Dispute Over Surface Artery Design

Planners and design organizations are criticizing "the lack of vision" in the design for the Wharf District section of the Surface Artery in Boston.

1 minute read

July 25, 2003, 6:00 AM PDT

By Connie Chung


EDAW, a design firm, and the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority have come under fire from city officials, planners, designers and some members of the community, for their "lackluster design ideas for a prime piece of the new Surface Artery." Boston's chief planner "charged that city officials were being shut out of the important park's design process and said authority officials are failing to coordinate work with the other two areas: the North End and the Chinatown/Leather districts." City officials "have never liked the broad control the Turnpike Authority has exercised over the design of 30 acres of land the city eventually expects to control. Years of efforts to determine who will own, maintain, and control the space, to be known as the Rose Kennedy Greenway, have failed, leaving the Turnpike Authority in control, by default."

Thanks to Connie Chung

Thursday, July 24, 2003 in The Boston Globe

"Planetizen federal action tracker" logo superimposed over black and white image of US Capitol dome.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker

A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

October 28, 2026 - Zachary Whalen

A car drives through a puddle, making a large splash. Rain pours down.

California plans to bury El Niño’s downpour

If the state plays its cards right, it may be able to store a billion acre-feet of El Niño’s water in aquifers.

October 28, 2026 - Grist

Lake Powell with much of the water evaporated.

Desperate measures: Advocates weigh draining Lake Powell to fill Colorado River

Draining the reservoir could reduce evaporation losses by a couple hundred thousand acre-feet.

October 30, 2026 - Yale Environment 360

Mamdani behind a microphone, in front of a snowbank

Mamdani’s pied-à-terre tax survives legal challenge

A panel of judges found that the plaintiffs failed to demonstrate injury as a result of New York City's implementation of the tax.

November 6 - CNN

A road in north eastern Nebraska with power lines on either side, and grassy fields.

Eastern Nebraska is running out of electricity

Data centers and electrification are straining eastern Nebraska’s grid, throttling economic development.

November 6 - Grist

People board a bus in Seattle.

Seattle passes record-breaking transit services expansion

Proposition 1 will double the city’s transit tax to add 95,000 more bus trips and preserve 180,000 bus trips annually.

November 6 - KOMO News

FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?

After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.

Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold

The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.