Lowell Street is receiving focus, once again, following a serious car accident at the entrance of MaxWell's Green. Speeding issues have long plagued the urban connector and concerns have been included on this website starting all the way back to a 2010 ResiStat meeting that prompted legislation from then Alderman Sean O'Donovan. This past summer, speed indicators were placed there following a board order I submitted. Residents are wondering what will become of the over $200K given to the City by the owners of MaxWell's Green for traffic calming measures. Feel free to comment your ideas below.
Piro Printing marks the second business leaving Magoun Square in 2014. The first was the tailor/dry cleaner. What gives?
Spotted in Magoun Square was former business owner, Dan Maher, happily chatting with a neighbor. It's always great to see Dan!
5 comments:
Way to go Courtney and thank you Mary Jo Rossetti for bringing this up! I'm all for any and all traffic calming measures for side streets in a city as dense as Somerville.
Personally I think Lowell St and Broadway are in need of major rethinking. Broadway around Magoun Square is an awkward 1 and a half lanes width, left over from when there was a trolley in the middle of the road. I can't tell you how many accidents and near accidents we've witnessed living right there. It's bad for cars, bikers, walkers, residents..
And like you mentioned, cars just seem to *fly* over Lowell St. A good friend of mine is Somerville PD and I hear horror stories of how fast people speed over that street, often leading to accidents. Per the 2010 agenda item #13, it's still very hard to cross that street without feeling at risk from a speeding car in some direction. What will happen when the community path opens up and encourages even more pedestrians?
As well as the speeding of the residents at Maxwell Green, I would also like to remind them of the regulations against parking in front of or very close to driveways, especially during storms. It's difficult enough during and after these storms, but to have your driveway partially blocked is a safety hazard.
I Thought that the speed limit was 25 MPH on the side streets... With the narrow roads - due to the snow - we are all hard pressed to go faster than 15 MPH
The 25 mph speed limit on the Lowell St.----as on all bridges in Somervile, is set by the State; not by Somerville T&P.
But.... given drivers don't comply with it, and SPD's & State Police erratic enforcement and ticketing; and the beveled configuration of the bridge itself, vehicles speeding off that bridge, north or south,
someday going to result in personal injury or death to a pedistration-----more so seniors coming and going from the assisted living facility... walking and/or in wheel chairs, or using crutches, walkers, canes.
Then and only then, after a death or injury. will the authorities do somwething to mitigate the danger there.
You all have got to understand, historically, fixing such a problem only AFTER an injury, accident, or death is the AMERICAN WAY!!!
Before that bridge was renovated to what we see there today; the complete span from north to south and south to north consisted of two(2) bridge/spans. One over the commuter rail (north side); and one over the freight rail side (south side) much "flatter" than the current bridge.
Between the two older spans was about 25 feet of level asphalt street.
Problem was the bridges were laid down with bolted wooden planks; when with just normal wear and tear and winter snow plowing, ends of the planks tore away and got caught under vehicle under-carriages---causing damage.
Speeding on Lowell, and particularly on-off the bridge, was a problem long before Max Green was even in the planning stage.
One time when I was driving south over that bridge at a reasonable rate of safe speed, a pick-up truck pased me ON THE BRIDGE, with the driver displaying his middle finger at me.
I have seen policemen in cars assigned to catch speeders, parked at Winter Hill Body's property, ignore the speeding vehicles.
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