To the Editor:
I am a lifelong Watertown resident and proud to call this community home. It is precisely because of that pride and that history here that I feel compelled to write — on behalf of myself and many of my neighbors along East Boylston Street and Mount Auburn Street — about the ongoing construction that has disrupted our daily lives for so long that many of us can no longer remember a time when it wasn’t happening.
While we understand that improving and modernizing our city’s infrastructure is no small task, and that the intentions behind this work are good, good intentions alone do not excuse poor execution.
Noise and dust have become a constant, exhausting reality for those of us on East Boylston and Mount Auburn. And for some residents, the impact goes far beyond mere inconvenience. I have an elderly mother with dementia, and the relentless noise agitates her greatly. Beyond her comfort, I worry about her safety — if we ever needed to call an ambulance, the congestion caused by construction vehicles on these already busy streets could very well block access entirely. That is not a hypothetical concern. It is a real and present danger.
The traffic and parking situation has become chaotic. Recently, a construction vehicle blocked my tenants’ driveway on East Boylston Street, preventing them from leaving. When they politely asked the driver to move, they received a gruff, dismissive response. This is not an isolated incident — it reflects a broader lack of accountability from the contractors working in our neighborhood. And because much of this area consists of multifamily homes, these disruptions ripple outward: frustrated tenants, strained landlord relationships, and a general erosion of quality of life for everyone on the block.
Communication from the city has been woefully inadequate. Generic emails informing residents that construction will occur “between these hours and these locations” are not communication — they are notifications. There is a difference. Residents directly in the path of this construction, particularly those on East Boylston and Mount Auburn, deserve to know exactly what is happening on their street, why, and, most importantly, when it will be finished. A clear, committed end date is not too much to ask.
To follow proper protocol, I called the city’s 311 ‘report an issue’ line. There’s been no response.
I will also note that the pace and scale of development in Watertown in recent years raises questions of its own — but that, frankly, is a whole other conversation. What residents have every right to ask right now is: where are the benefits? Where are the lower taxes? Where is the tangible return for the people who have lived here for years, decades, and in some cases, their entire lives? Instead, what we get is years of dust, noise, and a daily quality of life that has steadily eroded. So far, the rewards have been hard to find.
We are calling on the City of Watertown — the Manager’s office, the Department of Public Works, and our City Council representatives — to take the following steps:
1 – Improve communication with residents directly affected by construction, going beyond generic emails to provide specific, street-level updates for areas like East Boylston and Mount Auburn, where the construction has been seemingly endless.
2 – Enforce parking and traffic rules strictly and immediately. For years, non-residents have been permitted to park all day along East Boylston at Mount Auburn with no enforcement whatsoever. That was already a problem. Now, with construction adding to the gridlock, it has become an insult to the people who actually live here. The cruel irony is that the actual residents are often unable to find parking on their own block or find space for a visitor or a delivery. This must be addressed. Construction vehicles must also not be permitted to block driveways, intersections, or emergency access routes (even if contractors have been told this, it is clear that some choose to ignore it).
3 – Hold contractors accountable for their conduct toward residents.
4 – Provide a concrete, committed completion date for the construction in our neighborhood.
Watertown is a wonderful community, and many of us are proud to call it home. But a city that
truly values its residents doesn’t just hold meetings — it listens, it acts, and it makes sure that the
people most affected feel that their quality of life matters.
Sincerely,
Arto Vaun
Watertown, MA
Hi Arto,
Your well written and impassioned plea is one that is being echoed and heard in neighborhoods all over Watertown. Thank you for your wonderful letter. Now, let’s see if and how the City responds to your and your neighbors’ reasonable requests. Residents all over Watertown will be watching.
Linda Scott, Watertown resident
Bravo Arto Vaun. Your excellent letter clearly states many of the problems folks in our community are endlessly dealing with on a day to day basis. Quality of life matters!
Thank you,
Elodia Thomas
Resident
We Are All Watertown
Thank you Arto, for demonstrating Watertown’s balance sheet is way out of wack. I count many more losses than gains in our city. Some of those losses are more tangible than others. My neighborhood has been in development mode for well over ten years creating noise, dirt, more cars parked on the street, and loss of mature trees among other negatives. What is less obvious but even more troubling is the sense of community that is being tattered and challenged, the peace we once had in knowing we all had each other’s backs and local government that represented us.
Watertown resident since 1999…
Kudos Arto Vaun!!! Your words exemplify the thoughts and concerns of Watertown’s silent majority. IMO: duplicate, repetitive newsletters and boilerplate emails, do not fill the need for direct interactions with residents. Real-time engagement is essential for the well-being of our community and its residents.
Good wishes,
Angie
Angeline Maria B. Kounelis
Retired Watertown District A, East End, City Councilor
Sixty-two year Watertown resident
Take The Initiative To Make A Difference
Participate In The Process
This is the new normal. We are caught in a perpetual phase of rapid hyper overdevelopment. It may never end and certainly will not in our lifetimes.
We will have much more of what you see right now, endless redevelopment that is just starting to ramp up to speed. Speed is the key strategy along with a relentless push for increasingly more until they take it all. Nothing about what is in play has ever been about betterments for the residents who live here. It’s all been about serving agendas, ambitions and very profitable opportunities.
There is no plan for protecting or preserving the remnants of Watertown’s ever shrinking small neighborhoods. I believe that is intentional. They are expendable. They want them all gone. The middle class is evaporating. Every small older home that is torn down and replaced with oversized, overpriced, and out of reach new construction or evermore rental apartments further closes the door to young families who want to own a home and raise a family here. The city continues to build new schools while being unconcerned by the student enrollment declines facing many nearby communities who have gone down a similar path.
So much of what is happening lacks logic and sound reasoning. Over densifying and drastically increasing rental unit numbers without sufficient off-street parking and real traffic mitigation and all without public rapid transportation service is the plan. This plan has been continually questioned from the very start without any responses. Residents are seeking the part of the plan for living normal life during the interim. What happens to those of us who now live our lives with daily disruption and complication. Is this what daily life will be indefinitely? I believe it is and it’s going to grow worse each year for decades to come. That’s the price they are willing to have us pay. We all signed up for this right?
This is your city’s leadership interim plan for you in simple terms:
Accept, adapt, endure, pay more, and expect less.
Like it or leave.
Thank you, Arto, for writing such a cogent letter. It seems they are digging the same areas over and over and I wonder what the plan is. Does anyone know? Looking forward to having Mt Auburn Street paved and functional again.
Well said Arto Vaun. I am petrified to see what happens with the first stage development of Watertown Square. The new residential expansion along Spring and Summer street is going to be a nightmare. The Residence has already made a mess out of the area with no pre-thought to emergency vehicles or drop off parking. It seems to be all about expansion with not enough thought about utility during and after the work.
Let’s not confuse what’s occurring along Mount Auburn Street – it’s not “development,” it is “road maintenance.” Probably long overdue and not related to recent increase in density (for the 1950’s crowd). I live in this area. It’s a fair question to ask how long this will be going on and whether the impact on residents has been minimized sufficiently. But it’s not OK to use this issue as a bludgeon against something else.
I’m a Watertown resident, homeowner and taxpayer. I patronize Watertown businesses and I worked for a Watertown-based company for 2 years.
The lack of communication during road projects is a continuing one. When my short street was resurfaced, we didn’t know when the contractors would be there as we only received a general flyer once on the dates. No updates were provided so residents mostly moved their cars to other streets early morning to be sure they could get out of their driveways to go to work or appointments.
Some days work wasn’t done and we were parked in front of other houses, inconveniencing them too. Complaints to City Hall didn’t help. Unless these needed communications are improved on and done on a daily basis, residents are left to guess what will happen and when.
The city needs to be more considerate of our residents and force these contractors to do better and develop specific plans to alleviate the problems mentioned above before they move on to more streets and development projects. There should be checklists and follow-ups on a regular basis by city officials, especially with the people being affected with this extremely long Mt. Auburn St. project.