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Updated: January 26, 2026 at 3:51pm

A noise barrier planned along the Massachusetts Turnpike (Mass Pike) in Allston is moving closer to construction with a public open house scheduled for February 5.

The meeting will be held between 5:00 P.M. and 7:00 P.M. at the Josephine A Fiorentino Community Center (123 Antwerp St). It will give residents the opportunity to discuss the noise barrier on Lincoln Street, which is part of the larger Allston Multimodal Transit Project (AMTP).

Noise barriers, which are sometimes called noise walls, are large sound-blocking structures built along highways to reduce traffic noise for nearby homes and neighborhoods.

“The noise wall is something that was promised when the Mass Pike was first constructed in the late sixties,” says Jessica Robertson, an Allston resident and AMTP Task Force Member.

Robertson says that MassDOT follows a separate public engagement process for noise mitigation projects, contacting property owners adjacent to the proposed barrier rather than solely through neighborhood task forces. While the process differs, she emphasized the importance of coordination with other infrastructure in the area.

“We’re also really hoping that it can be designed and built in coordination with some of the other things that are planned for that corridor,” she says, pointing to the Mass Pike project and the reconstruction of the Franklin Street pedestrian bridge. 

She also noted that the Allston-Brighton Mobility Plan, released several years ago, recommended an off-street bicycle and pedestrian path running parallel to Lincoln Street between the street and the Turnpike. Residents hope that the project can move forward alongside the noise wall, though jurisdictional challenges remain.

“The noise wall itself is a MassDOT project, but the pathway would be a city project,” Robertson said. “There’s also an Eversource utility project happening in the same corridor. So there’s a lot going on, and historically, coordination has not been everyone’s strong suit.”

Members from the City of Boston are expected to join the public meeting on February 5 and will share information on the bicycle and pedestrian project that will follow the noise barrier project on Lincoln St.