Meeting Held On Improving North Station Transportation

By Dan Murphy

The city held a second public meeting at the West End Museum on Wednesday to discuss its “action plan” that intends to improve various modes of transportation accessibility around North Station.

“This is not a study,” said Josh Weiland, senior transportation planner for the Boston Redevelopment Authority. “The goal is to come out with several short-term projects that are fundable and implementable.”

The project area, bound by Cambridge Street on the south, New Sudbury and North Washington streets on the east and the Charles River on north and west, includes areas adjacent to the station, including the Bulfinch Triangle, the TD Bank Garden, Charles River Park, the Brook Courthouse, Nashua Street and Massachusetts General Hospital.

Using both federal funds and mitigation monies from private developers, the plan would conceive of improvements for various modes of transportation (i.e. pedestrian, bicycle, public) before prioritizing and implementing up to three projects based on “vision, feasibility and cost,” Weiland said in June.

In an effort solicit public feedback for the plan, the BRA has launched a “wikimap,” which can be accessed at bit.ly/nsamap2016 and allows users to highlight an issue or note a missing connection in the study area.  Nearly 250 comments have been posted on the online map to date, the majority of which were submitted by West End residents, officials said.

The city also received input on the plan from around 1,100 citizens during “pop-up” sessions it held in and around North Station.

“Key takeaways” from feedback so far are the need to improve safety; to reduce confusion among the various modes of transportation; to increase choices of transportation modes; and to reduce congestion in the study area, officials said.

The next public meeting on the North Station Area Mobility Action Plan takes place at the West End Museum, 150 Staniford St., on Tuesday, Sept. 20, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.

            Questions and comments on the plan should be directed to Josh Weiland of the Boston Redevelopment Authority at 617-918-4431 or via e-mail at Josh.Weiland@Boston.gov