On any given day on Blue Hill Avenue in Mattapan, dozens of drivers double park at a time, blocking the cars and buses behind them. Pedestrians daringly traverse multiple lanes, darting to avoid cars whizzing by at high speeds. And buses often don’t pull all the way to the curb, forcing passengers to bridge the gap on foot.
Come 2026, that chaotic commuting dance could look very different when construction is scheduled to begin on a $44 million redesign of the notoriously jammed and crash-prone 3-mile thoroughfare from Mattapan Square to Grove Hall in Dorchester. The city says it will speed up bus trips, prevent car crashes, provide more shade, and make the street safer for pedestrians.
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Even though plans are far from set, owners and managers of small businesses in Mattapan along Blue Hill Avenue say they’re bracing for change with nervousness, suspicion, and, yes, even hope about what it will all mean for the long-neglected business district through the heart of Boston’s Black community.
Central to the most significant city investment to the street in decades are dedicated lanes down the center of the avenue that will allow buses to bypass car traffic. Center dedicated bus lanes are proven to eliminate slowdowns caused by curbside parking.
“If it will uplift [Mattapan Square], I don’t mind the change,” said Marsha James, owner of Jamaica’s Best Restaurant. “We’re going to wait it out and see what happens.”
In its announcement about moving forward with the center bus lanes last week, Boston officials said that after two years of community engagement, they determined there is wide consensus in the communities along Blue Hill Avenue that the street needs to change — but no consensus about how. Over the next two years before construction begins, the city said it will work with small businesses, churches, and residents along the stretch to determine exactly what each block will look like, including the location of parking spots, trees, crosswalks, and bike lanes.
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Carolyn McGee, owner of Carolyn’s Hair Salon, said the street is scary to cross, especially during rush hour. Clients who come from as far as New Hampshire already have a hard time finding parking, she said.
“I know it’s going to look pretty, but they’re not thinking about the businesses,” she said. “I’m worried clients won’t be able to park.”
Ed Gaskin, executive director of Greater Grove Hall Main Streets, which represents businesses at the other end of the soon-to-be-remade Blue Hill Avenue corridor in Dorchester, said Boston is not addressing the main issue for critics of the center lanes: where will people park?
“This isn’t the first time [the city has] heard people’s concerns,” he said. Boston officials “should be showing up saying, ‘You’re really concerned about the parking and here’s our solution.’ ”
The Blue Hill Avenue center bus lanes will be the second in Boston. The first debuted on a stretch of Columbus Avenue less than 1 mile long in 2021. The city and the MBTA outfitted the stretch with ramp-accessible elevated bus boarding platforms, lighted shelters with seating, arrival time information screens, and traffic-slowing crosswalks and curbs.
There are now 116 curbside parking spaces along this stretch of Columbus, 52 fewer than before, according to Boston’s Department of Transportation. A spokesperson for the department said Blue Hill Avenue is wider than Columbus Avenue, which will allow the city to maintain more spaces.
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“We will work with the business community in our block-by-block planning to ensure that the spaces near their establishments match their needs,” the spokesperson said.
A city analysis released last summer found that the Columbus Avenue center bus lanes save bus riders three to four minutes during each rush hour trip, and a survey of 178 bus riders showed 78 percent were satisfied with the lanes. After the bus lanes were installed, the city found 10 percent more vehicles obeyed the speed limit, traffic increased on some side streets, and cars sometimes illegally entered the bus-only lanes.
Back on Blue Hill Avenue, Yvens Jean Batiste, store manager at Frugal Furniture, said having bus lanes “the same way they have on Columbus, that would be better.”
He mostly drives from his home in Dorchester to the furniture store, where he has worked for six years. The store has a large parking lot in the back with space for at least two dozen cars, so street parking isn’t a concern. Jean Batiste acknowledged not everyone is going to agree on the design, but said bus riders — the majority of people traveling the route during rush hour — should be the priority.
“What matters is the people taking the bus,” he said. “It’s really hard when you don’t have a car.”
The stretch of Blue Hill Avenue cited for the makeover is among the most dangerous streets in the city, requiring an emergency response to a crash every three days on average, according to the city. In 2023, one pedestrian was killed in a crash along the stretch, according to city data, and dozens of drivers were injured, along with several pedestrians and cyclists.
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Jean Batiste knows those risks all too well. Last summer, he saw an elderly man fall while crossing Blue Hill Avenue in front of the store. A driver “came out of nowhere,” Jean Batiste said, and hit the man, who had to be taken to the hospital.
Blue Hill Avenue “looks like a highway to me, like an expressway,” he said. “It’s very busy, very dangerous, and has a lot of speeding.”
Most of James’s customers at Jamaica’s Best Restaurant are bus riders, she said. Many pop into the newly opened restaurant to grab a warm meal while waiting for the 28, 29, or 31 buses.
James worries fewer people will come into her restaurant when the city moves the bus stops into the middle of the street. But, she said, she signed a five-year lease on the spot last year and will have to wait out the redesign. She hopes the city will make the pedestrian crossing light long enough for people to get across without rushing.
“I want it to be easier to get here,” she said.
John Papakonstantinou, owner of Brother’s Deli, said much of his business depends on delivery, and he’s seen an uptick recently in delivery drivers getting ticketed for double parking outside the shop.
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“Without delivery, I don’t think we could pay our bills,” he said. “If these businesses are going to survive, parking is essential.”
Papakonstantinou, who has owned the deli for more than 30 years, said he’s not an expert and admits improving the street is complicated. But safety and parking are the most important issues, he said.
“I’m for any investment in Mattapan, so I’m for change,” he said. “But it has to work.”
Taylor Dolven can be reached at taylor.dolven@globe.com. Follow her @taydolven.