The Massachusetts Gaming Commission got it half right, albeit for the wrong reasons, when it rejected a casino license to Mohegan Sun for its proposal for Suffolk Downs. The governor should step in now and block the license it awarded to Steve Wynn for a casino in Everett.
Information that was not available when the casino legislation was approved shows that the Everett proposal, like the Suffolk Downs proposal, is a major threat to the economy and public health.
RELATED: Neighboring cities wary of Everett casino traffic
The Gaming Commission’s analysis of the traffic and economic impact of the proposed casino in Everett and neighboring cities is deeply flawed. Charlestown’s Sullivan Square (three of its roads go to Somerville) is already notoriously congested, and the northern approaches to downtown Boston on I-93 are often bumper-to-bumper today. The Wynn Group proposes to build approximately 6,000 new parking spaces. Casino patrons will seek to access the I-93 ramps by passing through the already overloaded Sullivan Square. The commission’s response is that by forcing the Wynn group to pay for part of the city’s Sullivan Square plan, the severe adverse traffic impact of the casino can be mitigated. This ignores the fact that the plan for Sullivan Square was developed before the casino in Everett was proposed, and was intended to lower the capacity of the square, as a traffic calming strategy. Forcing the Wynn group to finance the reduction of capacity in Sullivan Square will not mitigate the square’s existing disaster — it will worsen it. The gridlock will undermine real economic development of the Assembly Square Mall, and Somerville’s plans to capture economic spinoff from Kendall Square’s innovation hub. For the record, the commission also asserted that the Suffolk Downs proposal was superior from a traffic point of view, because it paid for some local mitigation. But this ignores the fact that the regional traffic network would be substantially damaged by the addition of 5,000 frequently used parking spaces to the East Boston area, compounding airport traffic and exacerbating congestion on the Ted Williams Tunnel. This would damage regional access to Logan Airport, The Seaport District, and the Convention Center, which is slated to be doubled in size, all important regional economic assets. The commission has also ignored important public health issues. The state Department of Public Health recently released a report showing that children near Logan are twice as likely to suffer from respiratory ailments because of the pollution levels associated with cars and trucks in the area, at current levels of congestion. There has been little recognition that more congestion near Logan would worsen this unacceptable situation. Instead of objectively evaluating the economic and health impacts of casinos, the commission has ignored the opinions of East Boston voters, who rejected the Suffolk Downs proposal, as well as the concerns of Somerville and Boston, communities whose health and economic well-being would be hurt by the casino proposals. If paying money to reduce the capacity of Sullivan Square is the best mitigation the commission can come up with, the governor should overrule the decision and reject the Suffolk Downs and the Everett proposals as inconsistent with the economic development and public health of the adjacent communities. Fred Salvucci, former state transportation secretary, is a lecturer at MIT.| < Prev | Next > |
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