Boston PIC Unanimously Approves Fort Point Corridor Safety Overhaul After Fatal Crash

BOSTON -- March 28, 2024, Boston's Public Improvement Commission unanimously approved a major reconstruction of Congress Street and surrounding Fort Point streets just days after a four-year-old girl from Colorado, identified as Gracie, was fatally struck near the Congress and Sleeper Street intersection. Commission Chair Yasha Franklin-Hodge opened the hearing with a personal acknowledgment of the tragedy, calling it "a very, very sad reminder of why this work is so important." The approved project, a petition by the Boston Public Works Department, covers Congress Street between Sleeper Street and Boston Wharf Road, Sleeper Street between Congress and Seaport Boulevard, and A Street between Congress and Melcher Street, and includes fully separated cycle tracks, sidewalks up to 17 feet wide, raised crosswalks, and new street trees. Kevin Morrison of consultant HDR told commissioners the plan set had been trimmed from 26 to 19 sheets with all prior PIC and Disabilities Commission comments incorporated, and that two speed humps will be added to Sleeper Street before the project goes to construction advertisement. The commission also unanimously approved an MBTA petition to upgrade the ninth-busiest bus stop in its network at St. James Avenue and Dartmouth Street in Back Bay, a stop projected to see a 60 percent increase in bus service in coming years.