A newly-released report that summarizes nearly two years of input from neighborhood residents and merchants about a planned re-design of Blue Hill Avenue signals a strong preference for a multi-modal design that includes a dedicated, center bus lanes along much of the key thoroughfare that connects Mattapan Square to Grove Hall.

The Boston Transportation Department (BTD) released its 112-page “Community Engagement Report” late in the day on Wednesday, Oct. 11. Elected officials were briefed on the report on Oct. 6. It includes input from hundreds of sources with varying opinions.

“By the end of the year, the City will be responsible for the final decision on what type of street design to move forward with for Blue Hill Avenue,” read the report. “The Mayoral administration will make this decision in consultation with local elected officials, BTD, MBTA, other state and local partners, and community constituents.”

The report condenses input from public meetings, street surveys, bus operator interviews, community stakeholder meetings, “Real Talk for Change” branded discussions, and even innovative cocktail/mocktail parties on Blue Hill Avenue.

A “robust” schedule of meetings to gather feedback regarding the report will take place throughout October, November, and December.

But key leaders like Boston’s Chief of Streets Jascha Franklin-Hodge and MBTA General Manager Phillip Eng clearly registered their support for the multi-modal design that includes center bus lanes in announcing the report’s publication.

“We heard from residents that Blue Hill Ave. is an essential corridor for the communities it connects, but that travel today is often unsafe, unreliable, and inconvenient,” said Franklin-Hodge, who works for Mayor Wu. “The majority of those traveling Blue Hill Avenue during rush hour are on buses, and 96 percent of those riders walk or bike to reach the bus. We in the Streets Cabinet believe that a multimodal corridor approach will best address the shared concerns raised through the engagement process while supporting neighborhood businesses and providing safer and more reliable options for those who travel, shop, or live along Blue Hill Ave.”

MBTA General Manager Eng stated: “Based on the engagement summarized in this report, we know our bus operators and our bus riders want to see improvements for Blue Hill Avenue in order to better serve Roxbury, Dorchester, and Mattapan. Moving forward with the multimodal design approach will provide the best service for the more than 35,000 bus riders who rely upon the corridor today and is critical for expanding service as a part of Bus Network Redesign. We value our partnership with the City as we jointly strive to create a safer, more accessible place through public transit.”

In a new analysis within the report done by the city’s Streets Cabinet members, there were two alternatives evaluated that had been presented to the public – including the multi-modal redesign with bus lanes, vehicle lanes, bike lanes and ample pedestrian space; and an enhanced existing conditions approach that kept the current layout but implemented small-scale safety improvements and better traffic enforcement.

The analysis leaned heavily towards the new, multi-modal corridor: “More room for benches, trees, lighting, art, and amenities makes significant friendly places that strengthen community. Transforms Blue Hill Ave into boulevard-like street that is part of the neighborhood, not a street designed to get people from the suburbs into and out of Boston as quickly as possible.”

The preference is not a great surprise, as city officials have been upfront over the last several months that they did prefer the center bus lane within a multi-modal approach. One reason is that they have a $48 million budget for that and only $18.5 million for the enhanced existing format, since a federal grant of $15 million distributed through the MBTA is contingent on the dedicated bus lane option.

Councillor Brian Worrell, who represents a great deal of Blue Hill Avenue, said he appreciated the process and wanted to keep in mind the distrust in government many spoke about.

"Revitalizing Blue Hill Avenue is a long-overdue investment in the safety and utility of one of our most essential transit corridors," he said. "I appreciate the administration's comprehensive community involvement approach to offer input and I believe it's critical that all of our residents' voices continue to be centered in the final decision, which will help address the community's distrust in our government systems that this report revealed."

The overall engagement report details a wide variety of inputs, perceptions, and opinions – some that favor the bus lane, some that do not favor it, and some that don’t trust the government to do anything correctly in majority-Black neighborhoods like the Blue Hill Avenue corridor.

Those opinions are relayed in the ‘Engagement Summary’ of the overall report, and particularly in the ‘Key Takeaways’ section. One thing held in common was everyone felt something needed to be done to increase safety and improve infrastructure, but how to do that was different for many people.

“In general, travelers of all modes noted multiple challenges and frustrations when moving along this stretch of BHA…There were a number of shared concerns, although the exact nature of each concern varied depending on the primary mode of travel,” reads the report.

These frustrations for cyclists and pedestrians were for fear of being hurt by speeding drivers, for drivers and bus operators it was fear of collisions and dangerous speeding by other drivers. Meanwhile, due to overall neglect for decades, many said they avoid Blue Hill Avenue altogether – with some bus operators picking different bus routes to drive simply because of the conditions.

When it came to fixing those things, many felt it would be accomplished by a complete road design that included the multi-modal concept. The report noted, in bold, that “there was an observable generational gap in terms of a desire for roadway changes that increased the multimodal nature of BHA, with more young people tending to express this opinion.”

Many young people – especially students – said they often didn’t get to school on time or got in trouble because the bus infrastructure and operations were so poor.

“In many anecdotes, transit reliability was not only about convenience - it was directly linked to access to services and opportunities,” read the report.

“Students noted times when they had been penalized or blamed by their school or by family members due to bus delays; some young people expressed feelings of dismay and apathy about going to school upon learning of significant transit delays.”
Adult bus riders also said they had been late for jobs, childcare pickups, or medical appointments because of transit delays on Blue Hill Avenue.

There were also strong voices in the process for no major changes on the corridor, which came from folks who were worried about losing parking/travel lanes for vehicles, or the opinion that issues along Blue Hill could be better handled by increased enforcement, not re-design.

“However, even if people did not indicate a preference for major changes to roadway design, many pointed to the need for better road pavings, lane paintings, and overall (maintenance),” read the report.

One meeting participant from 2022 was quoted in the report as saying, “Please leave Mattapan alone...we love it just the way it is.”

A Grove Hall resident was recorded as saying, “We can modernize Blue Hill Ave by repaving and repainting the road and putting in better bump out sidewalks for crossing also by adding crossing lights. But what we don't need is a center bus lane. All this will do is add to the traffic congestion along Blue Hill.”

Many said they opposed the bus lanes because they felt it would exacerbate existing problems with traffic for personal vehicles, and because they have had several negative experiences with existing bus lanes in nearby places like Columbus Avenue.

A remarkable takeaway in the report was the robust feeling that government at any level couldn’t be trusted to make an informed decision or implement the redesign correctly. Much of that had to do with the history of transit projects on Blue Hill Avenue, including the 28X proposal in the mid-2000s and an effort in 2019 that was paused due to COVID-19.

“In some conversations, it was evident that a subset of folks had a lack of trust in public agencies, negative past experiences with planning and development, or a general sense of engagement fatigue,” read the report.

It continued, “many people who expressed reactive opinions were operating under the assumption that the City had already finalized the street designs for BHA. While the specific nature of someone’s concern was not always explicitly defined, it is clear that many folks referencing ‘the proposal’ or ‘the redesign’ were operating under the assumption that design decisions about BHA were already made and that the project was essentially ‘a done deal.’”

That bus lane design discussion aside, a key takeaway was that folks wanted Blue Hill Avenue to thrive in a way that it doesn’t today.
“Beyond design interventions, people expressed wishes for a thriving commercial and cultural corridor,” read the report.

The Community Engagement Report will receive an active, albeit quick, review over the next few months, and that review combined with the report will inform the design decision by the end of 2023. After that, the process will move ahead with final plans.

“Once a design decision is made, the process of refining and finalizing the design concept will be overseen by the MBTA, with continued close collaboration by BTD and other City partners,” read the report.