Some 2 miles of Dorchester Avenue and 1.2 miles of the neighborhood’s Grove Hall area will be car-free for a half-day later this year under an “Open Streets” initiative proposed by Mayor Michelle Wu’s administration. The program seeks to offer an economic boost to areas outside of downtown Boston.
The closures to cars will open the stretches to music, games, face-painting, community groups, businesses, fitness classes, and other programming. City officials have signed a contract with a Black-owned event planning company, Shana Bryant Consulting, to help pull off the program.
Grove Hall will be car free on Sat., Aug. 6, from Dudley Street to Warren Street, a 1.2 mile span.
Dorchester Avenue, which closes for 3 miles for the annual Dorchester Day Parade in June, will be shut down to cars for 2 miles on Sat., Sept. 24. The closure will run from Freeport Street to Gallivan Boulevard. The programming will include boxing on the avenue, according to city officials, as well as food trucks and photo installations.
Closures are also planned for Jamaica Plain’s Centre Street on Sun., July 10.
“City streets and roadways represent a huge portion of public land, and we’re eager to host these events opening up several major streets to community for summer fun,” Wu said in a statement. “These events will showcase our neighborhoods and help reshape what’s possible as we fuel our city’s social and economic recovery.”
Jascha Franklin-Hodge, Wu’s chief of streets, said the areas will be open for “play, active recreation and local shopping” for several hours.
Ed Gaskin, executive director of Greater Grove Hall Main Streets, a public private partnership, praised the initiative and said it reminded him of the late Mayor Thomas Menino’s “Circle the City” initiative, which created car-free corridors on Huntington Avenue and Blue Hill Avenue.
“We are always looking for ways to increase foot traffic for our businesses and get people to see different cultural aspects of Grove Hall,” he said.
Shutting down streets to cars, whether it’s for a jazz festival or a carnival, create positive economic benefits for vendors and local merchants, according to Gaskin, who took note that the “Open Streets” initiative comes as city officials seek to implement an overhaul of Blue Hill Avenue, which runs from Mattapan Square up to Grove Hall.
Thanks to $15 million in federal money, Boston officials are eyeing a dedicated bus lane, more pedestrian-friendly crossings and sidewalks, better tree canopies, and public art from local artists.
The city is also seeking to spur development of vacant city-owned property along the avenue. The city’s housing office last week released a request for development proposals for 18 city-owned sites in Grove Hall.
“This fits in very nicely with our overall plan to make Grove Hall a better place,” Gaskin said.
