Mayoral candidates were recently asked about the Casey Overpass in a Transportation & Livable Communities Mayoral Questionnaire. The full questionnaires covering a wide range of related topics and video from the public forum on transportation issues is available here:
http://transportationforum.blogspot.com/p/mayor.html
The candidate's excerpted responses pertaining to the Casey question (alphabetical by candidate) are here:
Q:
Communities across the city have embraced smaller roadways and better,
cheaper alternatives to large, expensive overpasses and underpasses. As
mayor, would you support the City's endorsement of the surface road for
Rutherford Avenue in Charlestown, the state DCR's endorsement of a
surface road to replace the Casey Overpass in Forest Hills, and a
surface road in lieu of the Bowker (Charlesgate) Overpass in the Back
Bay? What else would you do to bring Boston's roads back to a human
scale?
Felix Arroyo:
We have great opportunities with these projects to create beautiful,
livable spaces as we have seen done in other cities all over the world.
We need to be forward thinking in our city planning especially as we
face rising fuel costs, climate change and health disparities in our
city. I am personally impacted as a neighbor by the project to demolish
the Casey Overpass and replace it with a surface option. I believe as a
community, our focus should be on ensuring that this project moves
forward in a way that improves the flow of traffic and people, best
connects our communities, creates green space and also adequately
accommodates for growth in our city. As is in the case in Forest Hills, I
believe that development in Charlestown, Back Bay, and all of our
neighborhoods should be led by a planning process and the community
should lead planning
John Barros:
In general, I'd support more community-human scale roadways and NOT
spend lots of money on over or underpasses. We can save money and
rethink how these roadways can be incorporated back into the fabric of
our neighborhoods. That said, each of the cases is different and need to
be looked at based on its role in the transit system and the community
that its in. Community planning process needs to be inclusive and
comprehensive. I know the City's Rutherford Ave plan and state's Casey
Overpass plan are already advanced in their process, but I have heard
that the planning process could have been more engaging.
Charles Clemons: I agree that overpasses are costly to maintain and are aesthetically unattractive. I support developing grade level upgrades.
John Connolly:
In general, I think it's great when we can take opportunities to knit
communities back together. You don't need to look any further than the
North End, which is no longer physically isolated from the rest of
downtown by the expressway, to see how much this can improve quality of
life in a community. As our infrastructure ages, we need to reexamine
our overpasses and underpasses and make changes wherever we can to
improve the level of service for all modes, not just cars. I believe
there are two critically important considerations as we go about this
work. First, we need to make sure that when we make these changes, they
are truly improvements for all road users. Second, whether it's a city
or state project, we need to make sure that we have robust, transparent
community processes that give all community members the opportunity to
get involved and make their voices heard.
Charlotte Golar Richie:
I generally support these initiatives, and I definitely support a shift
away from supporting vehicular convenience rather than making
significant improvements to public transportation. Boston's roadway
system is, if anything overbuilt. We need to begin an era of
unprecedented focus on other modes of transportation. I will take advice
from community activists and transportation experts about the impacts
on mobility and the environment. We cannot take action that may help and
have a negative impact elsewhere. Our transportation network has to
work as a system, and as mayor I will take into account how specific
actions will impact mobility.
Mike Ross:
I have been a strong advocate for many years of alternatives to
overpasses where they can be used. I believe that overpasses create
dead, underused space within neighborhoods and creates divisions between
them. In my own City Council district, I have worked with the Friends
of the Charlesgate for many years in their fight to remove the Bowker
Overpass on the Kenmore/Back Bay line. I personally worked to set up
meetings with MassDOT to advance these neighbors plan to remove the
crumbling, unsafe overpass and to replace it with a surface-level road.
Residents
of Forest Hills and surrounding communities have invested a significant
amount of time and energy into debating the options for the Casey
Overpass. The resolution of that planning process is the proposal to
remove the Casey Overpass and replace it with surface roads. While I
understand that there are many residents who would like to replace the
crumbling structure that now stands with a new overpass, I support the
results of the community planning process to replace the overpass with
surface streets. As Mayor, I would work closely with all stakeholders to
advance a smart street design for the area that was focused on
multi-modal uses of the roads, appropriately managed MBTA bus routes,
and aggressively sought to mitigate congestion. The potential to re-knit
the community by following the community plan to remove the overpass is
tremendous and I look forward to strengthening the Forest Hills
community
Bill Walczak:
I believe each of these roadways was built in the 1950s at a time when
for many the American Dream of upward mobility meant, among other
things, moving out of crumbling cities to well-manicured suburbs. This
move was, literally, driven by an infatuation with the automobile - and
it was largely supported by federal transportation policies that favored
highway construction under the Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of
Interstate and Defense Highways. It was a different time with different
priorities.
I
support the decisions to replace these outdated roadways with surface
roads. We no longer need roads designed to help people flee the city.
And we no longer need roads that divide neighborhoods. For the first
time in many years, Boston's population is growing. People are moving
back in from the suburbs. And what we need at this point in the City's
history are roads that bind neighborhoods together.
That
said, I understand why these decisions are so controversial. And while I
trust transportation engineers' analyses that show these changes will
not lead to the kind of congestion and gridlock that many fear, I
understand why residents of those neighborhoods would be skeptical.
They
have every right to be skeptical because of the way planning has been
done - or, more accurately, not done - over the past several decades.
The last comprehensive review of Boston's zoning code was done in the
1980s and the last comprehensive transportation plan was done in 2000.
Real estate development and transportation decisions have been done in
such a piecemeal fashion over the past decades that one can hardly blame
people for doubting the wisdom behind them. These three transportation
decisions should have been made as part of a comprehensive planning
process that engaged residents in developing an integrated
transportation, housing, open space/environmental and commercial master
plan to guide the decisions about Boston's future growth.
Marty Walsh:
Community engagement and planning are vital to what is going to happen
in the three mentioned situations. First of all, I plan to do a
feasibility study of all of these projects and see what results they
will generate. In regards to the Casey Overpass, after talking to
neighbors in Jamaica Plain, Roslindale, Hyde Park and Roslindale, I am
personally against tearing down the overpass. However, more community
input is needed for a decision to be made. All of these decisions need
to be looked into more, and as Mayor I will work with the communities
most affected and make sure their voices are heard at the negotiation
table.
Charles Yancy:
Consequently, if eliminating overpasses and underpasses improves
community livability, and survives a strong community process, then I
will certainly support the city's endorsement of surface roads in
Charlestown, Forest Hills, and in the Back Bay.
*** FOLLOW-UP NOTE***
On September 21, four days later, Bill Walczak was quoted in the Jamaica Plain Patch and Roslindale Patch "Speak Out" Board as follows:
“I want to reiterate my
support for keeping an overpass in Jamaica Plain,” said Walczak. “While
I support tearing down some bridges – this is not one of them. I believe
an at-grade roadway will cause greater congestion in the Forest Hills section
of Jamaica Plain and hurt small businesses on Centre St., Washington St., and
Hyde Park Ave, and I don’t believe the public was truly heard during the
determination process. As mayor, I commit to working with MassDOT to
ensure the rebuilding of the overpass."
http://jamaicaplain.patch.com/groups/opinion/p/walczak-reiterates-support-for-rebuilding-casey-overpass-in-jamaica-plain-says-public-process-was-flawed
He appears to believe that we DO need roads that divide neighborhoods.
