Transportation

MBTA Exploring Using the Watertown Yard to Help Add More Buses

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The MBTA will not be able to add more buses to crowded routes or add new routes until they add more buses – but before that can happen the buses need a place to be stored and serviced. During a meeting to discuss transportation on the Arsenal Street corridor last week, MBTA officials said the need places to store and service 80 buses to meet existing needs. The Watertown Yard, on Galen Street near Watertown Square, could be part of the solution. The facility used to be a center to service trolley cars when the Green Line’s A Line ended in Watertown. Now the area is only used as a bus stop and turn around at the end of routes such as the 57, and express buses to Boston.

Police/Fire

Suicidal Woman from Watertown Rescued in Acton

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A Watertown woman who went missing on Friday evening was found injured in the woods by Acton Police on Saturday morning. A car was found parked on Main Street in Acton Friday evening and Acton Police discovered it belonged to a 29-year-old woman who Watertown Police were searching for because she was possibly suicidal, according to a report in the Lowell Sun (click here to see the story). The woman was found at about 10:30 a.m. Saturday with self-inflicted wounds, and she was taken for treatment at Emerson Hospital in Concord, according to a report on Acton Patch (see the story here). The woman’s name was not released.

Real Estate

See the Watertown Homes that Sold This Week

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Here are the homes that sold in Watertown this week – see where they are located. $440,000 – 3 Repton Circl Unit 3102, 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom, Mid-Rise condo

$252,500 – 32 Whites Ave Unit F-8802, 1 bedroom, 1 full bathroom, Hi-Rise condo

Sponsored by:

$763,500 – 160 Standish Road, 3 bedroom, 1.5 bathroom, Colonial single-family home

$525,000 – 5 Royal Street, 3 bedroom, 1.5 bathroom, Colonial single-family home

$376,500 – 290 Pleasant Unit 218, 1 bedroom, 1 bathroom, Mid-Rise condo

Find out how to sponsor Watertown News real estate stories, or how to highlight your open house listing by emailing WatertownMaNews@gmail.com.

Police/Fire

Police Log: Pair Nabbed at Target for Shoplifting, Home Broken Into and More

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The following information was provided by the Watertown Police Department. Arrests

July 28, 4:20 p.m.: A man turned himself in at the Watertown Police Department. The 29-year-old Watertown man was arrested on a warrant from Chelsea District Court for probation violation. July 29, 4:07 p.m.: Police received word of a man at the Cortiva Institute who had a warrant for his arrest. The 28-year-old Boston man was arrested on the warrant from Brighton District Court for assault and battery.

Elections

Warren Tolman Speaks Out Against NRA Video, Lands Endorsement

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Attorney General candidate and Watertown resident Warren Tolman spoke out this week against a video released by the National Rifle Association pushing for arming the blind. Tolman called the video exploitative, according to a statement released by his campaign. “The National Rifle Association’s lone goal is to stop any efforts that try to make our communities safer, despite the fact that we’ve lost 50,000 people to gun deaths since the Newtown tragedy,” Tolman said. “I have worked closely with the Perkins School for the Blind and advocates for more than a decade and I support their incredible work to enhance the lives of the visually impaired. The fact that the NRA would exploit blind people to push their extreme agenda with this insensitive video is just wrong.

Development

Residents Worry Eastside CVS Would Change Their Neighborhood

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The CVS/Pharmacy proposed in East Watertown would change the area, and make an already bad traffic situation worse, residents said at a meeting on the project. The store would go where the gas station now sits at the corner of Mt. Auburn and Arlington streets. It would also replace a small office building and the Elks Club and the parking lot would link to the lot on Wells Avenue. The project would make improve the Coolidge Square area by adding a pharmacy and sprucing up the site, said Bill York, attorney representing the developers at the meeting held at the Apartments at Coolidge School.

Around Town

Check Out the Winner in the Historical Society Essay Contest

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A panel of Historical Society members judges the best history essays each year, and here is the winning essay. 

Students had their choice of four themes: an individual, ethnic group, landmark or historical event in Watertown and its significance to the town and region. The first place winner received $300; the second and third place winners received $100 each. The winners of the Historical Society Awards were chosen by a panel of Historical Society Council members. The awards were presented in June in the high school lecture hall. See the second place essay, “Perkins School for the Blind” by clicking here, and the third place essay can be seen here: “Watertown and WW2.” Here is the first place essay:
AMERICA’S ARSENAL
Arshdeep Singh Grade 10
The centerpiece of the American Revolution is the struggle for personal independence.

Government

Study of 70 Bus Sought in Effort to Improve Transportation on Arsenal St.

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A study of what can be done to speed up buses on the 70 and 70A bus routes has been requested by a group interested in improving public transportation on the Arsenal Street Corridor and beyond. A the transportation summit held Wednesday, elected officials, town officials, developers and members of groups interested in transit in the area met with MBTA officials. The group brainstormed ways to improve the service, which even T officials agreed can be slow and crowded. The area is one of the hottest areas of development in the Boston area. Developers of more than one project on the street have promised to contribute to a shuttle system to serve the area, but all agreed the MBTA service must be improved too.