Mayor Michelle Wu and MBTA General Manager Phil Eng faced residents Wednesday night at the final September town hall on the Blue Hill Avenue bus lane redesign, a proposed $124 million rebuild of the three-mile corridor from Mattapan Square to Grove Hall, WHDH and the Dorchester Reporter reported on Sept. 30, 2026.
Blue Hill Avenue Bus Lane: What the City Proposes
City and MBTA officials say the project would fully reconstruct roadway and sidewalks between River Street in Mattapan and Warren Street in Grove Hall, adding center-running bus lanes, a protected bike lane, new streetlights, trees, and pedestrian crossings, according to WCVB and the city’s Blue Hill Avenue Investment Plan materials. WHDH reported the package draws about $124 million in local, state, and federal funding and would be the largest investment in the corridor in decades.
Officials say about 40,000 people ride buses on Blue Hill Avenue daily—more daily riders than the MBTA Blue Line—and that dedicated lanes could cut Route 28 travel time between Mattapan Square and Grove Hall by roughly 10 to 15 minutes, the Dorchester Reporter and WHDH reported. Construction is currently anticipated to begin in 2028 if the project advances.
Revised Design and Town Hall Feedback
The Dorchester Reporter said the revised design retains center-running bus lanes but restores more general traffic capacity and parking than earlier versions, with more than 70% of the corridor keeping at least two general-purpose travel lanes in each direction, plus nearly 200 new trees, new lighting, roughly 200 accessible curb ramps, and additional signalized crossings. The Sept. 30 session at the Albert D. Holland School of Technology, 60 Washington St. in Dorchester, closed a September series that began Sept. 10 at Morning Star Baptist Church in Mattapan.
Wu told the WHDH town hall audience that the corridor “is not safe and it’s not reliable right now,” and that Boston roadways need to work for everyone. Eng said dedicated bus lanes can also improve conditions for people driving personal cars. Wu said the vast majority of the corridor would keep two general-purpose lanes; WHDH noted a few spots, including near Mother Caroline Academy, could drop to one motor-vehicle lane. The city said former curb bus stops could become parking once buses move to the center.
Opposition, Council Concerns, and Advocates
WCVB reported protesters gathered on Blue Hill Avenue before the meeting, arguing center-running lanes would worsen traffic and calling for rapid-transit alternatives. City Councilors Miniard Culpepper and Brian Worrell have expressed reservations and urged a feasibility study and longer-term underground rail plan, WCVB said. A coalition including Alternatives for Community & Environment, TransitMatters, LivableStreets Alliance, and others issued a statement urging officials not to abandon the project or risk federal funding, while supporting eventual rail study and calling for displacement protections and a “Disruption Impact Fund” for businesses during construction, the Dorchester Reporter reported.
The debate sits alongside other transit management steps the city and MBTA are rolling out, including MBTA bus camera enforcement beginning Oct. 1 on Silver Line routes and ongoing MBTA commuter rail contract bidding. City permitting updates that took effect Oct. 1 are covered in our earlier report on Boston permitting changes.