Jamaica Plain Centre / South Transportation Action Plan
We're advancing efforts to improve safety, connectivity, and placemaking on Centre and South streets in Jamaica Plain. We're focusing on the stretch between Hyde Square and Forest Hills Station.
The City of Boston's Transportation Department (BTD) is leading this transportation action plan. Over the next year, we will work with the community to identify opportunities to:
- Improve safety for all who walk, bike, take transit, and drive on Centre and South streets
- Intentionally balance the needs of all uses and users, mostly using the existing width of the street between curbs
- Enhance the public realm, providing opportunities to comfortably and safely visit and linger in the area
During Fall 2024, we're hard at work issuing a Request for Proposals (RFP) for a consultant to help us with planning, design, and engagement. We'll spend most of 2025 having initial conversations with the community about your experiences and ideas. We'll take a deep dive into the existing conditions of the streets, making sure we understand how things work for the people who use them every day. We'll use this feedback to start to create potential options for the way the streets could be designed to better serve all its uses and users.
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Still have questions? Contact:
Transportation
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1 City Hall Square
Room 721Boston, MA 02201-2026
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STAY CONNECTED
We will be sharing information about public meetings and other project-specific details: Join our mailing list here. Feel free to email us at jpcentresouth@boston.gov any time.
WHY NOW?
Jamaica Plain has been the focus of planning for many years. We worked together on the Streetscape and Transportation Action Plan in 2011. We installed some of the City's first on-street bike lanes on Centre Street. That said, we know there are still opportunities for improvements on these important streets.
That's why, now, we're ready to advance ideas to improve safety, connectivity, and placemaking on Centre and South Streets. We're looking forward to working with you to develop a new vision for these streets.
PROJECT GOALS
Ensure safe travel every time
In 2015, Boston committed to Vision Zero, aiming to eliminate traffic fatalities and severe injuries on City Streets. Centre Street is on the City's "High Crash Network" for people biking. This project will increase safety for all users, first and foremost.
Balance the needs of all users
We ask a lot of Centre and South streets. For example, riders of the 39 bus, a key bus route with the fourth most riders in the MBTA system, experience frequent delays due to traffic congestion. This project will use planning, design, and engineering to balance the needs of all who rely on the streets.
Support the community through place-centered design
Centre and South Streets form the beating heart of one of the most vibrant commercial districts in the City. This project will use transportation planning to support placemaking and community development.
TIMELINE
We know we've worked with the community on this street before. The 2011 Centre and South Streets Jamaica Plain Streetscape and Transportation Action Plan was a comprehensive look at the streets. Now, we're ready to update our past efforts.
- Hire a consultant: In fall 2024, we issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) to hire a consultant to help us with planning, design, and engagement. We've selected a team, and we're hard at work getting them on board now.
- Initial community engagement and existing conditions analysis: We'll spend most of 2025 doing a deep dive on the streets. We'll ask about project design principles. We'll ask you about how you use Centre and South Streets. We'll make sure we haven't missed anything in our understanding of existing conditions. We want to hear your priorities for these streets and your community.
- Street redesign vision: Our team will provide many ways to get involved in this process to redesign Centre and South streets. We expect many different designs may be evaluated, and we'll ask for your help in balancing tradeoffs in design. The process of developing a vision and design concept will begin in earnest later in 2025.
WHAT WE HAVE HEARD SO FAR
Luckily, we're not starting from scratch for this project. We've heard from you over the years about your experiences on Centre Street. We've collected information through stakeholder meetings, public engagements, and surveys.
Here's some of what we have learned so far. First and foremost, the takeaway is that it seems like we ask too much of Centre and South Streets:
- The 39 bus is one of the highest-ridership routes in the system, but it can be slow and unreliable. Riders report frequent congestion and frustration. Some stops don't have benches or shelters.
- Bike riders don't feel safe mixing with cars, and the bike lanes - where they exist - are frequently blocked by double parked cars and delivery trucks.
- Sidewalks are narrow in parts, especially given the pedestrian volumes in the area.
- People who want to drive or park on Centre Street experience congestion and difficulty finding parking.
Do these findings reflect your experience? What are your priorities for these streets? Feel free to email us any time (jpcentresouth@boston.gov) and join our email list to stay up to date with engagement opportunities.
GET INVOLVED
We're interested in hearing from you! As soon as we have more information on all the different ways you can get involved, we'll update this section. For now, you can provide your email using this form, and we'll share information about public meetings and other project-specific details as we have them. Feel free to email us at jpcentresouth@boston.gov any time.
- Project poster (English here and Spanish here).
- Project brochure (English here and Spanish here)
related initiatives
We'll be building on the earlier Streetscape and Transportation Action Plan effort from 2011.
We're planning improvements to the Route 39 corridor to reduce transit delay and enhance safety.
We are implementing flexible curb management strategies to increase access and adapt to changing demands.
Vision Zero Boston is our commitment to focus on proven strategies to eliminate fatal and severe traffic crashes.
A new initiative focusing on housing, public space, small businesses, arts, and transportation along main streets.
We are planning safety improvements for all road users traveling through the Egleston Square area.
We added bike lanes and speed humps to Green Street, Seaverns Avenue, and Gordon Street.
We added a contraflow bike lane and speed humps for a bicycle connection between the Southwest Corridor and Centre Street.
We added a contraflow bike lane and speed humps on Eliot Street between the Jamaicaway and Centre Street.
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Still have questions? Contact:
Transportation
-
-
1 City Hall Square
Room 721Boston, MA 02201-2026
-
STAY CONNECTED
We will be sharing information about public meetings and other project-specific details: Join our mailing list here. Feel free to email us at jpcentresouth@boston.gov any time.
