GREEN STREET GUIDELINES FOR ALLSTON-BRIGHTON

Project Background

in February 2007, the Allston Brighton Community Development Corporation (ABCDC) received a grant from the Department of Housing and Community Development to create design guidelines for green corridors, and hired CRWA as a consultant to develop design guidelines for pilot streets in Allston Brighton. Simultaneously the Allston Brighton Green Space Advocates (ABGSA), that CRWA is one of the founding members of, undertook a collaborative effort to analyze a set of streets in the Allston-Brighton, in order to select potential locations for green street retrofits.  A combination of factors including stormwater infrastructure challenges, auto and pedestrian mobility issues, and community interest led to the selection of three streets for in-depth analysis and conceptual design development for green streets. 

The streets selected for analysis were Everett Street, Market Street, and Brooks Street (See Map in Figure 5).  Each street runs predominantly north-to-south, with stormwater pipes that accept flows moving north to outfalls on the Charles River.  Each street has its own set of mobility and safety challenges that would be aided by the creation of a more pedestrian-friendly green street design. The design guidelines provide specific instructions that the neighborhood can incorporate into future redevelopment plans to improve streets for walkers and bicyclists, to make public parks more accessible, and to strengthen the overall open space network in the neighborhood.  

Pilot Green Streets in Allston Brighton. This map locates the three streets selected to represent three types of Green Streets for developing design guidelines

Project Tasks and Highlights 

Over the course of summer 2007 community workshops were held to engage the local neighborhoods and identify specific issues relevant to potential future street design scenarios. Considerations included which streets can accommodate bike lanes, which streets can accommodate street trees and other low-impact designs from the menu of green infrastructure available. 

Everett Street Workshop and Focus Group Discussions

Brook Street Workshop and Site Tour

Following an extensive site analysis process specific Low Impact Design (LID) opportunities were identified for each corridor based on which the guidelines were developed. These guideline are summarized in final Green Street Guidelines report (68 pages) in PDF format. The recomendations were als presented as part of the final Green Gathering presentation

GIS Mapping

CRWA's mapping capabilities are made possible through the generous support of ESRI, Inc. the makers of ArcMap software. CRWA regularly uses ArcMap for mapping, managing data, and conducting spatial analyses.

ESRI and the ESRI Logo are licensed trademarks of Environmental Systems Research Institute, Inc.