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Community Corner

Improvements Planned for Codman Island

What serves as an entrance to Beacon Hill for many pedestrians is also one of the most dangerous intersections in Boston. Codman Island is due for several safety upgrades.

The City of Boston will install a number of safety upgrades near the intersection of Beacon Street and Charles Street — the area also known as Codman Island — over the next several weeks. The city’s decision was no doubt influenced by the work of the Beacon Hill Civic Association’s Traffic and Parking Committee, which met Thursday night.

Most accidents at Codman Island occur late at night, when drivers heading towards Beacon Hill on the stretch of Charles Street between the Public Garden and the Boston Common are less likely to slow down. But the intersection can be challenging at any time of day — just last week, a tour bus knocked over a walk light in the middle of the afternoon.

Michelle Snyder represented City Councilor Mike Ross at last night’s committee meeting, and provided attendees with a list of planned improvements for the Codman Island area. Over the next few weeks, a new “Slow” sign will be added; new reflective striping will help make nearby signage more visible; two additional bollards, or barricades, will be installed; nearby pavement will be remarked; and three metered parking spaces on the south side of Beacon Street will be removed, to allow improved traffic flow.

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Following Snyder’s presentation, the committee spoke with Fred Peterson, director of facilities operations for the Massachusetts Convention Center Authority, about two key issues impacting Beacon Hill residents: parking availability during snow emergencies, and a recent change to the required exit time for overnight parkers.

In particular, attendees voiced concerns to Peterson about empty spaces within the garage at certain times. Why force customers to leave at 8 a.m., they asked, when so many spaces appear to be available up until the previous exit time of 10 a.m.?

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Peterson explained that the Boston Common Garage has a large number of monthly tenants, for whom spaces must be reserved at all times. In fact, of the 1,362 available spaces in the garage, monthly parkers pay for more than 700 of them. This makes capacity management a difficult operation, Peterson explained.

At the same time, Peterson acknowledged attendees’ concerns, and assured the committee that he would continue to engage the neighborhood in conversation on these and other issues, including parking validation systems for local business owners.

The MCCA might even explore the idea of expanding the Boston Common Garage’s capacity in the near future. “We have been thinking about that,” Peterson said, although no expansion plans currently exist.

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