EALS submitted comments on the 75% plan to the town in early December with ideas to incorporate into the project moving forward.
|
|||
|
Paul Lukez of Paul Lukez Architecture was the guest speaker at Arlington High School as part of the Arlington Community Education Tuesday Night Conversations Series, moderated by David Witford. The title of this particular discussion was Creating Sustainable Suburbs. Paul Lukez started the discussion with a presentation on what it means to be sustainable and some examples of sustainable towns or cities and also some sustainable freestanding buildings. Arlington differs from many of the examples given because it is a well established town, as opposed to a planned, sustainable community. Arlington is inherently sustainable because its proximity to the city, public transportation, and the three business districts allow one to walk from almost any part of town to a business center. This last point was brought up by an attendee when Mr. Lukez stated that one of the reasons for Arlington’s lack of identity is that it has three different “nodes”. He agreed that there are definitely advantages to the three separate business districts but chose to highlight Arlington Center as needing a more defined identity. During the discussion, the Mass Ave project did come up and Mr. Lukez was asked to comment on it, but he declined saying he has not looked at the plans in any detail. That being said, many of the comments made by both speakers, Mr. Lukez and Davit Witford, have been paraphrased in discussion in support of the Mass Ave project. Many people felt that too many people drive through town from elsewhere and have no reason or desire to stop. Arlingtonians, themselves, do less driving and the larger thoroughfares actually create barriers, rather than tie the community together. There was collective agreement that more should be done for walkers safety and enjoyment of the town in order to create a sense of place and to bind the community. In order to accomplish the goals of sustainability, Lukez said a Sustainability Master Plan for the town should be established. To accomplish this, he said, strong leadership backed by a community/neighborhood group is required.
Hi All - please join us for the EALS Coalition’s next community meeting on Thursday, Oct 20 at 7:30 pm. (Because of a scheduling conflict at the Fox, the event will be held at the Arlington Center for the Arts off Mass Ave between Tufts and Foster Street.) Please stop by to meet your neighbors, learn about EALS, enjoy free home-made refreshments and watch/listen to an interesting presentation about a livability-related topic. Our special guest will be the General Manager of Boston’s bike share system, Hubway. Scott Mullen–an East Arlington resident–from Alta Bike Share will have a presentation that includes a brief history of the bike share movement globally, planning the system in Boston, Hubway’s great success in its first year, and its expansion to Cambridge, Somerville and elsewhere in the near future. Scott will have one of the Hubway bikes with him so those who haven’t seen one in downtown Boston will be able to kick the tires. This is a rare opportunity to learn about how the community has quickly gotten on board the bike share concept and why Hubway has the real potential to enhance transportation options throughout Greater Boston.
This event represents EALS’ fall community meeting, which we host semi-annually. The next meeting and presentation is scheduled for April 2012. Hello East-siders and others, We hope you had a great summer and are looking forward to a beautiful fall season. Over the summer, we and other EALS volunteers have remained busy on “other” projects as the Mass Ave Corridor plan has gone beyond the 25% design stage and into final design. One of our primary initiatives recently has been to promote walking and bicycling to the Hardy School for this fall’s term. For those unaware, the Thompson School is now closed and 3rd-4th graders from the Thompson district are now attending Hardy for the next two years. Because of this, there has been concern about exacerbating the already-congested conditions around the Hardy School with the additional 120 students. EALS has worked with the Town’s Transporation Advisory Committee (TAC), the PTO’s and Principals from both Hardy and Thompson to mitigate the additional traffic congestion. In June, EALS received a $1000 grant from the National Center for Safe Routes to Schools (SRTS) to promote walking and biking to Hardy. The grant is intended to fund the design, printing and distribution of walking/biking route maps. Funds were also made available to provide free bike helmets to those in need and to potentially purchase additional “yield to pedestrians” crosswalk bollards to be installed where necessary. The attached map and safety-info brochure is in the process of being given to all Hardy families and posted in the school and at the playground. The thrust of the effort is to establish Bike Train routes throughout East Arlington that link to the school. Parent volunteers are leading small groups of kids along each colored route. The goal is to provide an additional transporation option to Hardy, to do so safely and provide a fun and active experience for the kids. In addition to the Bike Train routes, the map shows recommended walking routes, locations of the crossing guards and the newly-established remote drop-off spot on Mass Ave (intended to minimize car traffic dropping off right at the school). The Hardy SRTS effort will be the primary agenda item for this Thursday’s EALS meeting at the Fox Library at 7:30 pm. The meeting will also includes updates of other campaigns we’re working on and upcoming events. Two in particular are a group bike ride to the Moving Planet climate change rally and a meeting sponsored by the MBTA to discuss potential changes to the 77 bus line. 1. September 24 (Saturday), 2:20+ pm, E Arl to Boston Bike ride roundezvous and convoy to the Moving Planet rally at Columbus Park in downtown Boston. Meet up with environmental organizations from Arlington, Lexington, Belmont and Medford and ride together to the huge rally downtown to promote awareness of climate change to demand action by the federal government. Meet at 2:20 at Jam-n-Java or 2:30 along the bike path at Thorndike Field. The intent is for a moderate paced ride of roughly 45-60 minutes to Columbus Park. More info can be found on the Sustainable Arlington group’s web site. 2. September 27 (Tues), 6:30-8 pm at Town Hall The MBTA is hosting follow-up meetings on Bus Route 77 as part of the Key Bus Route Improvement Program. Based on community feedback, preliminary recommendations have been refined to the following types of improvements: bus stop consolidation, new bus shelters, benches and trash receptacles. Bus stop consolidation will result in changes to the location of some bus stops. Bus stops may be relocated and/or eliminated in the plan Dear MBTA Riders and Interested Parties, The MBTA is hosting follow-up meetings on Bus Route 77 as part of the Key Bus Route Improvement Program. Based on community feedback, preliminary recommendations have been refined to the following types of improvements: bus stop consolidation, new bus shelters, benches and trash receptacles. Bus stop consolidation will result in changes to the location of some bus stops. Bus stops may be relocated and/or eliminated. Passengers on non-Key Bus Routes will benefit from improvements, and be affected by changes made, at Key Bus Route stops. Bus Route 77 operates between Arlington Heights and Harvard Square via Arlington Center, Porter Square and Massachusetts Avenue. This route also provides service to important destinations such as Harvard University, Capitol Theatre and Arlington High School. This route provides connections to the Red Line as well as many bus routes including Key Bus Routes 1, 66, 71 and 73 and the following local routes – 62, 67, 68, 69, 72, 74, 75, 76, 78, 79, 80, 83, 86, 87, 96 and 350. The following meetings will discuss potential improvements to Bus Route 77: Tuesday, September 27, 2011 6:30 PM – 8:00 PM Arlington Town Hall Auditorium 730 Massachusetts Avenue, Arlington Click here for the new Hardy School map. Thanks to all of those who made this possible. Here is a useful link from MassBike for parents about bike safety. East Arlington Livable Streets (EALS) Coalition–is working with the Town’s Transportation Advisory Committee, the schools and the PTO’s to promote walking and biking to the Hardy School, both from full-time Hardy families and from the Thompson community. EALS feels that when done safely, walking and biking to school is healthy for the kids, mitigates traffic congestion and helps to preserve our neighborhood’s high quality of life. It’s for these reasons that we received a $1000 grant from the National Center for the Safe Routes to Schools to promote these efforts. Our intent is to use this money to create high-quality color walking/biking maps that will be distributed to Hardy and Thompson families and posted at the Hardy School. Funds will also be used to provide free kids’ bike helmets to families interested in participating.
The large majority of you live beyond a 10-15 minute walk to the Hardy School. While we know many of you will feel the need to drive for numerous reasons, EALS hopes that some of you are open to having your 3rd and 4th graders bike to Hardy School (weather-permitting of course!). To promote bicycling and walking, we have established a number of recommended routes that are designed to be safe and convenient for a good number of you. The colored lines are intended to be the “Bike Train” routes that lead to the Hardy School. The Bike Train concept is to provide a scheduled route that kids can follow with parent volunteers leading (and trailing) the row of kids. Parents can either drop off their kids as the Bike Train passes or they can participate and ride along with the others to school.
We are also promoting “Walking School Buses” which are functionally similar to the Bike Trains, i.e. a handful of parents lead a group of kids from different parts of the neighborhood to Hardy School, picking up the kids along the way at the designated “bus stops”. Either Bike Train or Walking School Bus, both are intended to build community among neighbors and be fun for the kids to come to school with their friends. Also, because of the variable schedules most families have in the afternoon, both the Train and the Bus will only formally run during the morning drop-off time (though of course informal groups of parents are likely to replicate the idea in the afternoon).
Finally, the attached information also informs parents about a remote morning drop off zone along Mass Ave that drivers can drop off their kids at a safe location staffed by a teacher from the Hardy School. Again, one of the principle goals is to mitigate traffic around the Hardy School for the safety of the kids and reduce congestion problems on Lake Street and elsewhere.
None of this can happen without parent-volunteers to lead the Bike Trains and Walking School Buses. You need not commit to every single day…we know that is not realistic. However, EALS is looking for 3-4 parents along each of the designated routes to step forward as one of the ride/walk leaders. Anyone else who is interested, please let us know.
June 30, 2011 Re: Comments on Route 77 Key Bus Route Improvement Dear Director: The East Arlington Livable Streets (EALS) Coalition is a neighborhood-based advocacy organization founded in 2008. EALS has almost 250 supporters on our e-mail list, over 475 fans on our Facebook page and we aspire to become the neighborhood’s voice on transportation and livability-related issues. Residents throughout East Arlington have been strong supporters of improved pedestrian and bicycle facilities, complete streets initiatives, and expansion and improvement of public transit facilities. We write to express our ideas and concerns on proposed changes to the 77 bus route presented in early June of 2011. For the past two years, we have been involved with the Mass. Ave. Corridor project which plans to redesign and rebuild the one-mile segment from the Cambridge line to the approach to Arlington Center. This effort has been informed by design criteria that seek to meet the needs of all users, and the safety and comfort of pedestrians has been a particular priority. The proposed plan can be seen at http://www.arlingtonma.gov/Public_Documents/ArlingtonMA_Planning/MassAve/index It is in this context that we offer the following comments.
EALS looks forward to a fruitful collaboration between the Mass Ave Corridor project and the Key Bus Routes program to improve bus service that is so vital to our neighborhood. It is in that vein that we urge the MBTA to consider carefully the impact of its proposals not just on bus service but on all users of the Mass. Ave. corridor. We look forward to being a part of improving this plan. Sincerely, Chad Gibson EALS Co-chair Cc: Arlington Board of Selectmen
Have you noticed these signs at the Lake Street/Minuteman Bikeway crossing? The signs were recently installed after a year-long effort begun by supporters of the East Arlington neighborhood businesses to promote businesses in the area. The Lake St./Mass. Ave. commercial area has developed into an eclectic offering of small entrepreneurs, fine and casual family eateries, fun activities, and of course, the Capitol Theatre. These establishments are easily accessed by a short walk or bike ride from the Marquis Minuteman Bikeway, and bike parking is available at a number of nearby bike racks on Mass. Ave. These signs will remind visitors that these great establishments are just minutes away. The signs were designed by Arlington resident and graphic artist Michele Phelan and produced by Arlington resident Stuart Pitchel, with financial support from East Arlington Livable Streets Coalition and Capitol Square businesses. It was installed by Town DPW personnel and unveiled for the public on Tuesday, May 10. Dear EALS supporters – It’s our pleasure to announce that the EALS Coalition was awarded a $1000 mini-grant from the National Center for Safe Routes to School to use to promote walking and biking to Hardy School this fall. We were one of 25 communities chosen out of 249 applicants for the mini-grants. According to our grant application, we propose to spearhead a Walking School Bus and Bike Train program that taps into volunteer efforts from both Thompson 3rd-4th grade parents and Hardy parents. A large chunk of the funds will be used to create, print and distribute neighborhood maps that feature the “bus” and “train” routes as well as other relevant information such as bike rack location, potential remote drop off zones, etc. All of these things will be developed over the next couple months in consultation with the PTO’s, the Principals, the Town, Transportation Advisory Committee, APD and of course parent volunteers. Speaking of the latter, for those interested in being part of this exciting neighborhood initiative, please contact EALS. We are especially interested in recruiting volunteers who can committ to leading a Walking School Bus or Bike Train in the mornings–many children’s schedules are so different in the afternoon, we still need to work out logistics for what happens after dismissal period–or, those who can help with fun promotional events (sign making, bike/helmet decoration parties, etc.) Grant funding is also dedicated to providing up to ten free bike helmets and other safety equipment for families who cannot afford them. Finally, we wish to work with DPW to potentially purchase one or two more yellow crosswalk bollards for key crosswalks that will be used by Thompson kids on their way to Hardy (by foot or bike). While not part of the grant, we also hope that additional crossing guards can be incorporated along Mass Ave or elsewhere when the school year begins in September. The development of this program is ongoing but will need to happen somewhat quickly. Please keep your eyes and ears open with regards to meetings and volunteer oportunities, not just from EALS but from the Hardy and Thompson PTOs or others who are all working hard to soften the Thompson rebuild transition. |
|||
|
East Arlington Livable Streets Coalition Bad Behavior has blocked 1038 access attempts in the last 7 days. |
|||
