Recent Streetsblog MASS posts about Roxbury

New bus platforms and center-running bus transitway for the T's Route 22 buses are under construction near Walnut Ave. and Franklin Park in this March 3 photograph. The City of Boston and MBTA have secured funding to extend the new transitway northward along Columbus Ave. and Tremont St. to Ruggles station. Photo courtesy of the MBTA.

Boston, MBTA to Extend Columbus Ave. Bus Lanes to Ruggles

By Christian MilNeil | Apr 1, 2021 | No Comments

The new center-running busway with dedicated platforms will speed bus services along Boston's highest-ridership bus corridor.

Plan for Franklin Park Would Ban Cars From Circuit Drive

By Christian MilNeil | Mar 10, 2021 | No Comments

"We want to elevate multimodal routes for bikes and pedestrians," said Lydia Gikas Cook, a landscape architect working on the plan, on Wednesday.

An architects' rendering illustrates planned safety improvements for the intersection of Melnea Cass Boulevard and Tremont Street in Roxbury. Courtesy of the City of Boston.

City of Boston Cancels Melnea Cass Boulevard Reconstruction

By Christian MilNeil | Jan 21, 2021 | No Comments

"One of the things I’m very grateful for is how we realized how everybody cares about trees – we just need to make people aware, and they respond... This was just the right moment for (the city) to pay attention, and it worked. I’m inspired by the trees," says Yvonne Lalyre, a organizer with the Friends of Melnea Cass.

Saturday: ‘Celebration of Life’ Ride Aims to Bring Black Men Together on Bikes

By Christian MilNeil | Oct 23, 2020 | No Comments

Black men and other men of color are being invited to reflect, mourn, and heal together in a “Celebration of Life” bike ride through Roxbury this Saturday. Organizer James Adius Pierre, a lifelong Cambridge resident, says that the ride is inspired by the summer’s unrest and the August 28 anniversary of the March on Washington. […]

Melnea Cass Project Spotlights Value of Street Trees

By Christian MilNeil | Sep 28, 2020 | No Comments

Because the project is already under contract between MassDOT and Newport, the City of Boston has limited influence. But city officials say that they are working with MassDOT to pursue possible "change orders" to the agreement.

A walking school bus makes its way to Ellis Elementary School in Roxbury. Courtesy of Sam Balto.

Guest Column: 'Walking School Buses' Need To Be Part of Reopening Plans

By Sam Balto | Sep 9, 2020 | No Comments

A Walking School Bus program would conservatively save one school about $200,000 a year in student transportation costs – and that’s without counting other benefits like cleaner air near schools, safer neighborhood streets, and healthier students.

A City of Boston rendering illustrates the center-running bus lane concept for Blue Hill Avenue near Walk Hill Street. Under the plan, bus lanes and dedicated stations would run in the middle of the street, away from double-parked cars and turning vehicles. Pedestrian crossings would also be significantly shorter. Courtesy of the City of Boston.

Boston Pitches Major Transit-Focused Redesign For Blue Hill Ave.

By Christian MilNeil | Mar 5, 2020 | 2 Comments

Because the vast majority of Blue Hill Avenue's neighbors identify as people of color, the addition of high-quality bus lanes and stations could offer a major improvement to inequities in the city's bus network, where black bus riders currently spend, on average, 64 more hours every year traveling than white bus riders.

Reconstruction of High-Crash Melnea Cass Boulevard Delayed to 2020

By Christian MilNeil | Aug 19, 2019 | 1 Comment

Construction of a long-planned safety project for the Melnea Cass Boulevard in Roxbury has been delayed until 2020, according to MassDOT, and won’t be complete until 2024. Melnea Cass Boulevard, which extends from Columbus Avenue to Massachusetts Avenue in Roxbury, ranks among the city’s most dangerous road segments. Its junction with Massachusetts Avenue near Boston […]