Coffee Hours with Mayor Wu May 12th in Dorchester!

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Alex Shames

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May 1, 2023, 1:35:42 PM5/1/23
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Hi Dorchester bike friends,

Hope everyone is doing well! Mayor Wu has just announced the dates for her Neighborhood Coffee Hours and I would love to see you at the Dorchester event on May 12th at 9:30am at Town Field / Doherty-Gibson Playground. Attending these events is a great way to demonstrate that people in the neighborhood care about biking and safe streets, and these events are also super fun with free food, music, and more.

Please reply to this email if you plan on joining so I can make sure we all can meet up at the event, and let me know if you have have any questions!

Thanks,

Alex Shames (he/him)
Community Organizer
Boston Cyclists Union
@bostoncyclistsunion (IG, TikTok)
@bostonbikeunion (Twitter)

Want to chat 1:1? Add a meeting to my calendar here.

Vivian Girard

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May 2, 2023, 6:37:15 AM5/2/23
to Alex Shames, dotbike, volun...@dotbikekitchen.org
Thanks Alex, I put it on my calendar and we'll try to make it to the event on bike with a small entourage!   Cheers,

Vivian  

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Alex Shames

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May 7, 2023, 8:50:16 PM5/7/23
to Matthew Dickey, Vivian Girard, dotbike, volun...@dotbikekitchen.org
Excited to see you all! Jen, feel free to pass on to Chief Chu that I have the PERFECT tik tok idea for her if she wants to go viral! 

On Sun, May 7, 2023 at 3:39 PM Matthew Dickey <matthew...@gmail.com> wrote:
I, too, will be there. Either part of Vivian's entourage or my own. 

Cheers,

Matthew
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H Mark Smith

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May 9, 2023, 7:37:25 AM5/9/23
to ash...@bostoncyclistsunion.org, Matthew Dickey, Vivian Girard, dotbike, volun...@dotbikekitchen.org
Hey, Alex.

Any particular campaign or issue you want us to plug?  My list:
  • at all costs finish the Mass Ave project--this summer!! Thank you for keeping it moving, but another year without it would be very disappointing.
  • connect Neponset River Way and Harbor Trail .  Yes, complicated because it involves DCR and city--and we can do this.
  • Is it just me, or is it true that after utility work, the road repair is much smoother, and therefore much safer, in white neighborhoods than in black and brown neighborhoods?  (Don't get me started on the alleged bike lane on Blue Hill Ave.!)
  • There are stretches in Boston where biking is getting almost comfortable!  AND, the little gaps in the system are terrifying.  For example, riding down Dot Ave into Southie and then over the bridge isn't bad, particularly with the new protected lane on the 4th Street bridge.  And then, on East Berkley Street, terror. 
  • Related to above, please please please do not allow developers of major projects to think about bike paths/lanes as an afterthought, or a non thought.  Seaport?  Ink Block?  Had those developers never heard of bikes?  Worried now about the big Dot Bay City and other projects in and around Expo Center and Morrisey Blvd.  Plans I've seen for Dot Bay City don't include separate bike lanes--there are paths, but unclear if they are shared or not.  Include bike paths from the start.
  • and speaking of Dot Ave, are they going to complete the repainting job on the bike lane?
I doubt I will be able to bring all of this up, so is there anything of particular priority in BCU's current strategy?

H. Mark Smith
Savin Hill, Dorchester, MA
Land of the Massachusett people

"[We] did not weave the web of life, [we are] merely a strand in it. Whatever [we do] to the web, [we do] to [ourself]."

- Chief Seattle



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Gemini

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May 9, 2023, 11:06:13 AM5/9/23
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YES, ditto!

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/dotbike/CAA4dHYf%2B6WK_OEgTAizO757puo6mYSJTd3q-tkhknkNOw0RC5g%40mail.gmail.com.


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David Duncan

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May 9, 2023, 11:13:06 AM5/9/23
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Unfortunately I will be out of town on the 12th, but I would love to see some attention paid to Dorchester Avenue, which is in a very sorry state, and the brunt of the problems are in the so-called bike lanes.  The patching after excavations between the Expressway overpass (which is STILL closed) and Columbia Road are a minefield, and (most infuriating of all) the most recent resurfacing between Andrew and Old Colony did not extend to the curbs, but stopped right at the bike lanes.  Dot Ave is also the perfect candidate for moving parking away from the curb and putting the bike lanes between curb and car parking. If you're looking for a poster-child for bicycle neglect, this is it, and on one of the major bike routes into town for Dorchester and Milton.

As for the Harbor trail, I posted a photo of what looks like surveys for extending the trail from the gas tank to Conley Street. That is the first actual sign of something happening on this project that I've seen in the 10-15 years it's been talked about.  Lee Toma responded with a DOT meeting notice/proposal from 2021, and referenced future tours to show the state of the project (which I look forward to joining).  The last mayor put the kibosh on DCR plans for re-making Morrissey Boulevard to reduce speeds and improve bike and pedestrian access in the process of raising elevations in response to rising tides.  Mayor Wu should be encouraged to signal to both DOT and DCR that both of these projects are welcome.

David Duncan

On Tue, May 9, 2023 at 7:37 AM H Mark Smith <hmsm...@gmail.com> wrote:
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David Duncan
113 Ocean Street

would

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May 9, 2023, 11:16:53 AM5/9/23
to ash...@bostoncyclistsunion.org, H Mark Smith, Matthew Dickey, Vivian Girard, dotbike, volun...@dotbikekitchen.org
All the lane work seems to be done IN DOWNTOWN and zero improvements have reached the neighborhoods. 

More urgency overall as we all can cite the Mass Ave project as one that keeps getting swept in a bureaucratic contractor wasteland. 

Connecting neighborhoods and segmented pathways and bike lanes should be emphasized repeatedly. It feels like we live in a vacuum where if you're not going to town or riding around it tough luck. There's not even sharrows on Washington Street in Dorchester (outside of a token block by the Codman Square Health Center) and folks ride there every day (50-70% on the sidewalk, ever wonder why?).

It is an equity issue the Mayor seems to be overlooking.

Where's the equity in rich down town neighborhoods getting lanes and progress when we get next to nothing?

Seems most of us just expect that. Me? I'm tired of it. That's why you don't hear from me often as my story hasn't changed and neither has the city's in my view.

Phil Lindsay

Alex Shames

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May 9, 2023, 2:15:30 PM5/9/23
to would, H Mark Smith, Matthew Dickey, dotbike
Thanks for these thoughts everyone---I don't anticipate having time to make specific advocacy requests during coffee hours (last year it was more of a "let's all party and get a fun photo of the Mayor" sort of vibe without discussion opportunities, and all the budget feedback was given in writing), however I think specifically saying that we are really excited to see completed construction of Mass Ave this year, and keeping the tone very positive, will be a great thing to bring up. We also can make sure to approach the Mayor as a group so she sees that Dorchester has a vibrant and active community of people who bike who are ready to hold the city accountable and push for more stuff. 

Alex Shames (he/him)
Community Organizer
Boston Cyclists Union
@bostoncyclistsunion (IG, TikTok)
@bostonbikeunion (Twitter)

Want to chat 1:1? Add a meeting to my calendar here.

Vivian Ortiz

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May 9, 2023, 2:26:43 PM5/9/23
to would, Alex Shames, H Mark Smith, Matthew Dickey, Vivian Girard, dotbike, DBK Volunteers
Hi Alex,

I won't be able to attend on the 8th or next month when Mayor Wu will be in Mattapan.

Any messaging to bring back bicycle education to Boston Public Schools is appreciated. 

And for folks interested on the Neponset trail, here are pictures from this past weekend from Lee Toma

and Paul Nutting

Lee, Paul, and I are members of the Neponset River Greenway Council. Follow us on social media for updates.

Vivian

Vivian Ortiz
Mattapan
Neponset River Greenway Council
People's Bike Mayor of Boston

Michael Prokosch

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May 9, 2023, 3:07:01 PM5/9/23
to would, Vivian Ortiz, Alex Shames, H Mark Smith, Matthew Dickey, Vivian Girard, dotbike, DBK Volunteers
Sometimes other aides accompany the mayor -- I know at least one is planning to. If Franklin Hodge or someone else from Streets/Transportation is there, we could take specific asks to that person.

Mike

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