Panel to discuss I-95 move history

Boston author Jim Vrabel lead a Sept. 28 panel discussion in Jamaica Plain about the famed fight to stop I-95 running through the neighborhood.

Vrabel will be joined by panelists Tom Corrigan, Ron Hafer and John Bassett, all former or current JP residents who were involved in the “Stop I-95” fight, in the Jamaica Plain Historical Society (JPHS)-organized talk, JPHS President Gretchen Grozier told the Gazette.

Vrabel will talk about his new book, “A People’s History of the New Boston,” which includes a chapter about the 1960s and ’70s fight to stop a plan to run I-95 through JP and other neighborhoods. Vrabel also spoke about the book earlier this month at a Jamaica Plain Forum event.

The panelists will talk about their roles and the roles others played in helping to start the Jamaica Plain Expressway Committee, which became part of the Greater Boston Committee on the Transportation Crisis. The coalition succeeded in stopping construction of the Southwest Expressway. Instead, the route became today’s Southwest Corridor Park and relocated Orange Line MBTA and Amtrak route.

Members of the community that may have been involved in the campaign at that time will be encouraged as part of the discussion.

The panel discussion will be held Sun., Sept. 28, 2 p.m., at Doyle’s Café, 3496 Washington St.

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