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Residents and board press developer on traffic, parking at Newport Ave hearing
Summary
Neighbors at the June 10 planning hearing repeatedly urged the board to expand the traffic analysis and to reduce surface parking at the Trammell Crow Newport Ave proposal; the board asked the applicant for additional parking data, peer-reviewable traffic modeling, and alternative parking strategies before Oct. 14.
Residents and several board members challenged the traffic analysis presented for the 100/150 Newport Ave proposal, asking that the study be extended beyond the immediate site to capture congestion at the Neponset River bridge and nearby arterial approaches. Steven Kinsella, an abutter, told the board the traffic study’s boundary was too limited and asked explicitly that the model include the bridge and surrounding ramps.
"The traffic study stopped at the entrance to go on to Ponceup, River Bridge...I'm asking that the VHB, can they extend it to include the New Ponce River Bridal and the impact that it has?" Kinsella said. The developer’s traffic consultant, Matt Keeley, said the team used a seven-intersection study area and peak-hour trip generation using ITE rates and that peer review is underway.
Multiple commenters also disputed the developer’s parking assumptions and encouraged strategies to reduce surface parking — including shared parking agreements, paid parking, and placing parking under buildings. The board requested comparative leasing and lease-up data from similar nearby developments and asked the applicant to return with empirical evidence from comparable projects about how parking demand evolved during lease-up.
