Most Somerville Residents Surveyed Wanted Protected Bike Lanes On Powder House Blvd

From the email:

City staff just released their survey data and it shows that, according to online survey results, more than 70% of Somerville residents wanted protected bike lanes on Powder House Blvd as their most preferred option.

That’s right — not only did city staff decide against protected bike lanes on Powder House Blvd, they did so despite learning that more than 70% of surveyed residents wanted them. Somerville says that Vision Zero is a top priority, that they want to reduce the number of residents using cars, and that catastrophic climate change is an emergency. But when it comes time to make a decision, they choose to keep parking no matter how this impacts their other goals.

Please go to the meeting this July 31st at 6:30pm at West Somerville Neighborhood School and speak up for protected bike lanes on Powder House Blvd. Be vocal and speak your mind to city staff. Protected bike lanes save lives and we must show them why they made the wrong decision. Also, at the meeting ask city staff to share what they learned regarding the opinions of people living on Powder House Blvd.

Many volunteers and neighbors had reached out to others on Powder House Blvd to learn what people and organizations needed and how their needs could be met. However the city was somehow unprepared for the quick pace of road work, despite the lengthy public process, and had to scramble to choose an option. They chose a painted bike lane in one direction to test for the next 12 months instead of the safest option preferred by residents. It is sad to see Somerville throw away their volunteers’ hard work.

Mayor Curtatone replied to some emails saying that they need more public process to make a decision. Let us be clear: the city is in charge of its public process and whether they build protected bike lanes on Powder House Blvd. If the process ignores that more than 70% of surveyed residents were in favor of protected bike lanes, the process is broken.

The survey also says that more people who attended the May 22 meeting opposed protected bike lanes. Mayor Curtatone encouraged people to attend a different meeting for lowering the McGrath Highway at the same time as the Powder House Blvd meeting. That is a laudable goal and meetings sometimes conflict. But this highlights that safety decisions should not be made based on who can make a meeting.

These are difficult decisions to be fair, but these decisions need to be made. Somerville committed to reduce the number of serious injuries and deaths to zero and to reduce the number of people driving cars. That means making it safe and comfortable for people to bike to wherever they need to go. A parent should feel safe biking with their kid to West Somerville Neighborhood School. We need to make sure city officials remember how this decision went and how unhappy residents were with their actions.

Thank you to everyone who emailed city officials and told them how you felt about this earlier this week — this really makes a difference. If you haven’t yet, email transportation@somervillema.gov, [email protected], [email protected]and CC somerville@cambridgebikesafety.org and tell them how disappointed you are that they chose not to build protected bike lanes on Powder House Blvd.

You might have noticed that this email is coming from Somerville Bicycle Safety. We have created it to be a sister organization to advocate for protected bike lanes in Somerville. If you are interested in flyering or other advocacy, respond to this email and let us know.

Finally, there is an election fast approaching. The mayor and at-large city councillors all have competition. Let’s make the best use of it and demand activist leadership for building more protected bike lanes in Somerville.

Sincerely,

-your neighbors at Somerville Bicycle Safety

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Somerville Says NO To Protected Bike Lanes On Powder House Blvd

From the email:

The city published an update Friday evening saying that Powder House Blvd will not get protected bike lanes this year. Instead they will paint a single painted bike lane in only one direction and that’s it. This decision unacceptably sacrifices the safety of people biking on Powder House Blvd. They say they will use temporary paint for the bike lane and revisit the decision in 12 months, but this decision will not be any easier to make then, and could be easily further delayed without notice.

Please email transportation@somervillema.gov, [email protected], [email protected], and CC somerville@cambridgebikesafety.org. Say that protected bike lanes save lives and that you are disappointed and angry with their decision on Powder House Blvd. Also, since election season is just starting to heat up, it is a great time to tell elected officials that safe streets are important for your vote in the election this November. There is also a meeting on July 31 @ 6:30pm at the West Somerville Neighborhood School on Powder House Blvd if you want to hear city staff explain their decision or voice your frustration in person.

We have to voice our anger now so that city officials feel a backlash at least as bad as any backlash from removing parking. Volunteers have spent many hours working on this project, talking to residents and stakeholders. We cannot make it easy for the city to throw away this hard work. When city officials avoid building protected bike lanes they must hear from all of us how disappointed we are with them.

As you may have heard a woman from Somerville was killed crossing Mystic Ave near the Stop and Shop in a hit and run crash. While this street is owned by MassDOT and not the City of Somerville, this tragedy should be a wake-up call to city staff that taking shortcuts on safety infrastructure can have terrible consequences. Advocates have complained about this intersection repeatedly and MassDOT has a project scheduled for safety improvements — unfortunately too late for her. Safety improvements always seem to come too little and too late. That’s why it is so important for the city to make the right decision when it can. And that is why we need to write to city officials and voice out anger with their decision.

Please email city officials and tell them that protected bike lanes save lives and that you are disappointed with their decision not to build protected bike lanes on Powder House Blvd. There are many Somerville residents on this list and we can make a big impact when we all speak up.

Sincerely,

-your neighbors at Cambridge Bicycle Safety

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