Roadway to gridloclk? Ex-transit czar wants BC to shift gears
By Scott Van Voorhis | Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Fred Salvucci, the former state transportation czar and
Big Dig mastermind, is taking aim at
Boston College?s ambitious expansion plans.
Over traffic, naturally.
Salvucci, a long-time resident of Brighton, contends that BC?s expansion plans, recently unveiled in preliminary form, would trigger ?traffic gridlock? in parts of his neighborhood, which he says are already increasingly congested.
?Any increase in traffic generation caused by BC?s expansion is likely to result in gridlock in nearby congested areas such as Cleveland Circle, Brighton Center, Chestnut Hill Avenue, Foster Street, Lake Street, Beacon Street,? Salvucci wrote in a letter to the Boston Redevelopment Authority, which was posted on a local blog, Universal Hub.
Now a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Salvucci is calling on BC to dramatically revamp its initial $1.6 billion expansion proposal, half of which would be spent on new buildings and various renovation projects.
BC wants to expand onto a sprawling tract of Brighton land that had served for years as the headquarters for the Archdiocese of Boston.
But Salvucci, a civil engineer who was transportation secretary in the Dukakis administration, contends the college?s expansion north of Commonwealth Avenue would make a congested situation in Brighton worse.
Instead, the MIT transportation guru argues BC should focus on building up its established Chestnut Hill campus, keeping its expansion to the south of Commonwealth Avenue.
Salvucci?s comments come on the heels of a recommendation by a community task force urging changes to BC?s proposed 10-year master plan.
The Boston Redevelopment Authority is now reviewing BC?s plans and is expected to make some initial recommendations as early as this week.
But Jack Dunn, a spokesman for Boston College, defended the proposal, contending, in a statement, that it was ?created with the assistance of the nation?s premiere architectural firm. We feel this plan is in the best interest of Boston College and the neighborhood we have been a part of for the past 96 years.?
Salvucci, who could not be reached for comment, offers up his own detailed alternative for BC?s expansion.
BC should bargain with City Hall to transfer its development rights from the archdiocese property across Commonwealth Avenue to its Chestnut Hill campus, giving it the leeway to put all of its new student housing there. BC should limit parking, and encourage T use through subsidized passes for students.
?Contrary to popular belief, parking facilities do not reduce traffic; they generate it,? Salvucci writes.
He also contends that plans for a new pedestrian overpass over Commonwealth Avenue is a bad idea, and could become a magnet for crime and oher problems.
