LETTER: Mt. Auburn Street — Good Intentions Are Not Enough

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