It has come to our attention that The Street Project, a new documentary about the safe streets movement across the country, is going to be screened this coming Sunday, 30 April 2023, at 12:45 pm at the Somerville Theatre in Davis Square, as part of this year’s Independent Boston Film Festival. Tickets are only $15 but they’re limited, so get them while they’re still available and take the opportunity to visit a different part of the region!
WalkBoston, the commonwealth’s 30+ year old premiere walking advocacy organization, has decided to fully embrace its long-standing statewide role and has accordingly changed its name to “WalkMassachusetts.” For those of you who’ve been following our little home-grown walking advocacy group here in Roslindale, the outsized role that what is now WalkMassachusetts has played has been obvious. They’ve helped us with walk audits (e.g., Roslindale Square (2016), Poplar Street (2022)), been a fantastic technical resource generally, and led the charge on major efforts around city-level pedestrian safety improvements on our streets and changes in law at the state level to protect all vulnerable road users. We’ll let WalkMassachusetts have the extended last word on why they’ve chosen to take this step and what we can all expect going forward:
“Last year we reaffirmed our Mission and defined our Vision for the future: a Massachusetts where people walking—no matter their race, identity, age, ability, or lived experience—feel safe, connected, and valued on our streets and sidewalks.
“To make our Vision a reality, we established 3 goals:
Goal 1: Advocate for inclusive, safe, and enjoyable places for people to walk.
Goal 2: Work in places where people walking have the greatest need.
Goal 3: Achieve policy and built environment change that is noticeable, replicable, and impactful.
“This led to self-reflection on where and how we focus our work. The conclusion was a continued emphasis on equitably promoting walking across the state and a clear need to move forward as WalkMassachusetts.
“In short, the name has changed, but the mission remains the same: making walking safer and easier in Massachusetts to encourage better health, a cleaner environment, and more vibrant communities.”
Today we sent a comment letter to the BPDA concerning a proposed development at 18-22 Arboretum Road. We support the project overall, and offer comments on affordable units, pedestrian access, and community benefits. Our full letter is below, also available as a PDF.
The Boston Transportation Department is seeking feedback on design and implementation of new street safety infrastructure, including a contraflow bike lane on the close-in portion of Poplar Street from Washington Street to Sycamore Street and speed humps from there out to Canterbury Street. See the flyer below. Thanks!
Over the past two years, the City has conducted a study of parking and curb use in and around the Roslindale central business district. It recently published a proposed plan for comment coming out of that study. Our comments are below (also available as PDF), and we encourage everyone to submit comments by the April 7, 2023 deadline. We generally support the proposed changes, and offer pedestrian safety improvements and other changes we hope will be implemented in connection with the new plan.
Last week, we joined with several community partners to send a letter to the BPDA requesting community benefits to accompany the 18-22 Arboretum Road Development, a proposed 230-apartment development just off Washington Street abutting the Arboretum. Our joint letter focuses on funding for the Gateway Path and food pantry certification for an Archdale food distribution site. The full letter is reproduced below.