Please stop by on LILAC SUNDAY (this coming Sunday, May 12) to learn about the project and enjoy some ice cream and music on your way to viewing the lilacs! The entrance is not yet paved, so please wear sturdy shoes or boots
Date and Time: Sunday, May 12, 2019, 10 AM to 3 PM
WalkUP Roslindale is a proud member of the Massachusetts Vision Zero Coalition. The Coalition has been doing great work following the City budget process with respect to safe streets. We’ve reproduced below an announcement about an important transportation budget hearing this Tuesday, May 7, 2019. Please show up if you can!
Faster implementation and more focus on
improving safety along arterial corridors, which are
disproportionately dangerous for all modes.
A permanent, full-time, Boston Police Department
data analyst to clean up crash report data, investigate
trends, and work closely with the Transportation Department, Boston
EMS, and MassDOT to ensure Boston’s crash data is properly
reported.
Clear organizational structures that will help establish
how projects are managed and executed, and better integration
of operations and policies between the Public Works and Transportation
Departments.
In past years, hundreds of you have shown up for the
Boston Transportation Department Budget Hearings, and it has had a
direct impact on securing more funding benefiting Vision
Zero. Can we count on you to keep the momentum going in
2019? Speak up to support safe streets!
For more details about the proposed Transportation
Department budget and what we’re advocating for, read on below.
The Mayor’s proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2020 (FY20)
includes a $4 million investment in Boston’s Walkable Streets and $2
million in bike infrastructure, which will be funded through strategic
changes to the City’s current parking meter rates. Join us at
Boston City Hall to comment in support
of the City Council approving this budget proposal and to call for
more support and faster action.
Within this budget, Massachusetts Vision Zero Coalition
members are working on several specific issues. For more information
and talking points about the following aspects of the budget, see
below:
Please join us to create a street mural on Arboretum Road with Artists from the Mayor’s Mural Team!
Date: Monday, May 6, 2019 Time: 5pm to 8pm Location: Arboretum Road near Washington Street, Roslindale
Please join artists from the City of Boston’s mural team and volunteers from WalkUp Roslindale, and the Arnold Arboretum as we paint a street mural on Arboretum Road! The mural will draw attention to the future entrance to the Arnold Arboretum at the end of the road. The lilacs in the street mural will help celebrate Lilac Sunday.
The road will be closed except for essential traffic while the mural is being painted.
We sent a comment letter today to the Boston Planning and Development Agency (BPDA) in support of the proposed move of the Roxbury Preparatory Charter School to 361 Belgrade Avenue. We believe the proposed development is consistent with our core principles and primary goal of making a more walkable neighborhood. As discussed in more detail below, this development should be a catalyst for long overdue walkability and transit improvements to Belgrade Avenue, and we urge all the stakeholders to work together to make sure these happen. As a side note, we recognize there has been outspoken support for and opposition against this project from a variety of perspectives; as a community group focused on walkability, we take no position on education policy or various debates relating to charter schools generally or this school specifically. Our interest is in insuring that students, staff, and the community at large can enjoy safe and vibrant streets with easy and convenient access by sustainable modes of transportation.
The meeting comes after two pedestrian fatalities in West Roxbury over the last four months, one on Washington Street in November, and one on Centre Street in February. We urge you to speak up this week for traffic calming measures that also make the roads safer for both cyclists and pedestrians. Details of the meeting below; please spread the word:
Wednesday, February 27, 2019 7-8:30pm Boston Lodge of Elks #10 248 Spring St West Roxbury
By way of background, in 2000 the state legislature passed the Community Preservation Act, allowing cities and towns across Massachusetts to put CPA on the local ballot. In November 2016, CPA passed in Boston with the support of 74% of the voters. As a result, property owners pay a 1% surcharge on their quarterly real estate tax bill that funds the CPA in Boston. In this latest round of CPA awards, the committee has recommended that the path be awarded $500,000 to help “create green link between Roslindale Square and Forest Hills with a refurbished gateway at Arboretum Road.” Thanks, Boston voters!
Specifically, the Bussey Brook Meadow path, which is a segment of of the larger Roslindale Gateway Path, would create a new gateway to the Arnold Arboretum through the arch passage at the end of Arboretum Road and an accessible multi-use path connection to the existing Blackwell Path. The project creates a new entry to the paths in Bussey Brook Meadow for the Environmental Justice community of people who live east of the commuter rail tracks. When completed, the project would transform the neglected and trash-strewn arch passage into an inviting, landscaped gateway, with signage and subtle lighting on the side of the arch that faces Arboretum Road. The arch passage would be lit to enhance pedestrian safety.
Beyond the arch gateway, a crushed stone path would connect to the Blackwell Path, the South Street Gate, and Forest Hills Station. People using wheelchairs, pushing strollers, and riding bikes would be able to use the new path. Ongoing work to advance additional key path connections within the Arboretum means this path will eventually allow safe, comfortable, and beautiful walking and bicycling to Roslindale Square to the south and to the Southwest Corridor to the north.
A final design which will result in construction drawings for the Bussey Brook Meadow path is underway and will be completed by June 30, 2019. Construction of the path using CPA funds could begin as early as August of this year. The funding recommendation from the Community Preservation Committee must be approved by the City Council and the Mayor. Final approvals are expected by mid-March.
Today, we sent a letter to the Boston Board of Appeal (colloquially knowing as the Zoning Board) concerning a proposed new apartment project at 3-7 Poplar Street (also known as 732 South Street), right above Wallpaper City. This project is scheduled for a hearing on Tuesday, November 27, 2018.
Today, we sent a