We’ve seen some of this in our own neighborhood, like the street mural at Conway and South. Where else in Roslindale should we consider this? Ideas welcome in the comments!
The high cost of free parking – Take 6 minutes and watch this video on parking. NOW!
After you view this video at vox, featuring Don Shoup from UCLA, I hope you’ll be, like me, a Shoupista, when it comes to how we handle our parking here in Boston and really everywhere. And note that Boston hasn’t done what it should on point 1, but we are trying point 2. Enjoy!
Neighborhood Slow Streets Announcement Made! And Rozzie has a winner!!
We last discussed the NSS program under Vision Zero back at the end of March, when 47 applications, 4 of them from our beloved patch of soil, were submitted. At that time, we thought only 2 areas in the city would be selected. In the interim, the city found additional money for 3 more areas, so yesterday…drum roll…BTD announced 5 selected areas, one of which is the Mount Hope/Canterbury area in the eastern section of Roslindale. Congratulations to the champions of that effort, including WalkUP Roslindale’s own Lisa Beatman and Rick Yoder! You can find the city’s official announcement here, and a Boston Globe article from today here. We are excited by this opportunity to improve street safety and slow traffic in our neighborhood and look forward to working with Lisa, Rick, their neighbors in MH/C, and BTD staff to get this done as soon as humanly possible.
As we have said many times at this blog and elsewhere, everyone in this city deserves to live on a safe street. Everyone on every street in every neighborhood.
Crossing at Washington & Basile gets some attention and we are thrilled and appreciative!
We know WalkUP Roslindale’s walk audit in December 2015 wasn’t the first time members of our neighborhood identified the crosswalk at the intersection of Washington and Basile streets as being in need of safety improvements. Indeed, we recognized at at the time that we were joining a long line of activists who had already called for changes at this important crossing at the northern entrance to Roslindale Square that is the main access point from the west for students going to and from the Sumner School. It was accordingly great to see city contractors out at this intersection in the last few weeks and days reinforcing the recently signed no-parking/standing areas adjacent to the crosswalk, installing curb-ramps, fixing the flashing yellow light, and installing the pedestrian crossing bollard and flexposts in almost all the required areas (the area right on the southbound side is, we believe, awaiting the completion of utility work before flexposts will go in).
We all recognize that there is more work to be done throughout the square and the entire neighborhood to improve walking and cycling and overall safety for all users of our streets. But we will pause for this moment to thank everyone who had a hand this, starting with walkBoston, who took us through the walk audit, and including the Mayor’s Office for Neighborhood Services, Councilors McCarthy and Wu, the Boston Transportation and Public Works Departments, and Roslindale Village Main Street.
Support Letter for Washington Street Corridor Bus Rapid Transit Proposal
Washington Street is arguably the single most critical–and failing–piece of transportation infrastructure in our neighborhood. As restaurants, retail, and housing around Forest Hills explodes (e.g.), and Roslindale Square itself becomes more populated as well as an increasingly popular destination to visit, it will become ever more urgent to make this one-mile connection sustainable. This includes improving the streetscape, sidewalks, and crosswalks for pedestrians; the road for cyclists; offering a more reasonably priced commuter-rail connection; and radically improving bus service. Our Roslindale Gateway Path initiative is another important solution to this puzzle. There is no reason it should take more than ten minutes for anyone to get from the end of the Orange Line to Roslindale Village at any time of day, including time spent waiting for a bus.
If our leaders don’t take real steps soon, we will see gridlock for more and more hours of the day, and extending further and further back toward Roslindale and then on to Dedham. There is simply no space to put more cars in this dense area, whether they are in motion or parked. We need creative solutions, and we need them quickly.
One high ROI proposal we’d like to see implemented immediately is bus rapid transit (“BRT”) improvements along the Washington Street corridor. To that end, back in May, we submitted a letter to support a Boston Transportation Department grant proposal to the charitable nonprofit Barr Foundation. Details below, or in this PDF copy of our letter. We expect to hear from the foundation in the next several weeks about funding. Fingers crossed!
Why not bundle parking?
This handy infographic from transportation consultant Nelson\Nygaard succinctly summarizes a systemic failure of Boston’s parking policy (or lack thereof), at great cost to walkability, economic vitality, and environmental sustainability:
Vision Zero Coalition – An Act to Reduce Traffic Fatalities (Hearing at State House 6/13/17)
On Tuesday, June 13th, 2017, Massachusetts Vision Zero Coalition members, including WalkUP Roslindale, will be at the State House to provide testimony at the public hearing for An Act to Reduce Traffic Fatalities.
Will you help us make Massachusetts streets safer for all? Read More
Next up next door – West Roxbury Walk Audit
We organized a Roslindale Square Walk Audit back in December 2016; published a report in February 2017; and took a productive tour of the area with city officials in April 2017 (more news soon about new positive developments resulting from that tour). Now our good neighbors to the west1 are taking up the torch and have organized a walk audit for this coming Sunday. Specifically, West Roxbury Main Streets with support from a variety of partners are meeting at 2pm, this Sunday, June 11, 2017, at the Roche Brothers parking lot next to Starbucks, to identify pedestrian safety issues in the neighborhood. Bring your best walking shoes, friends, baby stroller and dog! The event will include a discussion and survey on traffic, safety, and making the main street district more attractive. Contact West Roxbury Main Streets at 617-325-6400 for more info.
Please spread the word and share this PDF flyer for the event.
- You’re welcome to refer to the neighborhood in question as “Greater Roslindale” ↩
Roslindale’s First Street Mural Complete
Roslindale’s first street mural (rumored to be Boston’s second) is now in the books! Thanks to all the community leaders and volunteers who made it happen, including the WalkUP Roslindale Mural Committee lead by Ann-Marie Lawlor, Mandana Moshtaghi, Rachele Rosi-Kessel, and Rebecca Phillips; as well as the Mayor’s Mural Crew (including fearless leader Heidi Schork), Roslindale Village Main Street, and Roslindale Artist-in-Residence Cornell Coley. Be sure to check it out just by the commuter rail station, in front of the modern language school. Creation below:
Also a bunch of photos from the day; thanks to Gradon Tripp, Rob Orthman, the Mayor’s Office of Neighborhood Services, Chris Kollett, and anyone we forgot for the photos!
Roslindale’s First Ever Street Mural Painting – Sunday, June 4, 2017 12pm-3pm at South Conway and South Street
We are pleased to announce a milestone for the WalkUP Roslindale Street Mural initiative: Roslindale’s First Ever Street Mural Painting. Following in the footsteps of Somerville, Cambridge, Seattle among other great cities, the Mayor’s Mural Crew will assist in creating a street mural adjacent the MBTA commuter rail parking lot, at the intersection of South Conway and South Street.
Our friends from Roslindale Village Main Street will be there to support the effort. There will also be a drum circle from 1pm-2:30pm. For those under age 15, we will have street chalk for your own creative art work.
Rain date – June 11. Check walkuproslindale.org closer to the date for any weather updates.