Sullivan Square-area face-lift will be ripe with trees, bike paths and walkways, planners say

By Julia Fairclough Discussions to reconfigure the concrete jungle and traffic mayhem of Rutherford Avenue and City Square into a green, bike and pedestrian-friendly corridor continued to evolve Monday night. The City of Boston's transportation department and its consulting team, Tetra Tech Rizzo and the Cecil Group, led the third community meeting at the Knights of Columbus in Charlestown with a few dozen residents to ponder design alternatives. Since the past two meetings had covered neighborhood concerns with the area and plans for Sullivan Square, the focus on Monday night was on the area south of Sullivan Square, including Austin Street, Rutherford Avenue and City Square. Organizers have completed the planning phase and are now in the conceptual design stage. This summer and fall planners will draw up a consensus design for the whole corridor that stretches from Mishawum Street to City Square. The $100 million project was accepted as a major infrastructure project in the state's long range plan. The good news for the state is that $1 billion of stimulus dollars will go toward funding projects such as this, with $20 million appropriated for Federally-funded highways coming into Boston, said a representative from Congressman Michael Capuano's office. "The planning stage is "where it all happens" and gives residents the opportunity for input, said Boston Transportation Department Commissioner Tom Tinlan, who added the city wants to ensure that project managers protect and enhance Sullivan Square and Rutherford Avenue that serve as the "jewels" of the city. Mike Hall, the project manager for Tetra Tech Rizzo, outlined the following issues that consultants working on the project wanted to address: o The lack of a crosswalk on Rutherford Avenue o The lack of a direct connection to Paul Revere Park o Rutherford Avenue is unnecessarily wide, encompassing nine lanes o There are poor sight lines for pedestrians o The crosswalk across Chelsea Street is not ADA compliant. On the outbound side of Rutherford Avenue toward the bridge, the road can be narrowed by one lane. Filling in the unused left-hand lane will create a 20-foot median to separate the north and southbound traffic. A crosswalk across the eight lanes and modified light signs will allow pedestrian access. A continuous bike and pedestrian path will run alongside the corridor and cross over Rutherford Avenue alongside the crosswalk. Landscaping (hardy, drought-resilient plants) and a continuous linear park-like edge will green the area and allow for meeting spaces and tot lots, said Steven Cecil of The Cecil Group. It will also provide opportunities to redevelop the land alongside the corridor that is consistent with neighborhood plans, he said. Residents were generally receptive, but came up with questions and suggestions to fine-tune the concepts. For example, they stressed that the wide sidewalks are important, as that area sees heavy pedestrian traffic. Some were not too fond of on-street parking along Rutherford Avenue, while others questioned the availability of parking in that area to accommodate the retail businesses in City Square. The medians must also be maintained, as other medians in the city have been neglected, a resident said. Traffic volume on Rutherford Avenue has decreased by 40% since 1997, according to Tinlan, so planners will consider slowing traffic down with traffic signals, while acknowledging that they can't create congestion that would tempt motorists to cut through neighborhoods. Planners will also look at how to accommodate the variety of traffic that includes MBTA buses, trucks and cars. The Rutherford Avenue underpass could also be taken away and the streets graded at one level. Doing so would also need to happen at Sullivan Square, Cecil said. If the underpass remained, one lane of traffic would pass in either direction with a grade separating the two lanes. Regarding the Austin Street area, planners would like to get rid of the strange U-turn there. Doing so could allow for a more creative use of the space, such as erecting a coffee shop for Bunker Hill community College students. If Bunker Hill Community College changes its access from the Austin Street area, the crosswalks could be shorter and allow for some landscaping, but the city would need to talk to the college, Tinlan said. The 72-foot-wide underpass at Austin Street could also be narrowed to about 58 feet, the retraining wall moved over, the sidewalks widened and a bike connection installed, Cecil said. Planners will post all project updates at www.cityofboston.gov/transportation/rutherford/ sometime next week. Neighbors at the first planning meeting in July voiced the following concerns with the Rutherford Avenue/Sullivan and City Squares areas: o Pedestrian access between the neighborhood and the Sullivan Square station o Bus circulation and access at Sullivan Square station o Main Street and cut-through traffic o Truck impacts and traffic o Traffic lanes and speed reduced on Rutherford Avenue o Pedestrian access improvements at City Square o Bike lanes are needed