In its six decades off the industrial edge of Charlestown’s Rutherford Avenue, the giant Boston Sand & Gravel complex has never had a neighbor. Now, 705 apartments might go in on some empty parking lots next door. The industrial stalwart is pushing back, worried that its massive trucks and all those people could make for a bad mix.
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In this case, there’s an access road between New Rutherford Ave. and Boston Sand & Gravel’s complex nestled beneath Interstate 93 and the flyovers to Route 1. At its busiest times, as many as 890 trucks a day use the road, hauling concrete, sand, and other heavy materials from the sprawling facility to construction sites all over Greater Boston.
On its way out to New Rutherford, the access road cuts between two city-owned parking lots, which cover 5.1 acres in all. Today they’re mainly used as student and staff parking for Bunker Hill Community College, but affordable housing developer Trinity Financial is planning to build 705 apartments there. They’ve even agreed to bring a branch of the YMCA to the site, and the Boston Planning and Development Agency board is scheduled to vote on the $500 million project’s master plan and first phase on Thursday.
Sand & Gravel has concerns. Its trucks are heavy and slow to stop. A redi-mix truck can weigh 77,000 pounds, while a semi truck can weigh 99,000 pounds. Putting those in close proximity to so many people is asking for trouble, wrote company president Dean M. Boylan, in a recent letter to state environmental regulators who are reviewing the project, and will “cause irreparable harm to BSG operations.”
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