The letter pretty much speaks for itself and puts several points out there demonstrating that we really can’t wait any longer for progress on major projects in our neighborhood:
Author: Matt Lawlor
Concerns mounting at the Boston Globe (!) on where the city is (or isn’t) heading on street safety – with feedback solicited…
Monday really was quite the day in the regional paper of record when it comes to safety on this city’s streets:
To begin with, the Boston Globe’s editorial board took formal notice of what has definitely been apparent for some time – the entire street safety agenda in the city of Boston was put on hold over a year ago and, despite some highly isolated movement (on Rutherford Avenue, for example and for very specific reasons), there is no indication on the ground that that hold is being lifted: Wu backed off bike lanes last year. Now what?
And then, the Globe’s deputy editor Alan Wirzbicki drove the point home and actually openly solicited direct email feedback to alan.wirzbicki@globe.com on whether the mayor “overcorrected” on the deep freeze of the last year: Wu isn’t the bike lane mayor anymore, but what about the rest of the safe streets agenda?
Far be it from us to nod our heads with the Globe too often, but they have put their finger on a real concern about what is, or more plainly, isn’t happening in this city to make our streets safer for everyone who needs or wants to use them. We accordingly encourage our supporters to reach out to Alan and give him your feedback. It should of course surprise no one, but your correspondent is firmly in the “overcorrected” camp and hopes fervently that the freeze thaws quickly this spring. The best time to make our streets safer and more welcoming to everyone was yesterday; the next best time is today, and to answer Alan briefly here, I would absolutely expect speed humps to be first on the list of what starts up again. I too want one speed hump (two really) on my short block in Roslindale and know that many, many of my neighbors feel the same. I mean, in all candor, what’s the substantive issue on speed humps? They’re inexpensive, easily installed, don’t remove any parking spaces, and are simply very, very effective at getting drivers to avoid dangerous speeding, which is the absolute key to safety for everyone outside a motor vehicle, as you can see from the above chart – slow the vehicles down, and everybody has a much higher chance of survival no matter what happens. Speaking only for myself, I’d really like my city to take demonstrably effective steps to improve everyone’s chances of getting around and getting home every day safely. If we can’t find a way to implement speed humps again, one has to wonder how we can expect to get anything done.
Arboretum Road Cleanup – 14 March 2026 – 10 am to 12 pm
We here at WalkUP Roslindale remain delighted at last fall’s completion and opening of the initial phase of the Roslindale Gateway Path from the end of the Blackwell Path to the new Arboretum Road entrance. We would like to start a tradition of spring and fall cleanups and so are kicking off with a community cleanup next Saturday, 14 March 2026, from 10 am to 12 pm. We will meet at the entrance. Please bring yourself, comfortable clothes that can get messy, gloves, and whatever cleanup implement works best for you. We will have water, light snacks, and some extra implements (likely a couple of brooms/rakes and a shovel) on hand. Hope to see you then and there!
City Council hearing on snow clearance tomorrow – 2 pm Boston City Hall – Tuesday, 3 March 2026
Tomorrow afternoon, 3rd March 2026, at 2:00 pm, the City Council’s Committee on Public Services will hold a hearing in the Iannella Chamber, 5th Floor, Boston City Hall, Boston, Massachusetts 02201, on snow removal relief, the creation of a snow corps, and the purchasing of snow melters. Information on attending the hearing and testifying in person as well as submitting written testimony can be found HERE. It’s been the snowiest winter in a decade and we’ve all seen how difficult the snowfall and the largely auto-focused clearance thereafter has made getting around on foot, by bike, and on transit that much harder than it normally is. Our snow clearance collaborative has tried to shine an active, lead-by-example light on the issues, but tomorrow’s offers a chance to tell the city what you really think. Don’t pass up the chance to talk about your experience over the last month-plus of blocked intersection/crosswalk ramps and plowed in bus stop and bike lanes.
WalkUP Roslindale Snow Clearance Collaborative, Version 8.6 – Another big one!
We’re looking at a snowfall total on the order of at least 18″ (45.7 cm) from this significant northeaster, which is several multiples over our 4″ (10 cm) benchmark. Once again, each of us knows our part of the neighborhood and where the worst pinch points are likely to be found after a snowfall, so, once it is safe to do so, let’s take care of our neighbors by digging them out and providing safe paths of travel wherever and whenever we can. As always, anyone sending in a before-and-after set of pictures of a curb ramp, bus stop, or stretch of sidewalk or bike lane they’ve cleared will receive a $10 reward as a small expression of our deepest thanks (note: spending of these funds at a neighborhood business of your choice strongly encouraged) (those pix can be sent to matthew.j.lawlor@gmail.com). Be well everyone!
WalkUP Roslindale Snow Clearance Collaborative – Version 8.4 – Once more, with feeling!
Yesterday’s snowfall was a mere echo of the storm we had at the end of last month, but it still yielded about 5.3 inches (13.5 cm), well over our 4 inch (10 cm) benchmark. Once again, each of us knows our part of the neighborhood and where the worst pinch points are likely to be found after a snowfall, so let’s take care of our neighbors by digging them out and providing safe paths of travel wherever and whenever we can. As always, anyone sending in a before-and-after set of pictures of a curb ramp, bus stop, or stretch of sidewalk or bike lane they’ve cleared will receive a $10 reward as a small expression of our deepest thanks (note: spending of these funds at a neighborhood business of your choice strongly encouraged) (those pix can be sent to matthew.j.lawlor@gmail.com). Be well everyone!
WalkUP Roslindale Snow Clearance Collaborative – Version 8.3 – This is NOT a drill…
Looking ahead to when this storm moves on sometime tomorrow, we can see that it’s already a legitimately major winter weather event with snowfall already more than double our benchmark of 4″ (10 cm), with a solid week of forecasted cold temperatures to follow that will ensure that whatever we ultimately get does not melt quickly. The last several winters have been relatively warm and snow-free, so snow clearance efforts have understandably been at a much lower level of intensity and participation. In contrast, we here at WURSCC HQ are afraid this storm will require all of us to dig deep (pun intended!) and do everything we can to target extra snow clearance efforts at key locations all across Roslindale. Each of us knows our part of the neighborhood and where the worst pinch points are likely to be found after a major snowfall, so once the snow lets up, let’s take care of our neighbors by digging them out and providing safe paths of travel wherever and whenever we can. Once we’re through the initial effort, it is likely that we will post again regarding major projects that might require more of a group effort. As always, anyone sending in a before-and-after set of pictures of a curb ramp, bus stop, or stretch of sidewalk or bike lane they’ve cleared will receive a $10 reward as a small expression of our deepest thanks (note: spending of these funds at a neighborhood business of your choice strongly encouraged). Be well everyone!
WalkUP Roslindale Snow Clearance Collaborative – Version 8.2 – Get on out there and clear!
Here at WURSCC Headquarters in Roslindale, the measurement on the back deck rail is showing over 5″ of the fluffy stuff, so we’re calling out the forces once again to join our old friend the Boston Yeti in shoveling out curb cuts, bus stops, and critical sidewalk segments so our neighbors of all ages and abilities can get around safely and comfortably. Looks like it will be colder the next couple of days before a brief warm up on Thursday and then some very cold weather this weekend. As usual, those participating by snapping a before and after sequence of the cleared area and sending it along to matthew.j.lawlor@gmail.com will earn a $10 reward from WUR and our eternal thanks. Be careful out there!
10 years in and still at it!
Yes, you read that right. WalkUP Roslindale are now in our eleventh year of pro-housing and pro-walk, -bike, and -transit advocacy. We announced this venture, which started out as the brainchild of Adam Kessel and your correspondent, in the spring of 2015 with the following post:
We were simply a group of neighbors who came together to try to make, as Adam indicated, Roslindale “the most walkable neighborhood in all of Boston.” We’ve come quite a way over the last decade, including formally incorporating as a non-profit in the fall of 2021 and availing ourselves of the generous fiscal sponsorship of Roslindale Village Main Street in the process. According to wordpress, we’ve also posted a total of 517 times in those years (this post will be #518). The principal through-lines have, at least from my perspective, been (1) comment letters on new projects in the neighborhood, whether focused on new development or supportive infrastructure for walking, cycling, and transit; (2) support for planning, seeking funding, and implementing the Roslindale Gateway Path with collaborative support from, among many others, the Arnold Arboretum, the Arboretum Park Conservancy, the Solomon Foundation, LivableStreets Alliance, and the City of Boston’s Parks and Transportation Departments; and (3) supporting the fundamental restructuring of the city’s regulatory system to get way from our decades-old, painfully slow development by variance approach to reform-based, pro-housing approaches such as Squares + Streets. Herewith the first or most emblematic post from this website in each of those areas:
First Official WalkUP Roslindale Comment Letter – 100 Weld Street
We’re grateful for all of the support we’ve seen along the way so far and look forward to the next decade of advocating for a better, safer, and more welcoming neighborhood!
WalkUP Roslindale’s Year in Review – 2025
As adverse as the national level conditions have been generally for anyone concerned about the direction of this country and its respect for fundamental human rights as well as the causes we hold dear in particular, we here at WalkUP Roslindale can still look back at this year at the local level as one of significant accomplishment and enduring improvement for our pro-housing and pro-walk, -bike, -transit advocacy. It is always difficult to choose what seems most significant in a given period of time, but it seems to us that three things stand out most prominently for 2025:
First, the Boston Zoning Commission’s adoption in February of the Squares + Streets zoning text and map amendments for Roslindale Square and its key radiating corridors. This was a very big deal on several levels, but perhaps none more so than the elimination of off-street parking minimums coupled with increases in as-of-right housing density within the rezoned area. The following selected posts from this website give a sense of the process as we experienced it starting in 2024 and running into 2025 as well as the first proposed project within the heart of the square that makes full use of the flexibility allowed by the new zoning – a decidedly admirable and eminently supportable all-affordable, mixed-use, senior-focused development that requires no zoning relief whatsoever:
Squares + Streets – Small Area Planning Process – Roslindale Square Kickoff Open House
Three thoughts on Squares + Streets as we get underway in Roslindale Square
Guest Post – Nate Stell from AHMA: Rezone the residential streets too!
First in an occasional series – Elvira Mora of WUR and AHMA
Open Letter in Support of Squares + Streets
First Fruits for Squares + Streets…4259-4267 Washington Street come on down!
Second, the 3-part walk audit series sponsored by a micro-grant from the American Association of Retired Persons that looked at the Washington Street corridor between the square and Archdale Road, Roslindale Square’s key intersections, and Cummins Highway’s mid-section around the new Sarah Roberts School. We very much appreciated AARP’s support and were truly stunned at the speed with which the Washington Street audit’s focus on a half-dozen badly heaved sidewalks near street trees resulted in virtually immediate fixes, resulting in vastly improved walkability and rollability in this key neighborhood corridor. Post links:
From Audit to Action: Washington St. Sidewalks Repaired!
Third, and finally, we were tremendously gratified to see Phase 1 of the Roslindale Gateway Path open between the end of the Blackwell Path at South Street and Arboretum Road. Roslindale Gateway Path is and has been a foundational, long-term advocacy project for us, so this first phase is welcome and we are eager both to solidify the major improvement in Arnold Arboretum access it represents and to push even harder to get the rest of the path implemented so we can truly open this amazing public resource to much more of Roslindale. Post link: Soft Open Alert – Roslindale Gateway Path Phase 1!
And so, that’s what we think of when we think of this past year’s efforts. And now it’s on to 2026…