Some important safety changes are coming to one of the sketchiest places in the South End: the area under the I-93 overpass. Don’t just take our word for it being sketchy – a fatal stabbing occured earlier this year.
According to State Rep. Aaron Michlewitz, the Massachusetts Department of Transportation is working towards improving the area in hopes of finding another use for the space besides an empty gravel pit.
“We’re hoping that we’ll do some type of construction paving sometime in the early spring, within the month,” said Michlewitz. “And once they start moving forward on that they’ll have an RFP process on what should go there in terms of parking, or other potential usage.”
MassDOT plans to spent about $ 1-2 million improving the lot, by paving and putting in additional lighting, with the idea that it will help make it viable for developer interest.
With significant developer interest already secured in the area through apartment complex and retail developments on Albany Street, Traveler Street, East Berkeley Street and Harrison Ave, the corridor between the South End and the Broadway MBTA stop in the South End will have an increased importance.
“The Broadway T stop is closer to Harrison Ave and lower Washington than any other South End stops, and that surprises a lot of people,” said Rep. Michlewitz. “We want to make that as accessible and as friendly as possible.”
Michelwitz said the commuter interest in the corridor is a great sign of where the city has gone and is moving in the future.
“A lot of the barriers between neighborhoods have started to come down,” he said. “South Boston and the South End are two different neighborhoods, but they are working and collaborating with each other.”
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