Boston PIC Advances Six Neighborhood Infrastructure Projects to June 27 Hearing

BOSTON — June 13, 2024 — Boston's Public Improvement Commission approved a fiber conduit lease and advanced six infrastructure petitions to a June 27 public hearing at its June 13 session. Chair Yacsha Franklin-Hodge approved Cambridge Network Solutions' plan to lease approximately 603 feet of city-owned conduit along Western Avenue in Brighton without disturbing the street surface, calling it a model approach. The meeting's most significant item was a partial curb-to-curb reconstruction of Harrison Avenue in the South End between East Berkeley and Harold streets, which would remove a center median, add cycle tracks on both sides, widen sidewalks to 11 feet, plant trees, add permeable pavers, and install new traffic signals at two intersections. Franklin-Hodge pressed project engineers from VHB to coordinate the Harrison Avenue work with the city's pavement program on East Berkeley Street, which he called a "very high candidate for full repaving." The commission also required TC Systems Incorporated, seeking a conduit installation near Fenway Park, to coordinate construction timing with the Red Sox and fully restore a disrupted crosswalk in thermoplastic materials.