walkboston

Letter Thanking MassDOT Secretary Pollack

Re: Thank You for MassDOT’s thoughtful I-90 process and presentation

June 29, 2018

To: Stephanie Pollack
Cc: Rep. Kevin Honan, Rep. Michael Moran, Senator Sal DiDomenico, Senator William Brownsberger, Councilor Mark Ciommo, Councilor Michelle Wu, Katherine Fichter, Jonathan Gulliver, James Gillooly, Tad Read

Secretary Pollack,

Thank you very much for presenting and responding to questions at Wednesday night’s I-90 Allston Task Force meeting, and your follow up in the Boston Globe Opinion piece. We appreciate all the thoughtful planning by you and your team that is evident in your presentation.

We’re very excited! Your announcement of the Independent Review Team to analyze the throat options is a great way to proceed. We look forward to working with Jack Wright, Ilyas Bhatti, and the rest of the team to find how the at-grade design can be best accomplished. Your help to implement near-term improvements for transit, biking, and walking in Allston is also much appreciated.

And we certainly agree how West Station and the Malvern Street busway do need rail and bus service plans to accomplish the mission of serving the needs of regional commuters and local businesses & residents, and we will work with the Focus40 and Commuter Rail Vision as the process to discuss that service. However without their physical construction there can be no service. So because of the urgent need for better transit through Allston, we hope MassDOT will work with the Task Force on the design and implementation of an ADA-compliant, two-track, interim West Station and the Malvern Street busway for inclusion in the first phase of the project.

We also hope that the review of permitting issues will look at how MassDOT can permit a project that yields improvements for all modes and all parts of the project area – and not take the perspective that the simplest permitting path is the best.

Lastly, we look forward to working with Mike O’Dowd and his team on improving the Phase One design by designing and evaluating:

Rail yard flip
Cambridge St. Bypass Road
Lane reduction on Cambridge St. and its intersecting streets
“Unchoke the Throat” improvements to Charles River paths and parkland
Two-track Grand Junction Bridge over Soldiers Field Road
Ecological restoration of the Charles River edge

Again, thank you for your thoughtful and sincere approach to finding the best way forward for this impressive project, which truly is a generational opportunity for the Commonwealth.

Sincerely,

Galen Mook, MassBike
Harry Mattison, Charles River Conservancy
Wendy Landman, WalkBoston
Tony Lechuga, LivableStreets Alliance
Jessica Robertson, Allston Resident
Hazel Ryerson, Allston Resident
Anthony D’Isidoro, Allston Civic Association
Jason Desrosier, Allston Brighton CDC
Emma Walters, Allston Village Main Streets
Frederick Salvucci

Rain couldn’t stop walk audit in Yarmouth on Cape Cod

Rain couldn’t stop our recent EOPSS-funded walk audit in Yarmouth along Rt 28 on Cape Cod. Thanks to members of the Yarmouth Dept. of Public Works, Dept. of Planning, Age-Friendly Community Team, the Library, and the Cape Cod Commission for contributing their time to make the area safer for people walking.

Senate Passes Bill to Improve Traffic Safety & Protect Vulnerable Road Users

BOSTON — The Massachusetts State Senate voted Thursday to pass legislation that aims to create safer streets for all road users. Developed in collaboration with a coalition of bicycle, pedestrian and transportation advocates, S.2570, An Act to reduce traffic fatalities, includes several measures to improve road safety, lessen the severity of crashes, and standardize the collection and analysis of crash data.

The bill classifies several groups, including pedestrians, utility workers, first responders and cyclists, as “vulnerable road users,” and requires motor vehicles to apply a “safe passing distance” of at least three feet when traveling 30 miles per hour or less with an additional foot of clearance required for every 10 miles per hour over 30 miles per hour. Current law only requires motor vehicle operators to pass at “a safe distance and at a reasonable and proper speed.” The bill would further require a vehicle that is overtaking a vulnerable road user to use all or part of the adjacent lane, crossing the center line if necessary, when it cannot pass at a safe distance in the same lane and only when it is safe to do so.

“We need to keep working year after year to achieve a future in which traffic fatalities get as close as possible to zero,” said Senator William N. Brownsberger (D-Belmont), lead sponsor of the bill in the Senate. “This bill will help us move in the right direction.”

“This legislation updates basic protections for pedestrians, cyclists and others who may be on the road, and is a common-sense policy to ensure safer roadways for pedestrians and drivers alike” said Senate President Harriette L. Chandler (D-Worcester). “I am very happy the Senate has passed this legislation.”

“This bill takes an important step in encouraging the use of multimodal transportation to relieve the congestion and reduce our state’s carbon footprint,” said Senator Joseph A. Boncore (D-Winthrop), who serves as the Senate Chair of the Joint Committee on Transportation, which advanced the legislative measure forward with a favorable recommendation earlier this year. “Ensuring that pedestrians and cyclists have more protections on shared roads is vital to that end.”

The bill would require certain large vehicles newly purchased, leased or operated pursuant to a contract with the Commonwealth to be equipped with lateral protective devices to eliminate a vehicle’s high ground clearance and the extraordinary risk posed to vulnerable road users, who are susceptible to slipping underneath large vehicles during accidents. Such large vehicles would also be required to utilize convex and cross-over mirrors to increase a driver’s ability to see around their vehicle. These provisions would apply to vehicles purchased or leased by the Commonwealth after January 1, 2019 and to vehicles operating pursuant to leases entered into January 1, 2020.

“MassBike congratulates the Senate on the passage of An Act to reduce traffic fatalities,” said Galen Mook, Executive Director of the Massachusetts Bicycle Coalition. “We have seen too many unnecessary and completely preventable fatalities on our roads, and MassBike believes this legislation provides distinct safety elements for cyclists across the Commonwealth, including defining that vehicles must pass cyclists at ‘a safe distance’ of at least three feet, and requiring sideguards on large vehicles to protect vulnerable road users from the dreaded ‘right hook.’ MassBike is grateful for the collaborative work of Senator Brownsberger and all of the advocacy organizations, and we thank everyone for the continued persistence to protect all cyclists and pedestrians across the state. Though we have not yet finished our work, this bill goes a long way toward the goal of zero deaths on our streets.”

The Executive Office of Public Safety and Security would be required to develop a standardized analysis tool to report crashes and incidents involving a vulnerable road user and maintain a publicly accessible database of such reports to help inform further efforts to reduce traffic fatalities.

“WalkBoston is thrilled that the Senate has passed An act to reduce traffic fatalities, which includes elements to immediately improve the safety of pedestrians, bicyclists and all vulnerable road users across the Commonwealth,” said Wendy Landman, Executive Director of WalkBoston. “The data collection and analysis requirement will help communities focus their road safety efforts on the places that need it the most.”

The bill would establish a 25 mile per hour speed limit on an unposted area of state highway or parkway inside a thickly settled or business district within a city or town that has accepted the 25 mile per hour local option, as lower vehicle speeds reduce the severity of crashes. While current law requires persons riding bicycles at night to use a front white light, this bill would also require use of both a red rear light and a red rear reflector when riding at night to improve the visibility of bicyclists.

The bill now moves to the House of Representatives for further consideration.

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Originally posted by Senator Brownsberger’s Office

Comment Letter with proposed Task Force Agenda

June 25, 2018
Secretary Stephanie Pollack
Massachusetts Department of Transportation
10 Park Plaza
Boston, MA 02116

Dear Secretary Pollack:

Thank you for resuming meetings of the I90 Allston Task Force. The dialogue and collaboration that we look forward to having with MassDOT and the MBTA will be an important step in this project towards achieving consensus on a multi-modal project that meets the current and future needs of Allston and the region to increase economic development, quality of life, and environmental sustainability.

We hope that the issues below will be used to frame the June 27^th Task Force meeting. We believe that each of the issues must be resolved and incorporated into the Final Environmental Impact Report (FEIR). We would also like to have a regular schedule of Task Force meetings at least until the end of 2018 because of the proposed deadline for production of the FEIR by March, 2019.

Thank you.

Sincerely, The following members of the I-90 Allston Interchange Task Force:

Anthony D’Isidoro
Allston resident
Allston Civic Association

Jason Desrosiers
Manager of Community Building and Engagement
Allston Brighton Community Development Corporation

Paola Ferrer
Allston resident
Attorney

Harry Mattison
Allston resident
Board of Directors
Charles River Conservancy

Galen Mook
Allston resident
New Executive Director
MassBike

Alana Olsen
Allston resident

Jessica Robertson
Allston resident

Emma Walters
Allston resident
Executive Director
Allston Village Main Streets

Tom Francis
Interim Executive Director
MassBike

Laura Jasinsky
Executive Director
Charles River Conservancy

Wendy Landman
Executive Director
WalkBoston

Stacy Thompson
Executive Director
Liveable Streets Alliance

Cc: Mike O’Dowd, Project Manager
Sen. William Brownsberger, Second Suffolk and Middlesex District
Sen. Sal DiDomenico, Middlesex and Suffolk District
Sen. Joe Boncore, First Suffolk and Middlesex District
Sen. James Eldridge, Middlesex and Worcester District
Sen. Karen Spilka, Second Middlesex and Norfolk District
Sen. Michael Moore, Second Worcester District
Sen. Cynthia Creem, First Middlesex and Norfolk District
Rep. Carmile Gentile, 13^th Middlesex District
Rep. Mary Keefe, 15^th Worcester District
Rep. Frank Smizik, 15^th Norfolk District
Rep. Jeffrey Roy, 10^th Norfolk District
Rep. Brian Murray, 10^th Worcester District
Rep. Jim O’Day, 14^th Worcester District
Rep. Jennifer Benson, 37^th Middlesex District
Rep. Jonathan Hecht, 29^th Middlesex District
Rep. Ruth Balser, 12^th Middlesex District
Rep. Kay Khan, 11^th Middlesex District
Rep. Chris Walsh, 6^th Middlesex District
Rep. David Linsky, 5^th Middlesex District
Rep. Alice Peisch, 14^th Norfolk District
Rep. Jay Livingstone, 8^th Suffolk District
Rep. Michael Connolly, 26^th Middlesex District
Rep. Michael Moran, 18^th Suffolk District
Rep. Kevin Honan, 17^th Suffolk District
Boston Mayor Martin Walsh
Mark Ciommo, Boston City Council
Michelle Wu, Boston City Council
Andreae Downs, Newton Councilor-at-large, Ward 5
Susan Albridght, Councilor-at-large, Ward 2
Alan Ciccone, Jr., Councilor-at-large Ward 1
Maria Scibelli Greenberg, Ward 1 Councilor
Neil Wishinski, Brookline Select Board
Benjamin Franco, Select Board
Nancy Heller, Select Board
Bernard Greene, Select Board
Heather Hamilton, Select Board
Cambridge Mayor McGovern
Vice Mayor Devereux
City Manager Louis DePasquale
Councilor Carlone
Councilor Zondervan
Joseph Aiello, Chair

MBTA Fiscal and Management Control Board

Proposed agenda for I-90 Task Force meeting – June 27, 2018

Our preferred decisions are described below:

1. West Station: Interim Station & Early Build

West Station should be built much sooner than the currently planned 2040, and an Interim West Station should be built during the earliest stages of the project. MassDOT should eliminate the proposed temporary railyard expansion that is part of their Phase 2 plan so that after the I-90 roads are constructed, new structures do not need to be removed to make room for West Station. The design and construction of West Station should include a commitment to full exploration of the Flip alternative, a center platform and early action on North/South walking, cycling and bus connections to the Station.

2. Regional Mobility During Construction

There should be a commitment to continuous peak period two-track rail service on the Worcester Line during construction. This is vital to providing regional mobility from the Worcester and Metro West regions.

3. At-Grade Highway Replacement

MassDOT should move forward with the lower cost at-grade highway replacement alternative, saving tax and toll payers a minimum $100 million in construction costs and more costly lifetime maintenance costs that are likely to exceed the present $800,000/year. This alternative will also allow ped/bike connections to be made between Commonwealth Ave. and the riverfront.

4. Improved Pedestrian & Cycling Public Realm

Allston Landing should be built in a community-friendly manner that reflects its proximity to neighborhoods and the Charles River and encourages sustainable mobility. Key elements of this are (1) commitments to “unchoke the throat” (improving walking and cycling with separated pathways along the Charles River and connections to the river across the corridor); (2) restoration of the river’s edge; and (3) building Wadsworth Path abutting the community.

5. Early Action on 2-Track Grand Junction Line

The Grand Junction line will provide Worcester and Metro West commuters with direct access to jobs-rich Cambridge and Kendall Square and possibly North Station. Regional equity, and sustainable urban mobility, requires a commitment to re-opening the Grand Junction to passenger rail as an early action item.

Commonwealth – For walkers, the last six inches are important

MassINC/Commonwealth: “For walkers, the last six inches are important”
By Wendy Landman and Brendan Kearney

WalkBoston has been talking about transit as the middle leg of a walking trip for many years. We understand that even the most avid walker or walking advocate knows that many trips are too long to make a single-mode-walk trip possible. Now, the transit and active transportation worlds have become more attuned to the facts that buses serve the broadest network of transit riders, are often the transit mode that serves low-income riders, and are the transit mode that can be modified most easily. For American communities – urban, suburban, and rural – to become truly walkable, they must also be served by transit. Understanding how the bus and walking networks must be linked is critical to shaping investments in transit and the built environment.

Posted June 25, 2018