At the last community design meeting for the Casey Arborway project on Nov. 19, the state design team announced a slightly delayed schedule. A main hold-up has the Shea Square design, which is still under Massachusetts Historical Commission (MHC) review.
The project is expected to be put out to bid in late January instead of this fall as originally planned. The design team said they hope to begin work in May of next year.
Meanwhile, the project’s plan to replace Shea Circle at the Arborway/Morton Street interchange with a signalized intersection called Shea Square is still under review by the MHC.
At an Aug. 23 meeting with the state Department of Transportation (MassDOT), MHC representatives asked to see at least two alternatives for keeping Shea Circle instead, saying that the Shea Square plan would create an “adverse effect” to the Morton Street Historic District, which is listed in State and National Registers of Historic Places.
The MassDOT team was expected to submit its review packet to MHC on Nov. 20, after the Gazette’s deadline. The design team is proceeding assuming the Shea Square plan will eventually be approved by MHC.
While problems with the plan to turn Shea Circle to Shea Square would not necessarily halt the Casey Arborway project, it would likely cause further delays. The Nov. 19 meeting was delayed partly because of the MHC process, a design team member said.