Build a better city, starting with the Allston interchange

by Marina Jokic Comment Closed
By Robin Chase and Doug Foy, Updated February 18, 2020, 3:00 a.m. It’ll take a decade to fix some of Boston’s old highways. Let’s use that time to create a neighborhood truly suited for the 21st century. Boston has the opportunity to reclaim 30 acres of prime Charles River waterfront real estate, directly across from Cambridge. But somehow, the front-running proposal is to rebuild and expand 20th-century priorities — highways — with a 1950s vision of what makes for a good city (a car in every garage). We’re talking about the I-90 Allston interchange. You’ve definitely driven through it: acres of industrial detritus and 12 lanes of highway (eight elevated lanes of I-90 and four lanes of Soldiers Field road), spreading noise and pollution and increasing stress levels. Tens of thousands of Bostonians who live and work adjacent to these highways are cut off from one of Boston’s finest assets — the Charles River waterfront. It is time to envision the Allston Interchange...
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Op-Ed: Keep scenic parkways, bridges under DCR control

by admin Comment Closed
Julie Crockford and Sylvia Salas | The Boston Globe | March 25, 2009 http://archive.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2009/03/25/keep_scenic_parkways_bridges_under_dcr_control/ Julie Crockford is executive director of the Emerald Necklace Conservancy and Sylvia Salas is executive director of The Esplanade Association. PARK ADVOCACY groups across the Commonwealth support the goals of transportation reform coupled with new revenues that Governor Patrick and our legislative leaders are advancing on Beacon Hill. It takes political courage to act responsibly in the face of crisis and we praise their efforts. The public and the transportation agencies that serve us are facing crumbling infrastructure at a time when the state is losing revenues, and cuts in services loom large. Essential government reforms are needed quickly and the burden of generating new revenues must be shared equitably. Let's make sure, however, that we get real value from real reform. Included in the Senate transportation reform bill is a proposal to transfer the responsibility for historic parkways and bridges from the Department of Conservation and Recreation to the...
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Editorial: Placing value on our natural landscape by protecting it

by Marina Jokic Comment Closed
Greenfield Recorder From atop Mount Sugarloaf, farmland stretches as far as the eye can see — to the distant Seven Sisters range in Hadley and beyond. It’s a beautiful landscape that’s for the most part untouched by large swaths of commercial development. Wooded areas and open spaces afford opportunities for recreation and provide a buffer for busier economic hubs to the south. This isn’t a coincidence. The Pioneer Valley’s residents have historically valued its natural landscape and, as such, have taken steps to protect it. Through concerted conservation efforts over decades by a host of local agencies, including the Amherst-based Kestrel Land Trust, thousands of untouched acres throughout Western Massachusetts provide refuge for native wildlife. The work continues today. Soon, there will be an additional 120 conserved acres in Whately. Part of the Dauchy property, being referred to by the Kestrel Land Trust as the Whately Center Woods Project, in Whately. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO/MARK WAMSLEY The land, known as the Whately Center Woods Project, encompasses Westbrook,...
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