The Town of Watertown will host a meeting about Complete Streets, and discuss where the concept should be implemented in town.
Complete Streets helps make the streets more walkable, bikeable and more public transit friendly, according to the announcement from the Town.
On the meeting agenda:
• What are Complete Streets?
• Where should Complete Streets projects be implemented in Watertown?
• Next Steps in the Prioritization Plan Process
The Town’s Complete Streets Prioritization Plan meeting will be on Dec. 14 at 6:30 p.m., in the Town Council Chambers in Town Hall, 149 Main St., Watertown.
The Town is working with Alta Planning to assist with development of the plan, which will identify opportunities to implement additional Complete Streets practices in Town, according to an announcement from the Department of Community Development and Planning.
The goal of the meeting is to provide a primer on Complete Streets and obtain input from stakeholders about potential Complete Streets projects. The consultant will then review and vet the potential projects and create a prioritization plan. An additional meeting will be held to review the prioritization.
Completing the plan is a prerequisite for seeking construction funding under the MassDOT Complete Streets program.
Interesting. There was at least a month and a half public notice for the last meeting (at which time we got notice of a meeting in January and an open house to follow), now they’re putting this out with 2 weeks notice prior to the other meetings.
Sounds to me like the people who are behind this project are in panic mode after the way World Tech badly fumbled the ball at last months presentation and now they’re calling in reinforcements.
If anyone is interested, Alta Planning specializes in these sort of things…
https://altaplanning.com/project_categories/featured/
Why bother with a meeting? Even if the people are against it, the city is going to go ahead with their plans. Another step closer to “DRISCOLLVILLE “
Sounds like Complete Streets is a done deal here in Watertown so why ask for input from residents? I say this for the following reasons:
1. Agenda Item: Where should Complete Streets projects be implemented in Watertown? This is saying that we WILL have complete streets and the only question is where.
2. I watched the last meeting on television last night and it looked like the town councilors who are leading the meeting are behind having Complete Streets regardless of
the facts and/or wishes of the folks in attendance who do not like the concept. (I will state that one councilor backed off of his support until some of the issues brought up during the meeting could be addressed). The lead councilor would have nothing to do with backing off, and it really looked like he would either get his way or he would take his ball and go home. Really looked unprofessional for a person chairing the meeting!
So, I stand behind my opening comment that it looks like a done deal!
John, yes, Watertown has already adopted a Complete Streets policy.
This is SO STUPID that it cannot be put into words. Watertown is 100% “walk friendly”, as there are plenty of sidewalks along all streets, both main streets and side roads. Public transportation is fine, as Mt. Auburn is plenty wide enough to accommodate trackless trolleys, much like it has been for decades. This idiotic thought process is only being considered to accommodate the 3% of the population that is addicted to bikes. This will only cause massive delays in town, as cars will need to stop when a trolley does, versus being able to go around it, as has been the case since well before I was born. I was in Boston yesterday, and watching a biker run red lights and stop signs was as common as watching snow fall in January. The same will be true in Watertown if this stupidity comes to pass. It just amazes me how town and city decision makers accede to 3% of the population while making the commuting portion of our lives more difficult, we being people who pay license and registration fees, auto insurance, and auto excise taxes.
Pardon me, but I beg to differ. Watertown is not 100% pedestrian friendly–just consider Watertown Square. Hardly a pedestrian paradise. Similarly I can assure you as someone who has advocated for Public Transit in Watertown for the last eight years and founded the Watertown Public Transit Task Force, all is not well with respect to public transit in Watertown. The service has drastically gone downhill in the past 10 years. I’d be happy to ride with you some morning rush hour and show you what I mean.
Use of bicycles as transportation is increasing. One of the chief problems in town is traffic. Remember that, even if you don’t bike, each bicycle is one car off the road. Ditto for each transit rider. This is why transit and bicycling is so important.
I think that it would be the best thing for our town if we stop using words like “stupid” and stop trying to make our neighbors into mortal enemies and try to have a constructive conversation about what would be best for our community.
Vitriol against cyclists is not constructive. Much can be said about the behavior of motorists too. We all need to be able to get around town safely and efficiently.
Thanks for your thoughts.
Why is such a meeting of concern set for two weeks before Christmas? People are not aware or looking to attend a meeting- with Christian and Jewish holidays – with, parties, shopping and planned get togethers with friends, etc.
Hope you will reschedule this meeting.
What is the urgency to have it at this time?
What is the impediment to have a meeting in January?
Painful to navigate by car, unnecessarily slow by bus, dangerous and unwelcoming to pedestrian and bicyclists, with frequent traffic backups resulting from its poor layout, Mt. Auburn Street is in dire need of redesign. Great to see Watertown join the dozens of other communities across the Commonwealth in pursuing smart, safer, more efficient urban design approaches under the Complete Streets umbrella. Look forward to learning more about our options at this meeting.
I appreciate that there is coverage about what is happening to our roads but would like to see a linking of the coverage so we can bounce forward and back to get a better idea of how the discussions and ideas are relating to each other.
Also more info on how the decisions are being made and by whom.
Thanks
Thanks David,
I will try to link more coverage of the road work projects. It is hard to keep track of what’s going on where.
Charlie