Official WalkUP Roslindale Comment Letter – Roslindale Bicycle Corral Installation

Corner of Corinth and Cohasset, Proposed Location for Bike Corral (Image Courtesy Google Maps)
Corner of Corinth and Cohasset, Proposed Location for Bike Corral (Image Courtesy Google Maps)

Yesterday, we sent an official comment letter to the City in support of a long overdue bicycle corral installation in Roslindale Square, specifically at the corner of Cohasset Street and Corinth Street in front of Fornax Bakery. We encourage anyone who also supports real bicycle infrastructure in our neighborhood to also voice their support via email to Boston’s Active Transportation Director, Stefanie Seskin.

The content of our letter is reproduced below.

BY EMAIL ONLY

March 15, 2016

Ms. Stefanie Seskin, Active Transportation Director
Boston Transportation Department
One City Hall Square
Boston, MA 02201
Email: Stefanie.seskin@nullboston.gov

RE: Support Letter for Roslindale Bicycle Corral Installation – Spring 2016
Cohasset Street @ Corinth Street Corner

Dear Ms. Seskin

I write on behalf of WalkUP Roslindale to strongly support the installation of a 6-12 space bicycle corral in Roslindale Square as soon as possible this spring.

WalkUP Roslindale, which takes its name from the growing international movement to foster “Walkable Urban Places,” is a collaborative group of residents informally founded in June of last year with goal of making Roslindale the most walkable neighborhood in Boston. We advocate for a dynamic, livable neighborhood and streetscape. We also support positive changes to our public and private built environment that strengthen walkability as well as other forms of active transportation – including bicycling – as essential, readily-available means toward better public health, safety, social capital, economic development and environmental sustainability. Since our creation, we have already built up a group of more than 300 supporters. More information about WalkUP Roslindale and our initiatives can be found at walkuproslindale.org. We recognize that no single group of people can be said to speak for our entire neighborhood – instead, please take this support letter as representing the collective, specific viewpoint of our steering group members (indicated below) and reflecting our mission and principles statements.

The Roslindale bicycle corral is the result of a City-sponsored community meeting held in our neighborhood in June of last year. The meeting was very well attended, and residents and business owners voiced widespread support for a corral. The preferred corral location identified at the meeting, among many considered, was on Cohasset Street outside of Fornax Bakery, adjacent to the very popular City of Boston “parklet” that has been located there since 2014. This location would provide direct access to the bakery, the Village Market grocery store (located diagonally across Corinth Street), and the rest of Roslindale’s business district. We understand that Fornax’s owners themselves have expressed strong support for this location. At the conclusion of the meeting last June, the City’s representatives indicated that they planned to proceed with installing the corral, but that wasn’t feasible prior to the winter season.

Since then, Roslindale Village Main Street (partnering with StreetOPS) applied for, and won a grant from the Boston Society of Architects to construct a bicycle corral in Roslindale Square. The StreetOPS team plans to design, build, and construct the corral utilizing the specifications from the Dero corral that the City currently uses at other locations. This will all be completed at no cost to the City. In addition, the corral will not remove any parking because it is located in an area that was already a “no parking” area (the same is also true of the parklet’s location). The grant information and updated design have been shared with the City previously. To be completely clear, we support installation of the RVMS/StreetOPS bicycle corral, but if the City concludes that it cannot use that design for any reason or that using that design would delay, in any way, the installation of the bicycle corral, we urge the City to proceed using one of the standard bicycle corrals it already has available and in stock.

Looking ahead, we also want you to know that we strongly support installing a second bicycle corral this spring/summer. At the public meeting last June, attendees requested that the City site a second corral and discussed several potential locations. This is a popular idea that can be achieved quickly through a fund for bike infrastructure in Roslindale to which dozens of community members have already contributed and which is currently held by RVMS.

In closing, we wish to reiterate our strong support for the Roslindale bicycle corral and urge that it be done as soon as possible this spring. Furthermore, we would be happy to assist in any way that we can to help make the City’s job easier in doing so. Thank you for your attention.

Sincerely yours,
Matt Lawlor
Resident @ 15 Basto Terrace, Roslindale, on behalf of
WalkUP Roslindale Steering Group, including

Ricardo Austrich, Resident @ 843 South Street, Roslindale
Steve Gag, Resident @ 631 South Street, Roslindale
Liz Graham-Meredith, Resident @ 6 Crandall Street, Roslindale
Rob Guptill, Resident @ 44 Birch Street, Roslindale
Sarah Kurpiel Lee, Resident @ 65 Cornell Street, Roslindale
Mandana Moshtaghi, Resident @ 12 Arborough Road, Roslindale
Rob Orthman, Resident @ 69 Walter Street, Roslindale
Rebecca Phillips, Resident @ 10 Tappan Street, Roslindale
Adam Rogoff, Resident @ 28 Ashfield Street, Roslindale
Adam Rosi-Kessel, Resident @ 36 Taft Hill Terrace, Roslindale
Rachele Rosi-Kessel, Resident @ 36 Taft Hill Terrace, Roslindale
Greg Tobin, Resident @ 1 Sheldon Street, Roslindale
Alan Wright, Resident @ 98 Birch Street, Roslindale

One thought to “Official WalkUP Roslindale Comment Letter – Roslindale Bicycle Corral Installation”

  1. In the photo, there is a vehicle parked up on the sidewalk. Needless to say, this doesn’t contribute to a pedestrian-friendly environment. I’ve brought this issue up to the Area E5 captain and our local city councilors and basically got blown off. I’d like to see WalkUP Roslindale take this up as one of the top issues that needs to be addressed. Pedestrians should not be competing with vehicles for use of the city sidewalks.

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