Large debris, fallen from a rocky ledge on private land, was responsible for a lane closure and a pedestrian detour on Centre Street between Allandale Street and the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Parkway earlier this month.
The Faulkner Hospital side of the road, including the bike lane and sidewalk, were closed from Jan. 15 to 20, while the debris was cleared from the area adjacent to Trinity Lutheran Church at 1195 Centre St. in the JP/West Roxbury border area.
During a Gazette visit the afternoon of Jan. 15, the sidewalk was closed while pedestrian traffic was diverted onto the bike lane. Vehicular traffic was no longer limited, though cars were backed up to Murray Circle.
The Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) has kept the pedestrian detour in place because the agency is “concerned about the stability of the private ledge that the debris came from,” DCR spokesperson Bill Hickey told the Gazette last week.
“The temporary sidewalk will remain in place until we are satisfied that these concerns have been properly addressed,” he said.
DCR was in charge of the cleanup since that stretch of Centre Street is a state parkway.
According to Hickey, DCR has been in contact with the city’s Inspectional Services Department (ISD) to advise them of the situation. ISD is the department that would address the ledge’s stability issues with the property owner.
A Gazette call to the mayor’s press office inquiring after the status of that referral was not returned by press time.
The Gazette was unable to reach James and Donna Cawley, the owners on record for 8 Brownson Terrace, the property directly above the source of the debris.
The pedestrian detour and lane closure on Centre Street caused by a large fallen stone on Jan. 15. (Gazette Photo by Rebeca Oliveira)