Monday, August 17, marks the beginning of a pilot program for drivers to take advantage of the under-utilized South Boston Bypass Road. A byproduct of the Big Dig, the South Boston Bypass Road could alleviate traffic woes for those commuting to and from the Seaport, known colloquially as the Innovation District.
Back in January I reported that MassDOT was considering opening the road as part of a six-month pilot program to determine its feasibility eastbound between the hours of 6 a.m. and 10 a.m. on weekdays. Outside of those hours, the road will be strictly for commercial use only.
At the time a MassDOT spokesperson told me that, barring any setbacks and pending approval, the road could open in March.
“There are a number of agencies involved in the authorization of a pilot like this, so in a word, permitting was the reason for the length of time, but there is a lot of due diligence involved in getting approval for this,” said MassDOT spokesperson Mike Verseckes in an email. “The Bypass Road was built to allow for commercial vehicles to access the maritime and industrial areas of the South Boston waterfront.”
“Designating a road specifically for commercial vehicles was a way to keep big trucks off residential streets in South Boston,” he added. “So the two principal issues of traffic and air quality needed extensive study to make sure the pilot would not have a detrimental effect on either.”
According to the South Boston Waterfront Sustainable Transportation Committee – a group comprised of members of MassDOT, the City of Boston, the Massachusetts Convention Center Authority, the Massachusetts Port Authority, and A Better City – the pilot will take place during the hours previously planned and will “open up the I-93 Northbound HOV lane from I-93 to the Ted Williams Tunnel to all cars at all times.”
The committee was formed in January to draft and spearhead a comprehensive transportation reform plan for the Seaport, a neighborhood which is increasingly plagued by traffic congestion amplified during times of turbulent weather.
Tourism also draws more bodies and vehicles to the Seaport.
Traffic volume data from MassDOT indicates the Seaport is one of the most heavily trafficked areas outside of the dense, narrow realm of Downtown Boston.
According to the committee’s August progress report, “ten million square feet of development built between 2000 and 2013” catalyzed the settling of more than 4,100 new residents and the creation of 7,700 jobs.
Further, “over the next two decades, an additional 17 million square feet of development is underway or planned with projected growth to a total of approximately 20,000 residents and more than 59,000 jobs.”
To accommodate and foster this impressive augmentation, the neighborhood and its surrounding areas need viable passages for all modes of transportation.
The Boston Globe reports, however, that opening the bypass road may not be the boon the committee is predicting. Some are concerned another avenue in and out of the area will simply open the floodgates to more gridlock.
“What it’ll do is just bring more traffic in,” said Tammy Casserly, an executive at an advertising agency in the Seaport told the Globe. “As all of these buildings have been built, the road infrastructure hasn’t changed.”
Accompanying improvements to Seaport transportation could bolster the hoped-for positive effect on the community by opening the bypass road.
The Silver Line, which is overseen by the MBTA and is the only public transit line in the area, received signal timing upgrades in June to help streamline its service and this fall will welcome real-time arrival and departure information signs to alert passengers of when to catch their ride.
Earlier in August, the committee installed wayfinding signs in 20 locations throughout the waterfront.
In the longer-term, the committee is hoping to secure additional funding for such initiatives as new Silver Line vehicles, the evaluation of new urban rail transit services from Back Bay to the Waterfront and the rehabilitation of the Northern Avenue Bridge, which has been closed since late 2014 to pedestrians and the 1990s to vehicles.
