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MBTA commits to shoveling out bus stops this winter; state to consider lefthanded snowplows for populated parkways
By adamg on Tue, 10/18/2011 - 4:46pm
Meira Levinson of the Arborway explains the ice problem she and other parkway residents have.
MBTA officials told a City Council committee today they will commit resources this winter to shovel out bus stops in Boston - and the connections to the sidewalks behind them.
At a hearing called by City Councilor Matt O'Malley (West Roxbury, Jamaica Plain), a T official said the authority will have at least 72 people dedicated to keeping bus stops clear during and after storms - with some additional help from more than 200 subway-station workers. The T is not technically responsible for bus-stop clearing, but pitched in this past winter as storm after storm left stops inaccessible to riders.
Meanwhile, the state Department of Conservation and Recreation says it is considering snowplows that push to the left instead of the right for the populated parkways that pass through Boston, such as the Arborway, the Jamaicaway and the VFW Parkway.
Those roads have large medians onto which snow could be pushed with left-leaning plows - instead of the driveways of residents along the roads. Meira Levinson, who lives on the Arborway, said she and her neighbors found their driveways repeatedly unusable and unsafe to get out of as plows kept pushing snow into them, eventually causing giant ice moguls that took days to chip away.
O'Malley called for the hearing to get city officials and state agencies that deal with snow in Boston - the MBTA, the DCR and the state Highway Department - to better coordinate snow removal in Boston's large number of snow no-man's-lands, which often don't get plowed at all.
City Transportation Commissioner Tom Tinlin promised relief for Steve Poftak, a West Roxbury resident who complained that the sidewalks on the bridge over the Needham Line on Mt. Vernon Street to the Lyndon School in West Roxbury never got shoveled out last winter, forcing elementary-school students into the street. Tinlin said he had no clue who actually owned the road, but vowed he would make sure the sidewalks were cleared this winter.
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Comments
RE: MBTA stops. I believe the
RE: MBTA stops.
I believe the contract with CEMUSA (MBTA) and JCDecaux (Wall USA in Boston) require the companies that provide the shelters to keep them shoveled.
I think you're correct,
I think you're correct, though that only covers a small minority of bus stops.
Jamaicaway?
This makes sense for the VFW and part of the Arborway, but I'm thinking the Jamaicaway must have been mentioned in error. I'm pretty sure it doesn't have a median at all, let alone a large one.
Arkways ????
Is the city expecting Noah to arrive this winter ?
Yep
As opposed to the parkways where people actually live :-).
Fixed!
I don't mean to sound all negative, but some reality, please?
I don't understand this, ab initio: did it just start snowing during the winter in Boston recently? How is it that this has not been sorted out sometime before?
After I get past that, can someone tell whether a new center median has been installed on the northern part of the Jamaicaway (I haven't been down that way in a while, but I do remember some kind of construction)? Non-snarky follow up question: why do the people who live on these roadways deserve special treatment (left side plowing? Do those roads somehow collect more snow than other similar roads?
My favorite, though, is the contribution of the T: 72 dedicated bus stop shovelers, with help from 200 dedicated subway workers. The 72 might be enough to get and keep the Route 66 stops clear. The 200 are going to be enough for the rest of the bus stops in the system?
Come on, people. Let's start enforcing the requirements for the abutters to clear the sidewalks, and/or get more sidewalk plows like Brookline has (best option). Also, there are no "no-man's lands" in Boston (how the hell could Tinlin say with a straight face that he doesn't know who owned the road?). There is a responsible party for every bit of property in the City. The City can enforce the rules against the private ones, and if it were smart, it would get money from the state so as to allow it to take care of the state ones, too (becuase it will be last priority for the state, and the City can't compel the state to do it, other than through the name and shame campaign I mentioned a few weeks ago).
special?
I don't know if it's "special treatment," but the article notes that these roads have an alternative to right-side plowing. This simply can't be done on roads without a median.
Totally agree that sidewalk clearing should be enforced, and as much as I'd like to see city sidewalk plows, Boston isn't Brookline. I'm sure Menino would love to have that tax base, but he doesn't.
Tax base...
certainly Menino's got significantly higher demands for city services...
but he also has (a growing number of) high-rise buildings that are taxed at the commercial rate. I never understood how Boston's finances were not in better shape - until I looked at the employee (past and present) obligations. Ouch. Talk about over-promising.
Brookline's taxes are low, and there is a $250K exemption, so even with the incredibly high property values, the revenue is not as big as you'd think. Frankly, I couldn't figure out how its finances were in such good shape - until I looked at town meeting and how closely they watch and frugally manage the town budget.
Somebody got the numbers?
What percentage of households in Boston do not own cars?
Census data!
According to the Census' American Community Survey, half of Boston workers age 16 or older (555,000 people) get to work by car, half use some other way.
To play with the data yourself, go here, then click "back to search" and filter by geography and by whatever else you'd like.
Here's the poorly displayed data:
Boston city, Massachusetts
Estimate Margin of Error
Total: 555,081 +/-10,824
owning vs. commuting
The census data only tells you the way people commute to work, not who owns or does not own a car.
Parkways
Coupla things:
They are all DCR plows, either with their own equipment or by basically contracting out to MassDOT. Much of the DCR equipment is not pretty old, a DCR official said today, because the agency put off new purchases when it seemed responsibility for parkways would be assumed by the then new MassDOT a couple years ago (which it wasn't, gotta love Massachusetts). So since they are looking to buy new equipment anyway, why not make some of them plows that can switch hit?
The Arborway/etc. road (how many names does that one road have, exactly?) is two lanes in both directions. That's a lot more snow to get piled into somebody's driveway than most of us see. And because they are major routes, getting into and out of driveways is dangerous at the best of times - throw heavy snow into the mix and you're talking some major hazards.
I thought of the two lanes argument
But surely you can think of any number of city roads that are two laned (or even single laned) that are roughly the same width or wider than those "two-laned" parkways (in quotes to reflect the fact that clearly some sections of those roads were never intended to be two lanes)?
Why is the city not talking about "left-side plowing" on any of these?
Of the top of my head:
Washington St. A/B
Cambridge St. A/B
Brighton Ave.
Chelsea St. (C-town) (few driveways, though)
Comm. Ave
etc.
Everyone wins
I heard that they will be hiring OccupyBoston protestors to shovel out the sidewalks.
In defense of Commissioner
In defense of Commissioner Tinlin, he's referring to the commuter rail overpass on Mt. Vernon Street in West Roxbury, which is truly a 'no-man's land'. Its over a hundred yards away from the West Roxbury commuter rail station and MBTA/MBCR is responsible for clearing access points to the stations, not everything abutting the tracks.
Bridges in Massachusetts have a variety of owners -- municipalities, the state, and the MBTA -- but the state ends up caring for most of them. So, its not surprising that its unclear who owns it.
And the fact of the matter is that the state isn't equipped to clear the sidewalks on all its bridges, so Commissioner Tinlin's willingness to step up and fill the gap is laudable.
Also, the point about the private operators of the bus stops being responsible for clearing them is hazy. From the discussion yesterday, it appears that they are contractually obligated to keep the physical structure (and the ground its on), free of snow, not to clear a path to the street. So the MBTA needs to do this.
Bus shelters
Yeah, there were some pretty ludicrous situations last year. I seem to remember the bus shelter on Spring Street outbound at the Shaw's was cleared out, but it was surrounded by mountains of snow, meaning to get to it, you had to either walk into the street or get your pitons and rope out.
Some Day ...
... in a far away future, cities and towns will be required to spend actual money facilitating pedestrian access in the winter and not just plow the roadways for cars to move - or hope people will just get around to it somehow - or make excuses that everybody is too old to do their civic duty. Perhaps the state will even start requiring communities receiving local aid to designate critical pedestrian corridors - like the sidewalks along roadways where the buses and trains go - and keep these walkways free of obstructions, like, oh, snow plowed 10 feet high on what are supposed to be wheelchair ramps??? (Although I'm sure that would violate Oflush'l's rights somehow if one of those lowly and despicable disabled wheelchair users was actually able to leave their house in the winter.)
Those of us who use the T and walk pay taxes, too, dammit!
Oflushl? Very proud of the Americans with Disabilities Act
@SwirlyGrrl: "Although I'm sure that would violate Oflush'l's rights somehow if one of those lowly and despicable disabled wheelchair users was actually able to leave their house in the winter.)"
---
Oflushl? Misspelling or lame attempt at humor? Actually, I strongly favor equal access for the wheelchair bound. I'm especially proud of President George H.W. Bush for signing the A.D.A. into law and his son, George W. Bush for signing into law some powerful amendments to it in 2008. Why would you suggest that I find the wheelchair bound despicable? Source or just smear?
Perhaps you're confused by my criticism of the city's absurd Segway ban, the spirit of which deems Segways ridden by the able bodied too dangerous for sidewalks, but perfectly safe for the sidewalk when driven by a disabled person. The liberal's soft-bigotry of low expectations is despicable, not the disabled themselves.
Um
Might I suggest you actually show some awareness and familiarity with people with disabilities and stop using the term "wheelchair-bound?" Wheelchairs don't bind people; they allow people to get places. And most people don't sleep in them, or even stay in them all day. They use them.
Sure thing, eeka
I will gladly stop using wheelchair bound. I wasn't aware that it was offensive. Apparently neither did the lefty Boston Globe. If you have a copy of your style book on the latest up to the minute P.C. terminology, please forward it (to me and the Globe) so that we don't continue to run afoul. Thanks!
News flash: O-FISH-L uses Globe as a reference
Some people get their information on preferred terminology from the newspaper.
Others get their information from talking to friends/family/colleagues/etc. who are members of the relevant demographic and actually finding out what terms they prefer.
(Side note: What you call "P.C.", others call "respectful".)
Really Molly?
@Molly: "Others get their information from talking to friends/family/colleagues/etc. who are members of the relevant demographic and actually finding out what terms they prefer."
--
Are your friendships, familial and work relationships with wheelchair users so insecure that you need to poll them to find out what terms they prefer? How often do you do this, since the terms are forever evolving? I'm not in the wheelchair user demographic but I'm certain that the people that I know who are would feel awfully patronized by someone crouching beside them and asking, "what 'term' do you prefer to be
labeled ascalled." Indeed I read the Globe and take note of the latest terms the far-left is using this week. If the Globe hasn't gotten the message yet, I'm not sure how others are expected to have.Try some logic and reason then.
Chair user is technically correct. Person uses chair. Simple.
Wheelchair bound is technically incorrect, save for those few who are literally tied into their chairs.
Simple.
Eeka is amusing, and her
Eeka is amusing, and her behavior is predictable, albeit saddening. Whenever she is called out for being a bit "psycho" and overreactive, she hides. You won't get a response from her, let alone an apology.
She is almost like a guerrilla troll.
Alternately ...
She's someone who holds a full time job and is very active in her community ... and isn't on line all day.
Sidewalk clearing
I would hope that everyone with a smartphone would photograph uncleared sidewalks, including, if at all possible, the house/building street number, and filing complaints with the city website AND Dept. of Inspectional Services, and followup everyday that the sidewalks are not cleared.
Far too many businesses, landlords and homeowners get away with ignoring their legal obligations regarding clearing the sidewalks in front of their properties.
Losing Battle
Everytime somebody does this in my community, they get lectures about how they just can't expect anybody at any life stage to do what they are legally required to do.
Hand out tickets, same whine and cheese.
The simple fact of the matter is that we do not expect property owners to shovel out the segment of roadway in front of their properties. Simple fact number two is that people without cars, people who use public transit, parents of school children, and many other people who use the sidewalks pay taxes, too.
Clearing of designated snow route sidewalks should be a city and town expense - unless we really DO want to force people to start shovelling roadways to the yellow line ...
How about...
the city hiring someone to shovel the walk, and sending the property owner a bill? Maybe make it a lien or something? That should inspire them to hire someone cheaper themselves, next time.
I know nothing about the applicable laws, so please shoot down this idea if it's stupid.