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Friday, May 18, 2012

ResiStat Recap: A Moment for Magoun


During his presentation on changes made to relieve the parking crunch for Magoun Square’s nighttime businesses, I asked Matt about a rampant rumor circulating that there would be an increase in the feeding time of the CVS meters. Citing the desire for a robust, vibrant square, Dias reported that the meters in the CVS parking lot (Magoun Square) will remain at 8pm despite talk that the city would increase the time to 10pm. I felt obligated to ask considering the Mayor’s mention of “new revenue streams” during his budget presentation, but feel assured that city officials are going to give Magoun an opportunity to grow.

In more good “parking” news, Magoun has had a 20 space increase by having meters placed closer together, no parking signs moved closer to bump-outs, and time limits being placed on loading zones. 

The CVS parking lot was recently spruced up with new parking lines, stripes, and updated decals. The fence along the back of the parking lot was also fixed-much to the delight of Fiske Avenue abutters and Magoun Square patrons. Parking spots alongside Olde Magoun's Saloon were also painted for better visibility.

Magoun's brand new bike corral also got a shout out! These corrals were part of grant through MassDOT and it sits alongside Olde Magoun's Saloon at 518 Medford Street.

Magoun will have some further construction, however, when repaving will take place on Broadway (Trum to the Salvation Army) and Medford Street (CVS to Partridge Avenue).

It seems that Mayor Curtatone and DPW Commissioner Stan Koty were not happy with the shabby paving job that was done last year. Holes and patches can be seen along sidewalks and crosswalks indicating that the tar did not spread evenly across the surface of the street. Luckily, the mild winter that just passed didn’t warrant any plowing which would have made this section of Magoun Square even worse. Crews will be back to grate, repave and stripe the square in the next few weeks.

A final completion time of two months for all Magoun Square construction was relayed by the city engineer to meeting attendees.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

In regard to shabby/shoddy side walk and street work done by hired contracters in our city is nothing new; been going on for years.

Entire streets and sidewalks being re-done, much after "completion"...are in bad shape in too short a period of time.

Somehow, the overseeing of the work done by contractors---while work is still in progress is not being monitored by a DPW official; and if it is being monitored the DPW person doing the monitoring has no clue as to what consititutes a job well done. Happens all too often!

Amy Timmins said...

What we need is a community clean up day/evening for Magoun Square. The areas below the trees look horrible! They have a ton of weeds. I don't want to have my kids walk through there because I don't want them thinking they live in a trashy area. No kid should grow up thinking like that. I know that we need more businesses in Magoun, but something that we can all do right now is weed and show that we care about where we live enough to put some extra love into it. Are there any other people who feel the way I do? If there are, maybe we can choose an evening after work? Maybe go for drinks at the Magoun Saloon afterwards? Maybe we can do it on a Saturday morning with our families?

Richard Lindley said...

How is it that shoddy work done at taxpayers expense is then redone at taxpayers expense? Where is the accountability for the poor work? Are the citizens of Somerville paying twice? Do I need to call ward 5 alderman to get
answers? I mean really, insult to injury that we again have to put up with a month or two of raised sidewalks and manhole covers, but to pay twice for the priviledge. Answers please.

Ward Five said...

The initial paving job was paid for with Federal Recovery Act dollars. The Mayor is looking to the contractor to cover the cost of the second paving. At worst, the city will probably file a lawsuit if needed.

The Alderman's contact information can be found on his page.