Complete Streets: Connecting Boston's Waterfront via Summer & Congress
June 11, 2012
We’ve mentioned before in this space ABC’s interest in the Crossroads Initiative, a project of the Boston Redevelopment Authority to reconstruct several key city streets. The ‘why’ of the project is to reconnect neighborhoods that were previously separated by the elevated Central Artery – Fanueil Hall and Rowes Wharf via Broad Street, or South Station and the Fort Point Channel/South Boston Waterfront via Summer and Congress Streets. The ‘how’ of the project is a design philosophy called Complete Streets, which aims to make streets accommodating and enjoyable for bicyclists and pedestrians as well as cars.
Complete Streets calls for wider sidewalks, often with “bump-outs” at crosswalks to shorten crossing distances for pedestrians and to reduce traffic speeds. Widened sidewalks are designed to accommodate trees, bike racks, benches, and outdoor café seating. Where there’s room, car lanes are narrowed to make room for bike lanes or separated cycle tracks.
You could call us an interested party in the Crossroads Initiative; after all, our offices are on Broad Street, which is the first of the projects to go under construction. But we also have a vested interest in the project because we see it as a direct outgrowth of the Big Dig, ABC's original raison d’etre. Our vision of the Big Dig was more than just running the highway underground; it was to create a new and vibrant urban landscape for downtown Boston. The Rose Kennedy Greenway and the development going on in the South Boston Waterfront are two manifestations of that idea; the Crossroads Initiative is another.
Until recently, work on Summer and Congress Streets coming down into the Waterfront, and Causeway Street heading from the TD Garden into the North End, was largely conceptual. But thanks to some new funding, the Summer/Congress Street project is on track to start very soon. Last week we attended a community meeting at the Children’s Museum to see the latest designs and get an update on the timing: work on the Children’s Museum crossing improvements could start as early as this fall, and the full Summer Street project will get underway in the Spring of 2013. BRA officials expect the entire project to take 2-2.5 construction seasons.
[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="Congress Street, which runs from the Greenway over the Fort Port Channel into the South Boston Waterfront, is a key tourist route for the City. Changes in store for Congress include a similar crosswalk treatment at A Street, raised crossing at driveways, and improvements to beautify the parking lots along the street."]
[/caption]
- The pedestrian improvements near the Children’s Museum are being given top priority and treated as a separate phase of the project. As you can see above, the sidewalk near the museum will “bump out” to make crossing the street easier for pedestrians. The pavement in the crosswalk will have a color pattern (and possibly a different texture) to signal “slow down” to motorists coming over the bridge from Downtown.
[/caption]
[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="480" caption="In addition, the City will be working with private property owners on both streets to incorporate building lighting and sidewalk decorations in front of building entrances."]
[/caption]
