recording in progress or is yours Mr chair thank you very much good morning everyone uh I am Yasha Franklin Hajj the chair of the public improvement commission and I call to order the hearing of April 10th 2025 mr lming
would you please take the roll call certainly would the representative from the public works department please state their name for the record yasha Franklin Hodgej property management please do the same joseph Callahan
Transportation Department inspectional services department uh Brian if you're on you're muted uh we'll give him a minute uh Water and Sewer Commission Denny Stwin Commissioner for Persons with
Disabilities and ISD brian are you on and with us uh maybe not okay well we do have a quorum uh even absent ISIS all right well we'll get started thank you very much uh our first agenda item
today is the hearing minutes at the request of the Public Improvement Commission staff the acceptance of the minutes of the PIC hearing held on March 27th 2025 do I hear a motion to approve the minutes i'll make a motion to approve the minutes of March 27th 2025
second all in favor i i any oppose or abstain so moved on to our uh public hearing continued agenda starting with public hearing continued number one on a joint petition by the city of Boston transportation department and the city
of Boston public works department with the making of specific repairs within the following public ways in West Roxbury consisting of curb realignment roadway and sidewalk reconstruction as well as new and relocated pedestrian ramps specialty pavement traffic signal infrastructure street lighting infrastructure storm drain
infrastructure green storm water infrastructure driveway curb cuts and raised crosswalks south Street generally between Fletcher Street and Walter Street walter Street generally between South Street and Hwlet Street fletcher Street northwest of South Street robert Street southeast of South Street barkore
Street northwest of South Street south Walter Street southeast of South Street huelet Street northwest of Walter Street this was new business on March 13th and had its first public hearing on March 27th is shown on a set of plans entitled city of Boston public works department engineering division specific repair
plan South Street and Walter Street Roslandale six sheets dated March 6 2025 the proponents please introduce themselves their affiliations and give us an update on any changes to the plan or uh any updates on the issues
discussed in previous hearings yep good morning alisa Riyaga here from BHB um we will be representing BTD and the city of Boston today um so based on the new business hearing we got several
comments uh the first comment was to do some community outreach to get everyone refamiliarized with this project um and we will be doing this but we will be asking for more time to do
this specific um outreach and then the second comment was about the landscape maintenance in this area and we will be working with the office of green infrastructure to
um reach an agreement on who's doing the maintenance and we're trying to work with them also to um make sure the landscape areas are up to OGI standards so they can like accept the maintenance
And the third comment was about the cur looking at a curb extension on Hulet Street because we were previously proposing flex posts um so we did look into it and we are now proposing a curb
extension um it needs some like minor design changes but we we can accommodate it and that will be finalized prior to uh the recording of Myars and the final comment was about
signal timing at South and Walter Street and we did review the clearings timings and they were all calculated based on Mass DOT standards and we are currently providing
increased yellow and red clearance times from what is currently existing so we looked at all those things and I think those are the only changes that we have thank you for that um so just to clarify
on the first couple of points um the uh so with the green infrastructure piece of this um the uh the is the plan going to be that there will be like revisions made in the final myars that reflect
modifications necessary for this to function as green infrastructure that can be uh maintained by the office of green infrastructure yes we will be working with Rachel Luna okay so there are some plan modifications anticipated resulting from
that um I I can probably answer that i think the um geometric space that has been identified as landscaping on these plans will remain the same and we're just going to determine what form of um gsi
we're going to drop into those spaces u based on uh OGI's standard details got it okay so we're not anticipating sort of any substantial changes to the to any of the the dimensions or curved
lines or anything associated with this okay got it yeah we're basically just going to drop a st a typical detail onto one of the detail sheets that's all that we need to add okay um and then the second piece or the I guess was really your first comment about the community engagement piece just speaking as chief
of streets and some of the conversations that have happened around this project the the um there has generally been positive feedback from our office of neighborhood services uh in their conversations that they've had with um
some of the neighborhood groups here and I think we've heard uh you know interest in seeing this project proceed still pending final kind of uh uh uh revisit with the neighborhood association but given that the um that there was a a a
strong positive sentiment uh generally heard in the conversations that they did have i think you know it it I I am as a commissioner comfortable sort of advancing this project with the with the caveat that there is still a a final round of uh you know community um
notification and and just confirmation that needs to happen but with the understanding that there is um from from what we have been told general support and what we have heard on past hearings general support for this project so just wanted to add that little bit of color of what we've heard from from ONS as
well about this um commissioners any questions comments all right hearing none PIC staff or members of the public no I think we're all set um I believe Oh sorry i will take this opportunity to remind the public if you
have questions or wish to add testimony please use the raised hand function um found in the reaction tab at the bottom of your screen uh Ben Crower I see you have your hand raised please unmute yourself and uh go right ahead uh hello excuse me hello everyone i'm
Ben Crowther i'm a resident on street and a board member uh with the Longfellow Area Neighborhood Association uh that's uh uh sort of center to the area of all these improvements um I just want to reiterate what Chief Franklin
Hodge said uh we're very much in support of uh these modifications and they've been a long time coming um to make these intersections uh safer for our community uh so we'd rather see this happen uh sooner rather than later
thank you very much Ben todd any other any other comments to have um I do not see anyone else i think we're all set all right do I hear a motion to approve public hearing
continued number one i make a motion to approve for a joint petition by the city of Boston transportation department the public works department for specific repairs in the area of South and Walter Fletcher Robert Park South Walter and Ullet Streets as
previously read into the record by the chair second all in favor i I I Any oppose or abstain so moved thank you very much thank you all right on to our next item public
hearing continued number two on a petition by the city of Boston public facilities department for the making of specific repairs within Parish street public waychester located on its southerntherly side at the side of 44 Winter Street generally east of Winter Street consisting of curb realignment
roadway and sidewalk reconstruction as well as new and relocated pedestrian ramps specialty pavement street lighting infrastructure street trees and driveway curb cuts this was new business on March 13th and had its first public hearing on March 27th as shown on a set of plans
entitled City of Boston Public Works Department Engineering Division Specific Repair Plan Paris Street 44 Winter Street Dorchester two sheets dated March 6 2025 the proponents please introduce themselves their affiliations and give
us an update on any changes since your last hearing and any resolution on the issues we last discussed hey good morning everyone my name is Hassan Saka project manager public facilities department uh last meeting we had a few
questions in regards to the maintenance of the improvements namely the sidewalks alongside the landscaping trees and the tree pavers and we have since then received written confirmation uh that the public works department will be uh maintaining said
sidewalks and the uh in regards to the trees as part of the package we will have a 2-year warranty period as part of this project and uh from there the Boston Parks Department will take over maintenance and include them in their
warranty or inventory rather and then in regards to the pavers we have confirmation from Rachel Lumna that she pa her department OGI will be taking care of the pavers all right um that's the only
outstanding item uh from our last hearing yes all right commissioners questions comments hearing none pic staff or members of the public uh no i'll just uh mention again
that we are still working on uh finalizing some legal documents pertaining to an easement that was approved adjacent to this property a few years ago um so we would expect to have all of that paperwork in hand um before you know final permits are closed out or
anything like that and Todd just to confirm um since we have been discussing maintenance responsibilities is it correct that because the maintenance uh of all of the elements discussed are being assumed by various city agencies and departments that we
will not be executing an LMI um for this project uh we won't will not be uh executing uh you know your kind of standard uh maintenance agreement for perpetual maintenance um I am working with PIC's uh legal council Chung to determine um
what type of uh license agreement might be needed for the the construction period um but neither the fire department nor uh PFD should be responsible for any um sidewalk maintenance um in perpetuity
excellent thank you for confirming that all right with that do I hear a motion to approve public hearing continued number two I make a motion to approve a petition by the city of Boston public facilities department for the making of specific repairs within Paris Street as read into the record by the chair second
all in favor i I Any oppose or abstain so moved thank you very much commissioners if if I may um I'd like to make a statement my name is Lisa Guscott i'm an assistant director at PFD and I
am um Hassan Saka's supervisor i just wanted to let you know that we took your concerns very seriously and at the last PIC hearing we did have a path forward but it wasn't solidified so we did not want to you know put any details um out
so I you know just wanted to say thank you for your patience and um your approval and we did we got it done so thank you very much thank you Lisa i appreciate that and always appreciate the partnership with uh other city agencies um when we're building projects
like this so much appreciated thank you very much all right on to our next item public hearing number one on a petition by the Wellington Hill Footway of Butters for a Street name change renaming the entirety of Wellington Hill Footway Public Way
Dorchester located between Wellington Hill Street and Walkill Street to be formerly known in the future as David Lopes Footway this was new business on March 27th uh would the proponents please introduce themselves uh Todd we're doing do we have a we have
somebody speaking on this is that correct um I believe so i thought Rep holmes might be joining us and I'm not sure who else might be signed on i'm here i'm going to join i can give the petition no problem i'm here to say yes nothing has changed and we still want
the footpath to be completed and and named after him yes and there were no changes from last time all right thank Thank you R oh sorry um any uh uh commissioners any questions
comments uh on this uh PAC staff or members of the public who would like to speak on this i believe we may have somebody in room 801 uh who would like to speak yes uh Matt Marelli chief of policy and
communications for Councelor Warell speaking on his behalf um Councelor Warell would like to uh thank PIC State Rep homes and of course the Wellington Hill Civic Group um for their uh efforts in this um he wrote a letter of support
but just want to reiterate that uh David Lopes was instrumental in advocating to restore the footpaths with the ultimate goal uh that they become public art installations um and kind of a heart for the community uh David died before he saw this reality uh but the councelor
believes the city should name the paths in his honor we've collected hundreds of signatures online and all the direct the butters of the path uh we think this renaming would lend an even greater source of pride uh for this Wellington Hill neighborhood as well
thank you thank you any uh other folks wishing to make a comment all right um with that do I hear a motion to approve public hearing number one i'll make a motion to approve a petition by the Wellington Hill
Footway Butters for Street name change um to David Lopes Footway as writing to record by the chair second all in favor i I Any oppose or abstain so moved uh it is official and
uh we will get to work on uh the signage updates uh for this and I know there was a concern raised in the last uh hearing about the uh way the sign the current sign is affixed and uh some issues with it moving around so we will make sure that we flag that for the operations
team and hopefully uh the new signs can be affixed in a way that uh stays put uh as intended yeah if they if they have a pin right like they can get in touch with us um and we can work with where we want to put these things how many we want etc very much appreciate it thank you guys
thank you all thank you and appreciate the community uh work here to uh to get this name change done thank you all all right thank you so much byebye all right on to our next agenda item public hearing number two on a joint petition by the City of Boston Public
Works Department and the City of Boston Transportation Department for the making of specific repairs within the following public ways in South Boston consisting of curb realignment roadway and sidewalk reconstruction as well as new and relocated pedestrian ramps specialty pavement street lighting infrastructure
storm drain infrastructure street trees street furniture bike racks ballards driveway curb cuts speed humps and raised crosswalks sleeper Street between Congress Street and Seapport Boulevard congress Street generally southeast of Sleeper Street seapport Boulevard
generally at Sleeper Street this was new business on March 27th uh as shown on a set of plans entitled City of Boston Public Works Department Engineering Division Specific Repairs Plan Sleeper Street South Boston 11 sheets dated March 27th
2025 uh would the proponents please uh introduce themselves and their affiliations uh I'd appreciate if you could give a just a brief reintroduction to the project and the the changes that are being made here um and then walk us through any uh changes uh or alterations
uh or issue resolutions since your last hearing thank you Chief um good morning chair members of the commission uh my name is Jeffrey Alexis with the public works department um petitioning for the proposed changes um to our sleeper
street design um I'm joined here by design consultants um from CSS as well as HDR um and I'll let them introduce themselves momentarily uh but to provide some uh background information on this project um ultimately we've we've come
to um PIC for Super Street prior um but in lie of the the tragic crash that occurred back in uh March of 2024 um we wanted to take another look at the design um to evaluate the proposed safety um along um this corridor um in coordination with the stakeholders the
businesses um and the residents of the Fort Point neighborhood and Seapport neighborhood um associations um as well as the neighborhoods in general um we determined that proposing a directional change along Sleeper Street will provide the most safety benefits um for our most vulnerable users um this design was not
um only revised to further improve safety for all users but to ensure that we pri we prioritize the safety of pedestrians who represent 30 to 40% um of the daily travelers of this corridor um ideally um we took a look at the intersections and how we can make them
safer um specifically the Congress and Sleeper Street intersection we wanted to um reduce the number of conflicts between vehicles um and pedestrians um ideally with this design we're able to um reduce the
conflicts by um by half um so ideally would make um the crossing safer for people that are um traversing um along Conger Street along Seper Street um so that was the primary um intent of us proposing these
improvements um we're also able to um gain the benefit of um wider sidewalks um along Sleeper Street on the the west side of the street as adjacent to the um the children's museum um to improve access and accessibility um and it also improved the the crossing at the um the
Seapport Boulevard and Super Street intersection um with that um I would turn it over to um I believe Matt um from HDR who is here who will um basically go over the design uh once again thank you
Jeff uh so again I'm Moldi i I work with HDR and I've been supporting uh the city on the development of the design of this project um as Jeff mentioned um converting it to a one-directional street uh allowed us to widen the sidewalk on the western side of the
street uh directly adjacent to the children's museum um and then you know with a little bit of the extra space that uh we've always been intending on widening the sidewalk on the eastern side where the existing sidewalk is uh to provide that additional space to pedestrians um and then to uh slow down
vehicular traffic along the corridor uh we've implemented a series of speed humps and raised crossings uh one race crossing at the intersection of Congress Street and Sleeper Street and the other race crossing uh over at Martins Park um where there's an existing crosswalk to
get from the east side of Sleeper Street to the west side of Sleeper Street uh approximately in the vicinity of the um bus loading zone uh that kind of get lets people drop off near Martins's Park in the Children's Museum um since that time really nothing has
changed geometrically um since our last uh presentation at uh PIC uh so not much to say in that way um I think that's really it yes um and and I I'll just jump in um I mean there were a number of questions um
that were raised um at the last public um at the last um new business um hearing for Secret Street some of the concerns in terms of um the improvements that we're proposing um we're still working um with the the residents in the community um but however I mean we we think at this time I mean moving forward
with the current current design understanding that our our improvements will not preclude um specifically the removal um of the north northbound hunter lane um in the final design which is something that that has been um ultimately discussed with the community um it's mainly pavement markings um and
we'll be working to um resolve that and hopefully um maintain the design as it currently is um thank you uh everyone for that and uh appreciate the review of this um you know I just want to before we get into
kind of questions and discussion I just want to um take a moment to acknowledge the um you know the the tragic death of uh Gracie uh last year uh at this location and um just express my appreciation to the project team for uh
you know taking the time uh in the subsequent period to uh review and revisit aspects of the original project to look for those opportunities to make something that is even safer and hopefully will ensure that uh no one uh
ever no other family ever has to experience a tragedy like the one that um that that happened here so uh it just you know most of our most of the projects we do are kind of more routine or typical street design and in this
case um you know there's a there's a a really important backstory of a young life um that was lost here and I just uh want to express again that that um that gratitude and I think the sense of commitment that I and so many people at
the city who have worked on this have to um really doing everything we can here to uh address the the history and the and the the the tragedy that took Gracie's life so um thank you for that
um with that commissioners questions comments hi Jeff this is Denise Davlin from Boston Motor Water and Sewer i just had um I know before we previously made a comment about u so that 30-inch water man we have that is old and looks like
this there might be a tree or two on top of a lot of pipe um I don't know if this was discussed at the last meeting um I don't believe it was raised um at the meeting we did receive comments in terms of um the existing or the proposal of trees along the corridor uh we we are
working to um mitigate any of those issues um I think on Congress Street we are proposing um shallow rooted trees um in in the area where the um Boston water and sewer utilities are um we can ultimately do the same here um just to
make sure that you mean your your infrastructure is not impacted um there are existing trees um I want to say on the west side um where Martins Park is um so I believe you're referring to the one on the east side um adjacent to the um driveway i don't know if Matt
if you can kind of shift over to the next sheet um yeah one street yeah yes so that one right there yeah so yeah we'll we'll we'll take a look at it as part of um the design and
ultimately I think the intent is to to propose um a tree with shallow roots here okay yeah and then the the one uh if you go to like the the right of the the same on the same page it looks like there's one that's uh close as well at that location at this location um
yeah okay yeah as as you can see like there are trees that are currently here so those trees would be removed um and yeah we we'll take a look at what kind of type of tree we can propose here but um the intent is to provide some type of uh greenscape here as well
okay yeah so one's station uh 402 and 403 okay yeah thank you no problem thank you Denise okay we'll take a look at those commissioners other
questions jeff could you just you you mentioned the um you mentioned the bike lane and uh just you know for a little bit of clarity my understanding is that there's uh still a question about the directionality of the bike lane that will be here um that taking that space
because this is now will become a one-way street it's necessary to take a portion of what had been road space and um designated for something else so that the travel lane uh for vehicles remains at a reasonable width and does not encourage speeding on the street um I
think there's a question about whether that is a contraflow bike lane in the opposite direction of traffic or a uh a bike lane that goes in the same direction as traffic uh in the event that this is uh a si a a bike lane that
moves in the same direction of traffic am I correct that there are some minor changes to the plans that would be submitted as part of the final myars um and if so can you point out what those are uh in the on the plan set
yes um so uh thank you chief um ideally yes i mean the intent is to propose a northbound um contraflow bike lane um as part of these improvements um ultimately as you expressed I mean we want to narrow the travel lane widths um
to ultimately reduce speeding along the corridor what we find and understand is that the wider the travel lanes are you mean the the the the easier or the more opportunities um drivers have to speed um with the speed humps um this would
you mean greatly u kind of impede that however um we in terms of where the the the vehicles are able to navigate and maneuver um I think we we ultimately want to narrow that space um which is why we would be providing um that space for the contra to accommodate that that
that additional space that um would that was provided with the the laying reduction or the the um directional change um in regards to the changes u it's mainly pay markets payer markings is not um it's not contingent in terms of
approval for PIC however um curb line changes are um I think what we're looking at for the submission of the final myars um when we kind of hear back from the community in terms of um how they want us to proceed um u Matt Matt if you kind of shift over to the next
sheet um ultimately I mean it could be just simply the removal of um those um median islands um at the location of the sleeper street and u seo boulevard so those ultimately would just go um which
is a minor change that we can kind of submit um once we kind of um resolve um this issue with the community um we have um leadership has met with the seport neighborhood association as well as um representative norm um and you mean we've provided um under a better
understanding and description of how the con flow bike lane would function in the configuration of the roadway um with with um in reflection to the the intersection uh we've al also shared a number of other locations where contro bike lanes were implemented to kind of
show um how safe they are and and safety benefits that um we are that that would be gained um with this design so um that's ultimately um the the changes that we could implement um at a later date okay got it so so just to confirm right the the um if if this is a uh a
bike lane the traditional bike lane that flows in the direction of traffic the only modification we would expect to see is the removal of these uh islands that are located currently in the right of way um and otherwise from the perspective of the PIC curb line changes
uh will remain there will be no further curb line changes or other adjustments to the constructed elements of this obviously pavement markings which are not in our purview would be uh adjusted appropriately as well that is correct okay great uh thank you Jeff uh I want
to recognize we we'll get to public comment in a second i want to just recognize Dolores though uh on behalf of the public works department um uh go go ahead Dolores oh Dolores do we I see you have your hand up did you uh want to speak to
something sorry um yes so a few things um this site is very personal to me i took my 13-year-old there every Friday when it was free and I had a membership for my 5-year-old so I was there all the time i was also a resident of South
Boston so I parked on Sleeper Street all the time um and every time I made that turn I held my breath because I felt like I was going to kill a child i strongly advocate for a signalized intersection if possible even those like
flashing yellow yield stop lights something there it's a blind corner you have metered parking that also resident parking there people pull over you can't see it's all like babies to sixyear-olds
just running across the street they have no idea if it's going in one way i would strongly coordinate with the children's museum whom I used to work for and that's where they get all their deliveries so they have they're like
going back and forth on both sides of the street there's also a garage there for underground parking um so it's a hot mess and there's children running around everywhere but just wanted to say that I advocate for like a button you can press
to flash to signalize like hey stop there is a child here because the the hours of operation of the MFA it's just wild over there and very unsafe for children thank you Dolores for that before um I I
was not sure if that was uh if you had your hand raised as a as a kind of resident commenter or as a um as a as as a member of the city staff so I appreciate that comment just before we before we open it up to and I'm happy to
let the project team speak to the design of the intersections and the evaluation of signalization that was done but um before we open it up for that kind of public comment period I want to just confirm that there's no more commissioner uh comments and then see if
uh PIC staff has anything they'd like to say and then we can kind of officially shift into the public comment period all right hearing none from commissioners todd anything you'd like to uh add before we move to the official public comment uh no um also I've been
in touch with the project team and I think we have an understanding as to you know what tweaks to the plans might be needed before myar but um no absolutely no concerns for mayor at this time okay um just uh Jeff is there anything you would want to say just on the
signalization question that was that was just raised and then we'll just take public comment um as as we go so if you have something you'd like to say uh please please raise your hand um using the raise hand function in the chat um yes thank thank you chairman u thank you Doris Doris for your um for your
question um this is something that we considered um thoroughly um in regards to the analysis of um our sleeper street redesign um we looked at do you mean the the benefits and the cons in terms of um proposing the traffic signal or even um an R RFB at this location um to
determine which approach would ultimately be the best design to improve safety um a traffic signal at this location um ultimately we would be unable technically unable to propose a race crossing at that location um ultimately we want this this this
intersection be to be prioritized for pedestrians um when vehicles are driving onto um onto Congress Street from Sleeper Street at this location they will be required to slow down they were required to stop um ultimately because of um the
elements that are in the street um to that ultimately just just hinder impeding them from kind of just driving right through it um we understand that the the intersection will not function as it currently does today um Matt if you kind of shift over to the to the intersection of Congress and Sleeper
kind of zoom in a little bit yes so this ultimately u won't function as as it currently does today um with we're able to widen the sidewalks that provides any more um visibility um and sight sight distance for vehicles to see pedestrians um on the west side as well as the east
side we are shortening the crossing um that pedestrians are going to be within the roadway at this location um it ultimately it it it essentially amounted to um us making this a pedestrian space and not um a space where pedestrians have to be um waiting for vehicles to
pass by or um I mean depending on on pedestrians to have compliance to to the signals in order for them to cross this is a space that's prioritized by for pedestrians and pedestrians will always have the priority at all times of day um so
ultimately if if pedestrians are in this are in the roadway vehicles are going to have to stop they're gonna have to slow down before entering this intersection and that's ideally what we wanted to maintain in terms of our design um I believe Dan Merrill may be here and I I'll probably call on to provide a
little bit more um um details in terms of um the design approach for not including the signal here um as well as the benefits to the safety that we were able to um uh accomplish with um this current design uh sure thanks Jeff um there was one
piece that you got wrong there but the rest was pretty good and you mentioned that the vehicles will have to slow down every time a pedestrian's there um and that is incorrect the design as we have put here vehicles have to slow down every time they go through this part of
the intersection regardless of whether or not there's a pedestrian there it works 24/7 it works all the time it does not matter if there is a person there or not the design that we are putting here is the absolute safest design for an intersection that we can do that still
allows vehicles on Sleeper Street um a signal will not make it safer the raised crosswalk that's doing the work all the time will the increased visibility from the sidewalks will make it safer this is a good design that offers the maximum
amount of safety that works all the time regardless of whether or not someone is using the crosswalk regardless of whether or not someone is paying attention in the crosswalk and regardless of whether or not the drivers of vehicles are paying attention as well it just will work all the time for
everyone thank you Dan all right um I think we're Todd do you want to MC the comments sure you are um Francine I believe you were first please go ahead introduce yourself um
and give us your testimony thanks for taking my comment um I'm an architect for the circuit executive at the Moley Courthouse um me and three other people are in charge of all the buildings for the first circuit so I
just wanted you to know what my role is but actually I'm speaking not so much on my role at the Moley courthouse but more this is a personal comment so I didn't want to mislead um just wanted to bring the awareness uh typically mid-March to
mid June is B is um nesting season for birds and so if you are going to be removing trees in this area I would just like to raise the awareness that you don't remove trees um between mid-March to mid June so you
give the bird if there are any birds nesting in these trees you give them a chance to uh fletch i just wanted to bring that forward it's a critical time period for our birds in the northeast and so if you're going to remove trees from this location if you cannot remove them
during that period that would just be terrific that's basically it thanks for taking my comment thank you um yeah we're we're all we'll we'll we'll take a look the trees ultimately get planted um during um two times during the year i believe
it's um early fall uh or um early spring um ultimately to to to promote the survivability of the trees that we plant um and and hope that they thrive um the trees along Sleeper
Street we were looking at maintaining a um all of them for the most part um however because of um the the planter and the way the trees are uh planted in that space all the roots are kind of intertwined so they were there were trees that weren't um the healthiest um
that we were going to remove however removing one we would have to remove all of them um so that's kind of where we where we kind of landed with um those existing trees here and of course as you can see here we're also proposing that that that significant crossing that we need to provide for Martins Park um to provide access um to the other side of
the street so that you need should people want to cross the street here and not have to cross um across the the children's museum's um loading dock they can they can cross at this location so understood um we will um work with our contractor to ensure that um that we're
not um impacting that nesting um nesting period can you please share that with us um sure it's primarily mid-March to mid June that you get most of your birds nesting and you know a birds in a nest
have no way to get out of there if you're tearing down a tree so if you can not rip down the trees between mid-March and mid June then you give them the chance to survive so it's just a great time period to always be aware of to
never be taking trees down mid-marchch to mid June that's the critical time period okay thank you we can we can make note of that um for our for our construction thank you thank you great um I see Tom ready with your hand
raised please go right ahead Tom yeah thanks Todd tom ready a resident at 21 Wormwood in South Boston and uh a member of the Fort Point Neighborhood Association so uh I just want to uh go on record uh the neighborhoods in support of the project as designed uh
Jeff we'd appreciate closing out the loop um with regard to the positioning uh and the direction of the bike lane and I know you're working with Norm from Seabard but please wrap us in as well um uh chief we appreciate all of the extra effort that the uh that the streets team
has done with regard to community outre meetings that that were held and even the inperson uh where yourself and members um join join the neighborhood uh at the museum so in in support uh and looking forward to the construction
getting started thank you thank you Tom uh Seth Jaffy please go right ahead hi again Seth Jaffy i'm um live on Sleeper Street and I'm on the dockside board and I don't want to take a lot of
time also supportive just I wasn't aware of the prior meeting so I missed it and I'm not sure where we ended up landing there at the last sort of public presentation there were discussions about maximizing efforts to retain resident parking and maybe and there
were issues about like resident parking versus church parking and discussions about moving perhaps church spaces around the corner onto Seport Boulevard just want to there wasn't any discussion about that today like how many spaces we've
been able to preserve how close are we going to be to the existing conditions in terms of number of spaces and where that all landed thanks thank you Seth uh Matt you mind um shifting over to the next Oh well actually further down the street towards
Yeah closer to CO Boulevard yes thank you um uh thank thank you for your question um yeah happy to to happy to discuss it um we've been um ultimately working with our um commission of disabilities um in regards to um the um
OSAP spaces that we need to provide along the corridor i believe there were either two or three um on the street um ideally what we're going to do is we're planning on shifting those closer to the crossing um according to ProAG um the
the the handicaps parking spaces need to be um close to um the the pedestrian rooms to provide access for person with disabilities to ultimately access the sidewalk um the spaces for the church um will ultimately shift um to the left of
that um I believe there's two spaces um I think the intent is to maintain those spaces is we are not looking at relo relocating or allocating any of those spaces along um Seport Boulevard they will be maintained um on Sleeper Street i'm sorry I don't mean to take more time
just where does that leave the number of resident spaces that are not church not handicapped as compared to with the number today um so uh I I can't I can't touch base on the specific number of the spaces um uh
in terms of in terms of the handicap and the the authorized spaces but um ultimately we're maintaining 16 spaces along the corridor um if it that might be resident that might be resident spaces but 16 spaces um ultimately we had to
um remove four um along the corridor but those are um the ones that are opposite from the children's museums loading don in order to allow access um to their operations which happens you mean ultimately 24 um hours a day i mean like I think they have um trucks that are
loading um midnight and even after that time so ultimately we weren't able to kind of maintain those spaces at that location uh Tom if you want to go ahead and jump back in yeah thanks Todd so um Chief and team um in in the new business hearing
parking was raised for the entire project um and it was u probably rightfully identified as something that PIC doesn't weigh in on uh that um the streets team would engage community on um we're still waiting on that engagement and Seth's questions go right
to the heart of the matter in terms of uh what's the total number of parking that's going to be available and um how is that curb use going to be managed in terms of resident reserve for handicap reserved for church or other special uses reserved for truckloading etc so we
would appreciate that engagement and that would help us um explain to our neighbors um exactly what changes to the curb are going to be um how it how they can best react to that so uh thank you well thank you Tom um yes so um I did
get confirmation um it's 16 resident spaces on um secret street that we are maintaining so we are losing three um in total um and in regards to the conversation with the community about um parking just for the entire project um
that is still a process that we're kind of going through and working through i will say that we have made some substantial progress um in um finding the space to reallocate the parking that we're removing on um a street um due to you mean the widening of the sidewalk there to provide access to to proof
accessibility or actually provide accessible um space along that sidewalk um to shift those to Meltzer Street so um Pat has been working with uh Pat and BTD have been working with um the the property owner um of the building the building um that currently had a number
of of loading docks that were being closed or converted um to windows um we we're going to be able to provide um sidewalk space there as well as um on street parking space there as well so we need to make those residential um so we are that that is providing a substantial
amount of spaces um um that um that we're losing on a street um 16 to 16 total spaces not okay I'll get back to that but um so yes so that is um so yeah so we we are making um we are making headway on those on replacing those
spaces thanks Jeeoff we're not I'm not trying to take this down the rabbit hole of parking i I recognize it's not um responsibility of pick to get that to that level of detail i'm just asking that the streets cabinet um complete the work engage community so we can have
this conversation right thank you uh thank you Tom and thank you Seth then yes you we will um reconnect uh with the neighborhood association to review the kind of totality of the parking regulations along in the area affected
by this um and discuss you know where there's any outstanding questions to the points that Seth raised right there's a bunch of different regulations um going on uh along Sleeper Street and looking at the church uh side of it making sure we're minimizing any parking loss
associated with loading dock access for the Children's Museum and that we're kind of reviewing the full package of regulations both in the um Sleeper Street area as well as uh the other parts of the project that Jeff uh mentioned and I think that conversation
had been delayed because we were trying to finalize some of those elements on Melture Street that Jeff just referenced and so we wanted to be able to come into that conversation with clarity on sort of the the big picture and where we think we stand so um but we will get
that scheduled and uh appreciate that that remains a a crucial issue throughout this project area all right seeing no other raised hands um last chance if anyone would like to comment
seth Seth gives a thumbs up for the record okay all right um with that do I hear a motion to approve public hearing number two i'll make a motion to approve a joint petition by the city of Boston public works department and the city of Boston Transportation Department for the making of specific repairs in Sleeper Street
Conger Street and Seeport Boulevard as read into record by the chair second all in favor i I Any oppose or abstain so moved all right team let's get this built
thank you Chief thanks Jeff thank you Richard thank you very much all right uh on to our next agenda item public hearing number three on a petition by the city of Boston parks and recreation department for the making of
specific repairs within the following public ways in Boston proper consisting of curb and sidewalk reconstruction as well as new and relocated specialty pavement street lighting infrastructure storm drain infrastructure street trees planters landscaping walls peers fencing
street furniture and a fountain Broadway generally between Melrose Street and Fet Street Charles Street South Melrose Street generally between Broadway and Charles Street South Fyet Street generally at Broadway Charles Street South Charles Street South generally between Melrose Street and Broadway/Fet
Street this was new business on March 27th as shown on a set of plans entitled City of Boston Public Works Department Engineering Division Spacific Repair Plan broadway Bay Village Neighborhood Park Bay Village Boston five sheets dated October 21st 2024 revised March
3rd 2025 with the proponents please introduce themselves their affiliations and give us a update on any changes since your last hearing good morning everyone um thank you for your time today i am Priyanka Pinkina
project manager at Austin Parks i am joined today by our design consultants sean uh Sanger and Jim Her from Copywolf Design Group and Fed Fred Hila from Hancock Associates um since the last hearing uh there had been no changes to
the plans um we had been asked to uh coordinate with um uh Chong uh for the maintenance agreement um I just want to note that there is already a maintenance agreement in place and park m parks maintenance department currently uh
maintains the park uh but I will be meeting with Chong to update the agreement uh based on the new improvements um I think that's all we had for comments from last time commissioners questions PIC staff or members of the
public oh we are all set on this one all right with that do I hear a motion to approve public hearing number three i'll make a motion to approve a petition by the city of Boston Parks and Recreation Department for the making of specific repairs in Broadway Melo Street Bay Fat
Street Charles Street South as read to record by the chair second all in favor i any oppose or abstain so moved on to Thank you very much thank
you yeah uh and Priyanka I think there's still some coordination to be done between uh public works uh street lighting and the parks department about the sequencing of this and the related public works project so um we'll just make sure that that happens before uh
either of us moves too far ahead with the next phase of this right we're continually working with um all those departments to um make sure we're not falling over each other excellent all right thank you all right thank you all right on to public hearing number four on a joint petition by
Alustin Fasa owner o hotel owner LLC and the president and fellows of Harvard College for the widening and relocation of the existing rightofway lines of Western Avenue Public Way Brighton as well as for the acceptance of a public way easement located on its
southerntherly side generally at address numbers 20 to 50 between Trotting Avenue and Milestone Street this was new business on March 27th as shown on a plan entitled city of Boston public works department engineering division widening and relocation plan 20 and 50
Western austin one sheet dated February 3rd 2025 would the proponents please introduce themselves their affiliation provide us a very quick reintroduction to the project and then let's uh and then uh any updates as it relates to
this specific action good morning everyone chairman uh members of the commission thank you for taking the time to review our project again my name is Rohit Jawan and I'm with the development team at tish inspire we are developing the enterprise
research campus in partnership with Harvard University I am joined by my colleagues and our consultant teams from niche engineering and nutter we'll take the group through the updates since the hear since the last hearing for the proposed improvements
along uh 2050 and 117 Western Avenue uh firstly David Leardoni from Nutter will be taking us through the updates on the Eastid framework uh followed by Deborah Danik from Nich who will take us through the design updates with that I'll pass
it on to Deb thanks Robert um oh sorry yeah I'm going to pass it over to David but just a quick thing um we are asking for uh the next two actions in order to facilitate upgrading the existing roadway and sidewalk infrastructure within Western
Avenue in front of um the project in order to get in the streetscape improvements and roadway improvements that we want um part of public facilities will be located within the private site so David can speak a little more specifically about those requests
for the uh next two items of the public hearing thank you Deb um so the the past two weeks we have been working in close consultation with uh PIC staff to make sure that the um the easement framework
that we uh have agreed to for the improvements on the private lots is uh consistent with the the city's needs and the um public realm benefits that this uh these improvements will bring so what we have before you here are um two
different plans showing the easements that would be granted to the city um this first plan is a uh widening and relocation plan and shows a uh public way bike lane easement uh that's
cross-hatched in blue um this will be the the location of uh a the cycle track that will cross over the um uh both the lot to be owned by Harvard and the and the lot that um Tishman Ground lease is
to um accommodate uh passage by bike bicycles and other personal mobility devices um if you go to the the second uh plan is the pedestrian easement plan
um it's uh very similar to the plan you just saw but the uh pedestrian easements are now cross-hatched and and run parallel to the uh public way bike lane easement above um and again this is uh
limited to you know pedestrian sidewalk purposes um that's right next to the the cycle track that will be constructed by uh the petitioners um this easement also includes the the small easement pedestrian easement area on the north
side of Western Avenue um that's within the uh 117 Western Avenue property uh Harvard Business School uh we've we we really appreciate the time and effort that uh all the teams have put in to to
come up with this framework and uh we feel it's a it's it's a good solution and um has you know fits fits the needs of of PIC and also the uh Tishman and Harvard so with that I'll turn it back to Deb to go over the actual um design improvements that we'll be implementing
on the site yeah I think um if the commission wants to hear about those now I can talk about them now or wait to the specific repairs yeah let let's let's take it let's take it one action at a time but I appreciate the um the overview and the um and the
specific detail on the easement um uh the way that the easements landed um just keeping on this action for now commissioners questions comments as it relates to the easement all right hearing none PIC staff or members of the
public um I'm all set with this one certainly appreciate the project team's time and effort on all of this i know it was uh we didn't have a whole lot of agreement at the beginning but uh we got there at the end so um thank you for your time and on that all right with that do I hear a motion
to approve public hearing number four i'll make a motion to approve a joint petition by Alustin Phase A Hoteler LLC and the president and fellows of Harvard College for the widening relocation of Western AB is read into the record by the chair
all in favor i I I Any opposed or abstained so moved on to public hearing number five on a joint petition by Austin Phase A Hotel Honor LLC and the president and fellows of Harvard College for the acceptance of pedestrian easements
adjacent to Western A public way Brighton located on both sides generally at addresses number address numbers 20 to 50 and 117 between Trotting Avenue and Milestone Street this was new business on March 27th as shown on a on
a plan entitled city of Boston public works department engineering division pedestrian easement plan uh 2050 and 117 Western aston sheet dated February 3rd 2025 would the proponents please reintroduce themselves and their
affiliations and I believe we've already walked through this but um just any further comments on the pedestrian easement portion of this action thank you commissioners my name is Deborah Danick i'm with Niche Engineering i'm also joined by David
Leardoni from Nutter um as we previously mentioned as part of the improvements within Western Avenue we're requesting a pedestrian easement along Western Avenue um adjacent to the private sites there are two land owners within this area one
um which is Tishman Spire and another one which is Harvard um also across the street on the northern side we're requesting a pedestrian easement in order to facilitate a new bus stop that will be placed there um this land over here is also a Harvard
property thank you very much to um the staff Todd and Chong for working through this with us and being able to meet to to get to this layout thank you commissioners questions comments pic staff or members of the public
all set do I hear a motion to approve public hearing number five make a motion to approve a joint petition by Alton Phase A Hotel Owner LLC and the president and fellows of Harvard College for the acceptance of a pedestrian Eastman adjacent to Western to the record by the chair second
all in favor i i any oppose or abstain so moved on to public hearing number six on a joint petition by Alustin Fasa Hotel Owner LLC and the president and fellows of Harvard College for the making of specific repairs
within Western Avenue Public Way Brighton located on its on both sides generally at address numbers 20 to 50 between Trotting Avenue and Milestone Street consisting of curb realignment roadway and sidewalk reconstruction with structural soil as well as new and
relocated pedestrian ramps specialty pavement traffic signal infrastructure street lighting infrastructure storm train infrastructure street trees landscaping irrigation infrastructure mountable curb and protected bike facilities this was new business on March 27th 2025 as shown on a set of
plans entitled City of Boston Public Works Department Engineering Division Pacific Repairs Plan 20 and 50 Western Avenue Public Way Alustin for Sheets dated February 2025 would the proponents please reintroduce themselves and their affiliations and give us an update on
any changes since your new business hearing thank you commissioners my name is Deborah Danick i'm with Niche Engineering i'm also joined by representatives of both ownership entities our legal team and also VHB who's the traffic engineer on this
project um as we mentioned we're proposing um improvements to Western Avenue some of the comments that we heard at the new business hearing pertain to um a couple specific details one of which was at the Trotting Avenue intersection to install additional
tactile panels which we've added to the plan um another comment had to do with a rumble strip that we were showing proposed in between vehicular eastbound vehicular travel lane and the eastbound dedicated bus lane um we've removed that rumble strip but we've maintained the
red color and the red red painting for the bus lane only um area so that that would provide a delineation um other than that we did not receive any comments to our proposed plans all right commissioners questions
comments all right hearing none PIC staff or members of the public uh I think we're all set with this for now all right uh do I hear a motion to approve public hearing number six make a
motion to approve a joint petition by Austin Phase A Hotel Owner LLC and the president fellows of Harvard College for the making of specific repairs then Western Avenue is written to record by the chair second all in favor i any oppose or
abstain so moved thank you very much and appreciate the team's uh significant work with the commission on this i'm glad to see ush get this resolved great thank you so much all right with that on to public hearing number seven on a petition by Nor
Eastern University for the granting of a private utility license for the installation of new steam main infrastructure then the following public ways in Roxbury huntington Avenue generally at address numbers 360 to 400 northeast of Foresight Street for Street
generally southeast of Huntington Avenue this was new business business on March 27th as shown on a set of plans entitled City of Boston Public Works Department Engineering Division Private Utility License Plan 360 Huntington Avenue Boston 20 sheets dated April 5th 2025
the proponents please introduce themselves and their affiliations and give us an update on changes uh or uh topics uh discussed in your new business hearing absolutely uh good afternoon commissioners my name is John Llant i'm a project manager with Trion Engineering
and I'll be presenting on behalf of Northeastern University so picking up from our new business hearing uh we were asked to include as part of this project the rehabilitation of the sidewalk at the intersection of Foresight and
Huntington um so we added three new sheets i'll show those now uh to reflect some of the changes that will be made so ADA compliant ramps and the appropriate
uh grading uh along the sidewalk as long as well as the full replacement of the uh wire cut brick along Huntington A so we've got this sheet and then some detail sheets uh to show the specific updates there
uh we also have some construction notes uh to ensure that the sidewalk is replaced in accordance with ADA standards that is pretty much it for the updates as requested
commissioners um thank you Mr plan for um the project update and providing this restoration plan um the disabilities commission does have a few comments um on this
restoration plan um in order um for it to satisfy um our requirements um so we would like um the plan to show the reciprocal ramps um being reconstructed as well um not only for this
intersection but any other ramps that are being impacted um by the the steam line i think there are a few that are kind of further down the line um on size street um that the
steam pipe seems to be going through yes um those at the intersection here of Green Leaf and Foresight that's correct as well as um the crossing that goes across for sight at in the middle of the page if you go back to the previous page um
there's a midbot crossing um that's also being impacted by that ramp so we'll want to make sure that that's also restored as well as a reciprocal if it's not compliant um and then additionally um you'd like to see
the um the limits of work um for this for the restoration um shown on the plan um as a note and so if we use a note that's
acceptable um so if you go back to the intersection of for and that corner there um we'd like um you to show the limit of a sidewalk reconstruction okay
um and then additionally um we'll want to check with um Dolores who's also on this call that um the proposed brands meet our pro standards um so I think um these are items that you can maybe um
finish offline um in order to um ensure that um all your ducks are in a row for um permits that works for me all right commissioners any other questions comments okay hearing none pic staff or
members of the public allison Pinis please go right ahead yes hi good morning um my question probably should have been asked two weeks ago but um I thought um concrete sidewalks were
the uh city's uh preference um this is not a historic district i I know brick sidewalks on Huntington Avenue are um there's been a lot of controversy and um
maintenance is an issue um I'm just wondering if there could be uh 5 foot a concrete uh travel path and then a border with brick i not understanding why the preference is for
for brick again that's my question sure um I appreciate the question we were asked to restore the brick in kind right okay thank you thank you John but
I guess my question is for city staff because Okay disability staff of course is uh why why brick here i can um try to answer that a little bit you're correct in that the city's preference um is for
concrete um but bricks does um already exist at this location um I believe that we have asked in the past for this area to be restored in concrete however um I also believe that there is a master plan
for Huntington that does call for um the brick sidewalk and until that plan is um upended um the wire cut brick um is certainly better than what's out here um
so I think we're still continuing to have those conversations but you you are um 100% correct that um the disordance commission does prefer um the concrete path of travel um instead of the brick
right it just seems a waste of expense if uh the sidewalk has to be redone um I'm just wondering if there's a way we can um compromise and think about this a little deeper that's
all thank you okay any other questions questions comments all right um with that do I hear a motion to approve public hearing number seven make a motion to approve a petition by Northeastern University for
the granting of a private utility license in Huntington Avenue Forsize Street is read to the record by the chair second all in favor i i any oppose or abstain so moved
on to our next agenda item public hearing number eight on a petition by Madison Park Development Corp dba75 Dudley LLC for the acceptance of a pedestrian easement adjacent to the following public ways in Roxbury dudley Street on its southerntherly side at address numbers 75 to81 between Guild
Row and Kennallworth Street guild Row on its westerly side generally south of Dudley Street this was new business on March 27th as shown on a plan entitled City of Boston Public Works Department Engineering Division Pedestrian Easement Plan Guild Row 75 to 81 Dudley Street
Roxbury Boston one sheet dated November 13th 2024 the proponents please introduce themselves their affiliations and give us an update on any changes since your last hearing hello uh my name is Michael Joyce of Joyce Consulting Group with civil engineers for the
project um since last time you're looking at essentially the same plan uh we didn't receive any um requests for changes so we haven't made any changes um so it's the same uh plan that we've presented previously all right commissioners
questions comments i'm hearing none do I hear uh PAC staff or members of the public um we're showing the specific repairs plan i was wondering if we could just throw up the pedestrian easement plan for the record as that's the action we're considering right now perfect
sorry about that yeah no problem thank you all right do I hear a motion to approve of public hearing number eight i make a motion to approve a petition by Madison Park Development Corp DBA 75 Dudley LLC for the acceptance of a pedestrian easement in Dudley Street and Gild Road
is read into the record by the chair second all in favor i I I any oppose or abstain so moved all right on to public hearing number nine on a petition by Madison Park Development Corporation
DBA75 Dudley LLC for the making of specific repairs within the following public ways in Roxbury consisting of curb realignment roadway reconstruction as well as new and relocated pedestrian ramps specialty pavement street lighting infrastructure storm drain infrastructure street trees and bike
racks dudley Street at address number 75 to 81 between Guild Row and Kennallorth Street guild Row on its westerly side generally south of Dudley Street this was new business on March 27th as shown on a set of plans entitled City of Boston Public Works Department Engineering Division specific repair
plan 75 to 81 Dudley Street Guild Row and Dudley Street Roxbury sheets dated July 24th 2024 revised March 25th 2025 would the proponents please reintroduce themselves their affiliations and let us know if there are any changes since your
last hearing hello members of the board my name is Michael Joyce with Joyce Consulting Group civil engineer for the project um this is the same plan that we presented at the last hearing uh we had no requests for revisions uh and we have
had none since the hearing so uh we're presenting the same plan that we presented last hearing all right uh do I hear any Well commissioners questions comments excuse me right hearing none PSC staff or
members of the public no all set on this thanks do I hear a motion to approve public hearing number nine make a motion to approve a petition by Madison Park Development Corp dva75 Dudley LLC for the making of specific repairs within Dudley Street and Gil Grow is read to the record by the chair
second all in favor i I I Any oppose or abstain so moved thank you very much thank you all right that concludes the public hearing section of our agenda uh moving on to new business starting with
new business one Value Avenue Jones Avenue Doorchester specific repairs and a petition by the city of Boston public works department would the proponents please introduce themselves their affiliations and talk us through what you are proposing to do hi uh Thomas Jay here from the public
works department um we're petitioning for specific repairs at Balu at Jones Avenue i'm also joined by design consultant in the GPI Zach Wismouth um I'll let him introduce himself shortly u but I'll give a little bit of project background of of why this happened and what the larger project this is part of
um this specific location at at Jones at Balo um is part of a you know neighborhood uh state of good repair project we're looking to make improvements in the neighborhood here um it's the streets would be Jones Avenue Balo Avenue Jacob Street Mascot Street Dumont Street Willwood Street um this
project overall became it was a response due to the removal of the Jones Avenue pedestrian bridge um that bridge was removed and then uh recently um the rightway was taken away um so we've we've uh looked to provide uh improvements along the neighborhood um
those improvements consist of accessibility improvements safety improvements um adding additional street tree cabinet uh canopy throughout the neighborhood um we're looking to repave reconstruct sidewalks um and just conduct a general state of good repair throughout the area um at this specific location we're looking to do curb line
changes which is why we're um at um PIC for this positioning for this specific location um I hand over to Zach who'll go over the specific design details here um and go over the plan thank you Thomas uh as you can see here on your screen this is uh this is the
plan um as Thomas mentioned we're providing um uh pedestrian ramps and bumpout and curve bumpouts to kind of improve the geometry here site distances and provide uh crossings at all legs of the intersection um just a quick note um
we received a couple comments uh po from the original version that we um that we send from from today so just a couple quick up things that were updated uh we received some comments from National Grid regarding the uh the gas line here and the position of this uh drop inlet
this tree and this light pole and the concern of them being located uh too close to the gas line so the changes that you uh see here um are that we we bumped this um light pole over a little bit we shifted the location of this drop inlet and we actually ended up removing
the tree on this bump out but everything else here is the same we also just noted the discontinuence of the um of the Jones Avenue pedestrian bridge so you can see here um sidewalk improvements new sidewalk here the new tree plantings that Thomas mentioned we're using a resin bound aggregate for those tree
pits we have the new pedestrian ramps all designed to be ADA compliant and the bumpouts here for the curbs and some minor adjustments to the uh to the street lighting system as well as this uh the drainage connection which is very similar it just kind of kicked over a little bit and we were able to adjust
the the grading there um yeah I think that's about it the only other thing uh a comment that just came in yesterday was from the parks department and they just wanted confirmation on the um on the tree species and the warranty period as well as the uh the planting details
so um Thomas and I will be coordinating with them to make sure that that gets addressed we see those as minor comments that we'll just make sure that we um that we answer with them i think that's about it Thomas i don't know if there's anything else we wanted to add no I don't have anything further to add thank you Zach okay thank
you all right commissioners questions comments hearing none pic staff or members of the public all set all right uh excellent um with that uh will you be ready for your
public hearing in two weeks on April 24th yes all right excellent thank you both we will see you back here then sounds good thank you thank you all right on to new business to Commonwealth
Avenue Lake Street South Street Brighton Pacific Repairs on a petition by the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority the proponents please introduce themselves their affiliations and talk us through what you are proposing to do uh good morning uh commissioners it's uh hold on one second
i just want to make sure I Okay uh good morning commissioners i'm Dino Defranto senior municipal liaison for the MBTA Green Line Band short-term accessibility improvements project uh joining me is
the MBTA project manager Rafi Pasnet uh we have coordinated the whole process with chief engineer Todd Ryman uh currently uh no issues uh everything's been re resolved uh the
project is FTA funded and the work includes accessibility improvements on Carm Lake Street and South Street uh with that I will turn it over to Rabbi Bashnack the project manager for some technical uh information
thank you Dino uh good morning uh my name is Rabi Basnet and I'm the project manager for this MBTA project and the propose of this project uh like Dino said is to improve the pedestrian crossing along the B branch of the green line uh these improvements are designed
with safety accessibility and ADA uh compliance in mind uh the scope uh scope of this project uh uh is the de demolition and reconstruction of series of uh
pedestrian uh cur curb ramps along comb uh at lake street and south street uh the main elements uh being addressed uh as part of this project is the recent curb ramps as you can see there are like uh seven uh curb ra uh ramps at Lake
Street and there is uh and this is south south street we have four four uh four car brands so uh the current condition at Lake Street um the existing crosswalk uh spans from
comab and the green line tracks um and there is limited accessibility so as part of this project we are reconstructing the u the crosswalk um by um installing new new uh curb ramps um
at these locations so there are 1 2 3 4 5 6 seven curve uh new um curve ramps um and same thing uh at South Street we'll be doing the same thing upgrading and
installing new carb cur curb ramps at this uh crossings and the adjacent crossing um at the sidewalk yes that is it any All right that commissioners questions uh hearing none PIC staff or members of
the public i think we're all set on this one for now okay um great we'll be ready for your public hearing in two weeks on April 24th yes we will all right thank you very much we'll see you back here
then thank you everybody have a great day thank you you too thanks Dino all right on to our next item new business 3 88 Seapport Boulevard South Boston pedestrian easement on a petition by Seapport Square Development Company LLC with the proponents please introduce
themselves their affiliations and walk us through what you are proposing to do thank you and good morning members of the commission my name is Jotty Sanchez from Bolson and Stores i'm here on behalf of the petitioner Seapport Square Development Company LLC the master
developer of the Seapport Square project i'm joined today by John Schmidt from Niche Engineering uh we are before you today requesting uh approval of a pedestrian easement over a sliver parcel relating to the block D project of Seapport Square which project site is
bounded by Seapport Boulevard to the south Northern Avenue to the north Vanpier Boulevard to the west um a private way open and public travel and block F to the east uh this pedestrian easement uh over the silver parcel will complete a set of adjacent pedestrian
easements approved by the commission on March 31st 2022 at the time the silver parcel was owned by the MBTA that silver parcel has since been conveyed to the petitioner and accordingly we are now seeking the completion of the pedestrian easement area i'll now turn it over to
John to walk through the plan good morning John Engineering um as you can see it runs along the frontage of Parson D it consists of approximately um 1,200 square ft and you can also see if you look to the specific repair plans
that were approved back in 2020 this is how it is reflected on those specific repair plans there are no proposed design changes this is really just a house revised to bring everything into compliance with the agreements that WS has made
all right excellent um commissioners questions hearing none the IC staff or members of the public no all set on this all right will you be ready for your public hearing in two weeks on April 24th we will all right thank you very
much i'll see you back here then thank you so much byebye and now moving on to our final item of new business for today new business for Columbus Avenue Roxbury widening and relocations pedestrian easement on a set of joint petitions by Northeastern University and the Boston
Redevelopment Authority DBA the City of Boston Planning and Planning Department would the proponents please introduce themselves their affiliations and walk us through what you are proposing to do good morning Mr chairman and members of the commission uh my name is Joe
Connelly project engineer from our design husband uh I am presenting today on behalf of the proponents Northeastern University and the Boston planning department i am joined by Victoria Abalina of Northeastern and Maggie
Pitzilly from planning um so the portion of Columbus Avenue in question frequently referred to as the dog leg is located adjacent to Rugles Station and between multiple Northeastern University properties uh
but has been under Boston Redevelopment Authority uh now Boston Planning Department ownership since 1992 uh with a smaller portion contained within the 1155 Tremont uh parcel owned by Nor Eastern
um we are seeking approval for the widening relocation and extension of avenue for the segment roadway shown between uh Tmont Street and Nomia Cast Boulevard uh the total area being
granted is approximately 52,000 square feet uh this action will effectively create a new segment of public way connecting Columbus Avenue uh and Tremont Street uh in addition uh we are seeking
approval for a variable width pedestrian and highway easement uh for the 2640 square ft area shown here uh this space is only being ex excluded from the widing area to avoid uh potentially also
submitting petition for vertical discontinuences due to the presence of uh multiple existing building overhangs spanning the sidewalk um as you can see from the sections provided uh all of
these overhangs are over 20 ft above the existing sidewalk grade um based on comments from the parks department uh as well as the disabilities commission Nor Eastern's
attorneys are continuing to finalize uh license agreement language with PI's legal council uh regarding maintenance of some specialty items that will now be within the public rightway um we will also update our plans prior to our
public hearing uh to address PIC staff comments um regarding labeling of some of these features uh prior to our public hearing um I think that's about it uh with that
I will turn it back over to you thank you very much um apologies if you said this and I missed it but can you just speak to the plans as it relates to maintenance and uh ongoing responsibility for this area um especially given the unusual nature of
the street design here sure uh so I think the intent is for Nor Eastern to maintain most of the non-standard items uh that will now be within the right of way um but like I said most of that language is is just being uh squared
away by Nor Eastern's attorneys with with Chong and PIP Legal Council um I don't think it's finalized yet at this point but there is definitely been heavily made and just to clarify Victoria Aalina for Nor Eastern we are in agreement on all
items we have um agreed to continue to maintain all non-standard items uh including lights um and the city will um continue to plow it but um I don't
think we have any outstanding issues it's just a matter of finalizing the actual agreement okay and the and that that's great to hear thank you and the the maintenance the non-standard items I assume include the brick elements in the uh right of
way um that uh are part of the crosswalk and other parts of the streetscape correct the brick elements and the extremely customized lights from various decades and um Boston's design history
yes yes indeed um yeah usually when those come to us they get replaced with something far less bespoke so uh glad to hear that you will be maintaining those and that's definitely something we've discussed that as we upgrade or and work
with the city to upgrade certain parts of the sidewalk if we bring in the city standard light fixtures or when we bring in the city standard light fixtures uh the maintenance will be transferred
um to the city but this particular plaza has three different light types and none of them are standard mhm indeed um excellent well looking forward to the day when we uh can uh work together on a
future reconfiguration of this um for for many reasons so um but I think uh no no no other questions from me uh commissioners questions comments hearing none pic staff or members of the P Oh members of the
public allison go right ahead uh good morning again um actually this is quite confusing but I will try to um be clear with my questions um the uh plan I'm looking at
on the screen um the widening is in that dog leg portion I'm assuming um but I it's not clear to me um the maintenance question uh this came up earlier in the week at the tree hearing um whether the
new trees and there were going to be quite a few planted on the Columbus Avenue side whether those will be uh maintained by uh the university or um or or or the parks department um we I
thought I wasn't sure of the answer of that um and overall question is is the um traffic pattern on this dog leg is is anything changing with that or the
signal signalization etc uh so I will say that there's no physical improvements associated with uh these two petitions uh there is an adjacent project that is coming behind this process uh to provide specific
repairs um so that may be what the tree hearing is associated with uh but the the widening mentioned uh is strictly uh on paper um
and I'm sorry uh what was the second part of your question well about the u uh when you're talking about a future plan for the dormitory um my question was about the uh the future uh street trees that are getting planted
on the Columbus Avenue sidewalk um so whether those the maintenance of those but that's not part of this hearing is that what I understand that okay thank you and the widening is can you explain the widening again where that's
happening uh so there's there's no physical widening it's just uh property limits um so so this area shown uh is currently
owned by uh the planning department um right and it will be granted to the city instead alison Allison it's just Hi good to hear you uh it's just uh
technicality it's going from BRA to the city oh okay i understand that now okay sorry for not following closely okay thank you no worries no no worries and then the reason we are here is because that tiny triangle in front of the
international village it's northeasterns so we are contributing a part of our private property to make it a like a a regular shape for highway easement so it's going from
bar as it is it wasn't transferred to planning um to city so the city public works and um BTD will be uh enforcing regulations there i see okay but the maintenance agreement
is staying so we're going to continue maintaining all of the non-sptures and all of the trees in the plaza i see okay the 840 project BIC hearing will be in a couple weeks okay that's
helpful thank you so much no problem thanks thanks everyone i appreciate you all clarifying that and yeah it's sometimes sometimes the the the technical PIC actions seem more uh more more significant than they are in this case it's a it's a it's a legal
transaction more than any physical change but um appreciate that uh PAC staff any additional comments no this has been a long time coming um a lot of conversations between a lot of people um and uh I really really
appreciate the the diligence um between the planning department team Nor Eastern's team um my staff PSC legal counsel um I think a lot of people have been waiting a long time for this so um good to see it finally happen
excellent all right will you be ready for your public hearing in two weeks on April 24th we will excellent we will see you then and thank you very much and with that we have reached the end of our agenda do I
hear a motion to adjurnn i make a motion to adjurnn second all in favor hi hi we are journed see you all in a couple weeks thank you