A letter prepared by Community Representative and former Mayor Henrietta Davis to Secretary of Transportation Stephanie Pollack regarding the Allston I-90 project

Dear Secretary Pollack:

Thank you for the opportunity to serve on the I-90 Task Force. As the former Mayor of the City of Cambridge and a long-time Cambridgeport resident, I'm pleased to work with DOT on this important project, to serve as a liaison between MassDOT and the Cambridge community.

As the city directly across the river from this project, the residents of which extensively use the highway network and pathways across from us, Cambridge has a direct stake in decisions about this large project and the process leading to final plans. Allston and Brighton on one side and Cambridge on the other may be separated by a river, but we are incredibly interdependent. It is essential that the Draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR) reflect that interdependence.

Based on three recent, well-attended community meetings on this subject (two of them including DOT staff presenters) and in consultation with Bill Deignan, the city's staff representative to the 1-90 Task Force, I have the following specific, urgent requests: that issues important to the City of Cambridge - especially the neighborhoods of Cambridgeport and Riverside - be thoroughly addressed in the DEIR now being drafted. 1. SUPPORT FOR INTEGRATED, BALANCED TRANSPORATION SYSTEM: COMMIT TO

PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION IMPROVEMENTS IN THE PROJECT AREA

As overriding policy, Cambridge is committed to a balanced transportation system - including cars, trucks, and buses as well as transit, commuter rail, walkers, joggers, bikers, and boaters - all planned and constructed in ways that enhance the environment. The I-90 project requires all these elements in an integrated approach.

We understand the need for decisions about the Turnpike before the existing viaduct deteriorates, but we are disappointed that the focus of the project so far has minimized the non-highway parts of a balanced system, in one of the most environmentally sensitive assets of the Boston Region - the land adjacent to the Charles River.

REQUEST: Commit to planning specific public transportation and environmental mitigation steps so that the I-90 project can achieve a fully balanced system to the maximum extent possible, including: • West Station planned, with timetable and adequate access by all modes. Grand Junction rail lines and bridge with ability to connect transit, pedestrians, and cyclists to Kendall Square. 1 2. ACCESS TO CAMBRIDGE FROM SOLIDERS FIELD ROAD: DOT SHOULD STUDY 3

OPTIONS (SKETCH PLANS OF TWO ADDITIONAL OPTIONS ATTACHED) AND DEFER

EXIT RAMP DECISION

For the DEIR to have credibility in Cambridge, it is essential that it include detailed descriptions, analysis, and comparison of alternate ways to travel from Soldiers Field Road to Cambridge - not just the current DOT plan, which eliminates the exit ramp to the River Street Bridge.

REQUEST: Include three options to compare in the DEIR: • Current DOT plan that eliminates the exit ramp from Soldiers Field. • A new option would include the shortest possible exit ramp with a right-turn only to River Street into Cambridge (sketch plans attached). • A second new option that extends the underpass for Soldiers Field Road from the new Cambridge Street South in Allston (in the current DOT plans) to the existing underpass under River Street in a continuous cut-and-cover, providing for a narrow surface road and expanded park on the decking over Soldiers Field Road (sketch plans and renderings attached).

FURTHER REQUEST:

Defer any decision to eliminate the present right-turn exit capability from Soldiers Field Road to River Street Bridge pending a broader analysis focused on the complex moves to/from Cambridge, the Turnpike, and Soldiers Field Road via River Street and Western Avenue bridges. (Please note that in neither of the above requests am I am asking for delay in the DOT/Harvard/Boston plan to relocate Soldiers Field Road and build the new underpass intersection for Soldiers Field Road and the new Cambridge Street South planned for Allston.) 3. THE COMPLEX SYSTEM OF ROADS SERVED BY RIVER STREET AND WESTERN

AVENUE BRIDGES: UNDERTAKE COMPREHENSIVE STUDY WITH DESIGN OPTIONS

The pattern of often-congested roads in the area served by the River Street and Western Avenue Bridges is part of a single, complex system that feeds traffic to and from many areas of Cambridge and Somerville. Indeed, River Street and Western Avenue constitute a one-way pair of two major Cambridge arteries that tie into the Turnpike, Soldiers Field Road, and Memorial Drive, all currently congested with long delays.

With changes planned for I-90 and Soldiers Field Road access and egress, feeding this traffic through new neighborhood streets in Allston, as well as changes planned by Harvard for getting to/from the Doubletree Hotel and its extensive future developments in Allston, this system requires a comprehensive analysis. The two crumbling bridges themselves, which cross both the Charles River and Soldiers Field Road, were previously scheduled for urgent reconstruction in the Accelerated Bridge Program.

Those plans did not take into account the proposed street grid and access routes for the Turnpike and Soldiers Field Road through Allston. Past plans for the reconstruction of both bridges need to be reviewed and modified as part of such a comprehensive, integrated study.

REQUEST: Understand and plan for this complex system by the following: 2 • Commit to undertaking a comprehensive, collaborative and open study of this River/Western system, and whether and how it can function efficiently with the changes proposed by the I-90 project. • Revise design plans for these bridges in a process with substantial community involvement and prepare revised environmental impact reports, to include options for pedestrian/bicycle underpasses as unanimously endorsed by the Cambridge City Council. • Include in this study options for exiting from Soldiers Field Road to Cambridge (as described above in paragraph 2). • Defer any decision regarding elimination of the present right-turn exit capability from Soldiers Field Road to River Street Bridge pending this broader study.

Separating this study from the current I-90 process will enable this bridge/highway system to receive the attention it requires without delaying the current I-90 process. 4. THROAT DESIGN: ANALYZE FOR FULL IMPACTS ON CAMBRIDGE The three options for the Turnpike in the "throat" area (Pike viaduct, rail viaduct, or all at-grade) need to be analyzed for their direct impacts on Cambridge.

The area is directly across from Magazine Beach, the second-largest park in Cambridge, and many Cambridge residents live near the impacted area. REQUEST: Provide greater specificity about these impacts on Cambridge in the DEIR, focused on five factors: • VISUAL: What will each of these options look like from across the river? • NOISE: Measure actual pre-construction and predicted post-construction conditions from the residential neighborhood.