Allston Construction Mitigation Subcommittee notes, Monday, March 12, 2018

[kot...@aol.com]

The Allston Construction Mitigation Subcommittee met on Monday, March 12, 2018.  A core group of neighbors attended, as did Steve Borne of Boston Police District 14.  Ed LeFlore represented Harvard University. No one from City Hall attended. Because of the impending storm, the meeting was relatively short and included the following Harvard construction updates:

 

• After questions of height arose from the subcommittee, LeFlore clarified that the District Energy Facility is 63 feet tall (three stories) with mechanicals on the screened roof.  A 190 ft. steel stack will flank the building.  Steel erection is complete.
  
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• Excavation for the utility corridor that will eventually travel from the DEF to the new School of Engineering & Applied Sciences (SEAS) will begin within two weeks.  Trucks will enter and exit the site -- as they have been doing -- away from the neighborhood.
  
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• LeFlore said that the MWRA pipe running through the proposed Enterprise Research Campus site is 14 feet deep and inspected regularly.  The MWRA will require Harvard -- as the ERC process proceeds – to provide detailed plans on how to protect the pipe during construction.  The MWRA must issue final approval.
  
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• Harvard has chosen an ivy design for the scrim around the CSX property, where the current scrim is flapping in the wind.  The new scrim will be installed in April.
  
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• LeFlore reported that Boston Water & Sewer is reviewing utility connections that will go under Western Avenue.  Once that review is done, some lane narrowing may be needed on Western Avenue.  Timing TBD.
  

 

Police Update:  After a spate of B&Es last month, Borne reported that they have dropped in the neighborhood.  Other than a teenage skirmish at the Burger King, BPD had no other major concerns.

Ed Kotomori

Allston Construction Mitigation Subcommittee