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For Eastie and Suffolk Downs, could developments outpace infrastructure?

BOSTON — The Suffolk Downs racetrack is one of 20 sites still in the running to become Amazon’s second headquarters, bringing 50,000 high-paying jobs and potentially more crippling traffic to East Boston.

That’s a big concern for Eastie residents we spoke to on Tuesday.

“In the morning time, this whole region is flooded with traffic going back two, three, four, five, sometimes six blocks,” lifelong East Boston resident Chris Markey said. “So it’s essential. And again, we avoid the mistakes we’ve made in the seaport from a planning perspective and we build in multi-modal transportation.”

Markey, a member of the East Boston Greenway, says the seaport district development lacked workable plan to handle traffic and parking challenges.

“Let’s build the neighborhood out on to Suffolk Downs instead of building something between Revere and East Boston, which is foreign to our neighborhoods,” Markey said.

Amazon plans to make their decision by December 31.

Developer HYM Investment Group increased the office space in their original plan by 50 percent and reduced residential housing to 7,500 units from 10,000.

“Who can get around? Who feels comfortable there? Do they get there? How many different ways can we make this both for people and make it easy for them to come and go,” Gretchen Rabinkin, with the Boston Society of Landscape Developers, explained.

Rebinkin is a former Eastie resident and said HYM and Amazon need to think of the environmental impact as well.

“We’re in a different reality now. Superstorm Sandy has come and gone. The storms of this year have come. We’ve had these wake up calls about what’s truly happening with water,” Rebinkin said.

The last live racing event for Suffolk Downs is scheduled for August 4 and 5.

Thomas N. O'Brien, founding partner and managing director for the HYM Investment Group released the following statement:

"Since the beginning of this process, the HYM Investment Group has held more than 200 meetings with stakeholders in East Boston and Revere to discuss merits of the project and community concerns. We will continue to meet, listen, and work through the concerns of the community as we move through development. The Suffolk Downs redevelopment will be a multi-modal transit project that prioritizes biking, public transportation and walkability. Our plan would bring dedicated bike lanes and five additional Blue Bike stations to the community, and the vast majority of the site is within a ½-mile walk of the two MBTA Blue Line Stations (Suffolk Downs and Beachmont). Our plan for Suffolk Downs also prioritizes resiliency and smart transit design. The design meets the newly passed BPDA rules to mitigate the effects of climate change on new developments. The two initial buildings that would be constructed if Boston were to be awarded Amazon's HQ2 would meet LEED Gold environmental standards."

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