By Joseph A. Curtatone

(The opinions and views expressed in the commentaries of The Somerville Times belong solely to the authors of those commentaries and do not reflect the views or opinions of The Somerville Times, its staff or publishers)

I am a statistic. I am one of many Somerville residents who face a higher risk for cardiovascular disease because of the car-centric planning that began reshaping our cities in the mid-20th century. We stopped planning for people and started planning for cars, resulting in the construction of I-93 and, near my childhood home on Prospect Hill, McGrath Highway. Our community eventually fought back and fortunately stopped the construction of the proposed I-695 Inner Belt Expressway—but it was too late to stop the consequences of those earlier poor decisions. More cars began traveling through our community. The traffic jams did not go away. And we saw higher rates of heart disease, asthma and other ailments in people living in the shadows of the highways. We know better now. We’re expanding public transit, and we’re   making it easier and safer to walk and bike in Somerville. That said, I-93 is not going away, and though McGrath will eventually be lowered to become a ground-level boulevard, the cars will still cut through our neighborhoods. Fortunately, a group of dedicated people, including city officials, are working on solutions to protect our residents.

The Community Assessment of Freeway Exposure and Health (CAFEH) is a collaborative study led by Tufts University with support from city officials in studying pollution near highway and major roadways in our region. This month they released a new report on the dangers of car pollution in neighborhoods near highways. The report also points to some inventive ways to reduce this health threat. Research has already shown that people living near highways like I-93 and major roadways like McGrath are more likely to develop cardiovascular and respiratory health problems, with those health problems traced back to fine particulate matter. This most recent CAFEH report, funded by the philanthropic Kresge Foundation, narrowed in on ultrafine particulates. Approximately 700 volunteers in Somerville and Chinatown participated in the study, with some providing blood samples, and the preliminary results show that ultrafine particles are ultimately associated with cardiovascular disease risk.

The second part of CAFEH’s report is where the work really gets interesting. Designers, urban planners, city officials, public health advocates and others were brought together for a two-day design session last May. The goal: to design ways to mitigate the risk that car pollution and the fine and ultrafine particulates it contains pose to residents who live near highways. Participants designed solutions for Cross Street East in Somerville and a location in Boston’s Chinatown neighborhood, with the goal of developing policies and approaches that could be used in near-highway communities anywhere.

Buildings along Cross Street East were designed and situated in such a way to block and redirect pollution away from homes in the neighborhood. Taller commercial and light industrial buildings were placed next to the highway to help block particulates. “Green walls” of trees and grass further separated those commercial buildings from the highway, and finally a 25-foot barrier provided further insulation between the highway and neighborhood. On top of blocking and redirecting pollution, strategic placement of ventilation ducts for the buildings also reduced any particulates that could be taken in by air inlets, which would also be equipped with filters.

Meanwhile, existing homes in the neighborhood could further be protected from pollution through a city program that would provide assistance to homeowners for upgrades to windows, air ventilation and filtration systems—just as we provide assistance now to homeowners for lead abatement and energy efficiency upgrades. And while the design session focused on Cross Street East, the participants couldn’t help but notice that Foss Park was exposed to pollutants from both I-93 and McGrath. For Foss, they designed a continuous berm (a raised, sloped grass-covered hill) that would run around the park to shield it from traffic-related pollutants, provide seating for sporting events and serve as an elevated path. A band shell at the intersection of Mystic Avenue and McGrath Highway would provide even more protection for people using the park.

These are potential solutions that cross disciplines and city departments—from planning and zoning, to housing and infrastructure. A single solution does not exist, but if we can continue to examine the challenges we face from a holistic perspective, using a wide-angle lens, we can develop solutions that would have a tremendous positive impact on the quality of life for the roughly 38,000 Somerville residents who live within environmental justice zones, meaning they shoulder a disproportionate burden of environmental impacts caused by traffic and industry.

A study released last year by the University of Minnesota concluded that non-white people inhale 38 percent higher levels of air pollution than whites—and the fourth highest disparity is in Greater Boston. As we plan for our community’s future together, we cannot and should not measure our success only by what we build, but rather by the health and quality of life of our people. The work done by the CAFEH study and all who work on this collaboration is a tremendous contribution toward helping us make that a reality.