To the Editor:

The state has queued up planning on two separate but connected projects in Dorchester: Morrissey Boulevard and Kosciuszko Circle. Both require imaginative solutions. Let’s talk about K Circle and the nearby ramps at Columbia Road and I-93.

K Circle is a nightmare for motorists, pedestrians, and cyclists. A critical (but partial) solution is to divert traffic from K Circle to lessen the congestion. One way to do this is to re-institute the left-hand turn directly off east-bound Columbia Road traffic onto 93 north. 

The first step should be to calculate the percentage of vehicles travelling east on Columbia Road who must make a U-turn around K Circle to get on I-93 north. Next, the traffic engineers should investigate a traffic signal/lane configuration that would allow for a left turn signal from Columbia Road to I-93 north at the existing traffic signal. 

There are three east-bound Columbia Road lanes at this point. The right lane is a dedicated right-turn entry to I-93 south. The middle lane can remain for traffic headed to K Circle, aiming only for South Boston or Morrissey Boulevard, not I-93. The left lane could have a left-turn signal for entry to I-93 north. Alternatively, the left lane could be a combination left-turn to I-93 north and also be used by traffic headed to K Circle. This would depend on how the traffic studies determined the need for accommodating two lanes of traffic going east to K Circle as well as how allowing the mixed left-turn/straight-ahead traffic would affect the west-bound traffic coming from K Circle.

The use of carefully planned traffic signals is the key. The old left-turn directly to I-93 north from Columbia Road east-bound consisted of vehicles simply queuing up in the underpass, which caused a backup that blocked vehicles exiting I-93 south-bound and attempting to turn left onto Columbia Road east-bound when they had the light. Likely, another reason for prohibiting that turn was the belief that two lanes were required going east to K Circle, and that there was not enough space to create another lane. Both of these assumptions need to be challenged. Are two lanes needed under I-93 toward K Circle? If so, is there not room to create another east-bound lane by eliminating the underutilized pull-over on the right under I-93? 

Finally, if the relatively modest changes I suggest are not workable or would not substantially lessen the load on K Circle, could we not boldly plan for a serious re-engineering of the entire I-93-ramps-and-K Circle mess, one that would eliminate the structural pillars dividing the east/west Columbia Road traffic under the expressway to give more space at this intersection? 

Above all, we need to think broadly and imaginatively about dealing with traffic in this critical area as Dorchester Bay City is developed.

Christopher Binns
Upham Avenue