DCR Announces Interim Tunnel Repairs

The Department of Conservation and Recreation has announced that beginning in 2008 they plan to spend 6.8 million dollars on interim repairs to the Storrow Drive Tunnel. These repairs are expected to keep the tunnel safe and open for at least five years while a final plan for tunnel reconstruction and interim transportation is resolved.

Undertaking interim repairs and delaying the DEIR does not mean the proposal to put a road through the park has been withdrawn. It simply means the discussion about how to proceed has been delayed, indefinitely.

It is very important that DCR continue to plan for the Storrow Drive project, within the context of other Charles River Basin transportation planning in an open and transparent manner. It is also critical that the public process be resumed.

To read the press release go to http://www.esplanadeassociation.org/news.

DCR Postpones Storrow Drive DEIR

Richard K. Sullivan Jr., commissioner of conservation and recreation, has told reporters from the Boston Globe on November 4th that his agency had missed its Oct. 1 deadline to file the Draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR) for the Storrow Drive tunnel project with the state.

The DEIR is a preliminary and required step towards designing the tunnel reconstruction, and the project cannot go forward until the plan is submitted and reviewed. Officials do not want to commit to a timetable for the filing, and acknowledge that the roadway will need millions of dollars in interim repairs.

The fact that the filing has been delayed does NOT mean that the temporary by-pass road is not a possibility. Until the by-pass road option is removed from the DEIR it remains a threat to the park. The DEIR filing delay does allow for additional time to review interim traffic plans and revisit design options for the Storrow Drive project.

So Where Should the Traffic Go?

So Where Should the Traffic Go?

Creatively solving the issue of traffic and how it should be managed, both during and after construction on Storrow Drive, is critical to the success of the project.

To date, four options for traffic mitigation during the construction process have been proposed by DCR. Of those four, DCR views only three as viable. Of those three one is the by-pass road on the Esplanade. To view DCR’s interim traffic proposals go to: http://www.mass.gov/dcr/storrowdrive.htm

Storrow Drive was built as a parkway in the 1950’s and today the road carries over 100,000 cars daily, functioning with a capacity equal to a significantly larger scaled highway.

The need to redesign the tunnel affords a unique opportunity to reconsider how Storrow Drive is currently used and how it should be used in the future with the potential of strengthening both the parkway quality of the road and its relationship to the park. No matter what scheme and interim plan is chosen, reducing the volume of traffic on Storrow Drive must be considered.

Keeping the option of a temporary roadway through the park alive will be a disincentive to completing the arduous and creative traffic planning that is necessary for a project of this complexity and importance. While we are working with our partners to explore how to develop alternative interim transportation proposals to those that have been proposed we implore the Commonwealth to do so as well.

Depending on what FINAL design alternative is chosen for the Storrow Drive project there will be different transportation alternatives available during the construction period. At the moment DCR has said that it favors rehabilitating the existing tunnel. It is the choice of this alternative that put the concept of a temporary roadway through a portion of the Esplanade back onto the table. A more visionary solution to the entire project must be found, one that enhances the Esplanade and strengthens the parkway character of Storrow Drive. To view the four families of design options studied for the project go to: http://www.mass.gov/dcr/storrowdrivehistory.htm

A comprehensive analysis of how to manage traffic during the construction of the Storrow Drive project, with the least amount of impact on the environment, is the responsibility of the Commonwealth’s transportation agencies. While complicated, it is not impossible to imagine that it can be figured out using sound engineering and innovative transportation planning techniques.

Solutions may include:

• Enhanced public transit
• New access to the Back Bay from the Turnpike
• Rerouting of traffic onto alternative routes
• Temporary road closure to all but emergency vehicles during the peak construction periods, estimated to be 6 - 8 months when work is being done on the tunnel roof
  
• Phased construction within the width of the existing Storrow roadway
  

Experience in other cities has shown that creative solutions for traffic management and water’s edge planning can lead to both an enhanced environment and sustained economic growth.

Make Your Voice Heard!

If you love the Esplanade you can show your support for protecting the park in the following three ways:

• Sign the on-line petition stating your opposition to the Charles River Esplanade being used as a temporary by-pass road. Everyone who loves the Esplanade can do this, regardless of where you live. http://www.PetitionOnline.com/SavePark/petition.html

• If you are a resident of Boston, sign the petition for the Charles River Esplanade to obtain landmark status. A copy of the petition as well as background information about the process can be found on our website www.esplanadeassociation.org. Each petition can be signed by up to ten people, so have your friends and neighbors sign it too. The petitions must be submitted to Sarah Kelly at the Boston Preservation Alliance 617- 367-2458 x11 by November 1^st. All signers must be registered voters in the city of Boston.

• Phone, write or send an email to your local officials and the Governor about this issue. Their information can be found in the CALL TO ACTION section of this site.

A Park in Peril

Extending from the Museum of Science to the Boston University Bridge, the Esplanade is one of Boston's best loved and most intensively used open spaces. While part of a linear park system that stretches along the Charles River for miles, the Esplanade is a unique and iconic landscape that is used daily by hundreds of people from around the world as well as as a site for special events and celebrations, including the 4th of July Boston Pops concert.

Designed and built over a period of many years, the Esplanade as we know it today is largely the creation of landscape architect Arthur Shurcliff. His plan to create an "waterpark" as a major recreational asset to the city was realized during the 1930's. Twenty years later Shurcliff was called upon to ameliorate the impacts of Storrow Drive upon the Esplanade when the road was built on parkland, despite strong opposition from the public and legislature.

Ironically, fifty years later the Esplanade is again threatened by the construction of a roadway - this time as a temporary by-pass road to accommodate traffic while the Storrow Drive Tunnel is rehabilitated. In 2007 the Esplanade Association believes there is a better solution to a regional transportation problem than using parkland for a roadway and we are committed to working with DCR, the Commonwealth and you to make certain that that solution is realized.

Impact Area

DCR has described the area of the park to be impacted as running from the base of the Fielder footbridge to either Berkley or Dartmouth Street. The road would consume 40’00” of parkland at a minimum. It is unclear if that figure includes a buffer zone for pedestrians.

To view DCR's overview of the Storrow Drive Tunnel Rehabilitation project as well as preliminary plans for the by-pass road including a list of trees that will be removed go to:
http://www.mass.gov/dcr/storrowdrive.htm.

The following are images of the area to be used by the by-pass road:

Photo (1)- (3) by Patrice Todisco

Call To Action

It is critical that our public officials hear from you. Write a letter to any or all of the following. Include as many of the above points as are helpful but also remember to speak from your heart. Make your voice heard on this critical issue. Please copy us on your letters (info@esplanadeassociation.org) so we can track public opposition.

Commissioner: Rick Sullivan
Department of Conservation and Recreation
251 Causeway St., Suite 600, Boston, MA 02114
Phone: (617) 626-1250
Fax: (617) 626-1351
E-Mail: mass.parks@state.ma.us

Governor: Deval Patrick
Massachusetts State House
Office of the Governor, Room 360
Boston, MA 02133
Phone: 617.725.4005
Fax: 617.727.9725
Click here to submit email

Secretary of EOEEA: Ian Bowles
Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs
100 Cambridge Street, Suite 900
Boston, MA 02114
Main Phone: (617) 626-1000
Main Fax: (617) 626-1181
Email: env.internet@state.ma.us

Senator: Steven A. Tolman
Massachusetts State House
Room 511-B
Boston, MA 02133
Telephone (617) 722-1280
Email: Steven.Tolman@state.ma.us

Representative: Martha Walz
Massachusetts State House
Room 443
Boston, MA 02133
Phone (617) 722-2460
Email: Rep.MartyWalz@Hou.State.MA.US

Senator: Anthony Petruccelli
Massachusetts State House
Room 26
Boston, MA 02133
Phone (617) 722-1634
Email: Anthony.Petruccelli@State.MA.US

Senator: Dianne Wilkerson
Massachusetts State House
Room 312-C
Boston, MA
Phone (617) 722-1673
Email: Dianne.Wilkerson@state.ma.us