Boston Street Work Map

To create the map, we first needed to get data on street work permits. These include occupancies, such as dumpsters placed at construction sites or moving trucks, and excavations, such as underground utility work. We pulled in the required data from the City’s permitting system and spent some time getting the raw data into a more understandable format. We encountered some limitations in the permitting data, such as that the address associated with a permit may not accurately reflect the full extent of the street or sidewalk that the work is occurring on. 

We then used mapping software to visualize the permits as points on a map, and added extra features such as popups for more information, permit type filtering, and the ability to view future and expired permits as well. 

The map went through many rounds of review from internal teams, who lent their expertise to help us understand the street permitting process and gave us feedback on how to display and communicate the data effectively.

Initial beta testing on the map went well, with testers mentioning the positive impact the map will have on the City’s transparency regarding construction. We also learned that internal teams find the map useful for coordinating their own projects, so we’re working on an internal version of the map that’s more tailored to how those teams operate.

Now that the Street Work Map is publicly available, we will monitor residents’ feedback on the map and make adjustments where we can to improve the user experience.

Longer-term, as the City makes changes to the technologies used internally for permitting, we plan for the map to show more precise work locations and other information that the current permitting system doesn’t capture.