the turnpike and rail infrastructure provided a suitable environment for urban development , appropriate foundations and decking to support development – to be agreed to by the city of Boston, the Allston community, Harvard, and MassDOT – can be included in the final environmental impact statement and constructed at the same time as the other infrastructure. This development could provide connectivity, economic growth, new housing, and additional tax base for the city and return on investment to Harvard.
The result can be a comprehensive improvement of connectivity between communities and the Charles River basin as proposed by Rep. Kevin Honan over a decade ago, with development to make up for what was destroyed by the initial construction of the Turnpike; a far superior passenger rail service; an improved, safer, and less congested Turnpike.
The improved infrastructure can support an economic development opportunity about four times the size of the Prudential Center, and in turn provide a needed opportunity for growth in the regional economy. The growth is needed because the downtown, Seaport/Innovation district, Longwood Medical Area, and Kendall Square growth areas are becoming fully built out.
Much remains to be done. Within the next two years, the environmental impact statement must be finalized, ironing out the essential details to fully capture the opportunities envisioned. The construction sequence, and enhanced regional rail service to mitigate construction period traffic disruption and permanently improve public transportation should be included in the environmental impact statement. A design-build process, similar to the successful Green Line Extension project nearing completion in Somerville, must be organized . Finally, an adequate and equitable finance plan must be developed.
It is important, however, to recognize how far we have come. Boston Mayor Michelle Wu and local elected officials are on board. We must enlist our new governor in the partnership that has so much potential for our neighborhood, our city, and our state.
It has taken a long time to get to this point, and over that time there has been continuous exposure to congestion and pollution has continued and worsened. It is time to finalize the very important details, get into construction, and build a better future.
Fred Salvucci is a lifelong resident of Brighton, a former Massachusetts secretary of transportation, a lecturer at MIT, and an advisor to Harvard on infrastructure matters in Allston. Anthony D’Isidoro is a lifelong resident of Allston, president of the Allston Civic Association, and a member of the Allston Multimodal Project Task Force and Harvard Allston Task Force. Read the first two parts of their three-part series here and here.