Author: WalkMassachusetts

Path Repaving Input List for DCR

Path Repaving Input List for DCR

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We have it on good authority that Massachusetts will one day emerge from winter. The Boston Cyclists Union has been working with the DCR on a great opportunity to give feedback on their path repaving work. This is a chance for runners and walkers to help target repair work. With spring marathons around the corner, runners cover many miles and know the pain points!

Please use the form below to point out opportunities for repair in your area and PLEASE BE AS SPECIFIC AS POSSIBLE. You can submit sections separately; if you ask for the “Charles River Paths” we are far less likely to get action than if you call out the worst sections. When in doubt, submit. If it’s in a different jurisdiction they will let you know after sorting through the data. (Your name and number is attached so that they can get back to you if need be.)

For reference, DCR owned paths: http://www.mass.gov/eea/agencies/dcr/massparks/recreational-activities/biking-paths-and-trails.html

DCR snow management plan http://maps.massgis.state.ma.us/map_ol/dcr_snow_priority.php

Thank you for your help. Please share this with other walkers, runners and cyclists that may have feedback to offer!

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A Walkable Olympics

A Walkable Olympics

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February 6, 2015

Boston 2024 has declared their intention to plan the most
walkable Olympics in history. This is good news – a truly walkable Olympics can
be more fun, manageable and sustainable for residents, visitors, and athletes.
Done right, the long term benefits of Olympic-related improvements for walking
will make Massachusetts residents healthier, local stores and Main Streets
livelier, our communities greener and our streets more accessible for all.

Neither Massachusetts nor Boston has ever
had a grand scheme for investing in and improving walking. Creating the bid for
the Olympics presents us with that opportunity. That’s why, as we start an
intensive and accelerated discussion of just how the Olympics should be
designed, operated and paid for, it is crucial to step back and consider how
the Games can have a lasting positive impact on walking and transportation in
Boston and beyond –in downtowns and
neighborhoods serving many of Massachusetts’ residents.

From Dorchester to Allston, from Lowell to
Brockton, and from Worcester to Foxborough, let’s add great sidewalks and paths
to connect the Olympic venues to transit. Since all of the Games’ spectators
will be directed to use transit, we should also use the Olympics as the
opportunity to improve walking and accessibility to all of the MBTA’s stations
– so that access to transit from the beginning of the trips to the Games is
also walkable. With a commuter rail system stretching from Newburyport to
Fitchburg, from Worcester to Providence and Plymouth – the transit system
encompasses more than 75% of Massachusetts’ population.

We need to consider what will happen well
before the Olympic flame is lit and long after the last Olympic Marathon
competitor crosses the finish line on Charles Street. Let’s start the conversation
right away and create a special Olympics Walking Advisory Group.  This will provide an independent voice for ensuring that
the Games and their legacy are truly walkable and that they are the impetus to
inspire the mix and level of private, local, state and federal investment
needed to make a great stride in connecting our communities to transit.

Let’s really plan and spend wisely on
walking – from creating interconnecting paths and greenways across the city; to
making new smartly-designed walking connections to rail, subway and bus stops.
We need to improve the nitty gritty details that make it safer and easier for
everyone to cross every street such as ensuring that traffic signals are timed
correctly for walkers, and that traffic on city streets moves at a pace that
works for pedestrians.

Massachusetts is already one of the nation’s
leaders in pedestrian safety, and has among the nation’s highest proportion of
people who walk for their daily transportation needs. Let’s seize the Olympic moment and create walking connections
that will move the hordes of Olympic visitors for two weeks – and Massachusetts’ residents and visitors for decades to
come.

Wendy Landman
Executive Director, WalkBoston

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Report Snow/Ice Issues

Report Snow/Ice Issues

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Snow and ice can present challenges to walkers and runners, which is why many Massachusetts cities and towns hold property owners responsible for clearing sidewalks on or next to their property. Still, sidewalks sometimes remain uncleared and potentially hazardous days – or even weeks – after a storm.

WalkBoston has basic recommendations to improve sidewalk snow and ice clearance, and “Keep It Clear: Recommendations for Sidewalk Snow and Ice Removal in MA” (PDF), but listed below are ways that you can report problems today to help prioritize clearance. Please tweet us @walkboston or email us – info@walkboston.org – to add more communities and agencies to this list.

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Want to help your neighbors? Have shovel, will travel? Need some help or know someone that does? Join WalkBoston on Snowcrew, BECOME A YETI! Snowcrew matches neighbors to neighbors to help shovel out in the next storm.

Many runners are also training for the Boston Marathon along the course that stretches through 8 Massachusetts towns. Help clear intersections or identify spots that need clearing to make it safer for all users – and brag a little bit about how you helped them out in April when you are cheering the runners on!
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Cities/Towns

Commonwealth Connect – This award-winning app links cities and towns throughout Massachusetts. You can report problems to local governments, even if you don’t know who to contact. While there are specific ways to report below, Commonwealth Connect ties into many of those 311 systems. Learn more and download Commonwealth Connect for Android or iPhone.

Specific to communities
Arlington: 
To report snow/ice violations to Town bylaws call APD dispatch at 781-316-1212 or submit a Snow/Ice Violation Request in the Request/Answer Center. Select “Make A Request” then select “Snow/Ice Violation” request. Login required.

Boston: 
The BOS:311 app helps residents and visitors improve City neighborhoods.
You can download it for Android or iPhone. You can also call 617-635-4500 or use http://www.cityofboston.gov/311/ – or tweet to Bos311
For emergencies, call 911. More info at boston.gov/winter

Cambridge:
Cambridge now uses Commonwealth Connect – or tweet to @CambridgeDPW

Malden:
Malden uses SeeClickFix or call 311

Newton:
Visit www.newtonma.gov and click on the 311 icon (direct link here). You can also download the 311 app to your smartphone from the homepage.

Salem:
Contact the DPW at 978-744-3302 or through seeclickfix.com with snow removal and plowing concerns.

Somerville:
http://www.somervillema.gov/snow – can also call 311 or tweet to @SomervilleCity or @311Somerville

Agencies

DCR Winter Storm Plan and Priority Map

Feedback for all areas cleared by DCR and MassDOT

should be routed as follows:
Emergencies during business hours:
Community Relations Group line 617-626-4973
After business hours: MEMA 508-820-1428

All Non-Emergencies:
Community Relations Group line 617-626-4973

You can also tweet to @MassDCR and @MassDOT

MBTA:
What the MBTA Clears
The MBTA will clear snow from all MBTA-owned bus shelters and stops along the following key routes: 1, 15, 22, 23, 28, 32, 39, 57, 66, 71, 73, 77, 111, 116, 117. For a full list of MBTA-owned bus shelters cleared by the MBTA, please click here.

Snow accumulations continue to make it difficult for customers to maneuver their vehicles around MBTA parking lots. Customers are strongly encouraged to consider these factors if using MBTA parking lots. As always, the latest service information can be found at the MBTA’s winter resource hub: mbta.com/winter

Many areas around bus stops are responsibility of the community or property owner. If you tweet at the MBTA, make sure to also get in touch with the town.

Other Resources

SeeClickFix (standalone site & app, the engine for Commonwealth Connect)

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Join our Mailing List to keep up to date on advocacy issues.
Like our work? Support WalkBoston – Donate Now!
Connect with us on Twitter and Facebook

Codman Academy Walk Audit

Codman Academy Walk Audit

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In 2014, a student was struck and seriously injured on Epping Street, a one block, one lane roadway bordering the Codman Academy. The 9th grade student got off an MBTA bus and started walking across Epping Street and was hit by a car. The student was hospitalized.

Epping Street is a one-way street used by drivers to avoid traffic signals at Norfolk and Talbot. This usage represents safety hazards for the students and faculty at Codman Academy. This report looks at the safety benefits of closing Epping Street.

Information for this report was collected and analyzed by 10th grade students at Codman Academy as part of their physics and math classes in the fall and winter of 2014-2015. They were assisted in this effort by staff from WalkBoston, a non-profit walking advocacy organization.

Read the full report here:
WalkBoston-CodmanAcademyReport-Dorchester

Walk and Bike Assessment Pittsfield

Walk and Bike Assessment Pittsfield

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WalkBoston and the Massachusetts Bicycle Coalition (MassBike) working with Toole Design Group (TDG) led a walk and bike assessment in Pittsfield, Massachusetts on Thursday , December 4 , 2014. The assessment is part of the Massachusetts Department of Transportation’s (MassDOT) Bicycle and Pedestrian Safety Awareness and Enforcement Program, funded by the Federal Highway Safety Improvement Program (HSIP), in association with the Massachusetts Department of Public Health. The MassDOT program is a collaboration among Federal, State, regional, and local agencies, along with advocacy groups, WalkBoston and MassBike, to improve pedestrian and bicyclist safety in identified high – crash areas.

Read the full report here:
WalkBoston-WalkandBikeAssessment-Pittsfield