Undesign the Red line is a collaboration between designing the WE and Enterprise Community Partners that uses an exhaustively annotated and illustrated timeline to take attendees through several decades of housing segregation by race and class across the United States. July 18th will be the last day that the exhibit will be available for public view at Boston City Hall and WalkUP Roslindale wants to make sure we don’t miss this opportunity to learn much more about the origins, practice, and continued effects of redlining in our city. Details for the morning of Thursday, July 18, are as follows:
Meet in Adams Park at 7:15 am
Walk as a group to Forest Hills Station on the Orange Line
Board the Orange Line approx. 7:50 am
Arrive at Boston City Hall approx. 8:20 am
All interested attendees to meet at the Bill Russell statue on City Hall Plaza at 8:30 am
We will then view the exhibit inside City Hall. Plan for an hour to do so.
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:
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.
This is a welcome new way to communicate with constituents that we hope catches on for all of our councilors (also recognizing that Councilor Wu has been directly communicating through social media about her personal MBTA experiences for some time now). According to Go Boston 2030, the transit mode share for Roslindale residents’ work trips exceeds 25%, so this appears to be a great investment of the councilor’s time and a way to meet and take the pulse of this substantial slice of the neighborhood (a portion of which Councilor O’Malley does represent). We encourage everyone to attend, and tell us how it went in the comments!
WITH 2018 having drawn to its inevitable close, now seems like a decent enough time to look back on another year in the life of WalkUP Roslindale, your neighborhood walk-bike-transit-Y/QIMBY (Yes/Quality in My Backyard) citizens advocacy group. In the opinion of one member of group management, here are the top 10 things that happened this year. Comments, corrections, and additions are always welcome!
District City Councilor Forum – Although scheduling conflicts kept us from hosting this particular forum in 2017, we did manage to pull off a gathering of the three district councilors who represent various parts of Roslindale – Andrea Campbell (District 4), Tim McCarthy (District 5), and Matt O’Malley (District 6) – that resulted in a lively discussion on a wide range of topics hosted by our own Sarah Kurpiel Lee. You can read the post-mortem at Recap on District City Councilor January 2018 Forum.
Washington Street Bus & Bike Lane – After the 2-day pilot at the end of 2017 and then a full 4-week pilot in May and June of this year, the Mayor announced that the Washington Street bus and bike lane improvement project – which allows for a bus and bike only lane northbound on weekday mornings (5 to 9 am) and has significantly improved travel times for riders on the 9 separate lines that run between Roslindale Square and Forest Hills – would be permanent. This was a big win for better transit in our neighborhood and a significant step forward for better bus service across the region. We were proud to partner with Livable Streets Alliance on surveying riders and building support for the project and reported on it in May in Give Washington Street Bus Lane Feedback and in October in WalkUP Comment Letter on Washington Street Bus Lane.
Safer Walking and Cycling in Roslindale Square – Around the same time that the bus/bike pilot was going on and being made permanent, the Boston Transportation Department (BTD) planned and then the Public Works Department resurfaced the key loop of South/Belgrade/Corinth/Poplar in Roslindale Square and installed a targeted set of new crosswalks, daylighting areas, in-street bike lanes, and relocated bus stops. With this set of improvements, a significant majority of the changes we advocated for in our December 2015 Walk Audit with WalkBoston have now been implemented. You can find coverage at Recent Safety Improvements in Roslindale Square – An Explainer and Letter of Support for Pedestrian Safety and Traffic Calming Improvements in Roslindale Square.
Significant Progress on the Roslindale Gateway Path – In late June, we teamed with the Arnold Arboretum and Horsley Witten to release the 25% design for the MBTA-owned section of the path, running from the commuter rail station to the Arboretum border. The meeting was well attended and led to the T’s relatively swift determination that the proposed path route was conceptually approved through its internal canvassing process. Mid-year also saw funding progress as the commonwealth’s legislative session drew to a close in July. First, future funding to the tune of $3 million for path construction was included in the statewide Environmental Bond Bill. Securing these particular funds will require more work going forward, but the good news was just getting started. The FY2019 budget also included $100,000 in earmarked funding to help complete the path’s overall design. And then, to top off the funding story for the year, the city, through BTD, was able to obtain $90,000 in federal grant funding to move to 100% design for the initial extension of the path from its current terminus at the end of the Blackwell Path to the Arboretum Road underpass. An application to the city’s Community Preservation Act committee to fund construction of this extension was submitted in September. Coverage can also be found at Major Step Forward for the Gateway Path.
Y/QIMBY Support and YIMBYtown – We continued to support new projects and concepts that we believed make sense, including 3-7 Poplar (732 South) and RVMS’ Poplar Street Improvements and the possible redevelopment of the Taft Hill Parking Lot. We also participated on the host committee of YIMBYtown 2018, the third annual national YIMBY conference held here in Boston in September. Perhaps the emblematic moment at YIMBYtown was the demonstration by housing justice advocates led by City Life/Vida Urbana at the closing plenary of the conference, voicing concerns about displacement of poorer people and people of color from neighborhoods experiencing an influx of new residents. WalkUP Roslindale hopes to partner with the housing justice initiative at RISE in the coming year to find a unified way forward in our neighborhood. More to come on this topic.
FY2019 BTD Budget – WalkUP Roslindale was truly excited about the passage of an expanded BTD budget for FY2019 that calls for hiring a slew of new planners and engineers focused on issues such as coordinating MBTA service in the city, implementing Vision Zero, and expanding our city’s bike network. While we are still awaiting these new hires, we hope that they will be made soon.
Neighborhood Slow Streets in MHMC – Progress continued on our neighborhood’s winner of the 2017 NSS sweepstakes. Conceptual plans are anticipated to be released in late winter. More information can be found at “Mount Hope/Canterbury” on BTD’s vision zero site.
Blue Bikes in Roslindale! – We finally got our first 4 Blue Bikes stations in Roslindale in late summer – 2 stations in the square, one Belgrade and Walworth, and a fourth at Washington and Archdale. Now, if we could only find a way to get the long-delayed-due-to-construction and now completely inexplicably delayed station slated for Forest Hills, we’d really be talking. You can read more at “New Hubway (Blue Bikes) Locations Announced in Roslindale” and “Blue Bikes Finally Come to Roslindale.”
Walter Street Traffic Calming – After sustained advocacy over many years by members of the Longfellow Area Neighborhood Association, 3 new crosswalks were finally installed in the stretch of Walter Street running from Bussey to South. The crosswalks were also accompanied by daylighting and flexposts on Walter itself and on certain of the side streets on Peters Hill. This kind of treatment can and should be extended to all of our major streets.
Roslindale Snow Clearance Collaborative 1.0+ – Finally, our volunteer snow clearance collaborative had plenty of chances to flex our muscles and get in a good work out shoveling out key bus stops in and around the square and at the key intersection of Hyde Park Avenue and Cummins Highway. The shoveling in the square even included the contested sidewalks surrounding the MBTA commuter rail station on Belgrade. We gave the last installment – Collaborative v. 1.5 – a lighthearted touch with a photo of the Boston yeti.
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.
We recently sent an official comment letter to Boston Mayor Marty Walsh, expressing our strong support for recent pedestrian safety and traffic calming improvements around Roslindale Square. These improvements represent an important step forward in realizing our vision of a truly walkable neighborhood where everyone who prefers to get around without a car can do so easily, and those who need to drive share the space fairly and safely with everyone else. Much remains to be done. Toward that end, below we express our support for the changes made so far, and offer ideas for next steps.
We recently sent an official comment letter to Boston’s Chief of Streets Chris Osgood, expressing our strong gratitude and support for the city’s implementation of a morning inbound bus lane on Washington Street between Roslindale Village and Forest Hills. This improvement has greatly improved the commuter experience for transit-riders and cyclists alike, at extremely low cost. We’d like to see much more of this in and around the City of Boston!
We also took this opportunity to raise a couple of concerns: first, compliance with the morning bus lane has been inconsistent, and a few parked cars blocking buses and bikes ruins the experience for everyone. We need to see better enforcement to insure the lane doesn’t become a half-solution at best. We also want to get the ball rolling on an afternoon/outbound dedicated bus lane, as studies show that the evening outbound rush hour commute encounters more traffic and is slower for bus riders than the morning route was before the bus lane.
This is a good start and we expect these bikes will be much-used, especially once a Forest Hills station goes in (delayed, likely subject to construction completion), making for better access to the Orange Line and the Southwest Corridor.
While we applaud the City and Blue Bikes for extending the network further out into neighborhoods like Roslindale, we’re a bit disappointed and surprised to see no station planned at the Commuter Rail which is would be a very logical inter-modal destination. While the other village stations are not far from the Commuter Rail, we suspect that bikeshare right at the station would encourage more people to avoid driving to the T. Another gap in the system is any stations in Eastern Roslindale — down Cummins Highway, Metropolitan Avenue, and Hyde Park Avenue/American Legion Highway. Bike share in this areas could enable many people who are currently poorly served by transit to reach the Orange Line, Commuter Rail, and major bus stops without driving.
And such is that nerve that first-term District 2 City Councilor Ed Flynn has quickly stepped up his game on safe streets to a level that I think every City Councilor will have to match if they aren’t already. Go read “Flynn Recommends 12 Point Safe Streets Plan” over at Caught in Southie and then consider whether the 12 point safe streets plan he is pushing for in that neighborhood deserves to be rolled out, as quickly as humanly possible, to every street in every neighborhood of this city. Below, I have converted the 12 points he raised to a generic list that could be applied anywhere:
A complete traffic study of ________________ and all high traffic roads. [NOTE: This works only if it’s done in the background while proven traffic calming measures are advanced right away, and isn’t ultimately used as a way to force more vehicular traffic through the neighborhoods at higher speeds.]
Reducing the speed limit to 20 MPH throughout all of ____________. [NOTE: Exactly. The recent shift to 25 mph was a compromise. We really should be at 20 mph.]
Speed humps (permanent or temporary to move for plows) and raised crosswalks along _________ and other high traffic roads, near parks and recreation centers where children and seniors gather. [NOTE: Speed humps should be permanent wherever they go. I continue not to see why plowing in Boston is different than the many other snow belt places in North America and really anywhere else that already have speed humps and raised crosswalks.]
4-way stop signs along _________ and relevant locations throughout ________.
Additional posting of Speed Board Signs on high traffic roads throughout _________ for feedback to reduce speeds.
Blinking Pedestrian Crossing signs at high traffic areas like we have on _____________.
Bumping out our sidewalks at crosswalks on ___________, school zones and elsewhere to shorten crosswalks, make stop signs more visible & narrow our streets to encourage slower speeds.
Road Diets on ___________, one lane from ____________, and speed humps in appropriate locations.
Increased police patrols in order to reduce speed. Increased fines for driving the wrong way on a one-way street and trucks on ____________. [NOTE: It would be good to have more enforcement, but this fight is ultimately about rectifying decades of bad, unsafe street design. Relying on enforcement also raises concerns about profiling of both people of color and immigrants.]
More delineators in high traffic areas reminding drivers to stop for pedestrians; paint in the roads advising drivers to slow, yield and stop.
A Study to determine if _______________ would become safer if they became one-way streets. [NOTE: I would not support this in my own neighborhood. Narrow two-way streets, also called “Yield Streets,” are perhaps the most effective method of low-tech traffic calming we have.]
Designated time and space for delivery trucks on ________________ to eliminate double parking. [NOTE: Better curb space management needs to be implemented on essentially every street in our city, but especially on major commercial streets.]
Today, we sent a 
Everyone concerned about traffic violence in Boston, which touches every part of our city, every day, day-in, and day-out, felt incredible sadness