Deal may end standoff over sidewalk at Boston hotel

Deal may end standoff over sidewalk at hotel
Plan calls for more pedestrian-friendly route along street
By Thomas C. Palmer Jr., Globe Staff | December 2, 2005

A compromise sidewalk design brokered yesterday by the Boston Redevelopment Authority and the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway Conservancy may end a standoff between developers of the InterContinental Boston hotel on Atlantic Avenue and the pro-pedestrian group WalkBoston.

Extell Development Co. of New York, which is building the $315 million mirrored-glass complex, and WalkBoston have been at odds for months over the shape of the sidewalk and configuration of a vehicle drop-off area in front of the building, which has a prominent site along the new Rose Kennedy Greenway.

The new proposal would give Extell the two drop-off lanes it wants, along with a straight sidewalk, 6 feet, 8 inches wide, in front of the hotel.

The secretary of the Executive Office of Environmental Affairs would have to approve any compromise. ''The decision in this case will set the tone for future review for projects along the Greenway," said spokesman Joe O'Keefe.

''Neither party is completely satisfied," said BRA director Mark Maloney. ''Yet we have resolved this within inches of both parties' needs."

Extell's original plan, approved in 2003 by state and city officials, featured a sidewalk on the east side of Atlantic Avenue that curved toward the hotel's recessed front doors and back out. The design provided room for two pickup and drop-off lanes away from street traffic. Atlantic Avenue is planned as a three-lane, northbound surface street.

But WalkBoston, which says a straight sidewalk is easier for pedestrians to use, cried foul. The group said it became aware only earlier this year that the sidewalk would curve.

When an effort to negotiate with the developer failed, WalkBoston took the unusual step of filing a ''notice of project change" under the Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act.

Responding to that move, usually reserved for major changes contemplated by developers, state environmental officials opened a period for public comment on the conflict. Environmental officials could require further study, even though the developer has obtained the needed permits and construction is underway. But they have said an agreement between the two sides is preferable.

To avoid such disputes in the future, Maloney said, new guidelines are being created for the city's approval of projects along the Greenway. ''That's an additional review we think the Greenway deserves," he said.

The Rose Kennedy Greenway Conservancy board, which eventually will fund and manage the corridor of parks, assumed a significant role in working out the sidewalk compromise.

A spokeswoman for the developer yesterday declined to comment.

WalkBoston, a nonprofit group that promotes a walkable city, said it was still studying the plan and would comment to the BRA today.

''I think we're moving in the right direction," said Wendy Landman, the group's executive director. ''We appreciate the level of attention the city and state are paying to this, and that the developer has come to the table and is talking about compromise."

Construction at the 424-room InterContinental Boston hotel and Residences at the InterContinental was not slowed by the dispute. The building, which wraps around Big Dig tunnel-ventilation towers, is not scheduled to open for about 10 months.

A plan that WalkBoston supported would have made the curb lane on Atlantic Avenue one of the two drop-off lanes. City transportation officials have said they want that lane to be designated for parking. As in other parts of the city, at peak traffic times the lane may be used for through traffic. Using the lane as a drop-off zone would have effectively made that impossible.

BRA planners carved out the compromise by reducing the width of the two drop-off lanes by almost two feet, to 16 feet, 4 inches. A 5 1/2-foot-wide raised median along the curb line, including planters with trees, was eliminated. It would be replaced by a narrow ''rumble strip" of cobblestones and two light poles.

WalkBoston took part in lengthy public discussions a decade ago about the width and shape of streets and sidewalks along what is now called the Rose Kennedy Greenway. The group's leaders said the spirit of a walkable corridor was violated by the InterContinental plan, as approved by the city.

Extell executives consistently said they could legally build without a straight sidewalk. But they agreed to work on a compromise plan.

Thomas C. Palmer Jr. can be reached at tpalmer@globe.com

© Copyright 2005 The New York Times Company

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