Hall of Shame (CHOOSE 3)

[kz1000ps]

Thank you, BUE, for explaining why this isn't the end of the world.

 

[Matthew]

It's not the end of the world. MCB has been desolated for 40 years and that could continue. This doesn't seem like it's going to help.

 

[FK4]

What is not being mentioned enough (or not all) is that there is a park alongside MCB. This isn't just a question of a few trees being cut down and replaced... this is a linear park and a bike path. Everyone knows about the Southwest Corridor Park, but no one ever talks about its equivalent over here. Now, maybe that's because the park alongside MCB gets mowed about once every other year and the bike trail pavement is so heaved up it's totally unridable. BUT THIS IS A PARK PEOPLE! And it could be a nice one if and when development picks up. I don't get how Menino can say he wants a South Bay Harbor Trail and and then eliminate the pleasantness of the trail we already have.

Secondly, and this is addressed elsewhere, this is a huge waste of money. Urban Ring Phase 2 is a huge waste of money. If this was Houston or Phoenix with ten lane wide roads, maybe we could talk lane elimination and BRT. So what if we have a couple of random segments with dedicated lanes? Ever wait for a bus in rush hour, and look on a bus app to find where your bus is? They're all jammed up in a few hot spots. So we're gonna have so-so travel times for a bus from Boston Medical to Ruggles (asie from the traffic lights) but what happens to the bus once it hits Ruggles Street? Or the LMA? Oh, Phase 3 will fix that.... Well, in my opinion, save the money for Phase 3 or something else and don't bother with "Phase 2". I'd like to see an analysis of how much time would be saved with a dedicated bus lane on MCB anyway... it couldn't be more than a few minutes each direction. And that's worth 9.3 MILLION DOLLARS!?

(http://www.mhd.state.ma.us/ProjectInfo/Main.asp?ACTION=ViewProject&PROJECT_NO=605789)

 

[Matthew]

Did anyone manage to attend? I would have gone but had prior commitments.

 

[Arborway]

If real estate has taught us anything, "Coming in Phase 3" is shorthand for "never".

 

[Matthew]

http://www.mysouthend.com/index.php?ch=opinion&sc=letters&sc2=news&sc3=&id=142323

This is in response to "Widening Melnea Cass a bad idea" authored by guest columnists.

The Boston Transportation Department has been holding community meetings on the project since 2011, we’ve done extensive outreach and have a dedicated webpage (http://www.cityofboston.gov/transportation/melnea/)

The design has neighborhood support, but the authors have not attended the meetings to participate in the process and voice their concerns. As a result, the column contained misinformation as follows.

The design is neither "ill-conceived" nor "knee-jerk." Including transit lines in future road design for the boulevard has a history dating back to the 1970’s and has been reaffirmed in the Roxbury Strategic Master Plan and Urban Ring planning. The current design stays true to that vision. Connecting the job centers via public transportation is a service for the neighborhood, not a detriment.

Rebuilding with state of the art equipment and materials, all ADA compliant and inclusive of bicycle connections, will not make the street "less safe" for pedestrians and cyclists. Rather, pedestrian bump outs, handicap ramps, etc., will combine to enhance safety.

Although existing trees will be impacted to create space for the center median transit way, hundreds of mature trees will be preserved and over a hundred more will be added, resulting in a net gain.

Finally, the designs for the north side of the street are 100% inclusive of the South Bay Harbor Trail plans for an exclusive 10 foot bike path and an 8 foot minimum walkway for pedestrians.

Thank you for this opportunity to provide the facts on the Melnea Cass Boulevard project.

--Thomas J. Tinlin, Commissioner, Boston Transportation Department

 

[FK4]

This opinion piece is more of the same... sure, the design has been "reaffirmed by plans going back to the 1970s... when the land takings that made Melnea Cass the bland road it is today were put into action!

The real issue is, is the Urban Ring, as realistically now conceived, a good idea? I think the answer here is no.

If the city came out and said, hey, we have a billion dollars in federal money to build a tunneled Urban Ring, should it necessarily run under Melnea in the first place? Maybe, maybe not. This whole Urban Ring idea is still hung up on running the line on the same corridor as the original Inner Belt Loop, which might be irrelevant now, anyway. Plus... As a busway? I really want to know how much time will be saved by a bus running in a dedicated lane on MCB? Take the B, C or E line — the latter isn't much faster than just taking the 39 bus. It's not worth the ugliness of two extra lanes of pavement.

And I just don't get how these bureaucrats are crowing about how this project will make a bike path when the road already has a trail.

 

[FK4]

And now look what's happening...

http://bostonherald.com/business/re...bury_grocer_aims_to_triple_size_with_44m_plan

They're not building housing on MCB anymore...

“Part of the reason for some of the design changes was that the city is widening Melnea Cass Boulevard because they’re planning a bus lane down the middle,” Madison Park CEO Jeanne Pinado said.

So much for Complete Streets, this developer knows a wider road is more unpleasant no matter how many trees you draw on the plans.