I-90 Interchange Project/ Allston Esplanade

This $260 million construction project scheduled to begin in 2017 consists of a comprehensive redesign the area around the Allston toll plaza including the rail yard. While the impetus for the project came from the need to replace the deteriorating 1965 elevated highway viaduct, MassDOT is taking a more comprehensive look at the area. With all-electronic tolling, the toll plaza itself is no longer needed. The project will also include a new commuter rail stop, West Station, that will on the Worcester line. Beacon Park Yard will include a new commuter rail layover and maintenance facility that will help alleviate train traffic at South Station.

Vision

In the early 1960’s when the Interchange was built, construction was all about motor vehicles and not much else. We must not make the same mistake again. LivableStreets is part of a coalition of community groups called "the People's Pike." What do we "The People's Pike" want from this project? We recognize this project is about designing needed enhancements to auto and truck travel, yet we believe it has the potential to be about so much more. We continue to push for the following to be included in the project:

  • Acres of new parkland along the Charles River called "Allston Esplanade."
  • A multi-use community path connecting Allston to Cambridge via the Grand Junction Rail Bridge crossing the Charles under the BU Bridge.
  • A new 'West Station' transit station that provides rapid transit service (every 10 minutes) to downtown & Kendall Square.
  • A deck over the highway and rail yard to cover these loud and dirty uses, protect residential quality of life and connect the existing and new neighborhoods.
  • Existing roads extended to connect Comm. Ave. and Cambridge St. to reducing cut-through traffic on Harvard Ave & Linden St.
  • New Mass Pike on & off ramps near Beacon Street to serve the Kenmore/ Fenway/ Longwood area to get those cars off Allston's streets and Storrow Drive.

Engagement

  • LivableStreets member Glen Berkowitz served on the project’s Task Force from May through November 2014.
  • As member of the coalition People’s Pike, we've provided technical and grassroots support to the campaign.
  • Seventy of our members submitted comments to the Massachusetts Environmental Protection Agency (MEPA) (click here for excerpts).

Status

  • MassDOT has completed the initial environmental permitting phase which resulted in the issuance of a Certificate in December 2014 indicating that a full Environmental Impact Report is required.
  • The People’s Pike Coalition is still pushing MassDOT to incorporate the “Allston Esplanade” and other important elements into the proposal.

In the news

  • “If done right, the narrowest, nastiest, and noisiest thread of Charles River parklands could be transformed into the Allston Esplanade, the next great civic space in Boston,” said Harry Mattison. Boston Globe (12/16/14)
  • “The Pike straightening isn’t a highway construction project. It’s an economic development project. The real endgame isn’t what the construction effort will mean for drivers (a straighter roadway, a quicker commute, and cashless tolling). It is the first step that’s needed to unlock 140 acres of surrounding land for new development. The things that come after the road straightening are the only things that really make the road construction worth doing.” Paul McMorrow, Boston Globe (6/3/2014)
  • “Walking, biking and building a direct connection from the Massachusetts Turnpike onto Soldiers Field Road or Storrow Drive were at the forefront of recent discussions at the first meeting of the Allston Interchange Task Force.” WickedLocal (5/21/14)
  •  “The Big Dig was the transportation project of the 20th century,” said Glen Berkowitz, who served as traffic manager for the Central Artery/Tunnel Project for 17 years. “This could very well be the most important transportation project of this century.” … ““That entire part of BU’s campus has had a Berlin Wall, i.e., that stretch of the turnpike, that’s separating it from the Charles River,” said Berkowitz, a member of the transit advocacy group LivableStreets Alliance. “We’re hopeful MassDOT will explore something that’s less of a barrier.” Boston Globe (4/10/14)

Additional materials

For more information

Project Lead: Matthew Danish, [email protected], 617.621.1746

<< Back to list of projects <<