From: Owen O’ Riordan
Acting Commissioner for Public Works
To: Richard C Rossi
City Manager
In response to Council Order Number O-15, dated July 29, 2013, regarding significant construction projects impacting traffic, Acting Public Works Commissioner Owen O’Riordan reports the following:
Construction projects are vital to maintaining and enhancing our infrastructure, but are challenging for residents, businesses and all of the users of the street. The Department of Public Works (DPW), the Traffic, Parking and Transportation Department (TP&T) and the Police Department work collaboratively to manage public and private construction projects throughout the city. Each department is committed to ensuring that construction and traffic through the work zones are managed so as toprotect public safety, maintain mobility for pedestrians, cyclists, bus riders and motorists, minimize impact to residents, and allow projects to be completed in a timely manner.
City-wide Construction Meetings
To ensure that construction projects are properly coordinated, DPW hosts a weekly construction meeting with representatives from each major project – city projects, state projects, private development projects, and utility projects. This meeting is held on Monday mornings throughout the construction season and typically has 50 to 75 people in attendance. TP&T and the Police Department are active participants in this weekly meeting.
The meeting provides an opportunity to review anticipated work schedules for the week, coordinate amongst projects and address any issues with a project. Details of individual traffic management plans are reviewed and adjustments are made to enhance safety and traffic operations.
Outreach Efforts
Public Works is committed to working with residents and business groups to ensure that the public is kept up to date about projects and can provide valuable feedback to staff on how projects are progressing.
Regular project updates are hand delivered to abutters, emailed and posted on the department’s website. Staff also attends business association meetings and hosts community meetings, as well as more informal events, to actively engage with the public about larger construction projects. All of these forums provide staff with critical feedback, which is invaluable to ensure issues are identified and addressed in a timely manner.
Longfellow Bridge Rehabilitation
The closing of the Longfellow Bridge to Cambridge bound traffic has been the most significant traffic detour of this construction season. For this project, DPW, TP&T and the Police Department have been directly involved in the planning and design of the traffic management plan, alongside the design-build team, MassDOT, the City of Boston, the MBTA, and local business groups. When the project broke ground in July, the operations group met every morning at the Boston Transportation Department Traffic Management Center to discuss the impact to congestion in the area. After the first day of school in September, the daily meetings began again.
As a result of these meetings, TP+T staff has made adjustments to nearly a dozen traffic signals on Mass Ave., Binney Street, and Broadway.MassDOT and the design-build team have made multiple changes to work zones, signs, and striping in response to comments from the traveling public.Currently the detour is operating well.
DPW has continued to work with MassDOT to encourage and support a robust outreach program for this bridge project.
Western Avenue Reconstruction
The Western Avenue reconstruction project includes reconstruction of Western Avenue between Green St and Memorial Dr – newly constructed street, sidewalks, separated bicycle lane, enlarged Cronin Park, new tree plantings, new roadway and pedestrian scale lighting and new sewer, drain and water mains. The project is improving critical utility infrastructure and developing an enhanced streetscape to benefit residents and the travelling public.
Several phases of the project have been particularly challenging for traffic management; repairs to the Harvard steam tunnel across Western Avenue near Memorial Drive, new stormwater outfall to the Charles River, new water, sewer and drain lines between Memorial Drive and Putnam Avenue, the full-depth roadway reconstruction between Memorial Drive and Putnam Avenue. All of these phases involved significant construction activity in the vicinity of the Western Avenue and Memorial Drive intersection or the Western Avenue and Putnam Avenue intersection. Both of these intersections process significant traffic and when travel lanes are impacted in these locations, it becomes very difficult to manage the traffic demand on Western Avenue.
Throughout this project, DPW, TP&T and the Police Department have worked collaboratively to encourage motorists to seek alternative modes and routes, modify traffic management plans to improve the operation for the travelling public, improve pavement markings to improve visibility of pedestrian crossings and ensure better usage of the available travel lanes, and provide police details during afternoon peak hours to reduce delays for motorists.
The construction on Western Avenue will continue through the early summer of 2015, but the most disruptive work between Memorial Drive and Putnam Avenue is substantially complete. The new utility installations are completed, the full-depth roadway reconstruction is completed and the contractor is now progressing with sidewalk and cycle track construction.