Please call or email your state and local legislators and ask them to support an earmark of ~$750,000 for a traffic study that is necessary to move forward with much-needed safety improvements on Route 16 in Cambridge, Somerville and Medford. The timing is immediate (i.e. in the next few days) as the earmark is being discussed this week in the Ways and Means Committee. This is important for residents of Cambridge, Somerville, Medford, Arlington, Belmont and Watertown and for anyone who travels through this dangerous corridor.

The immediate priority is conveying the impact of the problem and how improvements should be made for pedestrian, bicyclist and motorist safety and overall traffic calming. Including personal stories and the significance safety improvements would have is strongly encouraged for garnering the support of your legislators as well as how these improvements are important for the entire region. Feel free to share this page with anyone who might be interested.

Here is a link for finding your state legislators: https://malegislature.gov/search/findmylegislator. Be sure to contact both your representative and senator, and if you can please reach out to your Mayor, Councilor or Selectman. 

Background: 

This section of Route 16 from Mass Ave in Cambridge to Main St in Medford is under the jurisdiction of the Department of Conservation and Recreation and is made up of Alewife Brook and Mystic Valley Parkways, and was originally designed to be a “pleasure road” for taking in the beautiful scenery of the surrounding parkland. Today it is a high-speed roadway with some of the highest crash rates in the region that acts exactly opposite to its original intent: it is a dangerous barrier that impedes access of local residents to parkland, nearby amenities and businesses, and negatively impacts the Alewife Brook and Mystic River waterways and climate.

Proposed safety improvements include:

-Protected left turns for motorists at the intersections of Broadway Ave and Boston Ave due to high crash rates

-Significant safety improvements to existing  crosswalks along the entire corridor as well as the addition of a crosswalk for safe access to the Dilboy stadium, fields, and parkland 

-Redesign of the dangerous rotary where Alewife Brook and Mystic Valley Parkways meet to provide safe pedestrian access and safety for all road users

-Lane reduction from two lanes to one in each direction to reduce crossing distance for pedestrians and to curb rampant speeding

Thank you!! For more information, please email somervillesafestreets@gmail.com

After Tuesday’s election results, we are optimistic for positive changes coming to our streets, and Somerville is about to host several meetings and community input activities that will determine streetscape layouts all over the city for the next generation. These are our neighborhoods and local hangouts, and we want to have a strong showing at these community meetings of Somerville residents and street users who support SASS’s commitment to safe, accessible, and beneficial streetscapes. 

Your engagement matters! This fall we can show up and use our voices to support bold changes. Here’s how to get involved:

1. If you can, attend community meetings and provide public comment. Speak to your personal experience and why the safe street change matters to you in your life. Be clear that you support (or oppose) the plan/design. If you are speaking in opposition, focus on the design, not the person making the presentation. Include your name and Ward (or address)
2. If you can’t attend the meeting, write an email. Follow the same principles as in public comment. Send your email to the Mobility division (transportation@somervillema.gov), the mayor (mayor@somervillema.gov) and the City Council (citycouncil@somervillema.gov). Please cc: SASS (somervillesafestreets@gmail.com) on your emails. (link for all four email addresses)
3. Register for SomerVoice so that you can make comments on that platform.
4. Keep your eyes out for additional opportunities to get engaged via SASS! 

Together we can make a better Somerville. We’re thrilled to see the improvements that are already happening (if you haven’t checked out the new speed humps on Kidder, Morrison, and Lowell, get yourself over there and enjoy the safer street!). But we’re not resting until everywhere and everyone is safe. 

All the best,

The Somerville Alliance for Safe Streets

FALL PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT OPPORTUNITIES

EMAIL ACTION – Boynton Yards – Object to Excess Parking at the Land Use Committee Meeting (no public comment) on Nov 8 – send email by Nov 7

There are a lot of plans for future streetscape build-outs in Boynton Yards. Check them out here. However, the developers are requesting a variance to build more parking than is allowed under the zoning. More parking invites more cars to our streets and more pollution in our air. We want the developers to find tenants willing to have a wider range of transportation options that only cars (there will still be cars). Email your city councilors (citycouncil@somervillema.gov) to support striking the language from the city ordinance that allows developers to request more parking than the parking maximums provided. Read more here and you can listen to the city council meeting discussion on November 8, 6:30pm at this link.

COALITION BUILDING – Alewife Brook Parkway Traffic Calming Coalition-Next meeting Nov 9, 5:30 PM. Zoom 

SASS wants to make roads safer in Somerville, and we have set our sights on Alewife Brook Parkway. Managed by the Department of Conservation and Recreation, this corridor has a lot in common with MassDOT-controlled Mystic Ave and McGrath Highway, because they’re both outside the control of our city government. We need sustained and coordinated pressure to change the streetscape that separates our community from the civic amenity parks and stadium. We are seeking abutters to participate in monthly meetings as we grow our coalition, which also includes residents from Cambridge, Arlington, and Medford. The next meeting is November 9 at 5:30 pm. If you are interested in joining the coalition, send an email to kencarlson8@gmail.com.

COMMUNITY MEETING – City Wide Parking and Curb Use Study, 12:30 pm Nov 9 or 6pm Nov 10.

Somerville has initiated a study to understand how we use our curb space. Often streetscape improvements conflict with parking expectations, but if we better understand demand and usage, we can make informed decisions that benefit the widest possible range of stakeholders in the community. Learn more by attending and participating in one of the two upcoming community meetings. Link.

PUBLIC COMMENT ONLINE – Assembly Square Neighborhood Plan. Deadline – Nov 12

This neighborhood also requires that we assess and develop an infrastructure framework suited for the needs and pressures of what is becoming one of Somerville’s major new Regional Centers. Read about the project here and you can comment on the detailed plan here (the section on Mobility starts on page 81, which you can navigate to by typing it into the page display). The deadline for public comments on the plan has been extended to November 12. You can also follow developments on this plan at the Planning Board meeting on Nov 4. 

COMMUNITY MEETING – Spring Hill/Highland Ave Design Project – Wednesday, Nov 17, 6:30

We want to support safety, accessibility, traffic calming, bike lanes, and bus transit. The main contention here will be Highland Ave, where parking removal will be necessary to better support more forms of transit. Expect some spirited discussions about this. Find out more about the project here and register for the community meeting here.

COMMUNITY MEETING – Gilman Square Streetscape Redesign – Monday, Nov 22, 6:00pm to 7:30pm

At this meeting, City staff will provide an update on present and future projects in Gilman Square, present the feasibility study for an accessible path from Marshall Street to the Medford Street Bridge and Community Path extension, discuss options for protected bicycle lanes on Medford Street and Pearl Street from the School Street to the Skilton Ave intersections, and gather public feedback. Find more information about the meeting here and register to attend here.

This past Wednesday, we had a great rally with local residents and elected officials that drew over 200 people to demand highway justice for residents living near Mystic Ave and McGrath Highway. The event was covered by many major news outlets, such as this article in Boston.com and this coverage on TV 7NEWS and Boston 25 News. Before the rally began, we escorted the elected officials along MassDOT’s Corridor of Death, so they can experience what our neighbors experience when they go to their local supermarket. The rally showed massive support for changes in this area, but we’ve got more work to do to keep the pressure on MassDOT — MassDOT is holding two virtual meetings in the upcoming days and we need to make our voices heard by showing up or leaving comments.

1. TONIGHT, Tuesday, June 1 6PM – 8PM: MassDOT + MBTA Capital Investment Plan. You can find more details about the meeting and public input can be provided in several ways, including sending an email with your comments in any language to: MassCIP@state.ma.us.

In your comments, ask MassDOT to include a minimum of $2 million for noise barriers in the vicinity of East Somerville and a minimum of $2 million for improvements to the Rt. 28/38 corridor in Somerville. Improvements should include dense tree cover along Mystic Ave. and Foss Park and an expanded and accelerated road safety improvement project with elements such as raised crosswalks, sidewalk-level protected bike facilities, ADA-compliant pedestrian ramps, and a road diet for Rt. 28 north of Broadway.

2. Tuesday, June 8, 6PM – 8PM: Somerville I-93 Viaduct Presentation. You can find more details and submit written comments here. This will be a three-year construction project, done at night, and will detour highway traffic onto Somerville residential streets, without any plans for mitigating the long-term impacts of air and noise pollution.

In your comments, tell MassDOT to prioritize the lives of people over steel, and to build sound walls as a necessary mitigation measure for the long-term air and noise pollution impacts that are linked to higher incidence of asthma and cardiovascular disease in these environmental justice neighborhoods.

MassDOT is trying to get away with just paint and new crosswalks, but we need the sound and anti-pollution barriers for our neighbors as well!

And, if you haven’t yet, please sign and share the Letter to MassDOT! Stay safe and get involved!

All the best and safe streets for all,
SASS Organizing Committee