| 
Replacement of the Allston viaduct and realignment of the Massachusetts Turnpike would open up 85 acres of land for development and add a brand-new commuter rail station. Courtesy photo
For one morning at least, the city of Boston, Harvard University and Massachusetts Department of Transportation appeared to be on the same page about their vision for the Interstate 90 multimodal project and how it will lay the groundwork for the massive Beacon Yards development site in Allston.
The Massachusetts Department of Transportation is seeking more than $1 billion in federal grant money to pay for over half of the multimodal project’s cost. Last fall, the agency selected its preferred option for rebuilding the Massachusetts Turnpike’s aging Allston viaduct and building a new MBTA multimodal hub known as West Station.
“There is no question whether this will happen,” Mayor Michelle Wu said after touring the vacant former Beacon Yards rail yard with state and local elected officials and neighborhood representatives. “All of the parties are here at the table.”
Harvard University, Boston and state officials and Allston residents all have a stake in the estimated $1.9 billion transportation project and what gets built in the area after its completion.
For Harvard, there’s a future payoff for its decades-long investment in Allston real estate. The university bought the former Beacon Yards rail yard from CSX Transportation in three stages beginning in 2000, giving it a blank canvas for future development.
For Wu, the Beacon Yards property offers a big swath of undeveloped land with the potential to be developed with thousands of housing units to advance her administration’s goal of easing the city’s affordability crisis.
“It’s the number one fear that we hear neighborhood by neighborhood, about how much costs are going up,” Wu said. “It’s also the number one concern I hear from employers across the city as they are struggling in some cases to keep employees here because of housing costs. We know there are so few opportunities like this in a city that is historic and pretty developed and land-constrained.”
For Allston residents, the project would bring new pedestrian and bicycle connections to the Charles River, which is separated from the southern portion of the neighborhood by the highway.
And MassDOT could gain a new source of income from air rights development on the land that it owns on and around the future West Station site. Harvard and MassDOT are negotiating on air rights for development on an elevated deck above the turnpike and rail lines, which would be subject to review by Boston officials.
MassDOT selected a preferred design for the Allston viaduct replacement last year, picking an at-grade version that was supported by many transportation activists. The plans include eight Turnpike lanes, four rail lines, a four-lane Soldiers Field Road and a pedestrian boardwalk in the narrow stretch between Boston University and the Charles River.
The project would relocate the Turnpike lanes south in the area near the former toll plaza, creating over 70 acres suitable for future development. MassDOT’s application includes several key elements of the project supported by Wu, including West Station’s role in upgrading commuter rail and bus service and new recreation areas along the river.
“All of the partners share a desire that this isn’t just an opening up of new land for development, but really an investment in a liveable, equitable, resilient new neighborhood and connections to every part of our city and Commonwealth,” Wu said after Wednesday’s site visit.
How the city, state and Harvard will split the costs has yet to be determined. Officials didn’t have any specifics at Wednesday’s press availability, but the prospect of the federal government picking up the tab for most of the project could make the negotiations more palatable. Officials expect to hear whether the grant application is approved this fall, said Jascha Franklin-Hodge, Boston’s Chief of Streets.
