MBTA and City of Boston Announce First Phase of Community Engagement for Blue Hill Avenue Transportation Action Plan Redesign

First workshop today at 4 PM.

A total of six workshops and two open houses will be held May 29-June 27.

The MBTA and the City of Boston today announced a series of outreach events to kick-off the first phase of community engagement for the Blue Hill Avenue Transportation Action Plan, which will redesign the corridor between Warren Street in Grove Hall and River Street in Mattapan Square. Over the next few weeks, the MBTA and the City of Boston will host six pop-up workshops along the corridor and two open houses to collect feedback from community members about proposed bus stop locations, pedestrian safety improvement needs, tree canopy and green infrastructure, parking and curbside management needs, and biking access.

Feedback collected during this phase will inform the conceptual design for the corridor project, which will go through a subsequent round of community engagement in fall 2024.

“This redesign represents a historic investment for the Boston residents who live, work, and commute on Blue Hill Ave., and will make the corridor safer and more reliable for all modes of travel,” said Mayor Michelle Wu. “Before we finalize any designs, we want to hear from those who know this corridor best on what’s currently working and not working about curb regulations and other details. I encourage residents, commuters, and local business owners to join us in these workshops to get involved.”

“Blue Hill Avenue is an important segment of our bus network, serving thousands of MBTA riders every day and the neighboring community and businesses. Transforming Blue Hill Ave. to include dedicated center-running bus lanes will have a tremendous impact on improving the service and reliability of the 10 bus routes that operate through this corridor and ultimately the public we serve,” said MBTA General Manager and CEO Phillip Eng. “Public feedback is a critical part of the process, and we welcome riders to engage with us and the City of Boston at any of the upcoming pop-ups and open houses to let us know what’s important to them as the project’s conceptual design moves forward.”

Full schedule of community engagement events:


Event Type	Location	Address	Date	Time
Event Type	Pop-up Workshop	Location	Blue Hill Ave at Mattapan Square Bus Stop *	Address	1624 Blue Hill Ave @ Mattapan Sq	Date	Wed 5/29	Time	4 PM – 6 PM
Event Type	Pop-up Workshop	Location	Mattapan Branch of the Boston Public Library	Address	1350 Blue Hill Ave, Mattapan	Date	Thurs 5/30	Time	3 PM – 5 PM
Event Type	Pop-up Workshop	Location	Blue Hill Ave at Morton St Bus Stop *	Address	1168 Blue Hill Ave	Date	Tues 6/4	Time	4 PM – 6 PM
Event Type	Pop-up Workshop	Location	Blue Hill Ave Commuter Rail Station *	Address	Blue Hill Avenue Station	Date	Thurs 6/6	Time	3:30 PM – 5:30 PM
Event Type	Pop-up Workshop	Location	Walkway to the Georgia St Municipal Parking Lot (next to Flames Restaurant) *	Address	461 Blue Hill Avenue at Georgia Street, Dorchester	Date	Wed 6/12	Time	4 PM – 6 PM
Event Type	Pop-up Workshop	Location	Harambee Park *	Address	930 Blue Hill Ave, Dorchester	Date	Thurs 6/20	Time	5 PM – 7 PM
Event Type	Open House	Location	Mattapan Branch of the Boston Public Library	Address	1350 Blue Hill Ave, Mattapan	Date	Tues 6/25	Time	5:30 PM – 7:30 PM
Event Type	Open House	Location	Franklin Park - William J. Devine Golf Course Clubhouse	Address	1 Circuit Dr, Dorchester	Date	Thurs 6/27	Time	5:30 PM – 7:30 PM

Outdoor workshops are dependent on the weather and subject to change. Please check the MBTA or City of Boston project pages prior to the event for the latest information.

In addition to the schedule of community engagement events, the MBTA and the City of Boston are in the process of sending out a newsletter to approximately 23,000 households within the project area inviting them to provide feedback. Community members who are unable to join in at an event are also welcome to provide feedback online through the project survey available at mbta.com/bluehillave-survey.

To address previously shared community needs, the City of Boston is in the process of making a series of short-term improvements to improve safety, accessibility, and resiliency along the corridor, including but not limited to:

Refreshing crosswalk and pavement markings
Repaving damaged sections of roadway
Continued pothole maintenance
Reinstallation of the RISE Gateway statue (completed in early May)
Sidewalk repairs
Installation of speed humps on neighborhood streets
Installation of bus-shelter green roofs
Improvements to street lighting
Traffic signal changes to increase crossing times for pedestrians and reduce conflicts with vehicles

In February, Mayor Wu and General Manager Eng announced a historic investment in Blue Hill Avenue from Warren Street in Grove Hall to River Street in Mattapan Square to better serve bus riders, create safer conditions for pedestrians and drivers, increase the tree canopy, and install new amenities for a more vibrant small business corridor. Due to decades of disinvestment, Blue Hill Avenue riders experience poor road conditions and infrastructure. A new multimodal design will add a center running bus lane for tens of thousands of bus riders who travel on Blue Hill Avenue every weekday, and better define spaces for drivers and pedestrians creating a safer, calmer experience for everyone. The multimodal corridor redesign is supported by a $15 million RAISE Grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation and administered by the Federal Transit Administration (FTA). These funds, along with investment by the City and MBTA, will support the design and full reconstruction for Blue Hill Avenue from River Street north to Warren Street that serves the vibrant communities who live and travel along it.

The City conducted a yearslong community engagement process through which it collected more than 2,000 comments to learn what Boston residents want for Blue Hill Avenue and will continue to work with residents and local business owners block by block to determine the final design. The final design will aim to provide space for safe and efficient travel for all modes of transportation.

Blue Hill Avenue runs through Roxbury, Dorchester, and Mattapan, and serves 10 bus routes with some of the highest ridership in the MBTA bus system. During the week, more than 40,000 people ride buses on Blue Hill Avenue every day. Collectively, they lose 3,056 hours weekly stuck in traffic.

To learn more and sign up for project updates, please visit the MBTA’s Blue Hill Avenue Transportation Action Plan webpage or the City of Boston’s Blue Hill Avenue Transportation Action Plan webpage.