Progress Report August 2015 The South Boston Waterfront is the fastest growing urban area in the Commonwealth, with ten million square feet of development built between 2000 and 2013, adding more than 4,100 new residents and 7,700 jobs. Over the next two decades, an additional 17 million square feet of development is underway or planned with projected growth to a total of approximately 20,000 residents and more than 59,000 jobs. Using data driven analysis, and testing more than one hundred transportation alternatives, the South Boston Waterfront Sustainable Transportation Plan (the Plan) was developed as both a blueprint for transportation system improvements necessary to support this growth and an action plan defining more immediate/short-­‐term strategies to address existing transportation and mobility issues, capacity constraints, transit, pedestrian and bicycle needs, and operational enhancements. Since the Plan was issued in January 2015, the agencies involved in its development have continued their focus on providing transportation improvements to support the existing system users and future economic growth in the Waterfront. Under the leadership of Acting Highway Administrator Thomas J. Tinlin, staff from MassDOT, the Massachusetts Convention Center Authority (MCCA), Massport, the City of Boston, and the Seaport TMA, with coordinating support from A Better City, have been working to implement a number of short-­‐term improvements identified by the Plan. This report will recap progress on efforts to date, and outline an agenda for continued improvements. Transit Current transit connections in the Waterfront: • Are at or nearing capacity • Do not provide direct or efficient access from many key commuting points, most notably North Station • Provide limited service for movement within the Waterfront and from the adjacent neighborhood To begin addressing these concerns, work is underway on the following initiatives: 1
1. Consolidating Private Shuttles Currently, area businesses provide privately funded shuttle service to improve transit access for their employees and tenants, particularly to and from North Station and South Station, and the Waterfront. Approximately 20 routes and approximately 74 buses are operating to address this service gap, and provide additional business-­‐related transportation services, resulting in inefficiencies, excess capacity, and contributing to roadway congestion, increased emissions and curbside congestion at both North and South Stations and throughout the Waterfront area. Since the commencement of the South Boston Waterfront Sustainable Transportation study in 2014, the Massachusetts Convention Center Authority and the Seaport TMA have been working with these employers, developers, property owners, and a variety of other stakeholders to develop consolidated shuttle services with better levels of service, added amenities, lower costs, and lesser impacts to the environment. This work has included multiple reviews of on-­‐
site passenger counts, ridership demand analysis, financial analysis, and employer engagement. The team is targeting a projected implementation date of January 2016. 2. Silver Line Operational Improvements Two improvements are underway to increase Silver Line capacity and improve the customer experience: • Starting in June, modifications were made to the signal timing for the Silver Line Transitway at D Street so that the Silver Line buses can cross at every timing cycle (previously the signal was triggered only by a bus entering the intersection). This change has resulted, on average, in a 17 to 20 second reduction in trip time for the Silver Line. Further enhanced timing changes may be considered. • In the fall, real time arrival information will be posted at South Station, Courthouse Station, and World Trade Center Station so that customers know how long they need to wait for the next bus – of particular importance when they are unable to board an overcrowded vehicle. Regional Access Downtown gateways to/from the Waterfront are at or near capacity today, and both trucks and private vehicles rely heavily on the interstate highway system for access to the Waterfront. Improved operations at key access/egress points are critical to ensure the future vitality of the Waterfront and reduce impacts on local neighborhoods. Improvements underway include: 2
3. I-­‐93 Access at Purchase Street During the evening peak more than 900 vehicles cross the Moakley Bridge heading westbound. Access improvements to make Oliver Street one-­‐way eastbound is projected to reroute 20 percent of this traffic, with about half diverting to other channel crossings or highway access points, improving access to I-­‐93 North as well as pedestrian safety at this intersection. The reopening of the Northern Avenue Bridge will complement this proposed change in circulation. A public meeting to review this change will be scheduled. 4. Improvements at D Street Merge to I-­‐90 Eastbound Striping improvements to the I-­‐90 East merge into the Ted Williams Tunnel to smooth the flow of traffic will be completed by August 17. 5. South Boston Bypass Road and I-­‐93 HOV Pilot Beginning August 17, expanded use of the South Boston Bypass Road (SBBR) and the northbound High Occupancy Vehicle (HOV) lane will be piloted. These roads are currently restricted to commercial traffic only. Access will be expanded as follows: • Full access (24-­‐hour) to all vehicles of the section of the SBBR from Richards Street to West Service Road • Eastbound only, AM peak (from 6:00 am to 10:00 am) access to all vehicles on the SBBR from I-­‐93 to West Service Road • Full access (24 hour) for all vehicles on the northbound HOV from I-­‐93 to the Ted Williams Tunnel This pilot will be closely monitored to ensure no degradation to truck access to the Waterfront with ongoing evaluation and a six-­‐month assessment. 6. Dedicated Freight Corridor and Thomas J Butler Memorial Park Massport is in the process of constructing a new road for freight to eliminate truck traffic on East 1st Street and build a new park between 1st Street and the Port. Work is underway on these improvements with projected completion in late 2016. 7. Traffic Circulation Changes Within the Waterfront Building upon preliminary conceptual designs, the City is working on design and analysis to explore converting Sleeper Street and Thomson Place into one-­‐way pairs to improve traffic flow, pedestrian conditions and bicycle accommodations. 3
Pedestrian and Bicycle Improvements Lack of network continuity, missing connections, and limited pedestrian-­‐scale wayfinding signage make it difficult to walk and bike in the Waterfront. A number of initiatives intended to improve access are underway: 8. Pedestrian Wayfinding Signage Pilot A pilot series of pedestrian wayfinding signs will be installed by August 10 in 20 locations around the Waterfront along three paths to and from the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center. The signs guide visitors to important destinations such as transit stations and restaurants. The pilot will run until October 2015, at which point public feedback will be evaluated for development into a more permanent wayfinding signage system. 9. New Hubway Stations In August, two new Hubway stations will be added to the Waterfront network near the Blue Hills Bank Pavilion and the Lawn on D Street. With these additions, there will be twelve Hubway stations in the Waterfront. Funding for the new stations was provided by developers of Seaport Square. 10. Northern Avenue and East Service Road By March 2016, streetscape, circulation, pedestrian, and bicycle enhancements will be complete in the Seaport Square area, including straightening Northern Avenue and extending East Service Road (to be renamed Pier Four Boulevard). 11. Seaport Square Green and Pedestrian Enhancements This fall, in conjunction with the opening of Seaport Square’s new building on Parcel L1 (at Boston Wharf Road and East Service Road), Seaport Square Green will open across the street providing a new publicly accessible park. This park will replace an existing parking lot and provide new pedestrian connections from Northern Avenue to Seaport Boulevard and the Silver Line Courthouse Station. A longer-­‐term component of this work is a new headhouse for the Silver Line Courthouse Station. 12. Local Pedestrian and Intersection Improvements Eighteen neighborhood locations were identified in the Plan for operational and pedestrian safety improvements. In conjunction with development activity, the City is working to implement improvements at: • Dorchester Street and Old Colony Avenue • D Street and Old Colony Avenue 4
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Pappas Way at East and West 1st Street Restriping of crosswalks within the Waterfront has been underway throughout the summer. Parking 13. New Parking Technology In July, Park Boston meter technology was installed on the Waterfront with smartphone and credit card pay applications. Agenda Going Forward The short-­‐term improvements outlined in this report have been implemented with the benefit of private developer funds and existing agency resources. Capital funding is necessary to complete the following initiatives: • Purchase Street access improvements -­‐ $1M for design and construction • Permanent pedestrian wayfinding signage -­‐ $1.5M for design and construction Additionally, funding is needed to make progress on the following critical longer-­‐term initiatives identified by the Plan: • New Silver Line vehicles (a minimum of 60 vehicles are required to replace existing fleet and meet 45 second headways) • Further evaluation and design completion for the extension of the Silver Line tunnel under D Street • Bus Rapid Transit along Congress Street • Supplemental bus service from Broadway and Andrew Station to the Waterfront • South Station expansion • Ferry service from Lovejoy Wharf to the Waterfront, including a new water transportation hub at World Trade Center • Evaluation of new urban rail transit services from Back Bay to the Waterfront • Evaluation of prior plans and engineering studies for the Silver Line connections to the Orange and the Green Lines • Advance the design to rehabilitate or replace the Northern Avenue Bridge to accommodate pedestrians, bicyclists and peak directional vehicular traffic • Continued improvements to local street networks, including a road safety audit on Day Boulevard • Multimodal accommodations along Summer Street • Reopening Dorchester Avenue to vehicular and pedestrian traffic 5
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Regional improvements to the I-­‐93 /southbound Frontage Road system and along Morrissey Boulevard, including Kosciuszko Circle Providing new north/south truck and general vehicle connection by extending the Haul Road to Summer Street and Pappas Way Redesign and reconstruct E Street, realigning opposite Pumphouse Road and connecting with Cypher Street, to provide better truck access and reduce commercial traffic on D Street Reconfiguration of Haul Road/Drydock Avenue/Pappas Way to improve and simplify access to the Boston Marine Industrial Park