Tomorrow, Thursday April 24 at 5pm, is an important deadline to submit public comments on the I-90 Allston Interchange Project.

At a meeting hosted two weeks ago, MassDOT presented its preliminary plans for the $260 million project, which will realign the Massachusetts Turnpike ramps, open up land for development, and aim to improve conditions for bicyclists and pedestrians. Right now, the project is still in the visioning phase.

Though construction is not expected to start until fall 2017, community groups and bike and pedestrian advocates, including MassBike, are hard at work developing strategies to ensure that new development will enhance the neighborhood, and that new roadways will be developed to put non-motorized users on an equal footing with motor traffic.

It is very important for MassDOT to hear from community members that they support biking and walking connections within the project area. Since this is such a large project, it touches Allston, Brighton, Brookline, Cambridge, and the BU campus. If you live, work, learn or play in or near the project area, we encourage you to review the presentation (PDF) and submit comments to [email protected]

Letters should be addressed to:

Patricia Leavenworth, P.E., Chief Engineer
MassDOT
10 Park Plaza
Boston, MA 02116
ATTN: Bridge Project Management, Project File No. 606475

People's Pike, an ad-hoc advocacy group of community members and bike and pedestrian advocates, put together a helpful list of project goals you might consider mentioning if you choose to submit comment on the project:

1. 1. Transforming Cambridge Street from an overbuilt connector road into a world-class, mixed-use, “complete street” from Harvard Ave to the Charles River

1. 1. The “People’s Pike” - an off-road multi-use path with separated space for cyclists and pedestrians that runs alongside the rebuilt Turnpike and connects to the Dr. Paul Dudley White bike path on the Boston side of the Charles River, Memorial Drive via the Grand Junction railroad bridge, and Commonwealth Avenue

1. 1. A bike/ped overpass that replaces the unsafe and inaccessible Franklin Street footbridge over the Turnpike connecting Lincoln and Cambridge Streets

1. 1. Expanded Charles River parklands between Genzyme and the BU Bridge

1. 1. New complete streets over the relocated Turnpike that connect Packard’s Corner and North Allston

1. 1. Commuter rail connections to North Station and South Station with pedestrian access to these stations from both North and South Allston

1. 1. New direct connections between the Turnpike, Cambridge, and Storrow Drive that improve mobility for drivers

1. 1. Highway and rail infrastructure that supports future air rights development.