Rutherford Ave / Sullivan Square

In July 2008, the City of Boston began a project to rethink and redesign Rutherford Avenue and Sullivan Square in Charlestown. The project aims to reclaim Rutherford Avenue as a true city street, one that is pedestrian and bicycle-friendly, and that knits neighborhoods together instead of splitting them apart. It also aims to reconfigure the roads around Sullivan Square to better serve all users and reduce traffic bottlenecks. Both parts of the project hope to encourage regional traffic to use I-93, with reconfigured and redesigned roadways serving local travel, supporting new development and encouraging more neighborhood activity.

LivableStreets has attended and will continue to attend public meetings about the project, as well as communicate with the project managers regarding which ideas we prefer and additional ideas that they may not already be considering.

LivableStreets has met with some of our partner advocacy organizations (WalkBoston, MassBike, and Institute for Human Centered Design) to build consensus amongst the many proposed ideas and help form a unified voice that the city can more easily respond to. We will continue to engage the advocates and other involved agencies and organizations in Boston, Cambridge, and Somerville as the project moves forward.

The City of Boston has completed the preliminary design of this project and as a result of the extensive community process has decided to go with the Surface Option (as opposed to the Underpass Option). This option creates a continuous linear park along the east edge of Rutherford Ave, allows for more development parcels, and does a better job of encouraging safer travel speeds through the area.

OFFICIAL INFORMATION

Rutherford Avenue / Sullivan Square Design Project -- City of Boston [web]

NEWS

Charlestown Bridge - Community process begins for Rutherford Avenue / Sullivan Square project (July 31, 2008) [web] [pdf]

Charlestown Patch - Capuano Raises Concerns About Sullivan Square Project (November 30, 2010) [web]

Charlestown Patch - Sullivan Square Redesign on Track (January 31, 2011) [web]

Boston Cyclists Union - Sullivan Sq./Rutherford Ave. project in peril (May 12, 2011) [web]

Boston Globe - Community Mobilizes for Sullivan Square Meeting (May 17, 2011) [web]

Charlestow Patch - Capuano Meeting Could Shape Sullivan Square Redesign (May 18, 2011) [web]

RELATED SITES

Surface Option Supporters [web]