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Large Dot Ave. project gets BRA nod

The BRA today approved the Dot Block complex, which would replace a series of low-slung storefronts and industrial buildings at Dorchester Avenue and Hancock Street with 384 apartments, 60,000 square feet of retail space and a 450-car garage.

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Comments

Freeport Street is a nightmare!!! This & a rehab on Freeport?. When is the BRA going to approve more roads for all this shit? Lol, Don't even go there suggesting walking or the T. We struggle to support our local businesses that have been here because of the horrible traffic & congestion (even more fun in the Summer as this corner is a mecca for motorcycles/scooters & dune-buggies,or whatever they are). This makes living in Shaws/Star parking lot (scenic views of Columbia Station/Expressway,traffic/pedestrian-hell ) not look so bad, at least the train is right there .F-off with calling it Dot-Block...More like"Cock-Block" because we can't go anywhere with out being stuck in traffic, even now...ugh......

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A lot of people want more buildings, but our roads do have certain capacities with traffic does need to be addressed, and public transportation is not easy to improve. It's not going to reduce rents in any meaningful way because of the demand that is coming from outside the area and non residents for investments without limits.

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What are you suggesting, that this area be left to look like crap and full of abandoned industrial properties so that no more people move in and cause more traffic? That is a joke. As for the BRA "approving more roads" what are you talking about? Honestly, what are you talking about? Even if that would
solve anything (which it would not) where exactly would those go? Are they going to be roads in the sky?

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Letsbehonest's suggestion of more roads was punctuated by lol, so dont get sidetracked by that.

However this area is currently a traffic nightmare for much of the day, and it is a certainty that traffic will get much worse as a result of this development. Yes it is currently a dumpy crappy no mans land of vacant crumbling buildings, and the pictures of the new development sure do look pretty. And yes, some residents will use Savin Hill Station, but many will own a car. Shucks, Mayor Marty himself used to live within spitting distance of Savin Hill and he never used the T, preferring his big bad SUV instead. Why would the new residents of DotBlock be any different? And a supermarket will mean more cars.

The city has no plan for increased traffic, and that is a problem. "Transit oriented development", at least at this location will also mean more cars, more traffic, and more congestion. There is no plan to deal with all of it.

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I'm actually quite familiar with that area, having grown up nearby and often returning to visit family. There is certainly traffic. However there is traffic everywhere. This is Boston. For a brief period of years when the city was in decline, and when there were simply fewer people living in the greater Boston are, it was perhaps easier to get around by car but those days are long gone and they will not return in the foreseeable future. Traffic is a way of life and this area is hardly gridlocked.

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I didnt grow up in Dorchester but I have lived in Fields Corner for 42 years. Traffic is worse than ever, and for longer periods of time during the day, and every day of the week. Sunday is shopping day for the Vietnamese community so what used to be a quiet traffic day is now just as busy as any other day.

The reconfiguration of the intersection of Hancock/Dot/Freeport helped to resolve what used to be total anarchy, but the volume of traffic just keeps getting worse. Freeport st northbound is a disaster for much of the day.

Dot Block may or may not be a good thing for Dorchester but it will definitely make traffic worse. And no one is honestly addressing the issue. The thought that everyone will take the T is nonsense.

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Traffic around Fields Corner and Savin Hill is not only worse but much worse than it used to be, and I consider it to be a nightmare.

No gridlock you say? The intersection of Park and Dot is often in a state of gridlock. It used to take 1 traffic light cycle at best to enter Dot from Park eastbound. Now it's often 2 or 3, and the intersection is often blocked by cars and trucks stuck with nowhere to go.

Travelling through Fields Corner on Dot Ave is slower than ever. And its the same on Dot Ave all the way to Savin Hill Ave, northbound and southbound.

Hancock entering Dot is often backed up 2 or 3 light cycles.

Freeport St entering Dot , fubar during most of the day.

As a random reality check, I just looked at traffic conditions on Google maps. Solid dark red (the worst and slowest traffic conditions) for most of Dot Ave from Park St to Savin HIll Ave. Hancock , solid dark red. For some reason Freeport is clear and free, so there's that.

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Traffic is a way of life and this area is hardly gridlocked.

Is there another intersection with the same street names that you're talking about? This intersection is a traffic jam all day every day.

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It's time to sell that triple decker of yours and move to South shore. We don't want to keep that part of Dot a disgusting run-down, junkie-infested shithole just because you want wide-open roads for your car.

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In case you didn't know, a new residential drug treatment center is opening on Newport St, just around the corner from Dot Block ,unless the neighbors can stop it.

Junkies aren't going away just because Dot Block is there. From the pictures, it looks like they will have some pretty park benches to sit on. Nice.

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The answer to the drug problem in our cities is FEWER TREATMENT CENTERS and LESS CONVENIENT TREATMENT.

Do the world a favor: Go back to whatever job you do - keep out of public health.

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If you live in this area, you would know that the scooters, motor cycles and ATV's are all originating from the same place(233 Hancock St-Tire shop) . I see them doing wheelies around the neighborhood all day, driving recklessly through traffic.Why they are allowed to use the surrounding streets as their playground amazes me. It would be an easy problem to solve! I live right across from the abandoned factory and development would better for the neighborhood.

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Especially considering there is a police station at Hancock and Bowdoin, about a block away.

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That does bring up a real question though. All of these BRA proposals do come with traffic studies. I'm curious how BRA uses that data. Would the BRA reject or re-tailor a proposal that shows the roads would become gridlocked if the proposal is built? Does the BRA initiate any road improvements to handle traffic based on approved development(s)?

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Housing yes, but why more than one parking spot per unit?, One is way more than most big city residents get. Savin Hill T is close, there are buses on Hancock and Dorchester Ave to get around. Freakin' Pea Pod delivers, every one else would too if my neighbors stopped pretending they live in "Fort Apache The Bronx". We don't, crime and addiction is everywhere, as is traffic.
Stop with the cars or move to suburbs.

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