Boston PIC Delays Harvard Allston Street Plan, Citing Underground Rights Concerns

BOSTON — October 10, 2024 — Boston's Public Improvement Commission continued a Harvard University petition for two new Allston streets after commissioners and the board's own legal counsel raised serious objections to Harvard's plan to discontinue subsurface rights beneath Trotting Avenue and Milestone Street down to negative 100 feet. PIC Chair Yasha Franklin-Hodge questioned why Harvard was seeking to discontinue underground areas with no apparent Harvard utility infrastructure, while Transportation Department representative Amy Cording warned that the arrangement could strip public utilities of their automatic right to make emergency repairs in what are supposed to be public ways. The PIC's legal counsel, identified only as Tony, said he had met with Harvard's legal team the previous day but that major MOU terms — including the agreement's duration and scope — remained unresolved, recommending a minimum four-week continuance. The commission also unanimously approved renaming Bussey Street in West Roxbury to Flora Way, effective around a dedication ceremony planned for October 26 at the Arnold Arboretum, and continued a South Boston housing redevelopment street petition — covering Logan Way, Veterans Way, and O'Callaghan Way near the Mary Ellen McCormick development — to October 24 for a full public hearing.