AUGUST 2001 TRANSREPORT TRANSPORTATION NEWS FROM THE BOSTON METROPOLITAN PLANNING ORGANIZATION Two New Transportation Planning Documents Available for Public Review This Month On August 9 the Boston Metropolitan by the MPO’s Central Transportation and the UPWP will begin on August 13 Planning Organization (MPO) is Planning Staff and by the Metropolitan and close on September 13 at 5:00 P.M. expected to approve the circulation of Area Planning Postage-paid comment cards will be two important annual documents for a included with both documents, although 30-day public review period. The first is comments via letter or e-mail will also be the fiscal year 2002–07 Transportation welcomed. Improvement Program (TIP) and Air To request copies, contact the Central Quality Conformity Determination. Transportation Planning Staff at (617) This is a federally mandated, finan- 973-7100 (telephone), (617) 973-7089 cially constrained program of improve- (TTY), or [email protected]. ments to the metropolitan area’s trans- The documents will also be available portation system proposed for imple- for downloading from the Boston MPO mentation during the next six years. Web site at www.ctps.org/bostonmpo, and The second document, the Unified Plan- reference copies will be provided to all ning Work Program (UPWP), is also fed- libraries and town halls within the 101 erally required. It outlines a program of Council, communities in the Boston MPO region. transportation planning projects to be and more general information about proj- ects to be undertaken in the region by An MPO meeting will be scheduled fol- conducted in the region between Octo- lowing the close of the comment period, ber 1, 2001, and September 30, 2002. It transportation agencies and by colleges and universities. and the documents will be submitted to contains detailed project and budget the federal government by October 1, information on projects to be conducted The comment period for both the TIP 2001. Travel to Cape Cod Gets Easier in Summer 2001 A new federal and state demonstration Transportation officials have noted that Administration are funding the $150,000 project promoted by the governor and provision of this service combats traffic project. state transportation officials is providing congestion and reduces the need for Service began on June 29 and will con- an attractive parking on tinue through Labor Day. Tickets (one- transportation the Cape, way) are $15.50 for adults and $12.75 for alternative to and that children, and in both cases the traveler Cape Cod. on its may continue via ferry from Woods Hole Dubbed “Relax northern I Relax and Ride cont. on p. 2 and Ride,” the end it luxury motor- makes use coach service of a park- INSIDE THIS ISSUE offers nonstop ing MPO activities update . 2 travel between resource the Route 128 that is Neponset River trail . 2 MBTA/Amtrak underuti- Urban Ring takes next step . 3 “Relax and Ride” bus service from 128 to Cape Cod park-and-ride lized on Big Dig traffic changes . 3 garage and the Steamship Authority dock the weekends. The Massachusetts High- Meeting calendar . 4 in Woods Hole. way Department and Federal Transit The members of the Boston Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO): Executive Office of Transportation and Construction • City of Boston • City of Everett • City of Newton • City of Peabody • Federal Highway Administration • Federal Transit Administration • Joint Regional Transportation Committee • Massachusetts Bay Transporta- tion Authority • Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority Advisory Board • Massachusetts Highway Department • Massachusetts Port Authority • Massachusetts Turnpike Authority • Metropolitan Area Planning Council • Town of Bedford • Town of Framingham • Town of Hopkinton BOSTON METROPOLITAN PLANNING ORGANIZATION ACTIVITIES Neponset River Greenway Construction Progressing SUB-SIGNATORY COMMITTEE ACTION ITEMS Construction began in June on a new The Boston MPO’s Sub-Signatory Committee (SSC) met segment of the Neponset River Green- three times during July and approved the following items. way rail-trail project. The Greenway is Amendment to the Fiscal Year 2001–06 Transportation Improvement Program located along the Neponset River in the This TIP amendment makes changes to the highway program by deferring some town of Milton and in the Dorchester projects to later years, increasing funding for other projects, and programming addi- section of Boston. The Metropolitan Dis- tional projects for the current fiscal year. The deadline for public comments on the trict Commission owns much of the amendment is August 30. This is in addition to the amendment approved by the SSC in June for the transit program, which will be voted on by the MPO on August 2 (see Meeting Calendar). For more information, contact David Mohler of the Cen- tral Transportation Planning Staff (CTPS) at (617) 973-7144 or [email protected]. MPO Studies Route 138 Corridor Planning Study: Final Report The objective of this study was to develop strategies which reduce congestion or enhance safety for drivers, bicyclists, and pedestrians in the Route 138 corridor from Milton to Stoughton. The study identified traffic concerns, analyzed improvement alternatives, and recommended a package of 25 improvements. Contact Bob Sievert of CTPS at (617) 973-7138 or [email protected] for more information. Route 9 Corridor Study in Wellesley: Final Report The goals of this study were to evaluate intersections and interchanges along Route Neponset’s shoreline, including an aban- 9 and develop options for addressing congestion and safety problems in the corridor. doned railroad right-of-way that will Recommendations have been made for eight intersections. The total cost of these become part of the Greenway. improvements is estimated at $21 million. Contact Seth Asante of CTPS at (617) Plans are set for a trail beginning at the 973-7098 or [email protected] for more information. mouth of the river at Tenean Beach in Route 109 Corridor Planning Study: Work Program Dorchester. It will head south to the new The objectives of this study are to identify strategies to reduce peak period traffic Pope John Paul II Park; the park and the congestion, improve safety, and promote alternative transportation modes, including quarter-mile segment of trail within it bicycling and walking, along Route 109 from Milford to Dedham. This $125,000 were completed in May. The trail will study is expected to take one year to complete. Study results will be announced in then parallel the Mattapan High-Speed TRANSREPORT. Line tracks in Dorchester and Milton JRTC UPDATE between Cedar Grove Cemetery and At the July meeting of the Joint Regional Transportation Committee, members Central Avenue. It is this two-mile seg- heard briefings on the TIP project-selection criteria, then broke into working groups ment that is currently being built. It was to develop the JRTC’s own set of recommended criteria. The JRTC will refine its cleared of contaminated soil before the recommendations throughout the year and would welcome ideas from the public. construction contract went out to bid in Contact William Deignan, JRTC chair, at [email protected]. April. AACT UPDATE Future visions for the trail include an At the July meeting of the Access Advisory Committee to the MBTA, Steve extension north of Tenean Beach to Woelfel of the MBTA gave a presentation on the Program for Mass Transportation Morrissey Boulevard in Dorchester. An (PMT), the MBTA’s long-range capital plan for transit. The MBTA will keep extension at the other end of the Green- AACT informed on the PMT’s progress. way would continue along the High- I Relax and Ride cont. from p. 1 on Cape Cod Regional Transit Authority Speed Line to Mattapan Square before buses and trolleys from now until Labor entering a proposed bike lane along the to Martha’s Vineyard at no extra charge. Day as well. Truman Highway through Milton and For an additional $10.00, travelers can the Hyde Park section of Boston. For Further information on the “Relax and buy a three-day pass for use on the Vine- more information on the trail, contact Ride” service, including its schedule, is yard Transit Authority, which operates Beth Phelps of the Boston Natural Areas available at www.islandferry.com. Infor- local bus service on the island. Com- Fund at (617) 542-7696 or bnaf@aol. mation on Cape Cod Regional Transit muters who have valid MBTA monthly com. commuter rail, subway, or bus passes can Authority services may be obtained at use those passes for unlimited free rides www.capecodtransit.org. TRANSREPORT 2AUGUST 2001 Urban Ring Major Investment Study, ENF Move Forward The Massachusetts Bay Transportation addition to improving access to current held at Chelsea City Hall, Northeastern Authority filed an Environmental Notifi- and projected development in the Urban University in Boston, and the Massachu- cation Form (ENF) for the Urban Ring Ring corridor, the service will relieve setts Institute of Technology in Cam- on July 27. The commonwealth’s Execu- some of the burden on the existing rapid bridge and featured presentations by tive Office of Environmental Affairs will transit network. planners from both the MBTA and the respond to the ENF after a 90-day com- The ENF is one of the outcomes of the project consultant, EarthTech. ment period, at which point the MBTA Phase 1 of the Urban Ring consists of will begin work on the Draft Environ- upgrades to the three existing CT mental Impact Report and Environmen- (crosstown) bus routes, the introduction tal Impact Statement for the project. of eight additional CT routes, and the The Urban Ring transportation service is addition of two new express bus routes. the product of the shared vision of six Phase 2, which would be implemented municipalities in metropolitan Boston’s between 2007 and 2010, introduces bus core (the cities of Boston, Cambridge, rapid transit (BRT) similar to the serv- Chelsea, Everett, and Somerville, and ice currently being built as part of the the town of Brookline) that are antici- Silver Line.