Category: Safety

Our Recent Support Letter for Poplar Street Safety Improvements

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WalkUP Roslindale recently had occasion to reiterate our support for the Boston Transportation Department’s proposed set of initial safety improvements for the set of blocks between Washington Street and Sycamore Street. We look forward to their implementation this fall. The full text of the letter is as follows:

25 September 2023

Nathaniel Fink

Sarah Davis

Boston Transportation Department 

1 City Hall Square Suite 721 

Boston, MA 02201

Dear Nathan and Sarah,

We are writing to you today to reiterate WalkUP Roslindale’s support for, and the importance of, the safety modifications proposed for Poplar St in Roslindale, including speed humps, increased pedestrian crossings, and a contraflow bicycle lane.

WalkUP Roslindale consists of Roslindale residents and business owners. We live in all areas of Roslindale, some are lucky to work in Roslindale, we all shop in Roslindale, and we all enjoy other services provided by Roslindale Village and its associated businesses.

Poplar St, from Roslindale Village through Sycamore St to Canterbury St, is a crucial passage east out of the Square, but also west – up to Sycamore St – towards the square. It provides an alternative to traveling on Cummins Highway, for both cyclists and drivers of vehicles.

Cummins Highway is a street of substantial width and includes 3 sets of stop lights (as compared to none on Poplar St until Canterbury St), as well as the large hill of Mount Hope. These combined factors encourage vehicles to travel with excessive speed, and to regularly jump through the lights. 

Traveling by bicycle on Cummins Highway into or out of the square as it is presently configured is not a safe or pleasant or easy experience: the speed of vehicles, the deteriorating state of bicycle lanes, the vehicular doors opening into bicycle lanes (especially by the post office) and the steep hill that is Mount Hope, all combine to rule out Cummins Highway as a safe or sensible place to ride a bicycle.

Although Poplar St is narrow (compared to Cummins Highway) due to vehicular parking on both sides of the street on several blocks, it is still used frequently by both vehicular and bicycle traffic. However, the lack of stop lights often encourages vehicles to move with excessive speed, despite the narrowness of the road, regardless of other road users. This makes travel along Poplar St for vehicles difficult and generally unsafe for bicycles.

It should also be noted, that not only do vehicles travel above the 25 mph limit on Poplar St, but they are also regularly observed by residents to be driving the WRONG WAY down the one-way section of Poplar St, immediately adjacent to the square.

WalkUP Roslindale therefore welcomes the changes proposed by the Boston Transportation Department for Poplar St, and encourages them to apply these changes as soon as possible and then to extend similar changes to other similar streets and other one-way systems throughout Roslindale and the City, to increase safety for all street users, and to encourage those who are able to ride their bicycles in an effort to make more efficient use of our streets and, at the same time, combat climate change.

The department’s proposals are well-proven to increase safety for all users of the street by reducing vehicular traveling speed, and the addition of a one-way contra-flow bicycle lane – while we would prefer a full two way protected contra-flow bicycle lane – is a welcome addition.

  • Reduction of vehicular travel speed on streets is directly related to increasing the safety on streets (for example see the USDOT Federal Highway Administration statements1). The addition of speed humps along Poplar St is an excellent, passive method by which to control vehicular speed and well in line with citywide efforts to install hundreds of speed humps every year starting in 2023.
  • Addition of the contra-flow bicycle lane will provide current cyclists an option to travel on Poplar St all the way to Roslindale Village without having to travel on Cummins Highway. This will eliminate the risks from the currently unsafe configuration of Cummins (vehicular speed; vehicular doors opening into bicycle lane) as well as the necessity of tackling Mount Hope. In general, providing cyclists safe options to travel around Roslindale and the City of Boston more broadly will encourage more people who are able to cycle to their nearer destinations: cycling not only actively (through exercise) and passively (through reduced tailpipe emissions) increases the overall health of residents, but also, by being a zero carbon emitting mode of transport, is an active way to participate in our ongoing battle against climate change. An excellent example of how cities, large and small, can encourage more cyclists is found in the transformation of the City of London where cycling is now the primary mode of transportation2.

We realize that street modifications to increase street safety for all street users can cause consternation for short periods as street users become accustomed to them: new street patterns; altered parking distribution; decreased speed of vehicles and increased bicycle use. 

However, we believe that the majority of residents and non-residents would agree that saving just one life by reducing vehicular speed, or by aiding future generations by providing safe bicycle infrastructure to promote overall public health and to assist in our battle against climate change, is a positive modification, for which it is worth going 50 feet further to our personal motor vehicles. 

Sincerely,

WalkUP Roslindale Board of Directors

About WalkUP Roslindale

WalkUP Roslindale, which takes its name from the international movement to foster “Walkable Urban Places,” is a collaborative group of residents and business owners dedicated to making Roslindale the most walkable neighborhood in Boston. We advocate for a dynamic, livable streetscape and we support positive changes to our public and private built environment that strengthen walkability and other forms of active mobility as means toward better personal and public health, safety, social capital, economic development, and environmental sustainability. We are led by a board of directors comprised of residents and business owners and have nearly 1,000 additional supporters. More information about WalkUP Roslindale and our initiatives can be found at www.walkuproslindale.org. We recognize that no single group of people can be said to speak for our entire neighborhood – instead, please take these comments as representing the collective support of our board members resulting from our mission and principles.

References:

  1. Speed Management is Key to Road Safety by Guan Xu, Abdul Zineddin, Randolph Atkins, and Sarah Abel https://highways.dot.gov/public-roads/winter-2022/05
  1. Report from the Environment Department of the City of London Corporation https://democracy.cityoflondon.gov.uk/documents/s182953/TMO_Review_Stage_2_End_of_Review_Committee_Report_PT_March_2023_V1.pdf

 

The Street Project – A de-brief

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It’s been 3 weeks since our community screening of The Street Project at the Rozzie Square Theater and, late as it is, we thought we should provide a de-brief. Overall, the screening was a success. We were delighted to welcome the mayor, who put in a brief appearance prior to the start of the film, to reiterate her administration’s commitment to the full slate of safe street improvements indicated in the documentary – safer pedestrian and cyclist conditions such as open streets, better crossings, speed humps, street narrowings, and protected bike lanes. After the film concluded, we were gratified to have Jeff Speck, author of The Walkable City and one of the experts featured in the film, on hand to answer questions from attendees. It was, all around, a great time. Special thanks to the filmmaker Jennifer Boyd at Boyd Productions, to Courtney Pong and the team at Rozzie Square Theater, and to Anna VanRemoortel at RVMS, as well as Jason Bylsma, Steve Gag, and Elvira Mora from WUR. We’ll look to do more of this going forward!

Community Screening – “The Street Project” – Sunday, 25 June 2023 – 12:30 pm – Rozzie Square Theater

Matt Lawlor 1 Comment

As we noted a few days ago, WalkUP Roslindale are confirmed to present a community screening of The Street Project, a new documentary from 9-time Emmy-award winning filmmaker Jennifer Boyd, focusing on the movement for safer streets around the US and the world. The screening will take place at 12:30 pm on the afternoon of Sunday, 25 June 2023, at the Rozzie Square Theater on Basile Street in Roslindale Square. So, come on down and support WalkUP Roslindale’s efforts to raise awareness and move the needle around these issues here at home. The screening will feature a community-led discussion about street safety in Roslindale and across Boston where we’ll hear voices from residents, cyclists, advocates, and participation from city planner and Walkable City author, Jeff Speck. Seating is limited to 49 and seats are FREE (with donations through our fiscal sponsor, Roslindale Village Main Street, in any amount encouraged), so get your advance tickets HERE. Special thanks to Courtney and the team at RST for donating use of the theater space without cost. We look forward to seeing you there!

VERY BIG NEWS: BTD’s “Safety Surge” means the end of doling out street safety with an eyedropper…

Matt Lawlor 1 Comment

This was definitely something not to be missed at the start of this week: On Monday, as StreetsblogMass reported, Mayor Wu and the Boston Transportation Department held a press conference in Mattapan to announce that they had laid the groundwork and were now ready to move forward with what they are dubbing a “Safety Surge” on 3 meaningful, citywide safety initiatives, starting more or less right away:

  1. Speed Humps. A new, comprehensive speed hump program that will roll out 500 new speed humps on residential streets throughout Boston based on analysis of crash day and vulnerable populations instead of the frankly take-it-slow, Hunger Games-like approach of the now-sunsetted Neighborhood Slow Streets program. NOTE: These are not car-frame/axle-jarring speed bumps but instead broader, more rounded humps in the street designed to be negotiated safely without incident as long as the motor vehicle operator is going not more than a safe-for-all-street-users 20 mph. Many (though not nearly enough) have been installed under the NSS program, including several in the Mt. Hope/Canterbury NSS area of Roslindale. We advocated for NSS districts in Roslindale and were fortunate to see some success in bringing the program here, but we have always agreed with Mayor Wu that, from the moment the NSS program was started and the mayor was just an at-large city councilor, it was woefully inadequate to meet the need, shouldn’t have been based on particular kinds of advocacy, and should have just gone citywide as a basic public health and safety measure like piping our sewer output and having lights on our street. We’ve said this before and are glad that this is finally the city’s real goal: Everyone deserves to live on a safe street. Everyone on every street in every neighborhood. As soon as possible. No exceptions.
  2. Safer Intersections. The goal here is to redesign and reconfigure 25-30 intersections across the city, again based on crash data and vulnerable population information, to prioritize safety. Most crashes happen at intersections, so this work is absolutely critical and we look forward to seeing major, highly dangerous intersections that today act like major obstacles (ahem, the American Legion/Cummins/Canterbury intersection being a big one around here) made safer and more inviting for everyone.
  3. Safer Signals. This is another in the long-time-coming category. The way signals and control of motor vehicles are undertaken at signalized intersections has been a depressing prospect in this city for as long as your correspondent has lived here. The last citywide policy redo, in 2018, was deeply insufficient to meet the moment and failed move us away from a car-first mindset. The new policy stands a chance of making the changes we need made, especially through leading pedestrian intervals at key signalized crossings, prohibiting right-on-red in more places, and setting an overall goal of safety over motor vehicle throughput.

So, a momentous set of changes and ones that we look forward to following and enjoying with all of our neighbors as they roll out. Stay tuned as that happens.

 

The Street Project will be coming to Roslindale – 12:30 pm on Sunday, 25 June 2023 @ The Rozzie Square Theater

Matt Lawlor Leave a comment

You read that right! More details to follow, but WalkUP Roslindale are confirmed to present a community screening of The Street Project, a new documentary from filmmaker Jennifer Boyd, focusing on the struggle for safer streets around the US and the world. The screening will take place at 12:30 pm on the afternoon of Sunday, 25 June 2023, at the Rozzie Square Theater on Basile Street in Roslindale Square. Suggested donation will be $5.00 to support WalkUP Roslindale’s efforts to raise awareness and move the needle around these issues here at home (special thanks to Courtney and the team at RST for donating use of the theater space without cost). We look forward to seeing you there!

WUR at the Movies – The Street Project – 30 April 2023 – 12:45 pm – Somerville Theatre, Davis Square

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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!

BTD Better Bike Lanes PLUS: Engagement Opportunities for Poplar Street Improvements (with Spanish translation)

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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!

Hyde Park Ave Safety Walk – January 28 at 1pm (Forest Hills Station)

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We’re happy to see City Councillors Kendra Lara and Ricardo Arroyo, along with the Boston Transportation Department and neighborhood resident Nathan Eckstrom, are leading a safety walk on January 28th at 1pm, focusing on road safety issues along Hyde Park Avenue. The walk will meet at Forest Hills Station (Upper Level). Advance registration is recommended. More details here:

Safety Walk Poster

Some early 2023 news from Roslindale Square – A reopening and an opening!

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The second half of December was unquestionably consequential for the center of Roslindale as a motor vehicle operator drove into the street level of the building at the corner of Belgrade and Corinth (mostly known these days as The Square Root Building) on the morning of December 18, taking out a support column and parts of 2 store fronts, resulting in structural damage and temporary evacuation of the entire building. We posted about this when it happened and encouraged folks to contribute to the community-based fund that was just then forming to support the businesses that we knew would be forced to leave the building for at least some period of time – potentially months in some cases. We’re happy to circle back now with the news that many of the businesses that had been forced out, including especially The Square Root, are now open again and the remainder have found temporary homes elsewhere in the square. This past Saturday morning found plenty of patronage inside the cafe itself, and, we suspect (based on the photo below), music rehearsal activity upstairs. It’s really good to see activity going on there again, though a discussion about how to make all of the streets in the square safer for everyone outside of motor vehicles is something we think must be on the agenda going forward.

Saturday also saw the official opening of the new brick-and-mortar location at 739 South Street (across from Wallpaper City) for Rozzie Bound Books, which has been the neighborhood’s community-owned virtual bookstore for the last few years. They’ve taken a small, but cozy space on the street level and are selling books and offering order/pickup as well. This promising development represents the presence of a permanent new book-selling location in the square for the first time in more than a decade, since the 2011 demise of Village Books, which had been located in part of the space where 753 South now operates. We hope to see Rozzie Bound thrive and grow in the years ahead!

WalkUP Roslindale – 2022 in Brief

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So, 2022 definitely had its share of ups and downs, but in taking stock on the eve of 2023, three posts stand out as particularly worth looking back on and noting (in roughly reverse chronological order):

  • Taking first place, after a long, COVID-impacted process, the Lower South Street Neighborhood Slow Streets project obtained its final municipal approval and heads to installation this spring. The comments from Chief of Streets Jascha Franklin-Hodge at the conclusion of the hearing were especially encouraging. This post also features a major advancement for us that started in the fall of this year – we have started to translate our posts into Spanish.

The Lower South Street Neighborhood Slow Streets Project and Boston’s Commitment to Street Safety Citywide

  • In second place, we gave significant attention and sought to provide assistance to Roslindale residents in navigating the Orange Line shutdown from late August to late September in two posts that included links to official guidance as well as our own review of available substitute services, especially Needham Line and other commuter rail trains that made additional stops at Forest Hills and Ruggles during that month-long period.

RED ALERT: It’s now official – MBTA to close down Orange Line for 30 day “accelerated” repair effort on tracks and signals

MBTA adds additional service to Forest Hills starting today – 6 September 2022

  • In a 3-way tie for 3rd place, we had Mayor Wu’s inaugural group bike ride into downtown Boston from Roslindale (not officially a WalkUP Roslindale event, but many of us were very involved), plus our support for the successful permitting effort around the redevelopment of the funeral home site at 59-63 Belgrade Avenue, and our Poplar Street Walk Audit report (all from August, though the walk audit itself occurred in May).

Not an official WalkUP Roslindale Event, but very good to see this starting: Group bike ride into City Hall from Roslindale Square with Mayor Wu – 8 am this Thursday, 11 August 2022

Please help support housing at 59-63 Belgrade Avenue

Final Poplar Street Walk Audit Report