walkboston

Austin St Pop-up and Safe Access to Parks

On Wednesday, July 17, 2019, WalkBoston joined many departments from the City of Boston for a Sidewalk Series/Austin St Pop-up in Thompson Square in Charlestown.

Safe access to parks is an important part of creating a safe and walkable neighborhood. We encouraged attendees to add a green sticker to a map for places that felt safe for pedestrians, and a red sticker for areas that needed improvement. Many people then explained why it didn’t feel safe, and how they would fix things to make it better. We also heard great ideas about this section of Austin Street being something other than an extra slip lane for vehicles, all because it was opened up for a few hours to help people see the possibilities. We’ll be sharing all of the feedback we received with the city.

Thank you to the Age Strong Commission, New Urban Mechanics, Office of Neighborhood Services & Public Works for asking us to participate & making the day a success – and thanks to everyone that stopped by at the pop-up and shared your feedback (or just played with the bubble machine for a while)!

iBerkshires – “Williamstown Planning Board Grapples with Lighting Bylaw”

iBerkshires: “Williamstown Planning Board Grapples with Lighting Bylaw”

Puddester talked about a recent workshop she attended in Cheshire hosted by Age Friendly Berkshires and Walk Boston on the issue of walkable neighborhoods.
“They gave us a walking tour of a small part of Cheshire and showed us some of the places where their might be safety issues,” Puddester said. “Some of the things were crosswalks not being where they should be because they were faded. Or another issue was: Corners are cut wider than they used to be, allowing cars to go around the corner more quickly; they recommend painting a line that cuts the curb and people will use that as a guideline.”
The board voted unanimously to authorize Puddester to work with other stakeholders in town, like the Council on Aging, to see if the town can partner with Walk Boston to do a walkability study in the community.

July 11, 2019

Wicked Local Saugus – “Saugus residents and stakeholders invited to town-wide speed limit analysis public meeting”

Wicked Local Saugus: “Saugus residents and stakeholders invited to town-wide speed limit analysis public meeting”

“Last year the Town of Saugus partnered with WalkBoston, a non-profit membership organization dedicated to improving walking conditions in cities and towns across Massachusetts, to conduct an initial assessment of the community’s roadways and crossings. Residents’ concerns and comments were also shared with WalkBoston, and the organization recently completed a comprehensive report of their findings with recommended improvements for the town.
The Town of Saugus also recently received a shared grant of $1.5 million from the Baker-Polito Administration to fund trail designs for the Northern Strand Community Trail project in Saugus, Everett, Lynn, Malden, and Revere. The town has requested that safer crossings, wayfinding, and landscape amenities be major components of the improvement project. The town distributed a copy of WalkBoston’s report to the architectural firm working with the town on the design for the Northern Strand Community Trail project, Brown, Richardson + Rowe, so that it will be taken into consideration for the project’s final design.”

July 3, 2019

Comment Letter on Kenmore Hotel Project (560-574 Commonwealth Avenue)

June 27, 2019

Brian Golden, Director
Boston Redevelopment Authority
Attn: Tim Czerwienski
One City Hall Square
Boston, MA 02201-1007

Re: Kenmore Hotel, 560-574 Commonwealth Avenue, WalkBoston Comments

Dear Director Golden:

Thank you for the opportunity to comment on the Kenmore Hotel Project.

WalkBoston believes that the re-configuration of Kenmore Square proposed by the proponent will significantly enhance the environment and improve the safety and convenience of people walking to and through Kenmore Square. It will also create new pedestrian-focused civic space that is presently missing from this important Boston crossroads – where many residents, transit users, students, Red Sox fans and Boston Marathon fans will find new space to enhance their experience of Kenmore Square.

We believe that the re-configuration will also significantly improve the safety of bicyclists and drivers, with its simplified pattern of movement. Based on the traffic analysis provided in the DPIR it also appears that the new traffic pattern will improve the levels of service for vehicles, potentially providing a benefit for the many bus riders who pass through the Square each day.

We are very pleased that the proponent has proposed building a hotel without on-site parking or below-grade service access – either of which would require a curb cut interrupting the sidewalk. With Kenmore Square’s good transit access the hotel will truly reflect an urbanist vision for the City which we applaud. While we have not reviewed any financial information about the project, we wonder whether the decision to forgo the construction of parking spaces (@ approximately $25,000 – $30,000/space) has provided the proponent with the financial capacity to build the extensive plaza and streetscape improvements that are proposed. If this is the case, we hope that future Boston development projects will be encouraged by the City to take advantage of this opportunity.

We urge the City to work with the proponent to bring this new vision for Kenmore Square to fruition.

We have several questions and comments about the project that we urge the City to work with the proponent to address.

The new, much safer, bicycle circulation system is an important improvement for Kenmore Square. We urge the design team to carefully design the western edge of the site to actively discourage eastbound cyclists on Commonwealth Avenue from riding through the plaza area rather than taking the New Road-Beacon Street-Commonwealth Avenue bike route that is the intended route.
Based on the wind study results presented at the June 19 public meeting, several spots on the plaza may be quite windy. We urge the proponent to develop designs that both reduce the wind and avoid the use of walls along Commonwealth Avenue. We believe that walls will serve to privatize the feel of the space and may also cause unintended noise impacts (wooshing sounds) as traffic passes by the intermittent walls.
We hope that the plaza will include seating that has a softer feel than that which seems to be illustrated to date – seating that invites people to linger and enjoy the great people-watching.
For how many years has the proponent committed to maintaining and programming the Plaza?
It appears from the site plan that there are two left turn lanes from westbound Commonwealth Avenue feeding into one receiving lane on Brookline Avenue – is this intended, or is the site plan incorrect? In addition, westbound Commonwealth Avenue traffic will need very clear lane markings (and perhaps a tweaking of the shape of the nose of the plaza) to ensure that traffic does not mistakenly head westbound on Beacon Street.

We look forward to a significantly improved walking experience in Kenmore Square when the project is realized.

Please let us know if you have any questions about our comments.

Best regards,

Wendy Landman
Executive Director

Event: Save the Date for “Walk with Us: A Celebration of Leadership,” Oct 2nd 6-8pm

Sign up now to join us on October 2nd as we honor Executive Director Wendy Landman’s 15 inspiring years of leadership, and welcome incoming Executive Director Stacey Beuttell (current Deputy Director) as she begins her work to carry WalkBoston’s mission forward. Enjoy heavy hors d’oeuvres, beer and wine, and lively entertainment as we look back on WalkBoston’s achievements over the past 15 years and look ahead to our ambitious vision for the future.

All proceeds benefit our newly-created Walking-Around Money Fund. This fund will underwrite work in communities throughout Massachusetts, enabling WalkBoston to address pressing issues of pedestrian safety and equitable transportation.

*Can’t attend the event but still want to support the Walking-Around Money Fund? Click the Tickets button, and there is the option to make a donation.

What: “Walk with Us: A Celebration of Leadership”
When: October 2, 2019 6-8PM
Where: Society of Arts and Crafts, 100 Pier Four Boulevard #200, Boston, MA 02210
Cost: $150 – Beer, wine + food included with your ticket

More info to come: hope to see you on October 2nd!