The Boston Harbor Journal
There is nothing as relaxing as dinner at an outdoor cafe with a view of the harbor across a waterfront park. Or a simple stroll down a quiet tree shaded street to do some window shopping at the end of a hard day of work. Perhaps you might want to take a contemplative walk in the park, wander to the water's edge where the sights and relaxing air can recharge you after a hard day in the office where you were so busy you never had time to look out of the window at the view of the harbor and the skyline of Boston behind it.
But unless planning is carefully done, the sidewalk cafes will be barricaded by a line of trucks, shuttle buses, cars and delivery vehicles honking their horns, throwing fumes into the air over your table and blocking that view. Such is the very real possibility if the waterfront over the next ten years is built out with too little parking and public transit capacity.
Seaport Blvd. is so empty right now that on some days you can walk down the middle of it all the way to the World Trade Center before enough cars and trucks headed to the port and the industrial section pass you. But add onto it the traffic going in and out of the short blocks that are the basis for the Fan Pier design and the thousands of office worker flocking to the buildings and you have a different picture. Trucks unable to get to the port back up. Gridlock from the small pedestrian friendly streets caused by vehicles that are looking for a place to park but can't find one because there isn't enough capacity. Back ups into South Boston as commuters come through or exit the waterfront unable to find parking block the Silver Line's above ground track past D Street resulting in delays in what is going to be the most tightly spaced transit line in the city where plans for providing the needed capacity requires the articulated buses to run no more than one and a half minutes apart, almost unrealistic when you take into account that includes drop off and passenger pick up.
This doesn't have to be. Insistence that carefully thought out and comprehensive public transit plans be made right now before others want to build out the waterfront is not an unreasonable request. What is unfair is that the very first massive development will be built because the capacity is there now, but subsequent projects may be delayed, scaled back or put on hold because the transit capacity has been used up by the time Fan Pier is finished. Neither gridlock nor empty lots will do the waterfront any good. But unless there is an understanding that both the private developers and the public agencies need to make definite plans for transit capacity, the waterfront streets may look more like the old Central Artery than the thoroughfares of a beautiful new neighborhood.
On August 5, the BRA announced that Christine Colley will serve as the Deputy Director of Compliance, a newly created position. Ensuring compliance just for the Fan Pier project alone, let alone the entire waterfront and the never mind the whole city could be a full time job. But would it be better for the compliance process to encourage the formulation of agreements and partnerships to solve harborfront wide problems like traffic, parking and public transit now and try to persuade developers and planners to meet those obligations instead of leaving it for the public agencies to deal with later? Once their development plans are approved their interest in helping to provide adequate public transportation disappears. Now is the time to make everyone sit down and explain how they intend to ensure that the parking and traffic problems that will certainly appear as the build out progresses will be handled. Other wise that stroll will be cut off by a line of trucks, buses and cars spewing exhaust fumes over your outdoor cafe table and the sight of frustrated and angry drivers will block that relaxing and contemplative view of the waterfront and the harbor.