0 Seaport’s Northern Ave. Bridge in it’s last Months

Posted on February 1, 2016 by Wil Catlin

Credit: Boston Magazine

The Northern Ave. Bridge is scheduled to come down in March. The bridge site is now the gateway to the Seaport, which continues to grow with the recent announcement of GE’s election to move its HQ to the thriving Boston submarket.

From Boston Magazine:

The rusty, sad structure that links downtown to the Seaport is set to be removed in March. But the Northern Ave Bridge wasn’t always such a rickety construction; it became a grand throughway across the Fort Point Channel after it was built in 1908. It’s also one of the remaining few swing bridges in Boston, meaning that it pivots when traffic in the water below needs to pass by.

The steel bridge was closed to vehicles in 1997—and recently to pedestrians in December 2014—after the Coast Guard asserted it was hazardous to cross and in danger of collapsing. The bridge’s demolition seems unfortunate, since the aged platform boasts a distinctive history.

0 Seaport Growth Necessitates Transit Overhaul

Posted on February 11, 2015 by Wil Catlin

Credit: Banker and Tradesman

The fast growing market is the Seaport of Boston. The growth has put a tremendous squeeze on all aspects that connect that part of the city to its surrounding areas and the city is looking at a variety of solutions to ease the commuter pain. This would range from the haul road, ferry service and Silver line. This by no means will happen overnight, but at least it is getting the attention it requires.

Banker and Tradesman outlines the immediate actions recommended within [the next] six months:

• Expand use of the Bypass Road to all vehicles from Richards Street to West Service Road full-time and from I-93 to Richards Street eastbound during the morning rush hour.
• Allow all vehicles to use the northbound HOV lane from I-93 to the Ted Williams Tunnel.
• Speed up the Silver Line by giving it signal priority at the D Street intersection and add real-time arrival information for passengers.
• Install new Hubway bike sharing stations at Thomson Place, the Gillette Co. and Channel Center.
• Consolidate corporate shuttle bus services along A Street.

You can read the full B&T article on its website, here.

0 Seaport Parking Transforms with Neighborhood

Posted on May 27, 2014 by Wil Catlin

A frequent question I get is, where can I park? Well that’s simple, but usually involves a price higher than somebody wants to pay. On a tour of 320 Congress Street this week, we referred to the ever-disappearing mud lot parking spaces of the Seaport; that number has reduced by 1,200 spaces over the last two years while the garages have only given back 990 spaces. What gives? Well, in short, the mud lots over the last twenty years were the cheap alternative for the high-priced Financial District garages. Now that the Seaport is a growing Class A office market commuters should reply on public transportation, after all, South Station is only a short walk.

The Boston Globe has posted an infographic that provides a visible breakdown of the changes to parking spaces in the Seaport:

Credit: The Boston Globe

0 Seaport Traffic Growing

Posted on August 20, 2013 by Wil Catlin

Summer Street office building in Boston's seaport district

321 Summer Street

This is a citywide problem that is not just plaguing the Seaport. As we know, Boston is an old city with both old and new infrastructure. The solution is changing the habits of our commuting population, do we need our car at work every day? Perhaps the city and or employers can offer incentives to keep our cars at home? In London, there is a toll to enter the city during rush hour and as a result that reduces the number of passenger vehicles on the roadways.

The Boston Globe recently looked at how the growth of the Seaport submarket is playing out on the roadways:

“While the morning commute is tolerable, everyone seems to head out at 5 p.m., creating bumper-to-bumper traffic along the main spine on Seaport Boulevard, spilling out onto Atlantic Avenue, and clogging side roads throughout the area…’All this growth wasn’t supposed to happen until 2025,’ said Mayor Thomas Menino. ‘It’s a wonderful success. Because of the success, we’re having a problem. It’s amazing to me.’”

The complete article is available on the Boston Globe’s website: Seaport District Faces Gridlock