No subject

Wed Jul 9 10:35:30 EDT 2008

Ave in general is a ped/bike nightmare.  I was asking a coworker of mine if
he had walked from his house in Ten Hills to Sullivan Square and he
basically said "I can't".  I looked the map and satellite images, and it
basically is impossible without walking really far out of the way.  I know a
Mystic Ave/28/93 interchange/intersection study is underway, and hopefully
that will end up in some drastic reconfiguration of ramps and roads, and
hopefully some nice connected sidewalks and bike lanes, but right now it's a
disaster.  I wonder if there's anything we can suggest for short term
improvements with this process, for example, to widen, buffer, and/or add
sidewalks to Mystic Ave, and possible add bike lanes as well."

On Thu, Aug 7, 2008 at 5:10 PM, Moore, Alan at Boston <Alan.Moore2 at aig.com
<mailto:Alan.Moore2 at aig.com> > wrote:

Lynn:

I think you are right but I always thought most open space advocates thought
that the median was "bogus" open space that shouldn't even be counted as
open space. Therefore I thought it had little value. I don't feel so
strongly about this so I can take it out, especially if I get comments from
others agreeing.

Thanks,

Alan 

PS: I'll also included the 1 other comment I've received so far immediately
below:

Hey Alan,

Your comments look good overall.

Regarding the bus stop issue, I think it's ok that the buses stop in the
bike lane.  This is a common situation in Cambridge where there is no
on-street parking.  (One example nearby, Somerville Ave in front of the
Porter Square T station, where the 83 bus stops.)  It's better than having
pull-offs for the buses, because that only causes further delay for bus
riders as the buses have to pull way off the road, and it causes a zig-zag
in the sidewalk.

Regarding the Kensington St crossing, I'm wondering if there is something
they could install where motorists would have to yield to pedestrians no
matter what, but if they wanted to they could push a button to stop traffic.
We have some actuated signals in Somerville now (i.e. on Somerville Ave near
the underpass), however, a pedestrian cannot legally cross (it says Don't
Walk) UNLESS they push the button.  I prefer to have the option: step out
and cars should yield to me, or push the button to ensure that all traffic
stops for a certain period while I cross.

I know this is outside the scope of the project, but Mystic Ave in general
is a ped/bike nightmare.  I was asking a coworker of mine if he had walked
from his house in Ten Hills to Sullivan Square and he basically said "I
can't".  I looked the map and satellite images, and it basically is
impossible without walking really far out of the way.  I know a Mystic
Ave/28/93 interchange/intersection study is underway, and hopefully that
will end up in some drastic reconfiguration of ramps and roads, and
hopefully some nice connected sidewalks and bike lanes, but right now it's a
disaster.  I wonder if there's anything we can suggest for short term
improvements with this process, for example, to widen, buffer, and/or add
sidewalks to Mystic Ave, and possible add bike lanes as well.

I agree that there are still some unanswered questions since the plan is
still quite vague, but I'm hoping as the process continues there will be a
back and forth with the developer and the community/city/bike committee
about the details as they develop.

Charlie 

  _____  

From: Lynn McWhood [mailto:linwoodplace at earthlink.net
<mailto:linwoodplace at earthlink.net> ] 
Sent: Thursday, August 07, 2008 4:50 PM
To: Moore, Alan at Boston; convivial at rcn.com <mailto:convivial at rcn.com> ;
BSTEINER at PARTNERS.ORG <mailto:BSTEINER at PARTNERS.ORG> ; genedebs1 at comcast.net
<mailto:genedebs1 at comcast.net> ; jbestor at law.harvard.edu
<mailto:jbestor at law.harvard.edu> ; evartslan at gmail.com
<mailto:evartslan at gmail.com> ; lpaolella at rcn.com <mailto:lpaolella at rcn.com>
; minkavb at comcast.net <mailto:minkavb at comcast.net> ; 'sbc members';
blucas at mapc.org <mailto:blucas at mapc.org> ; bnesson at mac.com
<mailto:bnesson at mac.com> ; bnesson at nessonmedia.com
<mailto:bnesson at nessonmedia.com> ; postbc at gmail.com
<mailto:postbc at gmail.com> ; Charles.Denison at GeodeCapital.com;
cdenison at comcast.net <mailto:cdenison at comcast.net> ; dschartel at rcn.com
<mailto:dschartel at rcn.com> ; ereisner at rcn.com <mailto:ereisner at rcn.com> ;
eckumin at gmail.com <mailto:eckumin at gmail.com> ; fredlori at rcn.com
<mailto:fredlori at rcn.com> ; 'Fred Berman (Fred Berman)'; wigzamore at rcn.com
<mailto:wigzamore at rcn.com> ; 'Ellin Reisner'; 'Todd Kaplan';
rnewman at thecia.ne <mailto:rnewman at thecia.ne> ; steppers at somervillestep.org
<mailto:steppers at somervillestep.org> ; smackey at somervillechamber.org
<mailto:smackey at somervillechamber.org> ; smulder at rcn.com
<mailto:smulder at rcn.com> ; SWinslow at somervillema.gov
<mailto:SWinslow at somervillema.gov> 

Cc: peter at mcintyreandmoore.com <mailto:peter at mcintyreandmoore.com> ;
'Reinhardt, John (DEP)'; 'K Molloy'

Subject: RE: Assembly Square DEIR comments on bike and ped issues

Hi Alan,

   Thanks for sending this out.  One comment: on Part 2, fourth item, you
suggest narrowing the median in Main Street to make more room for bike
lanes.  I believe the median was widened in response to pressure to increase
public open space in the development near the river, and that the developers
have included programmed activities for this area.  I do not think it would
be a good idea to narrow it given how little open space there is in the
development as a whole.

     - Lynn

  _____  

From: Moore, Alan at Boston [mailto:Alan.Moore2 at AIG.com
<mailto:Alan.Moore2 at AIG.com> ] 
Sent: Thursday, August 07, 2008 2:26 PM
To: linwoodplace at earthlink.net <mailto:linwoodplace at earthlink.net> ;
convivial at rcn.com <mailto:convivial at rcn.com> ; BSTEINER at PARTNERS.ORG
<mailto:BSTEINER at PARTNERS.ORG> ; genedebs1 at comcast.net
<mailto:genedebs1 at comcast.net> ; jbestor at law.harvard.edu
<mailto:jbestor at law.harvard.edu> ; evartslan at gmail.com
<mailto:evartslan at gmail.com> ; lpaolella at rcn.com <mailto:lpaolella at rcn.com>
; minkavb at comcast.net <mailto:minkavb at comcast.net> ; 'sbc members';
'blucas at mapc.org <mailto:blucas at mapc.org> '; 'bnesson at mac.com
<mailto:bnesson at mac.com> '; 'bnesson at nessonmedia.com
<mailto:bnesson at nessonmedia.com> '; 'postbc at gmail.com
<mailto:postbc at gmail.com> '; 'Charles.Denison at GeodeCapital.com';
'cdenison at comcast.net <mailto:cdenison at comcast.net> '; 'dschartel at rcn.com
<mailto:dschartel at rcn.com> '; 'ereisner at rcn.com <mailto:ereisner at rcn.com> ';
'eckumin at gmail.com <mailto:eckumin at gmail.com> '; 'fredlori at rcn.com
<mailto:fredlori at rcn.com> '; Fred Berman (Fred Berman); wigzamore at rcn.com
<mailto:wigzamore at rcn.com> ; Ellin Reisner; Todd Kaplan; 'rnewman at thecia.ne
<mailto:rnewman at thecia.ne> '; 'steppers at somervillestep.org
<mailto:steppers at somervillestep.org> '; 'smackey at somervillechamber.org
<mailto:smackey at somervillechamber.org> '; 'smulder at rcn.com
<mailto:smulder at rcn.com> '; 'SWinslow at somervillema.gov
<mailto:SWinslow at somervillema.gov> '
Cc: 'peter at mcintyreandmoore.com <mailto:peter at mcintyreandmoore.com> ';
Reinhardt, John (DEP); K Molloy
Subject: Assembly Square DEIR comments on bike and ped issues

(Also attached)

MEMO

To: SBC members and others

RE: draft EIR for Assembly Square

I've reviewed the draft EIR for Assembly Square, focusing
(http://www.mysticview.org/docs/draft_eir/cdindex.pdf
<http://www.mysticview.org/docs/draft_eir/cdindex.pdf> 

on bicycle and pedestrian design issues. 

I have summarized my comments below:

I have not received any comments from other any bike/ped. activists. There
is insufficient time for the Somerville Bicycle Committee to meet and vote
on providing any specific comments to the City. 

Therefore, please review the following and:

1. Provide any responses/comments to me that I will provide to the City and
MEPA in my own name; 

and/or:

2. Provide comments yourself to:

Secretary Ian A. Bowles

Executive Office of Energy & Environmental Affairs

Attn: Deirdre Buckley

100 Cambridge St., Suite 900

Boston, MA  02114.

Comments must include the reference number: EOEA #13989 and due tomorrow,
August 8.
email address is Deirdre.Buckley at state.ma.us
<mailto:Deirdre.Buckley at state.ma.us>

General comments:

*                     I plan to preface my comments that the proposed plan
is much better than the original development plan for Assembly Square and
thank the designers for all the considerations of open space, bicycle and
pedestrian amenities. That said, the comments are meant to be constructive
with the goal of achieving an even better plan without impacting the
developer's development "needs".

*                     One "problem" with this process is that the level of
design provided for this Environmental Impact Review may be appropriate for
a MEPA decision but not sufficiently detailed for a final determination of
many design features. However, when these design issues are provided in more
detail in the future, the community may have no or limited opportunity for
input or to request changes. An example is bus stops on Assembly Square Dr.
No provisions are shown for where a bus would stop since there is no parking
lane, only a bike lane where we would not want busses to stop within. While
I've not expecting that this DEIR must have detailed bus stop designs, how
would the bicycling community address such as issue in the future when the
project is "approved" without understanding of some of these issues.
Therefore, someone has proposed, and I think it's a good idea, that there
should be some triggers for the public to request additional changes or
mitigation in the future that the developer would need to implement. For
example, page 3-21 lists a maximum of 55,000 vehicle trips pre day to the
development. If this becomes exceeded, then the developer would need to take
other measures such as more/better transit, free retail deliveries, paid
parking (to discourage driving), better bicycle and pedestrian amenities,
etc. 

Specific Comments:

1. "IKEA" Multi-use Path

One very important issue is that while the developer has verbally announced
that they are designing and planning a continuous shared use (bike and
pedestrian) Path from the intersection of Assembly Square Drive at Mystic
Avenue to the IKEA "park" (along the Orange Line tracks and behind the
IKEA), these have not been included in the DEIR due to timing issues. The
MEPA certificate should require that this Path be built.

2. Bike lanes

Figure 2.4 shows bike lanes to be provided on Assembly Square Dr. (except
for the last ~500' to Route 28), on G-Street along the Orange Line tracks,
on New Road/IKEA Way and on Foley St. from.G Street to Assembly Square Dr.  

*         The bike lanes on New Road and Foley St. should continue to
Middlesex Ave. It appears on Figures 5.85 and 5.86 that they do but this is
not clear. 

*         The DEIR says there will be a car/bus drop-off in front of the new
Orange Line station along G Street. However, there are bike lanes on
G-Street that will make a drop off problematic. Therefore, another solution
needs to be considered.

*         It appears that there is on-street parking on New Road/IKEA Way
and Foley St. which will be between traffic and the sidewalk/landscaping.
Consideration should be given to have a cycleway for bicyclists alongside
the sidewalk instead of the bike lane as shown on the attached drawings.

*         It's not clear how "busy" other internal streets at Assembly
Square will be. Therefore the developer's planners should consider bike
lanes on Main (F) Street, B-Street and C-Street . Looking at the cross
sections (Figure 1.10), it appears that there is sufficient width for bike
lanes by narrowing the median or median mall a little.

3. Access to the new Assembly Square Orange line Station

*         Although the plans for the new Assembly Square Orange line Station
do not appear in the DEIR, I understand that the conceptual design produced
by the developers include only 1 headhouse on the north end of the station
and access only from G Street. There should be a second headhouse on the
south end to better access to IKEA, preferably with a direct overhead
connection to IKEA. 

*         There also need to be a direct exit from the station (which
reportedly which will be above the tracks) over the commuter rail tracks to
the Mystic River, Draw 7 Park and the future Amelia Earhart dam crossing.
Otherwise, T riders and bicyclists will need to go far out of there way to
reach these destinations.

*         While everyone is grateful to the developer for agreeing to a $15
million contribution to the station, the community, the City and the State
should be deciding the design, not the developer.

4. Orange Line underpass

The present passageway under the Orange Line to Draw 7 Park the future
Amelia Earhart dam crossing is narrow and there doesn't seem to be any
proposed changes even though a rebuilt street (G Street) and connected
Mystic River Path and the entire Assembly Square development will be
bringing a huge increase in pedestrians, bicycles and motor vehicles to this
small intersection. The DEIR does not indicate how all these users will
interact safely at this "blind" intersection. Therefore an enlargement of
this passageway should be considered and a well-thought out plan for the
intersection must be designed.

5. Kensington Rd. crossing

The only bike/ped crossing of Route 93 between Route 28 (and this is and
will remain a very difficult intersection for bikes and peds to cross) and
Lombardi Way (a distance of a half a mile) is the present dangerous crossing
starting at Kensington St. near the new Stop and Shop that crosses 3
high-speed, 50 MPH ramps of I-93 and then Mystic Ave. The developer plans to
improve this crossing (Figure 5.86) be installing a yellow flashing advanced
beacon that will flash when pedestrian/bicyclists approach. This appears
totally insufficient. These crosswalks needs real stop lights and walk
signals actuated by the pedestrian or bicyclist. 

6. Lombardi Way

The proposed redesign of Lombardi Way from Mystic Ave. to Broadway (Figure
5.80) is an improvement over the existing situation in that it adds bike
lanes to both directions. However, it eliminates the sidewalk on the north
side due to width constraints and 5 traffic lanes. While the official
planned pedestrian route appears sufficient, it seems very likely that many
pedestrians will not walk the longer distance and instead walk in the bike
lane. Therefore, the planners should take another look if there is some way
to put the sidewalk back in without removing the bike lane (by narrowing or
eliminating a traffic lane).

7. Assembly Square median

The median in Assembly Square Dr. does not seem at all necessary and takes
away from wide bike lanes, sidewalks and potential open space. Could the
developer please reconsider these medians?

8. Community Benefits

Page 3-20 and 3-21 list amounts of monies to various City projects. Some of
the projects seem duplicative, i.e., $250,000 for the DCR parkland on the
Mystic River and $100,000 for pedestrian walkways adjacent to the site, both
which are mentioned elsewhere as being done by the developer. Are all these
monies for projects not described in the DEIR or are they simply estimates
of what the developer will spending on these "small" improvement projects.
This should be made more clear please.

9. Missing Items?

The transportation section does not seem to include all the projects listed
in Article III, Section E-2 of the settlement agreement between the
developer and FRIT, specifically:

     "FRIT shall evaluate, plan and advocate for pedestrian connections:

a)      from Foley Street under Interstate Route 93 to Foss Park;

b)      to the States Avenue section of East Somerville under Interstate 93
(probably aligned with New Street)  

c)      across the Ameila Earhart Dam; and

d)      along the waterfront to Sullivan Square and Ryan Park."

10 . Other important issues:

Others in the City have noted that other key elements (not necessarily bike
and pedestrian related) of the legal settlement agreement between FRIT (the
developer) and Mystic View Task Force are missing and that not all the
material that the certificate on the EENF requested are included. Some of
the issues identified by others are:

*       There's nothing regarding about working out a Long Range Plan for
the entire Assembly Square area that would make it possible for existing
retail uses (the 2-yr. old hs with )  to be transformed into higher value
uses over time.

*       The chapter on air pollution is cursory.   Astonishingly, it makes
no mention of the Health Impact Study for the route 93, 38 and 28 corridors
funded by the developers as part of the settlement agreement and it makes no
mention of the issue of fine particles in relation to traffic.  I don't have
the technical expertise to judge the conventional air study information they
present.

*       It's not clear that the alternatives analysis was really done as
required by the certificate on the EENF. VHB's approach was to compare
no-build, to a compilation of previously approved developments (IKEA on the
river, Main Street, and Yard 21/Sturtevant plan) to the current proposal.
The compilation didn't include the Mall, and the current proposal did, so it
seemed like apples and oranges to me.  The analysis was cursory and didn't
seem to me to address the requirements laid out.  

*       The intersection analysis was expanded to include Wellington and
Sullivan Square as requested by the certificate.  I didn't see the requested
parking analysis in the main text.  I didn't notice anything about design
alternatives for the I-93/28/38 intersection.  I didn't see anything about
water transportation plans, but perhaps that would have been included in the
Chapter 91 analysis.  The commitment to support water transportation
(Article III, Section G) should be clearly stated.

*       Not enough attention has been paid to public transportation between
Assembly Square and the rest of Somerville.  I am also concerned about
planning for bus stops and bus routes within Assembly Square.   The cut out
by the IKEA flag circle on Assembly Square Drive that I thought was supposed
to be a bus stop is described in the DEIR as a place for pick up and drop
off.  The two uses are not compatible.  Since the proposed Drive will not
have parking lanes, it is critical to plan to build in space for bus stops.

Alan Moore 
AIG Consultants, Inc. 
Cost Cap Monitoring Division 
99 High Street, 30th Floor 
Boston, Ma. 02110 
tel. 617-457-2829 
fax. 617-457-6884 
mobile: 617-459-2984
email: alan.moore2 at aig.com <mailto:alan.moore2 at aig.com>

"IMPORTANT NOTICE: 

The information in this email (and any attachments) is confidential. If you
are not the intended recipient, you must not use or disseminate the
information. Receipt by anyone other than the intended recipient is not a
waiver of any attorney-client or work product privilege. If you have
received this email in error, please immediately notify me by "Reply"
command and permanently delete the original and any copies or printouts
thereof. "

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<div class=3DSection1>

I'll put these bike/ped access to
A.S. issues on our Bike Comm agenda for next week. If any non-bike =
committee parties
have any ideas or suggestion, let me know.<o:p></o:p>

<p class=3DMsoNormal><font size=3D2 color=3Dnavy face=3DArial><span =
style=3D'font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><br>
Alan<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>

<div>

<div class=3DMsoNormal align=3Dcenter style=3D'text-align:center'><font =
size=3D3
face=3D"Times New Roman"><span style=3D'font-size:12.0pt'>

<hr size=3D2 width=3D"100%" align=3Dcenter tabindex=3D-1>

</span></font></div>

<p class=3DMsoNormal><b><font size=3D2 face=3DTahoma><span =
style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Tahoma;font-weight:bold'>From:</span></font></b><font =
size=3D2
face=3DTahoma><span style=3D'font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Tahoma'> Enid =
Kumin
[mailto:eckumin at gmail.com] <br>
<b><span style=3D'font-weight:bold'>Sent:</span></b> Tuesday, August =
12, 2008
9:41 AM<br>
<b><span style=3D'font-weight:bold'>To:</span></b> Moore, =
Alan at Boston<br>
<b><span style=3D'font-weight:bold'>Cc:</span></b> Lynn McWhood;
convivial at rcn.com; BSTEINER at partners.org; genedebs1 at comcast.net;
jbestor at law.harvard.edu; evartslan at gmail.com; lpaolella at rcn.com;
minkavb at comcast.net; sbc members; blucas at mapc.org; bnesson at mac.com;
postbc at gmail.com; Charles.Denison at geodecapital.com; =
cdenison at comcast.net;
dschartel at rcn.com; ereisner at rcn.com; fredlori at rcn.com; Fred =
<st1:PersonName
w:st=3D"on">Berman</st1:PersonName> (Fred <st1:PersonName =
w:st=3D"on">Berman</st1:PersonName>);
wigzamore at rcn.com; Todd Kaplan; rnewman at thecia.ne; =
steppers at somervillestep.org;
smackey at somervillechamber.org; smulder at rcn.com; =
SWinslow at somervillema.gov;
peter at mcintyreandmoore.com; Reinhardt, John (DEP); K Molloy<br>
<b><span style=3D'font-weight:bold'>Subject:</span></b> Re: <st1:Street =
w:st=3D"on"><st1:address
 w:st=3D"on">Assembly Square</st1:address></st1:Street> DEIR comments =
on bike and
ped issues</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>

</div>

<p class=3DMsoNormal><font size=3D3 face=3D"Times New Roman"><span =
style=3D'font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></span></font></p>

<div>

These
comments (copied below) from Charlie Denison are worth following up. I =
would be
very interested in a discussion of bike/ped. improvements to =
<st1:Street w:st=3D"on"><st1:address
 w:st=3D"on">Mystic Ave.</st1:address></st1:Street>, especially if the bike/ped./public transit =
community
feels that there have been corners cut (literally) on the community's =
preferred
design for <st1:Street w:st=3D"on"><st1:address w:st=3D"on">Assembly =
Square</st1:address></st1:Street>.
/EKumin