Imagining Alternatives to an Enlarged I-90 Viaduct in Boston

The Allston section of I-90, a stretch of viaduct wedged between Boston University and the Charles River, was opened 55 years ago. The highway constitution project bisected a lower-income community and damaged riverfront habitat. Boston, Brookline, and Cambridge are still paying the price for what Bradley Campbell and Richard Dimino call "failed transportation policy that placed a highway above the needs of neighborhoods and the environment."

Now the viaduct needs to be replaced. "Nearly all stakeholders, including the city of Boston, agree that we should pursue a strategy for I-90 that plans for our future transportation needs, not reprise last-century’s failed approaches to create a new, bigger viaduct," write Campbell and Dimino. 

Still, MassDOT's “Modified Highway Viaduct” option takes that very approach, heightening and widening the viaduct.

Campbell and Dimino stress that better options exist. A Better City, led by Dimino, has proposed an at-grade design that adds trees and a living shoreline to the pedestrian and bike access space running along the river. "This improved surface option is also designed to ensure that two-track commuter rail service on the Worcester Line remains in service during construction," they say.

Governor Charlie Barker should step up and give "Boston and the region a western gateway equal to its aspirations as a leader in urban design, transportation vision, and environmental planning," Campbell and Dimino assert.