Haul Road Redevelopment

The Haul Road is an abandoned railroad right-of-way running along Chelsea Creek in East Boston. This right-of-way is currently the site of a proposed truck corridor from industrial properties along Chelsea Creek to Logan Airport, allowing airport freight trucks to bypass surface roads. However, this proposal also promises to increase in vehicular traffic in East Boston and convert a public right-of-way into one controlled by a few companies. In this proposal, we reimagine the Haul Road as an extension of the MBTA’s Blue Line and envision how the expansion of a public transportation system can transform sites along its path.

History & Current Conditions

The modern Haul Road corridor was originally part of the Boston & Maine Railroad, which connected East Boston with the Northern New England coast. When that railroad became defunct, the railroad rights were transferred to the MBTA and the State of Massachusetts.

Today, the railroad runs parallel to Route 1A and a series of industrial and commercial properties, such as auto body shops and warehouses. In recent memory, the railroad has sat vacant and slowly decayed without offering much value to East Boston.

However, the Haul Road has recently become a topic of conversation in Eastie. There are currently two competing visions for the proposed Haul Road right-of-way: one vision for the truck route distributed by Haul Road proponents, and a vision for a pedestrian pathway and parkland created by the Harborkeepers and SCAPES.

Methods

We sought to evaluate the current conversation around the Haul Road according to land use, legal, environmental, and transportation considerations in our analysis for the site.

The right-of-way crosses a part of East Boston with a political and rapidly changing land use context. To start, much of the land between the right-of-way and Route 1A is owned by the logistics firm Cargo Ventures, which has a strong interest in supporting the Haul Road plan. Second, much of the land sits within a Designated Port Area (DPA), which sets limitations on which uses are permitted (even though many of the existing uses are not compliant and grandfathered in). Finally, local land uses are changing rapidly: the Suffolk Downs development is adding ten thousand housing units nearby and many oil tanks are being sold off and converted to new uses.

The right-of-way is also at a high risk of flooding along much of its length and has been identified in the Climate Ready Boston proposal as a site for a revetment to prevent future flooding. Through site visits, walkability analysis, and review of community meetings about this corridor, we found that accessibility is also a challenge on the site due to the busy highway and industrial properties nearby.

Site Planning Process

We propose that East Boston consider reverting this right-of-way back to its original use: a railroad. Through the Blue Line Extension (BLX), the Haul Road right-of-way can be used to improve connections between the commuter rail and East Boston, connect towns like Revere to rapid transit, and spur the creation of new housing in previously “sacrificed” industrial zones.

Furthermore, this rapid transit line allows us to envision how an efficient, sustainable, and public form of transportation can spur an alternative form of travel and development along the existing Route 1A. We ask: what happens when we orient policy decisions around the needs of East Boston residents rather than extractive and polluting corporations?