Harvard-Funded Road Crossings in Allston in Limbo After 7-Year Delay

The Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation has yet to begin construction on two road crossings in Allston, seven years after Harvard committed $3.5 million for the project.

The two crossings, which would connect Allston to the Charles River via Telford and Everett Streets, were slated to begin construction in 2019. But the DCR said a series of procedural setbacks have prevented the agency from moving forward on the project, even as the cost of construction has continued to rise due to inflation.

The delays have fueled dissatisfaction with the community benefits process, in which developers commit to delivering funds and other amenities to the neighborhood in exchange for approval for their lucrative projects.

Though Allston has received tens of millions in benefits from Harvard and other private developers funding everything from affordable housing to park improvements, residents and advocates say it is difficult to ensure that these attractive promises come to fruition.

“From the viewpoint of a Allston resident, all that matters is that 10 years ago, Harvard and DCR and the city promised they were going to make it safe and accessible and pleasant to walk or bike from our neighborhood to the river and the parks there, and they still haven’t done it,” Allston resident and transit advocate Harry Mattison said.

“That’s a real shame,” he added.

The projects originated as part of a $43 million community benefits package in Harvard’s first 10-year Institutional Master Plan for its Allston campus, finalized in 2013. At the time, better river access — a longstanding neighborhood concern — was a significant focus of the benefit negotiations.

In Allston, residents are separated from the river and parkland running along it by a busy main road where car speeds can exceed 35 miles per hour. Four years after the IMP, Harvard announced that a portion of its funds would go specifically toward constructing the footpaths, which would better connect the neighborhood to the riverbank.

But while residents looked forward to an easier link between their homes and the river, the DCR found itself wrapped up in unforeseen hurdles that prevented the agency from ever beginning construction.

First, according to the DCR, the project was delayed due to issues with ADA-compliance and negotiations with a private landowner whose property abutted part of the bridge Telford Street, where the DCR intended to build the pedestrian crossing.

But the landowner sold the property to a private developer, who was in talks to fund a portion of the crossing on the south side of the bridge.

Now, the DCR claims to have run into complications related to the redesign of the nearby Artesani Playground parking lot. DCR wants to coordinate the two projects to avoid having to redesign the bridge.

A spokesperson for the Department of Conservation and Recreation said the Everett Street project may go to bid over the next six months, but the Telford bridge is expected to take longer. A Harvard spokesperson declined to comment.

Both the prolonged delays to the projects and the increase in scope raise questions about how far Harvard’s original $3.5 million will go. Construction costs have risen significantly since 2017, when the University first funded the project.

And in the meantime, Mattison said, the riverfront along Herter Park remains largely accessible just to cars.

“They signed a contract between the three entities,” Mattison said, referring to Harvard, the city of Boston, and the DCR. “It’s just as dangerous and unpleasant to walk from Western Ave in the neighborhood today as it was 10 years ago.”

—Staff writer Madeline E. Proctor can be reached at maddie.proctor@thecrimson.com.

—Staff writer Jack R. Trapanick can be reached at jack.trapanick@thecrimson.com. Follow him on X @jackrtrapanick.