Public Scoping Session
April 1, 2013
Welcome!
1
MEPA Process - Overview
•
•
•
•
•
2
MEPA requires state agencies to study the environmental
consequences of proposed actions.
Requires all feasible measures to avoid, minimize, and
mitigate damage to the environment by studying and
comparing project alternatives.
MEPA review is not a permitting process. MEPA requires
public study and disclosure of potential impacts, and
development of feasible mitigation.
MEPA jurisdiction is broad in scope (not limited to one area
of environmental impact).
Comment letters due April 9, 2013.
Presentation Overview
•
•
•
•
Project partners
South Station history
Overview of project goals – the ‘why’
Overview of project tasks – the ‘what’
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
3
Rail design and operational simulation – preliminary track diagrams
Passenger amenities and circulation – concepts
Reclaimed Dorchester Avenue – street and Harborwalk concepts
Opportunities for future development – alternatives for analysis
Train storage – site analysis
Anticipated analysis of environmental impacts
How to submit comments
South Station Expansion –
Project Partners
•
MassDOT/MBTA
•
•
•
•
Federal Railroad Administration + Amtrak
Massport
City of Boston
•
•
•
•
4
Awarded $32.5 million in federal funds
Boston Redevelopment Authority
Boston Transportation Department
Department of Public Works
Mayor’s Office of Neighborhood Services
•
U.S. Postal Service
•
Multidisciplinary consultant team – Led by HNTB Corp.
South Station – History
5
South Station - History
•
•
Station opened to the public in 1899.
Built with 28 tracks (now has 13).
•
•
•
•
•
6
At one time, twice as busy as Grand Central.
Co-located with USPS (Dorchester Ave.) in the 1930s.
Avoided demolition and was sold to the MBTA in 1978.
Extensive renovations completed with federal funds in the
1980s. Bus terminal built by MBTA in the 1990s.
Award-winning City/neighborhood planning for Boston
Harbor and Fort Point Channel in 1980s, 1990s, and beyond.
Agreement for multiuse air-rights project over station/tracks
signed by MBTA/BRA/Hines Corp. in 2007 (un-built).
Area Overview - Today
Financial
District
Chinatown
Leather
District
South
Station
Bus
Terminal
I-90
Ramps
USPS
Facility
CA/T
Vent
Fort Point
Channel
Fort Point
Neighborhood
7
Project Goals - Why?
•
8
A rare chance to remove a major chokepoint and unlock
greater regional mobility and growth.
• More daily trains between Boston, New York, and DC –
more business trips, more recreational trips, more regional
connectivity and growth.
• Opportunities for more and new MBTA Commuter Rail
service – opening the economic potential of new regions,
providing new opportunities for jobs, housing.
• Opportunities for new development in downtown Boston,
with construction and permanent jobs, housing, hotel.
• New access to the waterfront and Innovation District,
better connectivity to downtown and new neighborhoods.
Future Vision
A New South Station – A Whole New Neighborhood
9
Project Tasks - What?
•
•
10
Planning, design to create a more modern South Station.
• Demolition of existing US Postal Service facility (adjacent)
• New platforms, tracks, waiting areas, streetscape
• Improved connectivity within and around the station and
between the station and its surrounding neighborhoods
• Re-open Dorchester Ave. for waterfront and station access
– vibrant history of planning for Fort Point Channel
• Opportunity for joint development
• Siting of new off-peak train storage
The planning work currently underway is a precondition for
enhancing South Station and providing greater mobility and
economic growth for our city and region.
Future Vision
New Tracks and Platforms
11
Future Vision
New Passenger Spaces and Improved Circulation
12
Future Vision
Reclaiming the Waterfront – Dorchester Avenue
13
No-Build
14
Transportation
Improvements Only
15
‘Minimum’ Development
16
‘Maximum’ Development
17
Train Storage
•
•
•
•
•
Amtrak and MBTA trains are most intensely used during the
morning and evening rush hours.
Need to be stored and cleaned in the midday.
Both Amtrak and the MBTA have existing storage facilities, but
they are suboptimal for existing storage needs and insufficient
for anticipated future storage needs.
Additional train storage is vital to the growth of South
Station.
Sites under review:
•
•
•
18
Beacon Park Yard - Allston
City of Boston Tow Lot/DPW Facility - South Bay
Readville/Yard 2 - Hyde Park
Environmental Analysis
•
•
•
Required to do a Draft Environmental Impact Report and Final
Environmental Impact Report for MEPA process (state).
Also plan to prepare an Environmental Assessment for the
NEPA process (federal).
Will analyze potential impacts to:
•
Historical resources
Water resources/climate adaptation (not MEPA requirement)
Solid/hazardous waste
Traffic
Energy use/sustainability
•
Air quality
•
•
•
•
•
19
Anticipate DEIR in approximately 12 months
How to Comment
•
Comment letters due April 9 to:
Secretary Richard K. Sullivan
Executive Office of Energy & Environmental Affairs
MEPA Office
Attention: Holly Johnson - MEPA Analyst
EEA# 15028
100 Cambridge Street - Suite 900
Boston, MA 02114
Fax: 617-626-1181
Email: Holly.S.Johnson@state.ma.us
•
20
Comment info on Flyers