Balancing Competing Interests for Curb: An Urban Neighborhood in Transition

摘要

The Casey Arborway Project developed an at-grade roadway design to replace anobsolete 1950’s era viaduct that bi-furcated local city street networks around amajor transit hub in an urban neighborhood in Boston. The solution involvedredesigning a complex network of historic roadways, arterial corridors, transitfacilities and bicycle and pedestrian corridors for both north/south and east/westconnections. The challenge was to develop a new street network with flexible andself-regulating curb use at a transit hub in an urban a neighborhood with limitedenforcement and high demand by competing users. The project required thecoordination and collaboration among competing agencies and balancing theinterests of diverse users and stakeholders. Circulation and access to the curb wasconstrained by a history of changing roadways and transit corridors due to theremoval of an elevated train, termination of street car services, and the eliminationof a key local link in the Olmsted Emerald Necklace corridor. Over the years, theability to use the curb was further impacted by growing demand to access transitservice, open space resources, and accommodates pedestrians, bikes and schoolbus needs as well as expanding local commercial and residential uses. The at-gradedesign offers a unique opportunity to redesign and reassign curb use that is flexibleand adaptable to competing needs, changing demands and limited resources. Itwill increase opportunities to provide equitable access for more users in the future.