Casey Overpass

I don't think the Shea Circle rotary was part of Olmsted's original design. If it wasn't, then I don't see what the historic argument is.
 
Considering that Olmsted died in 1906, I don't think that anything with heavy motorized traffic could be considered "true to his design."
 
quick internet search turned up this recent study from alta:

http://www.altaplanning.com/App_Con...ocs/Multi-Lane-Roundabout-demand-collison.pdf

basically - the report recommends not doing a multi-lane roundabout if you are concerned about bike/ped safety, but if you do one, the preference is grade-separated bike/ped facilities - or the bike/ped crossings are BEFORE you enter the roundabout.

from what I understand traffic volumes through there are too high for a single-lane roundabout - although it would be pretty awesome if we got our own version of the hovenring:

http://i.imgur.com/FdMalAQ.jpg
 
The Forest Hills entrance to Franklin Park originally had a multi-layered bridge designed by Shepley, Rutan & Coolidge (architects of the Longwood Avenue bridge over the Muddy River as well as the massive rail viaduct that once spanned the Arborway at Forest Hills and the Scarboro Pond bridge within the Park). The drawing below is from 1893). According to Cynthia Zaitzesky's "Frederick Law Olmsted and the Boston Parks System", the desire was to create a grand entrance to the park and to separate the funeral traffic going to Forest Hills Cemetery - in her characterization, one was a procession of life and the other of death as seen here (scanned from her book):

FPEntrance1905ShepleyRutanCoolidge.jpg


[Edited to correct errors of fact] This bridge over Cemetery Road has been significantly altered: the towers and gates are long gone, which eliminates the Entrance effect for those traveling on Circuit Drive. That said, the Shea Circle rotary just to the west has now been there for 80 years...

The kurfuffle at the moment stems from Shea Circle being a feature of a National Registry of Historic Places entity created in 2004 called "The Morton Street Historic District". As I understand it, its creation was part of an effort to require additional oversight just as many Parkways were shifting to State control - from MDC to DCR, in 2003 - and several previously undesignated pieces of Parkway around town were newly 'federalized' then.

In my view, enhancing connections between the Olmsted-era Arborway, Arboretum and Franklin Park, with their earlier Periods of Significance trumps preservation of this dangerous and much later rotary. But understandably enough, and charged with protecting National Registry sites in just this way, MHC has made a finding of "adverse effect" for the DOT rotary plan and has asked that it be mitigated or justified. Though they've, as I understand it, verbally acknowledged that Safety trumps History in this paper/rock/scissors situation MHC has not as yet finished their consultation.
 
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This may become a larger problem as the 20th century's automobile-focused infrastructure ages further. It really makes a mockery of the historic preservation process, though, IMO. The reason historic preservation got started in the first place is to avoid the destruction of human-friendly buildings and infrastructure by these same forces of 20th century motordom.
 
Matthew said:
This may become a larger problem as the 20th century's automobile-focused infrastructure ages further. It really makes a mockery of the historic preservation process, though, IMO. The reason historic preservation got started in the first place is to avoid the destruction of human-friendly buildings and infrastructure by these same forces of 20th century motordom.
Click to expand...

Well, actually, Penn Station's destruction was only extremely loosely related to the rise of the automobile in that it was auto culture that drove ridership traffic in Penn Station down enough for it to start bleeding money. Bog-standard "we can't afford this building" played far more of a direct role in having that station leveled.

That having been said, whatever the reason that historic preservation came into existence the fact remains that these programs have a tendency to evolve and take on lives of their own in ways we may never have expected; nor wanted really. See also: environmental protection, routinely used as a cudgel against more environmentally friendly modes of transportation.
 
The best way to address the historic preservation issue, then, is to remove Shea Circle and restore (a copy of) the Olmsted-era bridge. How feasible would that be?
 
Clayville, it would seem to suggest that the bridge in the rendering you show as a similar to the bridge over Cemetery Road at Forest Hills Drive, but, I can't seem to find a second bridge on any of the maps that I've borrowed from the 'net. The Olmstead plan from 1894 ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Olmsted_historic_map_Boston.png ) only seems to show the bridge that still exists. Admittedly, the 1914 map stops short of the intersection, maybe it hadn't been built, by then.


Forest Hills - 1914 - small by Randomgear, on Flickr
 
Ron, MHC only seems to be interested in the Morton St Historic District.

Regarding the Emerald Necklace, since the portion of the Arborway within the Casey Arborway project was destroyed by the MDC turning Morton St into a parkway followed by the construction of the Casey Overpass there is nothing historic left between the bridge at Cemetery Road/Forest Hills Drive and the Arboretum. Therefore MHC has no interest in it.

If it were to be rebuilt, it might be pretty, but it wouldn't be historic. At least not for some time.

At least this is my understanding of MHC's position.
 
Randomgear - You are correct and I believe that I have significantly overstated the case re: Shea Circle's creation and impact on the bridge above. Apologies - and corrections made.

A renewed look at the geography and at Richard Heath's excellent work on Forest Hills and Franklin Park history confirms that the current Cemetery Road arch is the same bridge illustrated above. Shea Circle is 75 yards or so to the west of it. The towers and gates are long gone, along with the archway above the pedestrian steps leading down from Circuit Drive, but the steps still exist (though perhaps not in their original form).

Clay
 
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Mass Historical Commission has scheduled another consultation meeting about Shea Circle on April 4 at 2:30 PM at MHC.

Here's to hoping MHC will finally let it go and let MassDOT get the Casey project out to bid.
 
I attended the MHC consultation on 4/4/14. MHC's involvement is limited specifically to their finding of 'adverse effect' in DOT's plan to convert the rotary near the Franklin Park to a signalized intersection - no other aspects of the Casey Arborway Project are open to their consultation.

At the outset of the meeting MHC made a sharp distinction between "feasible" alternatives and "prudent" alternatives citing public safety and other law, and then declared that "MassDOT has demonstrated that there is no feasible AND prudent alternative" to the signalized intersection proposed at this location. The meeting then immediately pivoted towards mitigation suggestions (or tried to).

MassDOT offered a) thorough documentation of existing conditions and b) "context-sensitive landscaping and design" which included signage and a History Kiosk.

With all public comments unrelated to specific mitigation suggestions quickly slapped down (and there were, um, several), most of the off-the-cuff on-topic suggestions from the public were modest ones: try to save the azalea bushes in the rotary, be mindful of the existing stone walls on the Franklin Park side of the rotary, set up a tree replacement fund post-project, perhaps repurpose the wood from the lost trees or offer it to local artists, make sure the history related in the kiosk predates the rotary too...

I took a few hasty camera pics of the landscaping presentation and wrote up the meeting here:
http://arborwaymatters.blogspot.com/2014/04/no-feasible-and-prudent-alternative-mhc.html

Next steps: DOT is to draft an MOA for the mitigation measures and hash specifics out via memo with MHC. As a layperson I took that to mean (perhaps naively) that we're now done with the hearings and public arguments and the project may well go to bid in very short order - but that could be wishful thinking on my part! No revised timelines for the project were offered.
 
Thanks for that post. One thing that isn't very clear to me, is how I might get on Forest Hills St. if I am coming from the direction of Forest Hills. It seems the median would prevent turning directly on to it. Is there a turn around beyond Shea Square for people to use in accessing this turn?
 
I believe that a left turn north onto Forest Hills Street from the eastbound Arborway will be blocked by a median as you've noticed (access now from that direction means going around the whole rotary to get to it). I think for that turn you'll proceed a couple hundred more yards to Cemetery Road and turn left there, proceeding through the tunnel under Circuit Drive (the old Shepley, Rutan bridge discussed here) to Forest Hills Street. That shows - barely - on the right of the first image at the blog.
 
Advertised for bid in today's Boston Globe:
July 22, 2014 @ 2:00 P.M. Filed Sub-Bids
August 5, 2014 @ 2:00 P.M. General Bids
Project Value $61,274,000.00
BOSTON: Roadway Reconstruction and Related Work (Including Casey Overpass Removal) along a section of Route 203 (Arborway) at Washington Street (ABP) (605511)
 
MassDOT has made an updated rendering of the full Casey Project corridor available as a pdf from their website here (2nd paragraph of Project Overview):
http://www.massdot.state.ma.us/caseyarborway/Home.aspx

Not exactly hi-res, but here's the best quality I could grab:
CaseyFinalCorridor.jpg


In addition to vastly expanded off-street and on-street ammenities for pedestrians and cyclists throughout and newly revitalized connections between the Arboretum and Franklin Park, some of the highlights to me include (left to right, west to east):

* a bow-tie u-turn lane at the Forest Hills Gate of the Arboretum. There will be no westbound left turns at South St/Washington and those seeking that route will need to reverse direction here. There will also be a pedestrian- activated crosswalk there, and a new northerly sidewalk from South Street to it.

* the smaller, upper Arborway frontage road is going to be relocated approximately two car-lengths northward at South Street to create more queueing space at South/Arborway.

* the 39 bus which currently terminates under the Overpass is being relocated to a newly expanded Upper Busway south of the T station. Residential neighbors here are shielded from noise & visuals by a bermed and landscaped hump between the busway and southerly Washington St. Bus exits are steered around a small island so that their headlights don't shine on residential homes.

* The current T station plaza south of the new Arborway is being revamped, and off-street east-west bike paths and sidewalks created. The taxi stand currently alongside the upper busway will be relocated to both sides of the Arborway, along with pick-up/drop-off space for cars.

* at the end of Southwest Corridor Park a new plaza is being created that features a new head house for direct access to the T platform from the north side of the Arborway. Dedicated bike and pedestrian paths - including a bike rotary - as well as benches and new 'programmable space' for things like farmer's markets and fairs will be here too. The current mid-block crosswalk is being eliminated, and there will be substantial planting boxes and smaller flowering trees in the median above the tracks.

* an eastbound bow-tie u-turn will be created in front of the Court House (there will be no left turns onto northerly Washington from eastbound Arborway). A crosswalk here leads to a Court House parking lot on the Arborway Yard site.

* the north side between Washington Street and Franklin Park will have dedicated off-street pedestrian and cyling paths.

* the Shea Circle rotary on the eastern end is being replaced by a signalized intersection dubbed Shea Square. On the north side, Franklin Park expands a little. South of the intersection will be a small park in front of Franklin Park Villa. Sidewalks are being added to and through the island at Forest Hills Cemetery.

There are more details not easy to spot in this rendering like grade and surface differentials between peds and bikes, corner "mixing zones" where they come together, refuges in the medians, etc. Hollow trees are existing ones, solid trees are all new.

If anyone has questions about the features, I could try to answer them since I've studied them at length. I don't thing more will be known about construction staging until a contractor is selected later this summer, but best information at the moment is that some construction will begin in Fall 2014 and the project is still expected to be completed in last 2016.

Clay
 
So. What Interstate designation will this carry?
 
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