Copyright © 2026 Boston Neighborhood News, Inc. This content may not be re-published or re-used without written permission.
Hundreds gathered in Morningstar Baptist Church on Thursday evening (Sept. 10) to review the latest designs of a $163 million Blue Hill Avenue improvement plan that would bring center-running bus lanes to the six-mile thoroughfare, along with additional parking, safer crosswalks, bike infrastructure, and other improved amenities in a major public works project now slated to begin in 2028.
Opponents of the plan rallied along the avenue ahead of the meeting with signs urging city and MBTA officials to scuttle the rapid bus concept in favor of a study to extend rail service instead.
Mayor Wu, the most prominent political advocate for the current plan, spoke at the meeting, along with Philip Eng, the state’s top transportation official. Both reiterated their positions that the bus project would conditions along the avenue and improve commute times for the estimated 40,000 daily bus passengers along the corridor.
“We’re designating specific spaces now for different transportation uses and making it so everyone avoids running into each other and worrying about weaving in and out,” said Mayor Wu. “This will also guarantee our buses work better. This new design will be able to cut bus rides almost in half by 10 to 15 minutes which means a bus would come down Blue Hill Avenue every three to six minutes. That is what the Red Line is aiming for in terms of how fast, how frequent, and how reliable. It’s possible if we can get the buses out of the way of people trying to park their cars and delivery trucks.”
Eng, who is also the MBTA general manager, said the newly-tweaked designs are a great improvement.
“By separating (buses and cars) we are actually freeing up and making it safer for the vehicles in the two lanes which have been put back across 75 percent of the corridor compared to the previous version,” said Eng (shown above). “Your feedback has been really important to us.”
“We want everyone to be proud of what we’ve delivered,” he added. “This project right now is an opportunity to address everything we’ve heard folks want and I know there are other things that are being asked for. This project as it stands today does not preclude future discussions of rail. In fact, improved bus service would complement discussions on rail in the future.”
City leaders and MBTA officials had gone back to the drawing board over the past 18 months to draw up revised plans for the corridor, which has been under study for a new roadway with a center-running bus lane for seven years. The new designs resulted in more parking on the corridor than now exists to support businesses, more lanes for vehicles with about 75 percent of the corridor carrying two travel lanes, a reduced scope for bicycle lanes, and keeping the center-running bus lane.
After the current meetings conclude, it would likely start in 2028 with a three-year phased construction process.
But Thursday evening’s discussion often veered back into a refrain from opponents who say that the corridor should be serviced by a subway extension or enhanced commuter rail instead of buses.
At the rally ahead of Tuesday’s meeting, Aja Jackson, Councillor Miniard Culpepper and state Rep. Chynah Tyler call for a closer look at rail and a discarding of the center-running bus lane. Seth Daniel photo
Before the meeting started, 100 people led by City Councillors Miniard Culpepper and Brian Worrell gathered at the corner of Blue Hill Avenue and Morton Street holding up signs.
“No Center Bus Lane! We want a Train,” one person shouted through a megaphone.
“Don’t let them lock us into a bus only future; we need rail here on Blue Hill Avenue,” Councillor Worrell shouted.
State Reps. Chynah Tyler and Chris Worrell were also present for the rally.
Jabari Gichuru, a sophomore in college from Dorchester, said he took the 28 bus for six years to Boston Latin School and has plenty of experience with delays. He said investment in transit on the corridor is a necessity, but he’s not supportive of the way decisions were made.
“The decisions seem to have been made against the will of the people that live here and by people in City Hall who don’t even drive down here or come here,” Gichuru said during the rally. “There’s almost a paternalistic relationship where City Hall knows best and those of us living on the corridor don’t know what’s best for our lives. If people had an opportunity to have a true conversation about rail, that would be so much better.”
Store owner Mohammed Uddin, who owns the American Food Market near the corner of Morton Street, said he and other businesses are against the center-running bus because, they feat it would interrupt traffic flow and reduce foot traffic from the sidewalk.
“It will make all these businesses close here,” he said. “No one will stay if no one can park. I just spent more than $1 million on this store a few years ago. We don’t want that bus lane.”
Inside the church, the large crowd seemed split on the current plan, but the majority seemed against it. City and MBTA leaders walked through the new designs, but most in the audience were more interested in voicing long-held opinions of support or opposition.
Bishop John Borders moderated the meeting. Rep. Russell Holmes is shown behind him. Seth Daniel photo
“I’m for it,” said Icey Washington, who lives in Mattapan along the corridor. “I think we need changes in the transportation system. Several times my children have nearly gotten hit by cars trying to cross Blue Hill Avenue to get home.”
Others were dug into the opposing side.
A group of bicycle advocates were also in attendance and voiced objections to the latest plan’s downsizing of bicycle lanes – which now only includes a two-lane track going from Woodhaven Street to Franklin Park on the southbound side of the road.
Mac Hudson repeated a common objection: that center-running bus lanes seem dangerous for pedestrians.
“If you’re having kids cross the street in all that traffic…how will the kids get on the bus across all that traffic to do that? Is someone going to stop traffic?” he asked. “We know that’s a highway with people coming from Randolph and other places to try to get to work. I don’t think anybody has thought through how to manage that. Maybe they think we’re slow and we can’t think that through.”
Officials said there would be signalized crossings at all stops so that bus riders aren’t crossing against oncoming traffic to get back to the sidewalk from the center-running bus stations.
But others in the audience countered, “Are people really going to wait for the walk light to change, or are they going to just run across the road? How will that work?”
An existing center-running bus system on Columbus Avenue was cited by some opposed to the idea.
“In every meeting we have between the city and the T I have said this cannot look like Columbus Ave, it cannot feel like Columbus Ave and the design of the stations and how tight it is with the concrete flats – that is not what we need and won’t work here,” answered Mayor Wu. “That is not what we would accept for this to feel like.”
Transit activist Mela Bush and resident Paulina Bernard both said the key outreach introducing the center-running bus lane occurred during the pandemic for both Blue Hill Avenue.
“When this was being talked about in 2022 to 2024 we were in a pandemic,” Bernard said. “I was a new mother in 2020, and I did not care what was happening on Blue Hill Avenue when the apocalypse was at my door. It’s not fair to say you did your research.”
Added Bush, “I want to lift up that our voices were not heard because we were concerned about other things going on and that’s historically how these things have been done.”
Francisco Fernandez, who was representing Happy Supermarket – a key business on the corridor at the intersection of Blue Hill Avenue and Talbot, said they are worried about their business, but more about their customers and other businesses.
“This is going to affect our business, but I’m worried how it will affect everyone else around us – everybody that lives here too,” he said. “They shop at my store and my neighbor’s shop across the street. We are really worried about the residents in our area because I’ve lived my whole life here…I feel like the way your taking away traffic especially around Morningstar is going to be very tough…I feel like this section right here (by Morningstar) should be given a little more thought.”
Others like resident Tony Brewer said he thought it was time for the community to sit down with the city and the T to work something out – an opinion that was followed by opponents shouting.
“We have an opportunity for something new and different and are getting a lot more feedback for doing that,” he said. “What do we need to do to make it better? We can sit down with them and make it better with this design or we can continue to say ‘no,’ and get nothing done. Let’s try to make it happen.”
Francisco Fernandez, a representative of Happy Supermarket, spoke at the meeting. Seth Daniel photo
That was followed by transit activist Tony Baez, who called out Councillors Culpepper and Worrell for holding up the plan.
“Shame on Councillors Worrell and Culpepper,” he shouted.
Others shouted back at him, and discourse began to spiral into an argument.
At that point, Morningstar Rev. Bishop John Borders III stepped in to calm things down – having warned everyone from the beginning that calm needed to prevail, or they would close it down.
They did decide to close it down at that point, which was shortly after 9 p.m.
“There are eight to 10 churches on this corridor and a lot of businesses as well,” Bishop Borders said. “We’re just one of them. We have outstanding questions ourselves. We are going to have to do our research and find out more about this. It is not a perfect plan, but we need to do more work to understand it.”
An open house will take place Mon., Sept. 14 at 6:30 p.m. at the BCYF Perkins Community Center, 155 Talbot Ave. A second open house is set for Tues., Sept. 22 at 6 p.m. at the Mattapan Branch Library, 1350 Blue Hill Ave. The series concludes with another town hall on Wed., Sept. 30 at 6:30 p.m. at the Holland School of Technology (formerly Burke High), 60 Washington St.
Copyright © 2026 Boston Neighborhood News, Inc. This content may not be re-published or re-used without written permission.
