Locals Bring Concerns to Meeting

Harvard officials yesterday provided local residents with a proposal for minimizing the negative effects of construction when the University begins work this fall on its flagship Allston science complex—a project that may take up to three years to complete.

During yesterday’s meeting between Harvard officials and residents of the Charlesview Apartments, Harvard officials outlined ways in which the University plans to respond to Allston residents’ concerns, which include increased noise, vibrations, and rodent presence owing to construction. The Charlesview Apartments are a low-cost housing community located in the heart of the University’s new Allston campus, near the Harvard Business School and the Soldiers Field Athletic Center.

Kenneth E. Johnson, senior program manager of Harvard’s Allston Development Group, said the plan is intended to respond to questions that Allston residents have raised at previous community meetings about how the University’s expansion will affect local neighborhoods.

“We heard their concerns, what was bothering them, what they were worried about,” he said. “We culled that down to some major themes, and that really helped us to craft our construction mitigation plan.”

Construction is not slated to begin until the fall, but during the summer months workers will prepare the area’s buildings for demolition.

Additional themes touched upon in the meeting include dust and emission control, truck routes and worker parking, and construction debris.

But safety concerns seemed to be the most pertinent issue for residents during the meeting.

Lawrence Fiorentino, chair of Charlesview’s development committee, said he was concerned about how the presence of an estimated 600 to 800 construction workers might clog the area’s roadways.

“While this construction is going on, Allston is almost like an island in terms of public services,” Fiorentino said. “I think this is a definite void in your plan.”

“I’m just concerned with a catastrophic event like fire during a construction,” he added. “If bridges suddenly were to go out, you wouldn’t have fire protection to mitigate those circumstances.”

Other residents asked how Harvard would maintain biosafety in the area once the new science complex is built.

Kathy Spiegelman, chief planner for Harvard’s Allston Development Group, said the University has engaged in talks with Boston fire and police officials and that safety is a central issue for the University.

To gain approval from the City of Boston, Harvard must submit a plan that ensures “that activities of any land developer are going to keep people safe,” Spiegelman added.

Johnson, the senior program manager from Harvard, said that the University will continue its dialogue with Allston residents.

—Staff writer Laura A. Moore can be reached at lamoore@fas.harvard.edu.