Pedestrians

Another public meeting for Beacon Street Reconstruction meeting is coming on up on Tuesday, March 5th at 6:00pm in the Argenziano School cafetorium (290 Washington Street). I strongly urge all with an interest in the…

Our recent post on possible changes to pedestrian signalization in Somerville attracted the attention of Greg Hill.  He shared this video, shot here in Union Square and in Davis. It shows bikes on the sidewalks in these busy commercial districts ̷…

Bicyclists, pedestrians, and other users of the Community Path should come to this meeting and ask that the CPX crossing over the Fitchburg Line be designed in.

No, there hasn’t been a premature dropping of a local New Years Eve time-ball–City Hall has dropped the ball on long-promised bike enforcement and a companion public safety campaign—yet again…

Come, look, listen, and participate. Neighbors and other stakeholders should assert their interests early rather than late.

Tour Date: Saturday, 10/20 from 1:30 to 4:00 pm.

Rain Date: Sunday  10/21, same time.

This meeting is called by the Somerville OSPCD to describe planned changes to Beacon Street. Changes to Beacon Street can affect people from Porter Square to Inman Square.

The Friends of the Community Path sent this letter to the George Proakis and the Planning Board on August 17, with no reply so far:…

Adam Auster of Arlington, in an Aug. 19 update, notes you may now walk on the boardwalk at the Alewife Greenway path, connecting to the Minuteman Bikeway to Somerville.

See an update and photos…

John B. Kelly, friend to all Somervillians and especially BFF with Community Access Project Somerville and human rights defenders throughout Massachusetts, receives a Proclamation from Boston’s Mayor Menino, who named today, July 26, 2012, John B. Kelly Day!

Plan includes money for extending the Somerville Community Path from Cedar Street to Lowell Street and money for the Green Line Extension to College Avenue and Union Square. To show support for these plans, send e-mail to publicinformation@ctps.org.

The air quality determination governs whether the state is required to do all of the Green Line Extension or whether it can quit early.

Somerville will only get its transportation needs met if the legislature adequately funds the MBTA and other mass transit.

For more information, see MPO Transportation Im

Turning McGrath Highway back into a boulevard would relink parts of Somerville that have long been severed.

Two years ago, I began making a Google Map of obscure stairways, ramps, paths, and shortcuts in and near Somerville. Since Google Map URLs are quite long, I gave this map a shorter one that’s easy to remember:

http://TinyURL.com/ObscureSomerville

This Monday, the Architectural Access State Board will hear the City of Somerville’s request to waive the necessity to place an accessible ramp adjacent to a proposed shortcut between the Lowell St. bridge and the future Community Path Extension. Public transportation stewardship begins at home! Let’s encourage Somerville’s deciders to sTop wasting local and sTate transportation resources on exclusive facilities- and instead, plan for the future by designing accessible multi-modal pedestrian routes at every step.

The Community Access Project and other disability rights colleagues appeared at a Hearing to hear how the City rationalized deferring corrections of recent streetscape construction mistakes. And we discovered that even the surveys are not being completed correctly.

This meeting will present five options for fixing the break in the Minuteman Trail at Mass Ave. and Rt. 60 in Arlington Center, which forces bicyclists onto the streets and sidewalks.

This is a first look at the proposed design for the Community Path. All concerned with the path and the Green Line Extension should show up and comment.

The comment period ends 11/23/11. This is your chance to provide input to Federal guidelines on access by persons with disabilities.

Over 80% of Somerville’s new sidewalks and curb cuts, installed since 2004, are hazardous for people with various types of disabilities (one-in-five). These infrastructure improvements don’t even adhere to basic, standard building code. See a listing of the first 50 locations that the City of Somerville promises to re-do, equalling about $500K wasted the first time around- for starters.

On Thursday, 6 pm, November 3rd, at the VNA, 259 Lowell St., the Board of Aldermen’s Public Safety Committee will discuss the Administration’s disinclination to implement a promised Bicycle Safety Campaign for the city’s cyclists…

At Chester and Elm Streets in Davis Square, the brick curb cuts have been replaced with concrete, compliant ones. People using wheelchairs and other rolling mobility devices at this location can now rock and roll to the beat of the Ville, knowing that they don’t have to “pull the hill” at either end of the crosswalk. Keep up the good work, Mayor Joe!

Agenda includes 343-351 Summer St. developing a new two to three story mixed-use building consisting of a VFW hall and 31 residential units.

We will present a summary of the City’s almost finished Comprehensive Plan, followed by discussion. The plan is the product of over two years of work by the Comprehensive Plan Steering Committee.

Extending the Community Path along the proposed Green Line spur will encourage people to bike and walk through central Somerville.

The latest robocall announced the 4th Annual Riverfest, Saturday, 9/17, featuring “fireworks, entertainment, food and family activities” for Somerville residents. The familiar and friendly voice of Jackie Rossetti encouraged residents to participate. The latter part…

An important improvement to McGrath Highway would be to return it to its original concept, as a ground-level boulevard with predestrian crossings.

MAPC is working with neighboring communities to create a network of safe walking routes to connect neighborhoods with the lower Mystic River, Chelsea Creek, Mill Creek, and the Malden River. You can help.

The Community Access Project did a reality check of the 2010 East Somerville Safe Routes 2 School Map. We found that less than 20% of the pedestrian features are even up to basic standard code. “Safe” is a misnomer.

These streets ain’t fit for walkin’.

It is important to reunite neighborhoods, lower traffic speeds, and add more trees to make McGrath Hwy a boulevard.

Ward 7 Alderperson Candidate Joan Whitney Puglia is proving to have a keen awareness of conditions around town.  Her mention of Dilboy Field‘s tot lot and baseball field has the Community Access Project members…

Black Swallowwort (AKA “dog-strangling vine”) is one of the most aggressive invasive weeds, and has spread throughout Somerville.

Please join us in our efforts to connect the Minuteman Bikeway and Charles River path networks, by extending the Community Path!…

MA DOT holding a Public hearing on Broadway Streetscape improvement Project on January 26, 2011 at the Cross Street Senior Center, 7 pm. Public Comments are also accepted via mail.

Property owners need to keep snow and ice from accumulating on their walkways. But what is the City’s responsibility?

Somerville, Boston and Cambridge Human rights activists encouraged the BOA Public Health and Safety Committee to allow economic integration, safety, inclusion and accessibility to trump aesthetics at a recent Meeting.

We will be prioritizing our action list this meeting. We are looking for new members to help us with our mission of extending the Community Path (along part of the future Green Line route) to the Charles River.
Meeting is at the VNA, 259 Lowell Street.

On December 6 at 6 pm, Alderman White and the Public Safety Committee will hold a Special Hearing to understand the justification for using brick paver materials in the recently constructed Somerville Avenue crosswalks. The vibrations from such materials hurts wheelchair drivers, and causes additional discomfort for people with visual and balance impairments.

The public is invited to make suggestions about pedestrian, bicycle, and bus access to the station, as well as safety lighting, station design, comfort, signs and area maps.

The current issues are the status of the Green Line Extension and Community Path, extending the Green Line to Route 16, and funding the Assembly Square Orange Line T-Stop.

Large Retail Cluster Parking: Proposal is to double the parking requirement for large retail (> 25,000 s.f.). Staff believes that because Somerville has little parking available, the effect will be to discourage suburban format in Somerville. Developers would have to build parking garages, which is expensive.

The meeting will include:

* A brief history of the Friends of the Community Path
* An update on current status of the proposed Path extension
* An overview of our goals and activities
* A discussion of the kinds of help we often need (attending meetings/events, taking minutes, tabling, strategizing, making inroads, mapping, urban planning, writing, fund raising, research, press announcements, technical, web/blog, social networking, schlepping, etc.)
* Q&A

Somerville’s disability culture should also be celebrated as part of our rich multicultural diversity. But as we see, even voting is still not routinely made accessible and integrated for voters with physical disAbilities. How can we reverse Segregation in Somerville?

The agenda includes the following:

* Change to the zoning ordinance to allow self-storage in Assembly Square
* Changes to the zoning ordinance to revise the procedures for reviewing Special Permits, Special Permits with Site Plan Approval, and variances
* Changes to the zoning ordinance to revise the parking requirements for large scale retail
* Change to the zoning ordinance to allow Historic Carriage House as a use in certain districts
* Special permit to allow Federal Realty to exceed signage size requirements in Assembly Square.

A few volunteers are needed to help us evaluate a new pedestrian safety option for crosswalks in Somerville called a pedestrian-head-start.…

These are two identical presentations on the Green Line Extension station design guidelines and requirements. The Tuesday presentation is in Somerville; the same presentation is being given on Wednesday in Medford.

The Green Line Extension stations are now being designed. If you want input into the design, attend one of these meetings and ask questions.

The Mystic View Task Force will hold its annual meeting at 1:30 P.M., Saturday, September 25, 2010, at the Third Life Studio, 33 Union Square, Somerville.

A change-of-use ordinance is being submitted to the Board of Aldermen to allow self-storage/wholesale storage in locations in Assembly Square near I-93 and not suitable for better development. I understand that the goal is to allow a developer to place a self-storage facility at the foot of Foley Street, replacing a truck storage facility near the current (poorly-maintained) pedestrian underpass from Assembly Square to the Stop & Shop on Mystic Avenue. The underlying urban design problem is how to use a development in this location to establish a pedestrian-friendly gateway to Assembly Square, given (a) the planned Assembly Square T-Stop at the head of Foley Street and (b) a proposed Foley Street connection under I-93 to East Somerville.

Land use planning is the primary function of municipal government. This ordinance provides an ideal opportunity to observe and participate in the public land use process, from Ordinance to Planning Board special permit.

Public input is needed on accessibility, waterfront and water activities design, and pedestrian and bicycle access along Foley Street.

This is the sixth in the 8-part Free Webinar Series on Designing for Pedestrian Safety being given by the Federal Highway Administration and the Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center. Pedestrian and bicycle safety is essential to the success of the new Assembly Square roadways and Orange Line T-Stop and around the new Green Line stops.

This is the fifth in the 8-part Free Webinar Series on Designing for Pedestrian Safety being given by the Federal Highway Administration and the Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center. Pedestrian and bicycle safety is essential to the success of the new Assembly Square roadways and Orange Line T-Stop and around the new Green Line stops.

Three years after the Somerville Avenue Reconstruction Project began, Union Square businesses are still hindered by lack of thoughtful pedestrian planning during construction; and Union Square residents, visitors and workers are still unable to walk these streets with confidence and comfort.

This meeting was devoted entirely to passing the proposed modifications to the Preliminary Master Plan for Assembly Square. The Planning Staff had asked Federal Realty to generalize the use mix from Office and R&D because Somerville zoning has a very narrow definition of Office use. Federal Realty widened the definition to include all Somerville uses under special permit. The Planning Board stated that in the absence of any opposition, they would waive the reading of the 70 conditions and voted to approve the changes to the PUD. Some citizens present had expected to have a period for written comment before the vote.

This meeting was held at 6:30 at the State Transportation Building, around the corner from the Boylston T-Stop. A half-dozen officials from the Federal transportation authorities were present, along with some translators (never called upon) and a half-dozen or so members of the MPO. Only about a half-dozen members of the public showed up, all from Somerville.

The Boston MPO must be certified by the federal government in order for the Boston area to receive federal funding for transportation improvements. Citizen input is an important part of this process.

This is the fourth in the 8-part Free Webinar Series on Designing for Pedestrian Safety being given by the Federal Highway Administration and the Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center. Pedestrian and bicycle safety is essential to the success of the new Assembly Square roadways and Orange Line T-Stop and around the new Green Line stops.

This is the third in the 8-part Free Webinar Series on Designing for Pedestrian Safety being given by the Federal Highway Administration and the Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center. Pedestrian and bicycle safety is essential to the success of the new Assembly Square roadways and Orange Line T-Stop and around the new Green Line stops.

This is the second in the 8-part Free Webinar Series on Designing for Pedestrian Safety being given by the Federal Highway Administration and the Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center. Pedestrian and bicycle safety is essential to the success of the new Assembly Square roadways and Orange Line T-Stop and around the new Green Line stops.

This is the first in the 8-part Free Webinar Series on Designing for Pedestrian Safety being given by the Federal Highway Administration and the Pedestrian and Bicycle Information Center. Safe pedestrian and bicycle access is essential to the success of the new Assembly Square Orange Line T-Stop and new Green Line stops.

This meeting is important because bridges are in need of repair in and around Somerville, and these repairs should include pedestrian and bicycle access.

All citizens of Somerville and Medford should evaluate this document and give feedback, because this is one of the final steps before the project begins implementation. Written comments will be accepted until July 23.

This meeting is important because it relates to land use around the new Green Line stations in Somerville and to the forthcoming Comprehensive Plan for Somerville.

This meeting includes a continuation of the 1 Benton Road case, which has proved controversial.

This Planning Board meeting included continuing hearings on 79-83 Broadway (slightly controversial), 39R Medford St., and 1 Benton Rd. (also controversial). There was also a discussion of declaring properties part of historical districts, sometimes controversial.

At this meeting, citizens will evaluate professional designs and documentation for the Green stations in your neighborhood.

This meeting is important because it begins work on sustainable station designs for the Green Line Extension.

This meeting is important because it provides background information on sustainable station designs for the Green Line Extension.

Somerville has a number of stairways that pedestrians can use to walk between places that aren’t well-connected by streets. Most of these are poorly marked and unknown to people outside their immediate neighborhood.

I’ve…

Before the emergence of Coffee Parties, we saw, locally, the advent of Somervillevoices.org, a courageous and worthy experiment in a 21st Century democratic, community- controlled public media forum, and of the much heralded, government- built Resistat program…

This spring, Somerville is launching its first “one city, one book” campaign, a community reading project in which people all over the City will be encouraged to read and discuss the same book.

The…

MPO Access Advisory Committee to the MBTA Meeting

Wed. Feb. 24 1:00 PM

State Transportation Building
Conf. Rms. 2, 3
10 Park Plaza
Boston MA (map)…

Regional Transportation Advisory Council Meeting

Wed. Feb. 10 3:00 PM

State Transportation Building
Conf. Rm. 4
10 Park Plaza
Boston MA (map)

Jan. 28, 2010 MPO

Comment Period on Amendment to MPO Public Participation Plan

Starts: Mon. Feb. 8
Ends: Thurs. Mar. 25

Amendment (PDF)

This is the beginning of the 45-day comment…

Comprehensive Plan Steering Committee Planning Meeting

Tues., Feb. 16, 6:30 PM

Upper Hall
Greek Orthodox Church
29 Central St.
Somerville MA (map)

This is the rescheduling of the…

Public Meeting on Mystic River Reservation Recreational Path Extension (Wellington Undercarriage)

Thurs. Dec. 17 6:30 PM

Mystic Activity Center
535 Mystic Ave.
Somerville MA (map)

This meeting is…

Community ratifies set of 11 principles for land use planning along the Green Line extension.

Here’s a 12% slope in Union Square, at the crosswalk between 2 HP parking spaces, nearest curbcut to the Union Square Bus stop, necessary to access the commercial area and the SCAT building…

In RE: Joe Lynch on Joe’s Original Crosswalks

The situation you describe, Joe, in which the Magoun Square project consultant told you that cost is the reason that a principal location, one…

Q:  Why Didn’t the Rolling Somerville Pedestrian Cross the Road at the Crosswalk?

A:  Because the City of Somerville Deciders have been playing chicken with standards.

This photo essay will show 30 lost opportunities to create a safer community on Mayor Curtatone’s watch.

My long-lived friends keep telling me stories about pedestrian accidents in Davis Square.  Fractured a jaw.  Twisted knees.  Fractured elbow, shoulder, wrists.  Slipped and broke an ankle, on crutches for 5 months, still don’t feel…

Get the skinny on Somerville’s own sassy, classy, and definitely brassy festival of alternative marching bands coming up October 11th, and find out how to be part of the fun!

I have a new idea as to how Somerville can raise revenue: ticket jaywalkers.  I drive through Davis Square daily to drop my son off at daycare and DAILY come across pedestrians who think it is OK to cross the street wherever they want.  …

If a municipality’s Bus stops are unreachable and inaccessible, due to badly built street facilities, then its residents are restricted from accessing public transportation systems, etc..For some individuals, the challenges created by these issues cause them to be nearly or fully housebound.
Do you think such quality of life issues should continue to be put off until “tomorrow?” …

The Milk Row Cemetery is a Historic Preservation Commission project, and its improvements triggered sidewalk accessibility improvements by 2005. Below is the copy of the complaint I submitted today. This is at least the third time this issue has been brought to the attention of the City ADA Coordinator in the past year.