Rick Dimino
Supporting transportation-friendly development and walkways designed with pedestrians in mind, a segment of the Massachusetts Turnpike Extension is in the process of being reconstructed. The area between the BU Bridge and Cambridge Street in Allston will receive a face lift, and the Allston Interchange adjacent to the former CSX rail yard is being reshaped as a multimodal facility. The re-envisioned space will include rail, bus and roadway improvements to support future development, open space and connections for bicycles and pedestrians.
The Allston I-90 Interchange project is the definition of a “once in a generation opportunity.” This project has the potential to be one of the most dynamic, transformational opportunities in decades for Allston and Cambridge, for Boston and Harvard Universities and for Greater Boston as a whole.
Both from a transportation standpoint, regionally and locally, and from a development standpoint, this site provides an opportunity not to be missed. Analysis of this site and the interrelated functions to be accommodated here call for a vision that extends beyond the realm of a highway project. It is truly a unique city building opportunity.
The initial motivation for the interchange project began with a realignment of the Turnpike made possible by elimination of the toll plaza and introduction of all electronic tolling, as well as the need to replace the deteriorating 50-year-old viaduct. Removal of the CSX rail operations has also allowed rethinking of the highway ramps, local street grid and rail operations in the area also known as Allston Landing. West Station at the junction of the Worcester Main Line and the Grand Junction Railroad Line has been proposed as part of the rail component of the Allston project.
Supporting Mixed-Use Development
In The Transportation Dividend, a report recently prepared by AECOM for A Better City, Al Raine analyzed the potential of West Station to help support mixed-use development in the area. The “new grid of streets and blocks immediately north of the station [is] designed to support 50 acres of mixed use [Transit Oriented Development], as well as potential air rights development, on land owned by Harvard,” Raine writes. The Imagine Boston 2030 study identifies this location as one of six major “neighborhood expansion” opportunity sites in the city. West Station can serve as a multimodal hub for commuter rail, potential “urban rail” providing more frequent, local transit-like service and cross-corridor service for shuttles as well as MBTA buses serving Cambridge and the Longwood area. Future transit connections to the Kendall Square regional growth zone can also be supported by West Station. The analysis by AECOM indicates that providing this increased accessibility in combination with nearby Boston Landing Station can support over 5,000 units of new housing and nearly 20,000 jobs in the Allston-Brighton Corridor.
Other initiatives associated with the highway project will also enhance the quality of life in the Allston neighborhood including new open space, pedestrian and bicycle connections and the potential to rebuild the Turnpike viaduct at grade. The at-grade highway option reduces cost of replacing the viaduct, allowing limited funds to be allocated to support other improvements desired by people in the neighborhood. Only the at-grade option provides an opportunity to bridge across the roadways and tracks at several locations to provide better access to the edge of the Charles River and an improved Paul Dudley White dual pedestrian and bike path. Downstream, replacement of the Grand Junction railroad bridge over Soldiers Field Road will improve the width and continuity of the Esplanade near the BU Bridge.
The Turnpike Interchange highway project has provided the spark for other local and regional improvements that extend beyond transportation and development to benefit the neighborhood and the surrounding communities. Infrastructure investment will have an important role in shaping this part of the urban core.
Rick Dimino is president and CEO of A Better City.
