Final conditions as planned for Casey Arborway project.
Transportation

Councilor Yancey Asks for Hearings on Casey Arborway

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At Wednesday's City Council meeting, Councilor Charles Yancey plans to call for an "urgent review of the impacts" on the city's neighborhoods from the giant Casey Arborway project. According to the hearing order, the District 4 councilor wants a series of public hearings on the traffic and environmental impacts of neighborhoods all along Route 203. There's nothing in the order about rebuilding a bridge instead of the planned at-grade series of roads. But people who are holding out for a bridge plan to lobby city councilors on Tuesday from noon to 3 p.m. at City Hall. The group will meet at 11:45 a.m. Tuesday at security in the lobby, according to an item sent to the social networking site Nextdoor.

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Transportation

Photos: Casey Arborway Construction Update

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Work continues on the massive Casey Arborway project. Here are three photos of this week's action. On Thursday, transportation officials announced their next set of "office hours" where they'll field questions from residents. The next set is Tuesday, April 21, 5:30-7:30 p.m. at Curtis Hall Community Center, 20 South St. See all our Casey Overpass/Casey Arborway coverage here.

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Environment

Forest Hills Tree Horror Should Have Happy, Green Ending

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Toole Square, Tuesday, March 17, 2015. Credit: Chris Helms

Residents, especially those not clued in to the massive Casey Arborway project, are expressing sadness or even outrage over the removal of 160 trees from around Forest Hills Station. What planners haven't done very well is explain that by project's end, there will be about 400 more trees than before the crews started cutting them down. The devastation is easy to see. It's to make way for new streets and reconfigured facilities as part of the razing of the Casey Overpass and switch to a network of surface roads.

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Environment

Crews Vow to Contain Casey Dust; Some Residents Skeptical

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State officials say there's no asbestos in the soon-to-be-demolished Casey Overpass. But that didn't stop some residents from prophesying doom. One man, convinced that crystalline silica won't be contained by methods outlined by the project team, thundered, "How dare you come in to Jamaica Plain and try to poison our children!" The beams of the aging flyover, whose paint may contain lead, will be cut down in pieces and trucked away, said Engineer Chris Evasius at a Monday informational meeting with the public at English High School. As for removal of the concrete, there won't be any blasting, he said.

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Transportation

Can Neighbors Sleep at Night During Casey Work? Builders Say Yes

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Just how loud will it be for neighbors as the state demolishes the Casey Overpass and replaces it with a network of surface roads? The state explained the project's noise limits during a public meeting Monday night. The limits set by MassDOT range from 75 to 90 decibels. Alex Kasprak of MassDOT explained there are two kinds of limits — one for ongoing noises like compressors and one for "impact" sounds like jackhammers. During what the DOT says will be limited nighttime work, the limits range from 62 to 80 decibels.

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Transportation

Casey Arborway Project Schedule: Feb. 17-March 6

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On Friday, the Department of Transportation sent out this list of what to expect from the next three weeks of the huge Casey Arborway project. If you'd like to receive these updates directly from the state, visit this sign-up page. The next public meeting on the project is March 9 at English High. Here are the details. And here's a story about the raucous first public meeting held on construction.

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Alex Kaspsrak of MassDOT speaks during an informational meeting about the Casey Arborway at English High School on Wednesday, Jan. 21, 2015.
Transportation

Westbound Lane of Casey Would Close in Late February

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The engineers' plan for the next 90 days of work on the Casey Arborway calls for both lanes of the existing bridge shunted to new surface roads by March. That's just one major takeaway from Wednesday's tumultuous meeting between the project team and an overflow crowd of nearly 400 at English High School. As many as half the people in the crowd sported "Forest Hills Needs a Bridge" signs, but the state officials running the meeting again and again said the session was about construction plans, not alternate designs. A committed group of residents, including some politicians, seeks to reverse plans to replace the bridge with a system of at-grade roads. Here are highlights from the plans for the next three months as presented by the Department of Transportation and their contractor, Barletta Heavy Division.

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Celebrating the reboot of First Thursday Art Walk at 668 Centre St. on Thursday, April 3, 2014.
Transportation

JP’s Malia Holds Out for Bridge Over Forest Hills

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As the neighborhood readies for the first public meeting about the construction details of the Casey Arborway project, one of JP's most powerful political voices still wants to see a bridge built instead of a network of surface roads. "I have hope," State Rep. Liz Malia, D-Jamaica Plain, said last week after the State of the City Address. "I never give up." The massive project will remake Forest Hills for generations to come. A public meeting is set for Wednesday at which the project team aims to introduce itself and dive into the details of the construction process.

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File photo: The crumbling Casey Overpass in Forest Hills.
Transportation

Casey Arborway Work Set to Begin Next Week

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The Department of Transportation just announced that work will begin next week on bringing down the Casey Overpass and replacing it with a network of surface roads. Click through for a list of the jobs expected to start next week. Here's the notice the DOT sent out late Friday afternoon:

Barletta Heavy Division, the Casey Arborway Contractor is tentatively scheduled to begin some preliminary work next week. Please see below a list that you may see beginning next week

Enabling / Start-Up Work Items Tentatively Scheduled For Next Week

Survey / Control

Set -Up Office

Mobilize Equipment and Material

Erosion Controls

Set-up Jersey Barriers – no traffic detours or lane takings

Begin Tree Protection along the Arborway

Perform CCTV Inspection of MWRA Section 72 Sewer

Perform CCTV Inspection of Stoney Brook Culvert

Setup VMS Boards and Temp Traffic Notification Signage

The massive project, which will remake Forest Hills for generations to come, was originally planned to take about two and a half years. A public meeting is set for Jan.

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File photo: The crumbling Casey Overpass in Forest Hills.
Transportation

UPDATED: Casey Arborway Construction Update Meeting Set for Jan. 21

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[Editor's note: Transportation officials moved this meeting from Tuesday, Jan. 13 to Wednesday, Jan. 21.]

The Department of Transportation is inviting residents to meet the team that will tear down the crumbling Casey Overpass and replace it with a network of surface roads. The first of many "construction update meetings" will be held Wednesday, Jan. 21, 6:30-8 p.m. at English High School, 144 McBride St.

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