WalkBoston is making a new website, and this is a test post. Hoping to see how it appears.
This is a block quote.
Questions to try and answer:
October 5, 2017
Brian Golden, Director
Boston Planning and Development Agency
ATTN: Michael Rooney
One City Hall Square
Boston, MA 02201-1007
RE: Comments on the Supplemental Information Document for the Back Bay/South End Gateway Project dated August 18, 2017
Dear Mr. Golden:
WalkBoston has reviewed the documents for Back Bay/South End Gateway Project many times. Although the proponent has made efforts to address some of the issues we raised in our prior comments, we continue to have concerns about the project impacts to the extremely busy pedestrian environment around the project area, and to several of the design elements suggested by the proponent.
We have reviewed the letter submitted by South End resident Ken Kruckemeyer and would like to concur with his comments and his very thoughtful suggestions about how to remedy some of the problems that he describes.
Possible garage exit ramp across the Dartmouth Street sidewalk adjacent to the Station
We remain vitally concerned about the possibility of an exit ramp from the project garage onto Dartmouth Street into the heaviest pedestrian traffic in the area. Back Bay Station Orange Line, Commuter Rail and Amtrak service presently serves approximately 64,000 passenger trips (alighting and boarding) each day. Many more pedestrians are simply walking by the site, arriving on buses, via cabs and in automobiles. The MBTA, MassDOT, and all people concerned with the continued economic vitality of the Boston area and a more sustainable transportation system, hope that this number will rise significantly over the coming decades. The Back Bay/South End Gateway Project must be designed and managed in such a way that the transit and transportation functions of the station are enhanced.
WalkBoston does not think that a project design that includes a garage exit ramp that requires cars to cross the Dartmouth Street sidewalk is acceptable. Putting the interests of drivers above those of the tens-of-thousands of pedestrians who use this sidewalk is not an appropriate use of public space. Given the intensity of sidewalk use, and the overlap of peak transit and garage use, we do not believe that the ramp can be designed and/or managed acceptably. Asking pedestrians to wait while single cars exit the garage is not a reasonable solution.
We are very concerned about the changes proposed for the station, the bus layover and the sidewalks and interior passageways, but we believe the exit ramp onto Dartmouth Street is a potentially disastrous step to take in such a congested area. We urge the BPDA to recommend that further consideration of the project as presently designed be delayed until this issue is resolved favorably with no garage ramp exiting across the Dartmouth Street sidewalk.
We would appreciate your consideration of our comments and look forward to your responses to them. Please feel free to contact WalkBoston with questions you may have.
Sincerely,
Wendy Landman
Executive Director
Cc Secretary of Transportation Stephanie Pollack City Council President Michelle Wu City Councilor Josh Zakim Ellis South End Neighborhood Association Bay Village Neighborhood Association Neighborhood Association of Back Bay Ken Kruckemeyer
The Ellis School is concerned about the safety of children walking to school. Students at the Ellis are encouraged to walk to school through Walking School Buses and events such as Walk-to-School Day. However, WalkBoston observed that cross- ing the streets, especially Walnut Avenue, where drivers regularly go 35 mph and over, is unsafe for children. This Walk Audit recommends street changes to slow traffic.
Read the full report here:
WalkBoston-WalkAudit-EllisSchoolWalkingSafetyReportFinal-Roxbury
WalkBoston comments to the Boston Public Improvement Commission regarding:
“A Policy of Guidelines for Outdoor Café within Public Ways, Effective: September 1, 2017”
Submitted August 24, 2017
We would be happy to meet with PIC or other City staff to review and discuss our comments.
1. Pleased that new regulations will allow alcohol to be served on the “far side” of the sidewalk– a good change for the liveliness of the City.
2. Interesting and good to allow the expansion onto the curb and street areas—Curbline and Roadway seating. Again this creates new opportunities.
3. Technical issue: 2f should refer to the seating located within the restaurant’s property, not only that located within the City’s sidewalks. I think they have to approve both.
4. Technical issue: 14 should say “planters and their contents” because a lot of cafes have plant material hanging out far—even up to a foot. That subtracts that distance from the walking right of way.
5. Regulations should provide a simple table that indicates which department is responsible for different elements of the regulations – it might clarify that there are still many, many actors in the process.
6. Minimum dimension for path of travel 4 feet, preferred minimum is 6 feet – exclusive of street furniture or any other obstructions. Minimum should be 5 feet unless there are extraordinary circumstances.
7. Minimum sidewalk dimension to allow any cafe should be at least XXX feet – to ensure adequate POT plus dimension for café. The City should make this determination before finalizing the guidelines.
8. Modify the rule that the café should not occupy more than 50% of the sidewalk because that may not be appropriate for wide areas and may be insufficient for narrow sidewalks where there should be no café at al (see #2 above).
9. Require a minimum of 15 business days of notice for review by the public, and require that the plans available electronically so that upon request they can be reviewed by the public (much as the way in which BPDA now posts filings on line).
10. The cafe must be removed from the sidewalk when not in continuous use. The season can extend beyond May-September, but the cafe equipment and furnishings must be removed from the sidewalk if they are not used for more than ten days.
11. Set a schedule for fees and permitting costs – may be based on size, location, restaurant revenues, etc. but should be transparent.
12. Provide opportunities for pop up cafes for short-term (1-5 days) use.
13. Set a schedule and program for enforcement, including a point person for responding to public complaints when cafes are not following the rules (see attached photo).
August 15, 2017
Mayor Marty Walsh
Boston City Hall
Boston, MA 02201
Dear Mayor Walsh -
Thank you for meeting with us last week to discuss Vision Zero and how we can work together to make our streets better for everyone.
We look forward to continuing the conversation with you on a walk, a bike ride and a bus ride in the coming months. In the meantime, we’ve outlined next steps discussed in the meeting:
1. Confirm your availability for World Day of Remembrance (WDR) on November 19, 2017. WDR is an international day of remembrance for victims of traffic violence. In Massachusetts WDR is organized by the Massachusetts Vision Zero Coalition and includes a rally with speaking program on the steps of the State House, usually including families or victims of traffic violence and others. We hope you will join us at the event and give brief remarks. We are happy to work with your scheduling team on logistical details.
2. Work with Chief Osgood to schedule a walk and a bike ride with you. These will be informative, small group (3 - 5 people) opportunities so that you can experience a few places where we most need to improve walking and biking in the City. It would be ideal for both the ride and walk to take place before the end of the year.
3. Explore the possibility of supporting automated enforcement legislation. Passage of this legislation would be a huge win for the City of Boston, providing the police department with a new, proven tool to ensure more equitable enforcement of traffic violations. Wendy has already reached out to Katie King and both she and Katie will be back in touch with you once they have made a plan about next steps including reaching out to the ACLU and the Boston legislative delegation.
4. Reinstate State of the Hub as an annual event. The State of the Hub served as a valuable platform for sharing the City’s progress on the bike network and other street projects. We are happy to co-host and help with this event as we have in years past.
5. Finding a solution for Sullivan Square/Rutherford Ave. Thank you for being open to learning more about this large, important and complicated project. Wendy has already reached out to Chief Osgood to continue the conversation and will get back to you once the community is able to review the complete traffic and transportation modeling information.
6. Support a successful Washington Street Bus priority pilot. LivableStreets is already coordinating with BTD to bolster support and excitement for the planned bus priority pilot between Roslindale and Forest Hills this fall. If your schedule allows, we hope you will ride the pilot with advocates to demonstrate your leadership and support for improved transit options in the City of Boston.
7. Work with Commissioner Fiandaca and others in BTD to update the City of Boston’s parking policies. This could include charging a modest fee for residential parking permits much like Boston’s neighboring municipalities and has the potential to be an important revenue source for furthering your Go Boston 2030 goals.
To help track the progress the City is making around these issues, the Vision Zero Coalition will be releasing its next Vision Zero Progress Report for the City of Boston in early 2018. We are happy to work with BTD to assess progress to-‐date and to identify areas where the city can make additional progress before the end of the year.
Over the next few weeks, we would like to firm up some of the details around World Day of Remembrance, schedule the walk and bike ride, work with your staff regarding automated enforcement, and set a time for the next State of the Hub so that we can send an update to our various networks.
Thank you for your leadership and continued partnership.
Wendy Landman
Executive Director, WalkBoston
Stacy Thompson
Executive Director, LivableStreets Alliance
Becca Wolfson
Executive Director, Boston Cyclists Union
CC: Dan Koh
Chris Osgood
Gina Fiandaca
Vineet Gupta
Charlotte
Fleetwood
Stefanie Seskin