You can read the memo here.

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.

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

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

Here is a useful link from MassBike for parents about bike safety.

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.

• Stop Consolidation: The proposal by the MBTA to consolidate stops along the whole length of the 77 route is one step to improve consistency of bus service and is one that our group supports when done in a context-sensitive manner.  Along Mass Ave in East Arlington—both today and post-reconstruction—the most comfortable locations for pedestrians to cross Mass Ave is at signalized intersections. This should be seriously taken into consideration before any changes to bus stop locations.  
  • Given the proximity of the bus stop at Franklin/Avon, the consolidation of the Linwood/Foster and Wyman/Palmer stops into a single stop is logical. However, moving the consolidated stop away from the crosswalk and pedestrian activated traffic signal is poorly planned.  We strongly suggest that if the consolidation of these two stops occurs, that it remain at the current location of the Linwood/Foster intersection.
  • The consolidation of the Teel/Thorndike and Route 16/Boulevard stops into one set of stops at Fairmont St is a reasonable suggestion, but it inappropriately moves the stop further away from a signalized crossing for pedestrians.  We believe that the best plan for this potential consolidation is to retain the outbound stop at Route 16 and the stop on the far side of the Teel St light (per the Mass Ave corridor plan).  This suggestion is in light of the removal of the outbound stop before Route 16. In the inbound direction, we are open to the removal of the Boulevard Street stop. Moving the stop at Thorndike Street to the end of the same block inbound to the east should be evaluated. While this proposed location improves the bus stop spacing and would allow the bus to pass through the signalized intersection before stopping, the proposed location in the Mass Ave Corridor plan is significantly better for pedestrian safety and reducing jaywalking.
• Traffic Signal Improvements: EALS urges the MBTA to work with the City of Cambridge and DCR to consider reconfiguring the outbound lane striping at the approach to Route 16.  Currently, the right-most lane is shared by vehicles turning right, and vehicles, buses, and cyclists heading straight into Arlington; the middle lane is currently configured for thru-movement into Arlington; while the left lane is left turn only.  We suggest to improve bus circulation, the right lane be restricted to right turn only with the exception of thru buses and cyclists.  This will give a proper lead in to the retained outbound stop on the Arlington side of Route 16, while channeling motorist and cyclists into their proper lanes. 
• Amenities/Stop Improvements:  EALS encourages the siting of benches at all inbound stops where feasible.  EALS also supports the use of privately maintained bus shelters like those found in Cambridge with advertising.  We are hesitant to support the siting of MBTA shelters like those found along Route 2 or at Churchill Ave outbound in North Cambridge.  If considered, any shelter that will not be privately maintained should be without walls to deter graffiti.  The placement of any trash cans along the corridor should be coordinated with the Arlington DPW director.  Proper painting of bus stops to discourage illegal parking would be a good improvement.  Finally, the frequent bus service along Mass Ave, especially in East Arlington where there are three bus routes operating, degrades the asphalt at the stop locations very quickly.  Reinforced concrete pads should be installed in coordination the Mass Ave Corridor project at these locations to minimize the wear and tear on the roadway.

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:
Ed Starr, Arlington Transportation Advisory Committee Chair
Brian Sullivan, Arlington Town Manager                                  

Arlington Board of Selectmen
Carole Kowalski, Director of Community Planning

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.