Author: walkup

We’re official!

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More than six years have passed since WalkUP Roslindale was informally launched, growing out of some even more informally-organized community conversations. We recently decided it is time to make it official: we are proud to announce we are now incorporated as a Massachusetts nonprofit organization (technically “Walkable Urban Places Roslindale”, but you can still call us WalkUP Rozzie).

This newly-formed nonprofit is governed by a board of 23 Roslindale residents and business owners, most of whom were previously members of our “steering committee” before the incorporation. We are still working out our structures and processes, but we have elected an initial slate of officers and chartered two board subcommittees that should cover most of our mission. These are listed below:

  • Officers (Executive Committee)
    • President – Matt Lawlor
    • Vice-President – Adam Kessel
    • Secretary – Kathryn Ostrofsky
    • Treasurer – Mandana Moshgathi
  • Initial subcommittees
    • Transportation (chaired by Adam Kessel)
    • Housing & Development (chaired by Rob Orthman)

We’ve also selected board members to be “liaisons” or representatives to our various partners and elected officials, including each of the district city councilors covering Roslindale (4, 5, and 6), the Mayor’s office/Neighborhood Services, Roslindale Village Main Street, Roslindale Leaders Meeting, Roslindale Business Group, and the Vision Zero Coalition taskforce.

Stay tuned for more announcements soon about our plans for the coming year.

Roslindale Porch Fest – Saturday, September 25, 2021

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Roslindale Arts Alliance is sponsoring Roslindale Porch Fest, this Saturday September 25, 2021 (rain date Sunday Sept. 26) from 1:30-5:30pm. Brochures are available at Square Root Coffee Shop. Rozzie Bikes is coordinating a group ride to a number of Porch Fest locations. If you’re interested, meet on the green at Adams Park at 1 PM (Helmet required). We hope everyone will get out and explore the porches of Roslindale by foot or by bike this weekend!

More on Roslindale Bus Improvements

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Many of you no doubt have noticed the extensive road/sidewalk construction in progress on Poplar Street by Adams Park. This project is one of several changes underway to improve bus service through Roslindale Square. If you’re interested in better understanding what’s going on, check out these two MBTA flyers:

The change with the most immediate impact is that the Route 30 outbound bus no longer needs to go all the way around Roslindale Square but instead will just go down Poplar Street before turning onto Washington Street briefly and then on to Cummins Highway. Prior to being moved up, the bus stop on Poplar Street was closer to Corinth Street (past the fork), making it impossible to turn left onto Washington Street. The new design will allow the bus to turn left at the fork and thus avoid an unnecessary trip around the entire square.

Roslindale Bus Improvements

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We’re a bit late to acknowledge these recent improvements for bus service in Roslindale:

  • Washington Street Bus Lane: Building on the incredible success of the inbound morning bus lane on Washington Street, BTD expanded earlier this year to an afternoon outbound bus lane. Starting in late April, BTD added red paint to the southbound bus lane between Arboretum Road and Firth Road/South Street. This paint makes the bus lane more visible and prominent. The bus lane is operational between 2PM and 7PM on weekdays and enables buses to have a more reliable trip and save travel time. We’ve included some photos of the first night of striping below.
  • Roslindale Village Bus Stops: Work began in May on bus stop bump-outs on Poplar Street and Corinth Street. Once completed, these bus stops will be fully ADA accessible and provide better passenger amenities such as benches, shelters, and real time arrival information. They are also better located to permit smoother flow of buses through the square, and should shave off a few minutes of travel time for some bus lines that will no longer have to go all the way around Roslindale Square in order to head south on Cummins Highway.

We’re also happy to see the old Needham Line bridge over Robert Street has finally been replaced.

Thanks to all the folks at the MBTA and BTD (especially the transit team) for their hard work in seeing these projects through!

 

Progress on Gateway Path funding thanks to Sen. Rush and Rep. Malia

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We have been working for many years with our elected leaders to make the Roslindale Gateway Path a reality and were delighted to learn that Sen. Mike Rush has successfully pushed through an amendment to this year’s state budget bill  allocating $100,000 toward development of the path. Rep. Liz Malia and her staff are on board to help see this through on the House side. This is a significant step forward for the path, which we hope will be fully funded in the coming years.

Comment Period re-Opened for 4198 Washington Street and Drop-In Session This Monday Evening

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We’ve previously publicized our support for the proposed mixed-use project at 4198 Washington Street — see our detailed comment letter here.

We recently learned that the BPDA has responded to some efforts to organize against this project by re-opening and extending the comment period for this proposal to May 3rd. We strongly encourage supporters of this project to submit comments through the BPDA portal or to aisling.kerr@nullboston.gov.

As a reminder, this project will provide a new six-story, mixed-use building with 39 residential units, 4,500 square feet of retail, a custom-built community theater space, as well as ample bicycle parking. We have heard the project may be down-sized by a story and shrunk to fewer units due to some opposition. We strongly urge the developer to not “down-size” the building and recommend supporters submit similar comments to the BPDA.

The developer Arx Urban is seeking to income-restrict at least 40% of the units in the new building. Only 12% of the total housing stock in Roslindale is income-restricted, compared to 27% of total homes citywide. While we are generally supportive of new housing in Roslindale Square, we are particularly supportive of this project for that reason. We also do not want to see a smaller project given the loss of income-restricted units that would entail.

The developer is hosting a drop-in session to answer any remaining questions this Monday, April 26 evening in Adams Park from 5:30pm-7:30 pm. Please wear a mask and maintain social distancing. Attendees can receive a free yogurt or ice cream from Delicious Yogurt for their trip home too!

Comment Letter on Sidewalk Snow Clearance

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We sent a letter and gave live testimony this week at a City Council committee hearing on sidewalk snow clearance (more background from Streetsblog Mass). Our full comment letter is below, you can also watch the entire 2+ hour video, or just jump to City Councillor Matt O’Malley’s shout-out to WalkUP Roslindale or WalkUP Roslindale member Matt Lawlor’s testimony toward the end of the hearing. In brief, sidewalk snow clearance is critical to better walkability in Boston and our current system is completely broken. Read on for more.

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WalkUP Roslindale comment letter on 4198 Washington Street

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This past week, the BPDA held a public meeting on a proposed development at 4198 Washington Street, the building currently home to Droubi’s Pita Bakery, Rozzie Square Theater, Delicious Yogurt, and Dragon Chef. The developer proposes to replace the building with a new six-story, mixed-use building with 39 residential units, 4,500 square feet of retail, a custom-built community theater space, as well as ample bicycle parking. The meeting was well-attended and many neighbors praised the developer’s thoughtful approach to affordability and transportation. Now that we’ve learned more about the proposal and heard comments from the community, we’ve sent in a comment letter. If you’d like to add your voice, please drop a note to the BPDA project manager, Aisling Kerr (aisling.kerr@nullboston.gov) or fill out the BPDA comment form.

Our PDF letter is reproduced in full below.

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Public Meeting on 4198 Washington Street Development this Wednesday, February 24, 2021, at 6pm, via Zoom

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Rendering of 4198 Washington Street Proposed DevelopmentWe’ve been following a proposed development at 4198 Washington Street (the building that is currently home to Droubi’s Pita Bakery, Rozzie Square Theater, Delicious Yogurt, and Dragon Chef) with interest. The developer proposes to replace the building with a new six-story, mixed-use building with 39 residential units, 4,500 square feet of retail, a custom-built community theater space, as well as ample bicycle parking. The BPDA is holding a virtual public meeting this Wednesday, February 24, 2021, from 6pm-7:30pm to discuss the proposal and receive feedback. You’ll need to register in order to attend.

We are generally in favor of the project since it will provide much-needed housing right in the heart of Rozzie Square, without creating the induced demand for more cars that would occur with dedicated parking spaces. We also understand that the developer is working to secure funding that would allow it to income-restrict at least 40% of units, a goal we support enthusiastically. We look forward to hearing more about the project at this upcoming meeting, after which we plan to send a comment letter with our collective feedback.

We encourage everyone who would like to see more housing (without more cars) in Roslindale to attend and speak up at this meeting.

Washington Street Outbound Bus/Bike Lane Work Starts Tonight!

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We are quite happy to learn that the Boston Transportation Department is beginning striping work for the Washington Street/Roslindale Outbound Bus/Bike Lane. We have long pushed for both an evening-outbound and morning-inbound bus/bike lane and hope that finally achieving both goals will be transformational for Rozzie mass transit users as well as cyclists.

A few notes on what to expect over the next few weeks:

  • Striping Work is anticipated to begin on Sunday, November 8 at 8 PM.
  • BTD will be striping a new bus/bike lane and adding new signage.
  • Work will be phased to minimize disruptions during peak hours.
  • Plans are in place to manage traffic and ensure safety during road work.
  • The new lane is anticipated to be operational on Monday, November 16th for the evening commute.

We’ve also agreed to help distribute a BTD flyer in both English and Spanish concerning the bus lane work. Please spread the word to interested folks!