MassDOT’s Casey Arborway plan to bring a six-lane, Melnea Cass-type highway to Forest Hills will entail the destruction of Shea Circle, the planted roundabout that has been part of the Emerald Necklace for almost 100 years. For admirers of Boston’s park system, Shea Circle visually integrates Franklin Park with the grounds of Forest Hills Cemetery. MassDOT wants to uproot the trees and lay out a huge traffic intersection to be called “Shea Square,” a cynical new name perhaps intended to connote urban plazas and shared public space. But a traffic intersection is not a public square, and a highway sliced through our green parkland strikes at the heart of what makes our community unique.
Our elected officials need to know how much we oppose this plan.
Owen Shows
Jamaica Plain
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I, for one, do NOT oppose the plan to re-make Shea Circle as a more traditional intersection called, "Shea Square." I live at Arborway Gardens, and so I have a front row seat for all the accidents and backups that are created by cars barreling into Shea Circle and ignoring other oncoming traffic. Also, as a dog walker in the area, I'd love to be able to cross over into Franklin Park, but Shea Circle couldn't be more unfriendly to bikes and pedestrians. Creating a signalized intersection would make crossing there so much easier. Additionally, there is so much wonderful green space in our neighborhood, getting better access to it far outweighs any loss of old growth trees currently in Shea Circle.