Massachusetts Department of Transportation Highway Division public hearing

A Live Virtual Design Public Hearing will be hosted on the MassDOT website below to present the design for the proposed Reconstruction of Rutherford Avenue, from City Square to Sullivan Square project in Boston, MA.

WHEN:           6 p.m., Wednesday, June 23, 2021

PURPOSE:     The purpose of this hearing is to provide the public with the opportunity to become fully acquainted with the proposed Rutherford Avenue/ Sullivan Square Improvements Project. All views and comments submitted in response to the hearing will be reviewed and considered to the maximum extent possible.

PROPOSAL: The proposed project consists of the reconstruction of Rutherford Avenue from City Square to Sullivan Square, about 7,000 linear feet. The Sullivan Square rotary will be replaced with a grid of streets including new sidewalks, separated bicycle facilities, and new traffic signals. The Sullivan Square underpass will be decked over to create an urban park with pedestrian and bicycle connections to Sullivan Station and Ryan Playground. The project includes three new signalized intersections near Bunker Hill Community College, creating a linear greenway and allowing safe pedestrian crossings from the neighborhood. The project will enhance transit mobility with a dedicated bus lane from Everett to Sullivan Station. The underpass at Austin Street will be rehabilitated to have fewer lanes and better sight lines. Resiliency of the neighborhood is addressed by the raising of Main Street, near the railroad crossing, as this was identified by the city’s Climate Ready Boston team as a pathway for future flooding.

A secure right-of-way is necessary for this project. Acquisitions in fee and permanent or temporary easements may be required. The City of Boston is responsible for acquiring all needed rights in private or public lands. MassDOT’s policy concerning land acquisitions will be presented in the hearing.

Project inquiries, written statements and other exhibits regarding the proposed undertaking may be submitted to Patricia A. Leavenworth, P.E., Chief Engineer, via e-mail to dot.feedback.highway@state.ma.us or via US Mail to Suite 6340, 10 Park Plaza, Boston, MA 02116, Attention: Major Projects, Project File No. 606226. Statements and exhibits intended for inclusion in the public hearing transcript must be emailed or postmarked no later than ten (10) business days after the hearing is posted to the MassDOT website listed below.  

This hearing is accessible to people with disabilities. MassDOT provides reasonable accommodations and/or language assistance free of charge upon request (e.g interpreters in American Sign Language and languages other than English, live captioning, videos, assistive listening devices and alternate material formats), as available.  For accommodation or language assistance, please contact MassDOT’s Chief Diversity and Civil Rights Officer by phone (857-368-8580),  TTD/TTY at (857-266-0603), fax (857) 368-0602 or by email (MassDOT.CivilRights@dot.state.ma.us).  Requests should be made as soon as possible prior to the meeting, and for more difficult to arrange services including sign-language, CART or language translation or interpretation, requests should be made at least ten business days before the hearing. 

This Live Virtual Design Public Hearing or  a cancellation announcement will be published online.