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Two Immediate Opportunities to Speak Up for a More Walkable Roslindale
To achieve our goal of making Rozzie the most walkable neighborhood in Boston, we need to seize every opportunity to speak up. We are leading some efforts ourselves (such as the Gateway Path initiative) but others require attention, leadership, and vision from our Mayor and City Councilors. Two upcoming events present opportunities to be heard on important walkability issues:
- Mayor Walsh recently announced the dates for his 2016 “coffee hour” series, where the Mayor will visit each neighborhood to hear from residents. All participants will enjoy coffee[1] and breakfast provided by Dunkin’ Donuts and fresh fruit from Whole Foods. In addition, each family in attendance will receive a flowering plant grown in the city’s greenhouses and a raffle prize from Dunkin. The Roslindale event is this coming Wednesday, May 18 at Adams Park, from 9:30am-10:30am. Show up and tell the Mayor we need safer streets for walkers, better transit and bicycle infrastructure, improved parks, and the like!
- The City Council hearing on the city’s Vision Zero efforts is scheduled for this coming Monday, May 16th, at 3pm in the Iannella Chamber, 5th Floor, City Hall. The order for hearing was sponsored by Councilor Matt O’Malley. The docket to be discussed is item 0509, “order for a hearing regarding traffic calming measures and the Vision Zero Boston program.” Show up to testify if you can; written comments may also be made part of the record and available to all councilors by sending them to ccc.prt@nullboston.gov and daniel.shea@nullboston.gov.
Footnotes (↵ returns to text)
- Speaking of coffee: Roslindale just took a big step up, going from zero to two full-blown coffee shops. Both P.S. Gourmet Coffee and the Green T Coffee Shop opened in the past week or so. Be sure to visit both by foot or bicycle and welcome them to the neighborhood!↵
Roslindale Village Walkable Film Series – This Changes Everything – Saturday, May 7, 2016 @ 2:00pm
The film will be shown at the Roslindale Community Center at 6 Cummins Highway, starting at 2pm this Saturday, May 7, 2016. Discussion to follow. Hope to see you there!
Roslindale Bulletin on 20 MPH City Speed Limit
pedestrians hit by cars die when struck at 40 mph compared to 5% at 20 mph.
Our own District 5 City Councilor Tim McCarthy had some nice quotes in the piece:
District 5 Councillor Timothy McCarthy said the last speed limit change was implemented by a transportation commissioner who was from Ludlow, where higher speed limits are more common.
“If you go 20 mph in Ludlow, you probably wouldn’t get out of Ludlow for a few days,” said McCarthy. “But in our area, 20 mph is plenty.”
He said that West Roxbury Police Sgt. Michael O’Hara has done demonstrations in the past to show the actual speed of a vehicle traveling 30 mph relative to a pedestrian. He said O’Hara would ask residents to stand on the side of the road while a he drove by at exactly 30 mph.
“If you’re standing on the edge of the road and a Crown Vic goes by at 30 mph, you might as well be at NASCAR, you’re not getting out of the way,” said McCarthy.
Kudos to Councilor McCarthy for helping push this walkability initiative.
See also this video of the City Council’s Government Operations committee hearing on the initiative from last week.
We should remember that setting a safer speed limit is only a starting point. Most drivers will follow road design more than posted limits, so the ultimate solution must involve safer road design including narrower car lanes and other traffic calming measures (all key aspects of Vision Zero). A recent letter to the editor in the Boston Globe makes this same point. But we need not let these broader infrastructure challenges get in the way of a common-sense first step.
Breaking news (4/27/16 afternoon): From City Councillor Michelle Wu‘s summary of today’s city council meeting:
Speed Limits: We voted unanimously to pass Councilor Baker’s home rule petition to lower the default unposted speed limit from 30mph to 20mph in thickly settled areas and business districts and from 20mph to 15mph in school zones, as well as giving the City the authority to post speed limits without state approval and the requirement for a traffic study. Councilors Baker and Flaherty noted that speeding is one of the top issues councilors hear from residents. The matter now goes to the Mayor for his signature and then the state legislature for approval.
Roslindale Village Walkable Film Series – The Thread – Thursday, April 28, 2016 @ 6:30pm
We’re now ready for the fifth installment in The Roslindale Village (Walkable) Film Series. Next up is The Thread, a film by Greg Barker that documents the role of social media in the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing. The film was described by the Boston Globe as a “brisk, stimulating documentary,” and runs only about an hour.
Check out the poster, original art again courtesy of Andy Cross.
The film will be shown at the Roslindale Branch of the Boston Public Library. RSVP to secure a spot and get a reminder near show time.
Questions or comments to film@nullwalkuproslindale.org.
Roslindale Bulletin on Gateway Path Visioning Session
As usual, Jeff Sullivan at the Roslindale Bulletin has the scoop on the Gateway Path. Check out their latest front-page article reporting on our Visioning Meeting, Many in favor of Roslindale JP Gateway.
Roslindale Village Walkable Film Series – Burning Greed – Thursday, April 14, 2016 @ 6:30pm
We’re now ready for the fourth installment in The Roslindale Village (Walkable) Film Series. Next up is Burning Greed: Arson, Profit and Murder in the Fenway. This film is about greed, corruption, and the brave group of community activists determined to save their neighborhood and themselves..
Check out the poster, original art again courtesy of Andy Cross.
The film will be shown in the auditorium at Roslindale House, 120 Poplar Street, and continues our experiment of various venues (public and private spaces) for this trial run of the Film Series. We are excited to tryout this new space. RSVP to secure a spot and get a reminder near show time.
Questions or comments to film@nullwalkuproslindale.org.
Roslindale Gateway Path Visioning Session Smashing Success
Tonight’s Roslindale Gateway Path Visioning session was a smashing success. The turnout was extraordinary, filling the large double-room meeting space in the Roslindale Community Center just about to capacity. In addition to many people who live, work, and play in Roslindale and adjacent neighborhoods (including notably JP and West Roxbury), several city councilors, state legislators, and state agencies (including the MBTA and MassDOT) sent representatives who actively participated in the event. The meeting reflected tremendous energy and enthusiasm for the project, and sparked many new ideas and concepts that we and our collaborators at Tufts and the Livable Streets Alliance will be synthesizing over the coming weeks.
In case you weren’t able to make it, here is the presentation that kicked off the event, but most of the 90 minute meeting was spent gathering community input in small groups. Stay tuned for more news at our path page and send any additional comments to path@nullwalkuproslindale.org.
In the meantime, a snapshot from the beginning of the meeting, as people were still streaming in:
And now that we’ve had the world premier at tonight’s session, a special feature: drone footage of the first segment of the proposed route, starting at the Roslindale Village Commuter Rail station. Thanks to Larry McInnes for shooting, directing, and cinematography, and Alan Wright for starring in this motion picture:
Finally, the event was well covered on social media. Sampling of recent tweets below.
Finally, an after-event photo of many of the organizers, presenters, facilitators, along with some WalkUP Roslindale Steering Committee members:
LANA Hosting South & Walter Streets Visioning Session on April 7, 2016 7pm-9pm 1300 Centre Street
WalkUP Roslindale ally Longfellow Area Neighborhood Association is hosting a visioning session regarding the South and Walter Street Corridor on Thursday, April 7, 2016 from 7pm-9pm at the Weld Hill Research Building, 1300 Centre Street. South and Walter Streets connect Centre Street near Bellevue, West Roxbury at one end back to Centre Street adjacent the Arboretum and Faulkner Hospital at the other end, cutting through one of a densely populated, mostly residential, area of our neighborhood. These streets were historically designed (or more likely re-designed in the car era) to move cars quickly with little concern for pedestrian safety, walkability, and quality of life. There have been some small recent improvements but much remains to be done to reclaim this important corridor. Please show up and share your views!
Arboretum Gateway Path in the Roslindale Bulletin
The latest Roslindale Bulletin features an article by Jeff Sullivan on the Arboretum Gateway Path initiative, including interviews with several WalkUP Roslindale members and allies from RozzieBikes and LivableStreets Alliance. Check out the article, and be sure to RSVP for our upcoming vision session on March 30 at 6:30pm at the Roslindale Community Center and respond to our survey about the path project.