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Enjoying a summer afternoon along Neponset Greenway in Dorchester, by the Neponset Estuary. Questions? Contact Cathy Garnett at the e-mail address above or Advocacy Director Steve Pearlman at pear...@neponset.org or 781-575-0354.
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XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Greetings - Please note that we are very proud to announce that the new Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Board will be holding its second meeting on Wednesday, 3/21/12, 1 - 3 PM.
This meeting will be held in Boston at the State Transportation Building in Suite 4150, MassDOT Planning Conference Room located at 10 Park Plaza in Boston. The draft meeting agenda is:
Massachusetts Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Board
Wednesday, March 21, 2012, 1:00 – 3:00 PM Planning Conference Room, STB, Boston (Enter through Room 4150) NOTE: THIS AGENDA HAS BEEN PREPARED IN ADVANCE AND DOES NOT NECESSARILY INCLUDE ALL MATTERS WHICH MAY BE TAKEN UP AT THIS MEETING.
Welcome and MassDOT Safety Information - Catherine Cagle
1:05 – 1:10 Introductions 1:10 – 1:45 Overview of Mode Shift Process and Request for Input
1:45 – 2:15 WeMove Massachusetts 2:15 – 2:45 Recap of Top Goals from 1/18/12 Meeting and Draft Work Plan
2:45 – 2:55 Public Comments and Questions 2:55 – 3:00 Summary of Actions Items and Close of Meeting
The remaining 2012 MABPAB meetings are tentatively scheduled as follows: 5/16; 7/18; 9/19; 11/14, all at 1 – 3 PM.
This location is fully accessible and can be reached by transit, walking and bicycling. For those bicycling there is free parking in the MassDOT bicycle room located at the bottom of the parking garage ramp (situated on Charles St. S.)
For those who are visiting the building for the first time, please bring photo identification and allow five extra minutes for security. Guests are welcome to join the meeting by calling 1-866-648-9462 and entering the code 4585148. Please let us know if you have any questions before the meeting. We look forward to your participation as the Board advances into the new year with new resources,
Thank you. Josh Josh Lehman Bicycle-Pedestrian Program Coordinator Office of Transportation Planning Massachusetts Department of Transportation
10 Park Plaza, Room 4150 Boston, MA 02116
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March 15 1887 -- 125 years ago
Bussey Bridge Disaster, Roslindale, MA 1887
http://www.roslindale.net March is Train Month in Roslindale. Learn how a terrible Roslindale train disaster 125 years ago set the stage for modern bridge building and safety standards we have today. The Bussey Bridge Disaster of 1887 killed 23 people and injured hundreds.
Very well done short historical video of the disaster: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5XVJ3v5bF0
Learn how a terrible tragedy 125 years ago set the stage for modern bridge building and the safety we have today.
Check out the schedule of events to learn more about what’s happening including lectures, movies, music, children’s activities and more!
Sponsored by The Friends of the Roslindale Library, The Roslindale Branch Public Library and Roslindale Village Main Street
http://www.roslindale.net/trainmonth/schedule-of-events/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forest_Hills_disaster
The Forest Hills Disaster (also called The Forest Ridge Disaster and The Bussey Bridge Disaster) was a railroad bridge accident that occurred on March 14, 1887, in the Roslindale section of West Roxbury, Massachusetts, at that time a separate town from the City of Boston.
A morning commuter train, inbound to Boston, was passing over the "Bussey Bridge", a Howe truss, at South Street, in the Roslindale neighborhood a half mile from the Forrest Hills Station, when it just collapsed, sending several cars crashing to the street below. Twenty-four commuters were killed and another 125 were seriously injured.
The train, made up of nine cars, was traveling over the Dedham Branch of the Boston & Providence Railroad on a sunny Monday morning with about 300 passengers including several school children. Six miles from Boston, the train crossed over the Bussey Bridge on its approach to the Forest Hills Station. The locomotive and first two cars crossed the bridge and then suddenly, without any warning, the bridge fell taking the third, fourth, fifth, and sixth cars with it. The shock of the collapse was so quick and forceful that the body of one of the cars fell and its roof tore off completely and landed on the embankment beyond the bridge. At first, there was nothing but silence, and then the victims' cries filled the neighborhood air.[citation needed]
The disaster shocked the entire nation, especially the suffering of the injured, some transfixed by splinters throughout their bodies and others dismembered and yet others badly mangled. The first body that rescuers pulled from the wreck was the body of a headless woman. Two young men were pinned under a pile of rubble with a car stove full of glowing coals hanging over them. Fortunately, the doors of the stove stayed closed and the bolts held firmly and they were rescued.
An investigation found that the iron bridge design was poor; it was not strong enough to carry the load of traffic it had to serve. Its designer, Edmund Hewins was exposed as a fraud and investigators found that the railroad had also failed to inspect and properly maintained the bridge, even though nuts and bolts were discovered which had fallen from the bridge and were lying on the street below.
http://www3.gendisasters.com/massachusetts/1780/boston,-ma-terrible-train-wreck-bussey-bridge,-mar-1887
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Notes from the exploratory meeting held Thursday, March 1, at the Harvard School of Public Health.
Thanks to all who came! Now the real work begins!
Steve
Steven E. Miller
Executive Director, Healthy Weight Initiative, HSPH, Dept. of Nutrition
Board of Directors, LivableStreets Alliance
cell: 617-686-1050
Blog: "Transportation, Health, and Livable Communities" -- http://blog.livablestreets.info/
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NOTES ON EXPLORATORY GREEN ROUTES MEETING
March 1, 2012 (Notes by Steve Miller with input from Alan Moore, Ellie Botshon, David Loutzenheiser,
Sean Pfalzer, and others – thanks!) Despite the icy roads, which prompted a number of “sorry but it’s not safe” last minute emails, over 40 people showed up. Almost all were experienced leaders of local, regional, and state-level advocacy groups and public agencies. There was lots of good conversation and a very positive energy.
Steve Miller (LivableStreets), Peter Furth (Northeaster U.), and David Loutzenheiser (MAPC) presented the overall idea of a web of Greenways, examples of Boston area “gaps” whose closing would have maximum leverage on other segments, examples of other region-wide greenway systems we can learn from (eg. Quebec’s Route Verte, the Swiss networks), and an overview of the existing regional inventory (and “missing links”) all the way out to approximately Rte. 495.
This was followed by full group discussion. At the end of the meeting, about 30 people signed up to volunteer to work on developing the vision and coalition to the next level through branding, map consolidation and validation, creating outreach materials, etc.
NEXT STEPS: We will be in touch with the volunteers (additional volunteers welcome – just let us know!) and begin scheduling smaller group meetings (on line & then in-person) to start work.
At the meeting, there seemed to be general agreement around most of the core ideas that were presented:
· It would be worthwhile to create some kind of metro-area coalition to advocate for a system of “greenway corridors that would form the backbone for local and multi-municipality bikeways, walkways, and open space.
o The “GreenRoutes” system (or whatever new name we come up with) would be an overlay, not a replacement for State, municipal or local projects.
o The coalition we have in mind is a bit different from the other coalitions we know also exist, but collaboration is essential and even, if appropriate, future mergers.
· Key first steps will include (1) creating a “unified” map of current inventory and missing links; (2) developing a “branded identity” for the overall system, and (3) creating criteria for selecting priority projects that we all would support (while still pushing for each of our local initiatives).
o The “map” would build on other efforts such as Olmsted & Eliot’s 1890s plan, MassDOT’s “Bay State Greenway” bike plan, Boston’s Bike Network Plan, the MAPC regional Bike Plan and maps, the Bay Circuit Trail, Commonwealth Connections, and all the other local and multi-municipality projects existing and planned.
· While a full set of criteria for selecting initial coalition projects to focus on remains to be developed, there was tacit agreement that anything we select should have most of the following attributes:
o Will leverage what already exists – fill a gap, connect existing infrastructure.
o Is relatively winnable – not too expensive, active advocacy group, political champion, non-controversial & technically easy, funding in place or known about.
o As close to “shovel ready” as possible: -- design & permits in place! Although while some projects require extensive preparation, others are ready to go as soon as people assemble to build the trail!
o Visible and likely to have high usage – thereby “promoting” the value of completing the network.
o Contributes to social equity and environmental justice
A number of other points were also raised. · While volunteer effort is needed, things will move much faster (and probably more successfully) if even part-time staff support can be secured. (LivableStreets is current looking for funding to hire someone, but this remains a big unknown.)
· For this kind of coalition to work, people have to be willing to put some of their own time into something other than their own project. This requires that there is good reason to believe that the larger effort will ultimately make it easier to be successful on the local effort.
· Project funding is crucial, although there are exciting models of what can be done with volunteers and creative public-private partnerships, but we are more likely to secure funds as part of a large coalition than as a bunch of separate projects all working on our own. The key is not fighting over who gets what crumbs from a small slice, but expanding the slice (or even the pie).
· One of the reasons previous regional coalitions might have failed to materialize, or dribbled into nothing, was that they were too narrowly focused while taking on too big a responsibility. Having a vision that includes hiking, biking, and parks/open space will broaden our base and allow us to opportunistically focus on issues and projects that have the greatest chance of success. Focusing on the corridors, and the priority “missing link” projects in specific, will help prevent us from spreading our energy too thin.
· We should continue to look at what other metro areas have done, such as Philadelphia, and learn from their strategies.
· Safety for families, particularly kids, should be a central theme of the effort.
· There are a lot of successful projects already underway, and more money being spent by state and local governments than any time in the past 20 or so years. We have to celebrate our victories and give some public credit to the agencies that have done the work – they are more likely to want to do more if we thank them for what they’ve already done!
· There are at least four concentric circles – Boston, the “inner core” of suburbs (the old Olmsted/MDC circle from the Middlesex Fells to Rte. 128 to the Blue Hills), the larger region out (and beyond) Rte. 495. It is possible that we will have the most leverage if we work outward from the center – especially since Boston is already working on their own Bicycle Network plan.
· We should have future meetings where particular projects present their “lessons learned” and “remaining challenges” so that we can create regional work groups around particular issues such as “dealing with wetland permitting” or “dealing with CSX lands.”
· We should also schedule “visits” to various exemplary pieces of the regional inventory – biking, hiking, etc. – so that we all get a better feeling of what’s out there.
· There are several big regional bike rides coming up (East Coast Greenway has two, DCR is planning a state-wide ride, Boston has Hub On Wheels) that we should use as a platform to publicize our vision and coalition.
YOUR NEXT STEP – Read the “Work Group” task descriptions…decide what you want to volunteerto do….get in touch with someone who has offered to help Coordinate that Group (indicated with an *asterisk).
(Feel free to forward this to anyone else you think might be interested in volunteering to get involved in some way….)
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At our March 1 meeting, about 23 additional people signed up to join the small crew of us who have been already working on various aspects of moving the Mass GreenRoutes vision forward. The need for specific work groups will vary over time, but currently we think we need the following four work groups. (We will also need 2 people to volunteer to share responsibility of being the “Coordinators” of each of the Work Groups.)
Map Validation – working with MAPC (who is working with NEU, MassDOT, and others) to check the accuracy of locations and attributes of local off-road paths, hiking trails, on-road buffered bike lanes, walkways, etc. This includes either (or both) doing the validation for your own community and connecting with people in other communities to get them to do the same for their area.
Branding – helping develop options for a name, logo, tag line, one-paragraph descriptor, and other “identity” items such as “identify signage.” (Design and protocols for wayfinding signage may be part of this, or may need its own work group.) This group will also try to find a skilled consultant who will work with us on a pro-bono or very low-cost basis. Once a couple of acceptable options are developed, the broader Coalition will have a chance to discuss and “vote” for their favorites.
Coalition Funding – Work with LivableStreets Alliance on developing proposals to cover the cost of staff and other work of the Coalition. (One proposal has already been submitted; it can serve as the template for others.)
Coalition Coordinating Committee – Composed of one (or both) of the coordinators for each of the Work Groups plus a few other people, the CCC will talk/meet regularly to keep things moving. It will schedule and set the agenda for larger Coalition meetings. This group will also pull together criteria for selecting the initial set of priority projects for the Coalition to focus on. We have some ideas for the general outline of these criteria, but they need to be refined and discussed and then endorsed by the broader Coalition. Once accepted, we then need to set up a way to “nominate” various projects to be considered for priority status, to analyze and discuss how they meet the criteria, and then find a way for the broader Coalition to rank them.
Questions? Interest? Get in touch...
Steven Miller St...@livablestreets.info
Executive Director, Healthy Weight Initiative, HSPH, Dept. of Nutrition
Board of Directors, LivableStreets Alliance
cell: 617-686-1050
Blog: "Transportation, Health, and Livable Communities" -- http://blog.livablestreets.info/
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