Boston PIC Approves South Boston Street Repairs, Continues Washington Street Vote

BOSTON -- July 25, 2024, Boston's Public Improvement Commission approved a South Boston pedestrian easement and street-repair plan, continued a Washington Street curb petition, and voted to abandon a 139-foot Hyde Park paper street at its July 25 meeting. The commission, chaired by Amy Cording of the Transportation Department, approved a 457-square-foot pedestrian easement and a specific-repairs plan covering B Street, West 3rd Street, and Athens Street for a 33-unit building at 118 B Street, the latter contingent on ADA compliance of an existing pedestrian ramp, on a joint petition from Heinz and Kuhn Company and Charles McCarthy. A Washington Street loading-zone redesign by Giovanni Federa of Federa Engineering was continued to August 8 after commissioners said six and a half feet of proposed lane width was insufficient and MBTA bus-lane impacts remained unresolved. The Greenwood Avenue abandonment in Hyde Park passed unanimously, contingent on the petitioner meeting with the Hyde Park Neighbors Association, over the objections of association representative Craig Martin, who said the neighborhood had been caught off guard: "We're going to stand as opposed." Two new-business items, a Charlestown pedestrian-safety package near Sullivan Square presented by city engineer John Monticelli, and streetscape improvements around a 350,000-square-foot Vertex Pharmaceuticals building at 22 Dry Dock Avenue, were accepted and set for August 8 public hearings.