Allston Multimodal Project: Important Hearing This Week

FRAMINGHAM, MA — If you commute to Boston — by rail or car — there's an important public hearing this week you shouldn't miss.

On Tuesday, MassDOT will give key updates on the Allston Multimodal project, which will almost certainly have a profound impact on commuters west of Boston.

The project would move the Mass Pike slightly south where the freeway bends around a former rail yard just east of Cambridge Street. But construction of a new section of freeway will clash with the two mainline Framingham-Worcester commuter rail tracks.

A key question is how MassDOT will handle the "throat" section of the project — a 204-foot wide strip of land behind Boston University's Nickerson field that would need to carry eight lanes of the Mass Pike, four lanes of Soldiers Field Road, the two Framingham-Worcester commuter rail tracks and the Paul Dudley White Path along the Charles River.

MassDOT is considering three options for the "throat" area, and each one would affect train and car travel differently. In all three choices, Framingham-Worcester trains would be periodically forced to use a single track to move through the area, which would cause slowdowns.

The Oct. 20 public hearing will discuss the options for the throat, and preview how each one may disrupt commutes. The hearing begins at 6:30 p.m. Monday. Register for the online hearing on the MassDOT website.