Next Thursday, April 10th at 6:30PM will be the first public meeting held by MassDOT to discuss the Allst0n I-90 Massachusetts Turnpike Interchange Improvement Project (#606475) at the Jackson Mann Community Center, 500 Cambridge Street in Allston. This $260 million project to straighten the MassPike will have an indelible impact on the neighborhood. The project will open up a significant tract of land to development and change the way Allston and North Allston connect to each other, the river and the region. The improvements will facilitate the transition to all electronic open road tolling, reducing congestion along this stretch of the Turnpike. Senator Brownsberger will be in attendance. You can view a copy of the MassDOT meeting notice here.
As part of the public process, MassDOT will convene a task force for the project. I will be serving on the task force as the representative of Senator Brownsberger. I welcome your input, you can post your comments below or email me: andrew.bettinelli@masenate.gov
Neighborhood activists have banded together, calling for a “People’s Pike” – you can follow their efforts on Facebook and Twitter.
Andrew Bettinelli
Legislative Aide
Office of State Senator William N. Brownsberger
Here is MassDOT’s presentation from last week’s I-90 Allston Interchange public meeting. The meeting was well attended by residents, business owners and advocacy organizations, many of whom voiced opinions about the work to come. I think that most people are very optimistic about the project and believe that there is a tremendous opportunity to improve quality of life in the neighborhood.
The presentation provides valuable information about the need for project, scope, current conditions, potential improvements, project timeline, a few preliminary concepts and contact information for the project, which I have
April 24 is the deadline to send comments to MassDOT about this project. Reference Project File No. 606475 in your correspondence:
Andrew Bettinelli
Office of State Senator William N. Brownsberger
Senator Brownsberger joined several of his colleagues in a letter to Secretary Richard Davey, urging MassDOT to look at the Allston I-90 Project with a regional perspective. You can view a copy of the letter here.
Andrew Bettinelli
Legislative Aide
Office of State Senator William N. Brownsberger
Thank you for working on this project! I signed up to be notified about Task Force meetings and I just heard from someone that there might be one tomorrow. I never heard from MassDOT.
Questions: Is there a meeting tomorrow? And why aren’t meeting dates and agendas posted on the MassDOT website two weeks in advance? Why are they not notifying people who signed up? This is a very important project and waiting for big public meetings doesn’t work for a lot of people. They should not hide behind “it’s not subject to the Open Meeting Law” excuse. MassDOT should do the right thing and post the meetings. Please help with this.
Thank you
Hi Anne,
The Task Force will meet tomorrow (7/16/14) as scheduled; 6:00PM at the Fiorentino Center, 123 Antwerp Street in Allston. I have notified MassDOT that notifications have not yet gone out.
Thank you,
Andrew Bettinelli
Legislative Aide
Office of State Senator William N. Brownsberger
MassDOT maintains a website for this project: Allston I-90 Interchange Improvement Project
Andrew Bettinelli
Legislative Aide
Office of State Senator William N. Brownsberger
Hi, Andrew. How are things looking for the transportation aspects of this project?
Grand Junction/Indigo Line?
Any discussion about linkages to the growing community of Watertown?
We know there was a recent meeting that I was unable to attend.
Hi Aaron,
There hasn’t been much discussion focused on Watertown. The project is still in very early stages of planning but the proposed West Station would be a multi-modal hub, connecting bus, bicycle and pedestrian facilities with commuter rail to South Station and possibly future Diesel Multiple Unit service to North Station.
Additionally the removal of the Allston tolls on the turnpike will benefit anyone choosing to use the I90 to get into the city.
There will be more opportunity for public input as the process moves along, we’ll be posting notices of any future public meetings on this website and we encourage you to attend. The question of project funding is still very much open and will dictate much of what can be done as part of the project.
Andrew Bettinelli
Legislative Aide
Office of State Senator William N. Brownsberger