General Infrastructure

F-Line to Dudley said:
I-93 was built from the state line to Middlesex Fells in Medford by 1963, but the rest connecting to the Central Artery didn't open until 1973 because of the whole fight over whether the I-695 Inner Belt was going to connect to it. Prior to its completion you had to ride Route 28 into town. Fellsway and McGrath Highway are so overbuilt for high-speed cars in large part because they were load-bearing for north commutes pre-93, and stayed that way post-93 because the Central Artery's deficiencies backed up traffic so severely on the completed 93. It's only now post-Big Dig that volumes on 28 have dropped enough that places like Somerville can seriously entertain road dieting.
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The first Stroads of New England
 
Thank you! I hope to hear from my good friend Van Houten (I forget) about this, too.

It's interesting to think what would have happened if they never connected I-93 to the Central Artery. Like an alternate reality like if the Nazis had won WWII.

I am old enough to remember the "Merge" of Route 1 and Route 93. In fact, my Driver's Ed instructor was famous for taking drivers through it on their first day of class. The terror. Fortunately, that day I was in the back seat while someone else suffered driving. (Remember when the Driver's Ed instructor had a separate set of controls on his/her side of the car??!)
 
Didnt know where to put this.

Changes Coming to Jamaica Plain’s Arborway Parkway
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“Matthew Jasmin, a senior civil engineer with Howard Stein Hudson, presented a 3-D model detailing street interventions along the parkway which include reconfiguring Kelley Circle near Jamaica Pond to a mini roundabout and signalized intersection at the main barrel (the main road running in between the two side carriageways).

Further down near the northwest corner of the Arnold Arboretum, the project calls for converting Murray Circle, where the Arborway and Centre Street meet, to a signalized intersection.

According to the 2019 Road Safety Audit, 31 crashes were reported at Kelley Circle and Pond Street and an additional 44 crashes were reported at the Murray Circle and Centre Street at Arborway intersection between 2015 and 2017.

Jasmin says one of the core elements the team has tried to maintain with this design is, “respect for the Olmstead vision of both providing safe spaces for multiple modes of travel and also looking to respect some of the historic areas that have stayed in their current form since the original design back in the early 1900’s, late 1800’s..."

https://mass.streetsblog.org/2022/12/30/changes-coming-to-jamaica-plains-arborway-parkway/
 
This looks like a planning/design grant; what are the chances they find money (or a private developer partner) to actually construct something once they have a plan?
 
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Jahvon09 said:
commonwealthmagazine.org

More second-guessing of state’s I-90 Allston work

A correction has been added to this story. STATE TRANSPORTATION officials on Wednesday moved forward with a plan to spend nearly $86 million shoring up a
commonwealthmagazine.org commonwealthmagazine.org
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I'm sure it will take 10 years to over excavate and remove bad soil and remove any contaminated soil, bring in tons of gravel, set all the drainage structures, and set 3 layers of concrete and pavement just under the viaduct! Better to make sure the existing span stays in place before something detrimental happens in the middle of new construction.
 
dhawkins said:
I'm sure it will take 10 years to over excavate and remove bad soil and remove any contaminated soil, bring in tons of gravel, set all the drainage structures, and set 3 layers of concrete and pavement just under the viaduct! Better to make sure the existing span stays in place before something detrimental happens in the middle of new construction.
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But the article says the deconstruction of the viaduct could happen in parallel with the construction of the new turnpike design.

I think I’m on the side of not kicking the can further down the road.
 
Most of Boston's roads, streets & highways are the pits. Literally!! Ever have the tires of your car hit a pothole? That must feel terrible!! Imagine the cost that you might have to pay out to get a tire repaired or replaced. The problems with the Mass Pike in that area has been a plague for years, & it has become what is now known as a years-long Big-Dig-style project. Seems to be no easy fix or end to resolve this issue with it. :(
 
They’ve Been Warned: Attorney General Says Suburbs ‘Must Comply’ With Transit-Oriented Housing Law
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“On Monday, Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell issued an advisory to warn cities and towns across eastern Massachusetts that they “must comply” with the state’s new MBTA Communities Law by legalizing multifamily housing near MBTA bus routes and rail stations.

A handful of officials in some of the region’s most exclusionary communities have talked about simply defying the law in public meetings.

Towns that do not comply would no longer be eligible for certain state funding programs, like MassWorks infrastructure grants.

Attorney General Campbell’s legal advisoryquashes those arguments.

“MBTA Communities cannot avoid their obligations under the Law by foregoing this funding,” states the Attorney General’s advisory. “The Law requires that MBTA Communities ‘shall have’ a compliant zoning district and does not provide any mechanism by which a town or city may opt out of this requirement.”

Municipal compliance with the MBTA Communities Law is critical to combating Massachusetts’ affordable housing crisis… If towns don’t comply, they will face litigation brought by (Lawyers for Civil Rights). With the advisory now in effect, recalcitrant towns now also face civil enforcement action from the Attorney General’s office,” wrote Espinoza-Madrigal.”

https://mass.streetsblog.org/2023/0...ust-comply-with-transit-oriented-housing-law/
 
stick n move said:
They’ve Been Warned: Attorney General Says Suburbs ‘Must Comply’ With Transit-Oriented Housing Law
UnionSquareApartmentsConstruction.jpg


“On Monday, Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell issued an advisory to warn cities and towns across eastern Massachusetts that they “must comply” with the state’s new MBTA Communities Law by legalizing multifamily housing near MBTA bus routes and rail stations.

A handful of officials in some of the region’s most exclusionary communities have talked about simply defying the law in public meetings.

Towns that do not comply would no longer be eligible for certain state funding programs, like MassWorks infrastructure grants.

Attorney General Campbell’s legal advisoryquashes those arguments.

“MBTA Communities cannot avoid their obligations under the Law by foregoing this funding,” states the Attorney General’s advisory. “The Law requires that MBTA Communities ‘shall have’ a compliant zoning district and does not provide any mechanism by which a town or city may opt out of this requirement.”

Municipal compliance with the MBTA Communities Law is critical to combating Massachusetts’ affordable housing crisis… If towns don’t comply, they will face litigation brought by (Lawyers for Civil Rights). With the advisory now in effect, recalcitrant towns now also face civil enforcement action from the Attorney General’s office,” wrote Espinoza-Madrigal.”

https://mass.streetsblog.org/2023/0...ust-comply-with-transit-oriented-housing-law/
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Enact congestion pricing immediately and cut all MBTA service to any town not in compliance.
 
I wonder if any towns will seek to avoid the MBTA Communities Law by closing commuter rail stations and eliminating bus routes in their communities?
 
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