Plan may cut South Boston Waterfront traffic

A coalition of city leaders released a report Tuesday outlining short and long term plans to increase public transit, reduce traffic congestion and provide more alternative transportation options for the South Boston waterfront.

Representatives from MassDOT, the City of Boston, the Massachusetts Convention Center Authority, the Massachusetts Port Authority, and A Better City released The South Boston Waterfront Sustainable Transportation Plan that according to one of the plan’s creators could feasibly be implemented in coming years.

“That’s something we all struggled with because we want the plan to be reasonable but also implementable,” said Tom Tinlin, Chief of Operations and Maintenance for MassDOT. “Having something that’s a pie in the sky won’t serve anyone. We’re very confident that plans in the short term, one to three years, can be implemented in that time frame, or frankly we wouldn’t put them in there.”

The short term plans, which include improvements to the Silver Line, the consolidation of private shuttles in the area, I-93 access improvements at Purchase Street and new Hubway Stations, will be funded by a $25 million bond bill, Tinlin said.

If nothing is done, the ever-expanding Innovation District as it is called will surely suffer a mobility crisis with rising development.

“I think you have to just look back about a year-and-a-half ago,” said Tinlin. “The local elected leadership realized how difficult it was to traverse the waterfront area. Now, as more development comes online, if we don’t invest in transportation infrastructure and promote alternative transportation we can expect what is already a burdensome commute to get worse. We’re not willing to do the same thing over and over. That’s the definition of insanity.”

Read the full plan at www.sbwaterfrontmobility.org.