JAMES JACKSON Storrow, prime mover behind the creation of parkland on the Boston side of the Charles River, would have been appalled that the state put his name on Storrow Drive, which slashed through the park in 1951. The city would be enhanced, and Storrow's memory honored, if one section of the highway could be given over to recreation on Sunday mornings.
Renata von Tscharner, president of the Charles River Conservancy, has caused a stir by suggesting that 5 miles of the westbound lanes on Storrow Drive be closed from 7:30 to 10 a.m. on Sundays from late April into November. She was inspired by Riverbend Park, a 1.6 mile-section of Memorial Drive, across the Charles in Cambridge, where motor vehicles are barred, and cyclists, rollerbladers, and pedestrians rule between 11 a.m. and 5 p.m. on Sundays during those months.
Von Tscharner did not clear her idea with officials at the Department of Conservation and Recreation, which controls Storrow Drive, Memorial Drive, and the Esplanade park. DCR officials are smarting from a controversy over how Storrow Drive should be repaired. Many advocates for the Esplanade opposed taking part of the park for construction staging. The department will repair the tunnel at Clarendon Street and delay more extensive work.
Let's concede the point that no feasibility studies have been done on von Tscharner's idea. No one knows the traffic impact, the number of police officers needed, or the compatibility of closures with the repair work.
But surely most motorists using Storrow Drive on Sunday mornings are going into, not out of the city, to church, perhaps, or brunch. With the eastbound lanes open, their travel won't be affected. The tunnel will be repaired at night, so closures should not interfere. At this quiet time of the week, overseeing the closures should not be too difficult for the police.
Our advice to DCR is simple: Do the study and, unless an insurmountable obstacle arises, give the closures a try. If the department is uncertain about the long-term impact, it could try closing the westbound lanes, perhaps for less than 5 miles, on Sunday mornings in the summer, when traffic is lightest. Assuming the experiment works well in July and August, the closures could be extended into the spring and fall. And, of course, the tunnel should not be open to pedestrians if that would interfere with construction or pose a danger of accidents.
James Jackson Storrow (1864-1926) realized that the Charles River, a series of tidal mudflats in his youth, could be transformed into a verdant escape for generations of Boston residents and visitors. That same sense of possibility needs to be applied to his namesake highway. For 56 years Storrow Drive has intruded on the park; for a few Sunday mornings, let the park gentle the road.
