Blue Hill Avenue’s steep road to redevelopment

The City has a plan to reinvent this key corridor, while some residents are not impressed.

By Chloe Craft, Tristen Schilling and Aiden Sprole

After six years of engaging with the community — conducting open houses, virtual meetings and small-group conversations — the City of Boston has proposed a controversial transportation plan that would revolutionize Blue Hill Avenue. With construction slated to begin next year, the community remains divided over whether the plan’s potential long-term benefits will outweigh years of rebuilding.

Today, the four-mile-long street running through Roxbury, Dorchester and Mattapan is a high-crash corridor with chronically delayed buses, irregular pedestrian crossings and rugged sidewalks.

The project aims to address these inefficiencies by installing center-running bus lanes, shorter crosswalk distances, a 10% reduction in parking spaces and more than 100,000 square feet for public use.

A current view of the intersection of Blue Hill Avenue and Walk Hill Street (left) and an artist’s rendering of the planned changes after the plan is completed adding center bus lanes, bike lanes and tree plantings.

“The street hasn’t really been touched in about 60 years,” said Maya Mudgal, a transit planner for the City. “Over half the people on the street are actually on buses, and they’re just facing a lot of delays and poor transit conditions due to the way the street is laid out.”

Perhaps it’s not an accident that Blue Hill Avenue has had poor road infrastructure. A history of redlining in Boston fostered economic inequity in which development resources were rarely applied to areas with primarily Black populations.

Structural discrimination is deeply ingrained in the system, and can still be felt in Roxbury, Dorchester and Mattapan – all neighborhoods connected by Blue Hill Avenue.

Blue Hill Avenue runs through historically underserved communities

This underdevelopment leads to the proliferation of issues such as transit delays, lack of pedestrian crossings and traffic.

Giovanni, a Brookline High School student, waits along Blue Hill Avenue every morning for the 31 bus to take him to school — about an hour commute. He has concerns about the City’s plan for his neighborhood after seeing the results of similar promises for the 30 bus route along Columbus Avenue.

“I’m starting to drive now, so I had a firsthand experience of how congested it got [on Columbus Avenue] with the traffic, so I feel like adding another middle lane here isn’t really going to be that helpful,” Giovanni said.

Kendrick, a Mattapan resident and regular bus rider, is more positive about the Columbus Avenue project but remains unsure about whether the same approach will work on Blue Hill Avenue.

“On Columbus Avenue, it worked pretty good, so maybe it can help here,” Kendrick said. “I’m just taking it day by day.”

Although City officials like Mudgal are optimistic that the plan’s $15 million in federal grants will ensure safer roads, center-running bus lanes and more pedestrian-friendly sidewalks along the street, the plan has also received pushback from small businesses who worry they’ll lose foot traffic during the project, with construction predicted to start next year and run through 2028.

Until then, some bus riders fear that their long commutes will be even longer. Locals want to know where they’re going to park their cars. Many in the community think their concerns will be ignored, and now, in year two of the project’s development, one question looms over Blue Hill Avenue – will the city address those fears while improving life for residents who commute by bus?

Kendrick is a MassHealth Personal Care Attendant who is the primary caretaker for his mother. Though he only commutes between neighborhoods from his home in Mattapan to hers, the 29 bus route often takes an unexpectedly long time, even with no traffic.

“If there’s no traffic, [the ride takes] maybe 45 minutes to an hour,” Kendrick said. With more traffic likely during construction, “who knows if it’s going to help or make it worse.”

Giovanni shares that same concern. “Four years of construction? That’s kind of crazy. That’s only going to add a lot of traffic … to people’s daily commute.”

There’s certainly a need for change. In its “Transporation Action Plan,” the City found that more than 40,000 people use at least one of the nine bus routes along the busy street for their daily commute. Transportation officials calculate that these commuters cumulatively lose more than 3,000 hours every day – and the vast majority do not have an alternative.

An alarming 2014 study by the Metropolitan Area Planning Council found that the average Black bus rider spends 64 more hours per year on the bus in Boston compared to their white counterparts. Latino bus riders spend 10 more hours per year than white bus riders.

Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley feels that transportation plans should focus on the needs of the communities that rely on them.

“[We shouldn’t live in a city] where an individual’s quality of life is more likely determined by their zip code than their potential,” Pressley wrote in her foreword to LivableStreets Alliance’s “64 Hours: Closing the Bus Equity Gap.” “I firmly believe that when we design our transportation systems to serve those most in-need, we are better serving everyone in our society.”

Denise O’Marde and Dimitri Phanor remain skeptical about the project. Since opening their smoothie shop, Cafe Juice Up, in Mattapan Square in 2018, the co-owners have established themselves as one of the community staples of Blue Hill Avenue.

But, the city’s plan for center-running bus lanes has threatened to throw a wrench in maintaining their clientele and attracting new customers, due to the years of construction this plan may require.

“Redesigning, bringing something new, would be a good thing,” said Phanor. “At the same time, there’s going to be some consequences.”

Phanor pointed to the construction plan’s immediate impact, leading to even scarcer parking and increased traffic.

“Business is going to be affected,” Phanor said. “Residents, in a sense, also [are] going to be affected because the street is going to be clogged…. It’s going to be a big change, so I think we’re going to need the city’s support.”

Commuters will need support, as well, and once again, a neighborhood that has been underserved in the past will carry the burden — at least temporarily. People of color and lower-income individuals comprise the highest share of bus riders on Blue Hill Avenue routes at a far higher rate than the citywide average.

A 2017 survey of MBTA ridership found that in Boston, underserved groups are more likely to use public transit as a primary mode of transportation but simultaneously have worse access to fast, frequent transit service.

In the face of unease from bus riders and business owners, city planner Mudgal acknowledged that the benefits plan could be better communicated.

“The idea of a change … can be really nerve-wracking,” said Mudgal. “I think we could do a better job of educating people on how the street is going to work and that [the plan has] something for everyone.”