by @BarryRafkind in Development and Zoning, Transportation Projects
Posted on September 16, 2010 at 1:22 pm
Last Modified on September 27, 2010 at 9:49 pm
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The following is a letter that was submitted to the Board of Aldermen at last Thursday’s meeting by a group of concerned residents. Do you share these concerns?
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September 15, 2010
Clerk of City of Somerville
93 Highland Avenue
Somerville, MA 02143
Dear City Clerk,
Please present this letter to the Board of Aldermen for their scheduled meeting to be held on Sep. 23, 2010. The following Somerville residents and taxpayers ask that the Board of Aldermen hold a public hearing to discuss concerns relating to the Somerville Avenue reconstruction project. The following are some, but not all of the concerns.
- The narrowing of Somerville Ave and intersections along Somerville Ave is causing more traffic than before. When large trucks make deliveries to businesses on Somerville Ave., cars travel around them and cross over into the oncoming lane.
- Narrowing Somerville Ave has reduced the length of the right turn lane from Somerville Ave to Park St creating more idling traffic.
- The difficulty for the MBTA bus to turn right from Somerville Ave onto Park St effectively waiting for drivers on Park St to back up.
- One traffic line extends from Park St to Beacon St during rush hour with many cars sitting on the railroad tracks waiting for the green light. Traffic did not extend past the railroad tracks before this project.
- The increase in the number of traffic lights from Porter Square to Union Square has caused more idling traffic, thus increasing air-pollution to residents who live on or near Somerville Ave.
- The difficulty for large 18-wheel trucks to turn right from Park St onto Somerville Ave after they have made stops at what is now known as Ames Envelope, effectively waiting for drivers on Somerville Ave to back up.
- There is a No Turn on Red sign at the intersection of Somerville Ave and Park St, which has been covered with a blanket and tape much of the time, but not all of the time, and except to create more idling traffic, it provides little safety benefit.
- At the intersection of Somerville Ave and Lowell St, there is a no left turn arrow; therefore, after the red light turns to green, the cars are headed for each other; unless the car turning left sees the danger and stops.
- The right fork off of Somerville Ave to Elm St. has been effectively cut off and the parking is unofficially designated for tenants of two buildings that sit adjacent to the parking cut-thru. This creates more traffic as cars sit and wait at the red light on Somerville Ave to eventually turn right onto Elm St.
- City of Somerville meeting notifications were inadequate.
- We do not want to see the mistkaes that Design Architect, David Giangrande of Design Consultants Inc., (DCI) made on the Somerville Ave project repeated on the Washington St. and Beacon St projects. Why does he have so many contracts for public and private jobs in Somerville?
- The purchasing department in Somerville says it is the policy of the City to obtain bids, even when not required by Chapter 30 Sec B, in order to convey fairness and competition. Were the Somerville Ave., Washington St., and Beacon St., design contracts put out for bid?
- When Rick Willette, Director of Operations at the Department of Public Works is asked about this project, he refers people to Alderman Maryannn Heuston, who is also his live-in girlfriend, saying that she is very involved in this project, even when the specific area in question is outside of her Ward 2 boundaries. They are referred to in the city as the point people for this project.
- (Line crossed out with black ink)
- Persons with disabilities requested that the crosswalks were not made of brick pavers because, when they cross over them, it hurts frail people who complain of being jostled by the bumping. This hurts their muscles, joints, and bones and has put some people in the uncomfortable predicament of urinating reflexively. No automobile driver enjoys driving on grooved pavement because of the vibration. These pavers are even worse for wheelchair passengers. When brick pavers lift out of their shallow home, this is a pothole for wheelchairs. Blind persons do not approve of bump-outs at bus stops.
We request that the Department of Transportation be present at the public hearing.
cc: District 4 Highway Director, Patricia Leavenworth
cc: District 4 Operations Engineer, Marie Rose
(list of signatures available with copy filed at the clerk’s office)
END
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The following agenda item appeared in the minutes of the Sep 23 BoA mtg (pdf):
89. #190195
Public Communication
Sixteen residents requesting that this Board conduct a public hearing to discuss concerns about the Somerville Avenue reconstruction project.
RESULT: REFERRED FOR RECOMMENDATION
FOLLOWUP: Traffic and Parking Committee
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Note about Rick Willette and Ald. Maryann Heuston sharing the same address: These 2004 minutes of the Board of Aldermen (pdf) item 15, lists Mr. Willette’s address as 115 Beacon St., Somerville, the same address as is listed for Ald. Heuston on her BoA page.
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eila recently wrote about accessibility issues with the Somerville Ave project in her post Street Reconstruction Project: Promises Never Kept
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Has your friend raised these concerns with the DPW’s manager for the Somerville Avenue project, as well as his aldermen?
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Hi boblothrope, yes my friend has raised these concerns with those City officials and many others.
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Actually, and unusually, I disagree with your friend, at least in the short term. I think the real test of the brick pavers, for example, will be in a snowstorm and that, as a rule, they mark cross walks much better than painted lines. I also am – at least generally – familiar with the discussion of reduced lanes actually increasing traffic flow, and have seen that effect, with a left turn lane nicely marked, on the Somerville Ave renovation. I question the number of stoplights, particularly if they’re not synchronized, but that is a different city department. And I do think that the bidding process is probably rigged, given Somerville’s history. But, again, those are different issues.
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I’m quite pleased with Somerville Ave. It’s more pleasant to walk, bike, and drive on. Note that although the roadway is narrower, it has the same number of lanes as it did previously. In fact it now has some additional turn lanes where there were none before. It’s important to note that the signal timing is not yet set to it’s final configuration, and won’t be for another month or two. That should help to smooth out the traffic flow. I would urge people to withhold judgement over the final product until the project is 100% complete.
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As I understand things, the contractor that people are beating up on did not design the roadway. Mass Highway coodinated the road design, and there were public meetings before the design was completed. I went to a couple. The use of brick crosswalks was commented on by a few of us at one meeting. While I am normally not a fan of bricks, I think that these crossings, using pavers on a bed of concrete, are actually pretty good. They’re much better than the brick crosswalks in Davis Square. Folks may have noticed that Cambridge is tearing up all its brick crosswalks in Harvard Square and replacing them with similar pavers on concrete. Mass Highway was trying to apply “context sensitive design”, their new approach, here. There are some things they got wrong — narrowing the sidewalk between Porter Square station and the Beacon St. bridge, and then further narrowing the sidewalk by choosing decorative light fixtures with very wide bases that used up more sidewalk — but from a pedestrian point of view, I find it much safer and pleasanter to walk from Lowell St. to Union Square now than before. Burying the wires also made a much more attractive street. For a contrast to the old school “context INsensitive design”, try riding up Winship Street in Brighton some evening.
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As a bicyclist I find the new Somerville Avenue a joy to ride on, especially compared to beat-up Beacon Street (which should be the city’s next repaving project).
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Bricks and brick paver sidewalks, crosswalks and pedestrian pathways- even with wire-cut pavers- are a deal breaker for frail pedestrians, and all wheelchair drivers, because the whole-body jostling HURTS bones, muscles, joints and nerves.
Some of us tried to convince Joe and friends to not make Somerville Avenue yet another brick-paver-gated commons, but no luck– no compassion.
(see Letter in the Somerville Journal, 6/16/09-
http://www.wickedlocal.com/somerville/homepage/x2122538374/Letter-Plan-for-brick-sidewalks-hampers-accessibility-costs-too-much )
The realities of how brick paver crosswalks exclude a large segment of our pedestrian-only community constituents have already been studied.
There’s no need to put it to the test again, and especially in this condensed city where 21st century design concepts should preference bicyclists, public transit linkage and pedestrians throughout.
If you want to read and understand more about how bricks and brick paver surfaces (as well as poorly maintained pedestrian surfaces of any material) lead to secondary injuries such as low-back and neck pain, muscle ache and fatigue, and other harmful effects for mobility-impaired community members, here’s a short reading list. Enjoy:
1. Building a True Community: Final Report, Public Rights-of-Way Access Advisory Committee [Online]. 2001 January [cited 2006 Nov 7]; Available from: URL: http://www.access-board.gov/prowac/commrept/index.htm
2. Wolf EJ, Pearlman J, Cooper RA. Vibration exposure of individuals using wheelchairs over sidewalk surfaces. Disabil Rehabil. 2005; 27(23): 1443-1449.
3. Bent, Not Broken at http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/02/nyregion/02back.html
4. Griffin MJ. Handbook of Human Vibrations. San Diego CA: Academic Press Inc; 1990: 173-186.
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Why was the right fork at the Somerville Ave & Elm St split eliminated?
This very important question was posed on June 16th on SomerBlog, ResiStat’s online oracle of wisdom. Unfortunately, the response raises more questions than it answers.
The questioner rightly points out the lack of a right turn lane or a bike lane there. As anyone who has driven through there has noticed, there is now a private parking space for abutters where the right fork used to be.
The official answer is that the design is meant to calm traffic going onto Elm St., but this makes little sense. I left the following comment on the blog:
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The colored concrete pavers (I don’t think they’re bricks)in the crosswalks were set in poured concrete beds, so I don’t think they’ll be subject to frost heaves and tree roots as many brick sidewalks in town are. The change in material promotes pedestrian safety because it is much more noticeable (and permanent) than any painted designation. And I have to say, when I’ve crossed them on my bike, the surface seemed pretty smooth.
I’m delighted by the new light at Wilson Square, so that cars merging from Elm no longer have to play dodgem with the avenue traffic. The odd little cut-through negates that safety improvement, though. You still have to crane your neck to see if someone’s coming at you across that short cut, when you turn onto Elm.
The intersection with Park is still chaotic because of the disorganized long curb cut in front of the Dunkin Donuts. I’m not sure the No Right Turn sign there is helping anyone.
But the backup on Park–I’ve seen it back all the way to Beacon Street–has been like that for a long time. I don’t see how the road rebuild made it any worse. Drivers have to watch what they’re doing and not go onto those tracks until there’s a clear place for them beyond the tracks.
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I’d really like to see a left-turn signal added at the new light at the intersection of Somerville Ave and Elm St.
Also, why can’t traffic turning right onto Somerville Ave from Elm St. turn on red? With no right on red there, the stopped traffic backs up and it’s impossible to turn left from Porter onto Elm.
This stretch of Somerville Ave near Elm seems not to have been thought out very well.
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What baffles me is, mostly, none of the above. The intersection at Park Street and Somerville Avenue has a stoplight controlling traffic in three directions. But there are two parking lots, one at the Rite Aid and the other across the street and serving UPS and Wings, with no traffic control at all. As a cyclist who regularly commutes through that intersection, I have watched cars enter and leave those lots without regard to the direction of the green light or the flow of traffic. And, of course, the Rite Aid lot is used as a shortcut by cars that aren’t willing to wait for the light, especially those making a left turn from Park to Somerville.
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I live near the Elm and Somerville Ave intersection and can vouch that there is traffic backed up there like I’ve never seen before. It would have been simple to make a slow down easement for people racing onto Elm St instead of blocking it off- and if they felt it was that important to block, they should have added a right hand turning lane. I also find the size and abundance of the street and traffic lights to be extreme. Walking to Porter Sq- you can’t even fit two people walking down the sidewalk without a passerby having to walk into the street stop because they are so huge and take up half the sidewalk. The Wilson Sq. partition has I think 3 street lights and massive sidewalks that would have been better served for a turning lane. I also find the steetlamps- which are double sided and face up to be wasteful- they should be downfacing to help reduce light pollution and better serve the sidewalks. I also hate the traffic cameras. It all looks nice but seems a bit much. I will admit to also liking all the complaints as I advocate for residents to ditch their cars and take up biking- you’ll find that none of this will bother you once you do that!
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In response to Barry’s questions, I think the point of the changes at the intersection of Craigie, Elm and Somerville Ave. was to make the intersection safer for pedestrians. In the old configuration, pedestrians coming down Craigie St and heading toward the Porter Square T station had a dangerous crosswalk across the foot of Elm St to an island: you couldn’t tell if cars were headed to Elm or Somerville Ave until they were right on top of you. Once you got to the island, there was no sidewalk. The Garden Club added stepping stones to the island, which was nice but hardly a sufficient sidewalk. I was at the public meeting at which the new design for the intersection was presented. The engineer in charge was thinking of this as a sort of woonerf, a neighborhood street that would be shared by cars and people. Many of us at the meeting were pretty skeptical that cars would choose to travel on Somerville Ave to a light to get to Elm St. rather than just continue without a light through the woonerf, although at the time I didn’t understand from the drawings that there would be an elevated sidewalk across the foot of Elm St. In the beginning, most cars were going to the light, probably because the woonerf was blocked with barrels. Coming home yesterday evening at rush hour, I saw a string of cars take the woonerf route, and this morning I saw an 87 bus take the woonerf route. There is a sign that says local traffic only, but unless there is enforcement I doubt it will be effective. At least the elevated sidewalk across the foot of Elm St. gets the cars that are taking the turn to slow down enough to give pedestrians a chance.
This is a very complicated intersection with a whole series of problems, as all the commenters at the hearing made clear. There may not be a solution that pleases all users. Perhaps this a good time to think about the approach used by Rep. Blumenauer from Oregon. When he worked in a municipal position, he got so tired of having everybody complain about traffic issues that he started a program that got citizens to enroll in traffic planning classes at a community college and come up with their own solutions for problem roadways.
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Along those lines, there’s an ongoing pedestrian safety webinar going on sponsored by the Federal Highway Administration. Presentation 6 is happening Tuesday, Oct. 5, and previous presentations are archived. Here’s a link to the SV announcement:
http://www.somervillevoices.org/2010/09/05/events/10510-designing-for-pedestrian-safety-part-6-interchanges-and-roundabouts/
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My wife and I usually do our shopping at Market Basket. Coming from Arlington we bike it about 50% of the time. The street scape is much improved from before and it is much safer than it was previously for bicyclists. When we are driving I don’t notice a big difference in driving time down the street. I would say there seems to be many more traffic lights though. Better timing might help. I’m sure the future will show that this upgrade will serve the Somerville Ave very well.
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