Letter of Support for Pedestrian Safety and Traffic Calming Improvements in Roslindale Square

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.

Our full letter reproduced below; you can also download a PDF version of the letter plus the attached parking count exhibit.

Read More

REMINDER: Call to Action – Standouts to Promote New 25 mph Citywide Speed Limit – March 4, 11, 18, & 25

REMINDER: Despite the cold temps forecast, we are going to stick with our first standout tomorrow morning, March 4, 2017 @ 11 am, at Washington & Cummins in Roslindale Square (Adams Park side of Washington). Bundle up and come on down!

Motivated by the common sense concept that slower vehicle speeds lead to safer streets, Boston, under the leadership of Mayor Walsh, recently exercised its local option to reduce the citywide speed limit from 30 mph to 25 mph as of January 9.  To draw attention to and increase awareness of this important change, WalkUP Roslindale will be organizing 60-minute standouts with hand-held signs around our neighborhood on each of the next 4 Saturdays.

Each standout will start at 11 am and end at 12 pm. The locations are as follows:

March 4 – Roslindale Square (meet on Adams Park side of Cummins/Washington)

March 11 – 5-way American Legion/Canterbury/Cummins (meet by the fire station)

March 18 – Walter/South (meet by Green T)

March 25 – Washington at WR Parkway (meet by the Dunkin Donuts)

We have secured a baker’s dozen signs from Councilor O’Malley (many thanks!), but it would be also be terrific for those interested in participating to bring your own homemade signs promoting the change as well. Thanks!!

Centre and Walter Intersection

DCR Community Meeting on Walter and Centre Street Redesign – November 10, 2015 at St. Nectarios Church Hall

Centre and Walter Intersection
Intersection of Centre and Walter Streets
The Department of Conservation and Recreation (“DCR”) recently held a series of public meetings to solicit input about the parkways of the Parkway Area–particularly the Centre Street Corridor, which accommodates 40,000 cars every day. The corridor is poorly designed for drivers, pedestrians, and bicyclists alike, and it’s time to fix it.

Although Centre Street brings thousands of cars daily right through Roslindale, no meeting has focused on or been held in Roslindale — until now. Thanks especially to the efforts of neighbor Carter Wilkie, our representatives in the state legislature have arranged for a fourth public meeting, focused especially on the intersection of Centre and Walter Streets, which has had the majority of crashes in recent years — 46 crashes over a three year period! Traffic engineers have determined this intersection violates state safety standards, but funding for improvements will be hard to secure unless people speak up. Previous meetings about this corridor have demonstrated a lack of care for and attention to pedestrians and bicyclists–it’s important that the planned improvements serve everyone, not just those who might be passing through in a motorized vehicle.

We understand (at least) Sen. Rush, Rep. Sánchez, and Rep. Coppinger will all be present at the meeting, so this is an excellent opportunity to be heard on the importance of pedestrian- and bike-friendly infrastructure in one of the worst-designed parts of our neighborhood. We’ll add to this post if we receive confirmation about attendance from any other elected officials. We should turn out in force and advocate for walkability!

Please spread the word (retweet or like/share this announcement on Facebook). Details below:

Tuesday November 10, 2015 6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.
St. Nectarios Church Hall
39 Belgrade Ave. (and Robert Street)
Roslindale

More background: