Act Today! Tell Your Legislators To Fully Fund Transportation Including Bicycling

From MassBike:

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You may remember our post about the Governor’s transportation funding proposal, which quadruples the level of funding for bicycle and pedestrian projects. On Thursday, House Speaker Robert DeLeo is expected to unveil his plan to fund transportation, which will most assuredly differ from the Governor’s plan. Too often, funding for biking and walking becomes a bargaining chip in transportation funding discussions. We can’t let that happen.

We need you to contact your legislators today and tell them to fully fund transportation – including bicycling.

You can help by doing the following:

1. Email your State Senator
2. Email your State Representative
3. Email House Speaker Robert DeLeo ([email protected])
4. Email Senate President Therese Murray ([email protected])
5. Cc [email protected] on all your emails, or send us a message telling us who you contacted.

Don’t know who your legislator is? Find out here.

This action alert is being coordinated with Transportation for Massachusetts, a coalition of organizations of which MassBike is a part. Please join others across Massachusetts in emailing and calling legislators to urge them to fully fund transportation. We are asking that you emphasize the importance of bicycle and pedestrian funding. Some points you can make:

• The safety of our roads is non-negotiable. This funding is crucial to better protecting bicyclists and pedestrians.
• At a time when gas prices are rising, obesity and diabetes are shortening life expectancy, and rising sea levels threaten our coastal communities, we can’t afford not to invest in biking and walking.
• This plan is about the future of the Commonwealth. Bikeable, walkable neighborhoods and town centers need to be in our future.

If you don’t have time to write personal emails, you can use the Transportation for Massachusetts automated system by clicking here. Thanks so much – as usual, we couldn’t do it without you.

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Last Day To Submit Comments On New JP Centre Street Project

Got this in the email this morning, you still have time to tell the city that you want more bike infrastructure in JP.

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Hi All,

Reminder you still have Monday to get something in and it can be short and simple!

The detailed plans for the Centre/South redesign are up on the internet… see the link below and scroll to the bottom, to the second blue link.

Here are a few key issues and suggestions/opinions. My perspective/bias is that of a person who values green space and encouraging people to leave their cars at home and arrive by bike, foot or T!

• Thank the BRA/ BTD for implementing the bike lanes and sharrows! Thank them again! Let’s get more all over the city!

• Tell them that it is also important that the Monument Square plan incorporate effective and safe bike access.

• There were a lot of differing opinions spoken at the last meeting over the Monument Square design (It starts at page 57 on the document). The BRA/BTD has a plan proposed where the fence around the monument would come down and green space would be gained, attaching it to the Unitarian Church, in effect, but taking out the road between the two (Centre Street). This would allow the opportunity for social/hang out space, for a farmers’ market that is out in a green and visible space, for a much more pleasant feel with far less paved space, for shorter, safer pedestrian crossings. Some people are protesting it because of possible traffic congestion and loss of parking. The city needs to know that many of us do not get around by car always, and are willing to walk a block or two to park when we do, and that this will bring people out to the businesses by making the area more attractive to spend your Saturday time, shop and stay a while, buy food and picnic, etc. The gain in public space that is green, not paved, is worth the loss of parking! It will benefit our community and its businesses.

*The current plan is to remake the closed road as a much narrower “carriage way” for emergency/fire vehicles and for bike access. The 18 foot wide lane would be something like stone, not a regular road surface, but no activities could be programmed there and no trees or other plants could be planted there. This reduces the fire truck travel time some by having them avoid the sharper right turn closer to Curtis Hall (at Atreva Health Care), but greatly diminishes the opportunity for added green space. This is something that you may choose to comment on as well.

* The Hyde Square plan (starts on page 46 of the doc.) has changed in the last few months, from a plan that got rid of LOTS of pavement and greatly enlarged pedestrian/green space all around Hyde Square, to one that still enlarges public non-paved space but to a lesser degree. The apparent reason is the response to merchants’ fears about parking loss. Sadly the city is reacting to fears, without educating people about the economic gains that can happen (and have happened in other cities) when there is better pedestrian space, better bike access, and more green space, encouraging people to stay a while and spend their money. The green/public/tree covered space is worth some parking loss! Less access for cars to try to jockey for position and snake up to right turns, and less opportunity to speed, means more safety for bicyclists and pedestrians.

Send your comments to Ines Soto, listed below.
Thanks!
Lauren Ockene
Centre/South Community Advisory Committee member

REMINDER: The DRAFT the Centre and South Streets Streetscape and Transportation Action Plan was released at a community wide meeting on 9.21.10 along with the Corridor-wide Guideline and is available below. Please submit any comments on the Draft Plan documents by Monday October 18, 2010 to (if you are interested in viewing comments received to date they will be updated today by 5pm):
http://www.bostonredevelopmentauthority.org/Planning/PlanningInitsIndividual.asp?action=ViewInit&InitID=142

Ines Palmarin
Boston Redevelopment Authority
1 City Hall Square, 9th Floor
Boston, MA 02201
Fax 617-367-6087
Tel.617.918.4434
[email protected]

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