CPUA Transit Policy Lecturer Terrance Regan Predicts Major Overhaul for Storrow Drive in Next Decade
Photo by Onjoli Palmer
Terrance Regan, a lecturer in Metropolitan College’s City Planning & Urban Affairs programs specializing in transportation and transit policy, recently joined WBUR’s Morning Edition to discuss the state of roads, bridges, tunnels, and subway stations in and around Boston, now and in the years to come.
His prediction? Bumpy roads are ahead.
The problem, he explained, is that no matter what, commuter assets all have their own, finite shelf lives. “Physical assets like bridges and tunnels and subway stations have a useful life,” Regan told WBUR. “A bridge typically is around 75 years. A tunnel’s is around 50 years. A subway station’s is around 35 years.”
That’s where the historical nature of Boston becomes double-edged, as the very thing that gives the city its charm adds weight to the cost of and need for its upkeep.
“One of the things to realize about Boston and Massachusetts, we have old infrastructure. You know, we started building things back in the 1630s,” Regan said. “Boston has the oldest subway system in the Americas. Those things age out. And what you need to do is have an aggressive program in which you preserve and rehabilitate your asset.”
One such asset in need of repair is the 75-year-old Storrow Drive throughway, which is currently seeing sections closed nightly during the summer for maintenance. But, Regan warns, this current makeshift solution will not forestall the need for greater efforts in time.
“This fix is only a temporary interim fix,” he said. “You know, the state is looking at the longer term. You’re going to have to totally rebuild it.”
As Regan predicts, Storrow will need a major overhaul within the next decade, estimating the process to take a year or two. But roads aren’t the only things in need of upkeep—aging subway stations across the city are also in need of renovation, particularly after the MBTA’s recent prioritization of lengthening the route of the Green Line.
“We went for a good decade or more with focusing on expansion rather than maintenance,” Regan said, taking issue with the policy calculus. “We spent $2 billion on the Green Line extension. At the same time, we spent almost nothing on fixing current the Green Line. I personally think we ought to spend most of our dollars on maintaining what we have rather than expanding.”
Ultimately, Regan explained, transit’s biggest challenge is managing the complexity of an urban environment’s ever-evolving needs. It’s the kind of problem MS in City Planning and MS in Urban Affairs candidates learn to address and resolve at BU MET. And, as Regan sees it, the problem won’t go away on its own.
“If you have to rebuild something every 30, 40, or 50 years and you have hundreds of those assets, you’re constantly going to be rebuilding” he said. “Think about if you owned 100 homes. You’re going to be replacing a roof every single year on one of those homes.”
And if the asset in need of repair is a major crosstown parkway like Storrow Drive, expect headaches.
“You’re going to be inconveniencing somebody with that kind of improvement,” Regan said.
Listen to the broadcast below.
For more, visit WBUR.