WalkBoston


	Central Artery and Greenway -- an Ongoing Success Story From the beginning, WalkBoston pushed to insure that the new space created above the underground Central Artery would be a terrific walking environment that would once more connect Boston to its harbor. Our work created a prime walkable destination for residents and visitors both. It is probably the biggest of our many achievements so far.
	CAT/Greenway Background So far, WalkBoston has been advocating for pedestrian use of the Greenway for 20 years. In 1992, WalkBoston learned that the City of Boston was designing a 10-lane ”highway” above the depressed Central Artery in downtown Boston for the two miles from South Station to North Station. Together with Move Massachusetts 2000, WalkBoston spearheaded a broad (and strenuous) effort to create a detailed design alternative that provided for six (or fewer) travel lanes, narrower travel lanes, good WALK timing, spacious sidewalk widths, urban and walking friendly corner/intersection designs and much more. We gathered lots of support for the plan and published it in 1994, A Pedestrian Perspective on the Central Artery Project in Downtown Boston. In 1995, the City adopted our plan and created the Surface Transportation Action Forum, a broad group of abutters, businesses, neighborhoods, WalkBoston and Move Mass. From 1995-1997, this group refined two Central Area Consensus Plans to create a Greenway with a spacious central area and walkable edges. The City published and submitted the plans to MEPA,and they became legally binding. Major design elements were: sidewalks of generous width, intersections safe for pedestrians to cross and signal timing that minimized waits for WALK. As an official part of CAT documentation, they provided the basis for the subsequent 500 Atlantic Avenue victory.
	Continuing Issues Although the highway portion of the construction work is completed, WalkBoston continues to work on a number of related projects and issues, including: Signal timing at all intersections along the Greenway, to make sure that str.eet crossings are walker-friendly, and without long waits Reconfiguring pedestrian crossings and retiming signals at the dangerous intersection where Lincoln/Essex streets meet highway on-ramps. Sidewalk continuity along the Greenway, where private developers have proposed breaking up the sidewalk with excessive curb cuts, driveways, and parked cars. Sidewalk surfaces along the Greenway where paving materials may be too roughly textured for comfortable walking and wheelchair use. Public walking tours along the Greenway were pioneered by WalkBoston during the construction period of the Big Dig. Others have adopted these walks and provided them on an ongoing basis. WalkBoston uses walks as our teaching mechanism to spotlight effective advocacy.
	New Charles River Basin Pedestrian Connections WalkBoston is working with other advocacy organizations to ensure that the pedestrian facilities in the New Charles River Basin are completed as planned. Three projects were originally included as CA/T mitigation. The first is a pedestrian bridge over the MBTA railroad tracks on the north side of the Charles River to connect the Memorial Drive parkland to the Charlestown Navy Yard. It is now under construction. A bridge across the MBTA tracks on the south bank and a cross-river walkway attached or parallel to the MBTA railroad bridge are still being examined for need, funding, and possible future construction. The attached plan shows the three pedestrian bridges (Note: the vertical line showing a bridge on the Cambridge side is the north bridge under design). Plan for the basin
	500 Atlantic Avenue Sidewalk WalkBoston made history in 2005/2006 by advocating for retaining a wide sidewalk in front of 500 Atlantic Avenue. The InterContinental Hotel had been granted permission by the City of Boston to use all of the public sidewalk for a vehicle drop-off zone. As a result of our advocacy, the Executive Office of Environmental Affairs (EOEA) issued a certificate requiring the maintenance of some sidewalk area, and now and future review to determine whether even more sidewalk could be added back. The results of our advocacy are impressive: We have gotten a sidewalk - not perfect, but much better than the developer planned to build, and much more than many predicted. EOEA directed the City to study traffic operations to see whether we can ultimately get an even better sidewalk (a specific WalkBoston request). We have strong EOEA backing to make sure that this does not happen again. A permanent Streets and Sidewalks Committee was established, that includes all of the relevant City of Boston departments, WalkBoston, Move Massachusetts, and Greenway staff. It meets regularly to provide early review of all projects proposed along the Greenway to make sure that they follow the established guidelines for a walkable Greenway. The EOEA decision achieved the practical reality of a continuous walkable sidewalk on the InterContinental site. It also announced broad principles for the Greenway, which will ensure that something like this will not happen again and that sidewalks along the Greenway will be built as planned. With these principles firmly in place bureaucratically, and the force of public opinion behind them, the future will see adherence to them. The extraordinary victory was a tribute to advocacy by many, many WalkBoston members and supporters - including the 65+ people and organizations who wrote letters to EOEA in support of WalkBoston’s position. It shows what citizen advocacy can achieve. MEPA Certificate Project illustrations WalkBoston's Notice of Project Change Press coverage Plan that shows proposed changes WalkBoston's press release WalkBoston's newsletter
	Zakim Bridge Walk Twice, at WalkBoston's suggestion, in 2002, MassPike, Mass Highway, and WalkBoston co-hosted a walk for the public across the as-yet-unopened iconic Zakim Bridge. An estimated one million people walked over, getting their first real look at their investment. The walks were a tremendous success for all and were followed by two walks inside the Central Artery tunnels.