Boston's Summer St. near South Station. Photo: Jared Brosnan/WBZ NewsRadio
BOSTON (WBZ NewsRadio) — An agreement has been reached between the city of Boston and the MBTA on control of a busy street near South Station during the upcoming World Cup soccer tournament.
Seven matches are being held at Foxboro Stadium (renamed Boston Stadium for the tournament) beginning June 13 between Haiti and Scotland.
Officials estimate more than two million visitors will descend upon eastern Massachusetts for the world's most popular soccer competition.
Host countries are Canada, Mexico, and the U.S.
Local officials said that with Boston Stadium's fan capacity at about 68,000 people, more than 70,000 fans are expected to travel to the stadium on each match day.
10,000 of them will be passing through downtown Boston.
This massive influx of people has created the need for careful planning, including the partial closing of Summer Street.
And that brought about some disagreements between the city and the MBTA.
Those details have since been ironed out.
But concerns persist, like what this resident had to say. "It's very much a testing time for us," Carlos said. "Unfortunately, it's kind of like one of the highest stakes events in the world, especially in sports."
Some Boston cab drivers told WBZ NewsRadio they were angry over the decision to close parts of Summer Street during local games, taking away potential fares and revenue. "It makes no sense. Stupid idea, what can I say!" said one cab driver. "You know how bad traffic is going to be without Summer Street? It's going to be like a nightmare around here."
But some people support the decision to close the road.
One man said he's confident Boston will live up to its reputation during the tournament as one of the nation's safest cities. "Statistically, it's proven, and I think this will be a great event," he said.
Along with Mexico and Canada, 11 cities in the U.S. are hosting tournament games.
They are Foxboro, Atlanta, Dallas, Houston, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Miami, New York/New Jersey, Philadelphia, the San Francisco Bay Area, and Seattle.
WBZ NewsRadio's Jared Brosnan (@JaredBrosnanWBZ) reports.