2026-07-22 - Traffic and Parking Committee

0:03All right, folks. It's 5:30. We're going

0:05to get started on uh Wednesday, July

0:0822nd, traffic and parking meeting. Um

0:11with me today, I have commissioner

0:14Department of Transportation Mobility

0:16Stephen Raleigh, assistant director Todd

0:19Karine. Um I also have uh district 2 um

0:24counselor Rob Balada who's on on Z on

0:28Zoom who'll be with us and uh with me

0:31visiting us today is District 1 city

0:34councelor Tony Economo, District 3 city

0:37councelor John Frisolo. Um I also have

0:42um assistant clerk and fam.

0:45Um we always get started with the um

0:49attendance. Um we get do the attendance.

0:52>> Uh yes to chair councelor Bilada.

0:59>> Councelor Bilada.

1:01>> Yes. Here.

1:02>> Yes. We're just doing roll call. Thank

1:04you. Uh councelor O'Hada and chairs and

1:07councelor Rivera

1:08>> here. All right. Uh we start with the

1:11approval of the minutes uh for June 24th

1:16meeting.

1:18>> Okay. Councelor Bilada.

1:21>> Yes.

1:21>> Councelor O'Hada and chairs and

1:23councelor Rivera.

1:24>> Yes. And uh um if uh cler fam if you

1:28want to just kind of make the

1:29announcement on the virtual attendee

1:30calling information.

1:32>> Yes sir. Chair. So one virtual attendees

1:35call in information pursuant to chapter

1:3820 of the acts of 2021 and in order to

1:40ensure active public engagement. The

1:42city of Worcester currently allows for

1:44both inperson and remote participation

1:46at all city council and standing

1:48committee meetings. To partake in a

1:50meeting, you may attend a meeting in

1:52person. You can also join via Zoom or

1:55dial the following line as indicated. Uh

1:59you can find the Zoom link on this the

2:02website. So the phone number for um the

2:06traffic and parking committee meeting is

2:081 16468287666

2:11and the access code is 1614119888.

2:16And if you're joining via Zoom or if

2:18you're calling in, we ask that when the

2:21item that you want to speak on is being

2:23heard, you use the raise hand function.

2:26If you're calling in, you can raise your

2:27hand by dialing star 9. Thank you to the

2:30chair.

2:31>> Thank you. Um we always start with the

2:33the handicap parking petitions and the

2:35first one is 3A Mallerie Nero um request

2:39installation of handicap parking space

2:41at 72 Richland Street. Is anybody here

2:44for that? Uh name and residence please.

2:47>> Mallerie Nero.

2:49>> This one there.

2:51>> Maller Nero in 72 Richland Street.

2:54>> Yes.

2:56>> We want to show my daughter is autistic

2:58and she is an aloper. So, I wanted to

3:02get a space on the side of the street

3:04that's our house so she doesn't bolt

3:06across the street. She sees my car, goes

3:08to the car. Don't want it on the other

3:10side of the street because people go 90

3:12down it.

3:13>> Gotcha.

3:14>> That's it.

3:15>> Yeah, pretty much.

3:16>> I'm just a it's a supporter.

3:20>> And that wherever wherever it's put on

3:23the Richmond Street side would be fine.

3:26>> All right. Um, I think putting it across

3:27the street would be a problem only

3:29because school signs are over there also

3:32for the street. So, there'd be a lot of

3:34rearranging that would have to be done.

3:36So, I think putting it on the um even

3:40side of the street would be uh suitable.

3:44Thank you. Does anybody on Zoom want to

3:46speak on this petition?

3:47>> To which areas, there's no one raising

3:49their hands. any of my colleagues,

3:55>> Commissioner Raleigh.

3:57>> Mr. Chair, so this is a suitable space

3:59and we do have the uh copy of the

4:01placard. The one thing I did want to

4:03note is, and I know the petitioner knows

4:05this, is that the even side is the

4:08winter parking ban. It's a declared

4:09parking ban. So, not a problem when

4:12there's not a winter ban that's

4:13declared, but during an actual declared

4:16ban, the space won't be available during

4:18those periods of time. So, um, our

4:20recommendation is to approve

4:22>> to the agenda. One person would just

4:24raise their hands on Zoom. Um, I would

4:26go ahead and recognize them to Speaker

4:29Leo Karia Vasquez.

4:33>> Hi everybody. Good afternoon. Yeah, I I

4:37request um one parking handicap parking

4:41sp

4:44uh sorry um uh we're going to be next

4:48with you next and she's speaking on a

4:50different petition and stuff like that.

4:52>> So we'll be right with you because

4:55you're next.

4:56>> All right. All right. Okay. Okay. Thank

4:57you.

4:58>> No problem. First we just got to approve

4:59this item. Uh roll call.

5:02>> Councelor Councelor Bilada. Yes.

5:05>> Councelor O'Hada and Sheriff and

5:07Councelor Rivera.

5:08>> Yes.

5:09>> Okay.

5:09>> You're outside.

5:10>> Thank you.

5:10>> All right. Thank you.

5:11>> All right. Now we'll go to 3B. Um,

5:14Loeria Vasquez request installation of a

5:16handicap parking space in the vicinity

5:18of Iglassia Dios Pentecost located at

5:21151 Chandler Street. Um, go ahead Ledia,

5:25you can speak now.

5:27>> Okay. Hi everybody. It's a pleasure to

5:30be here with you guys. Uh, yeah. I I

5:32request that that parking space in front

5:35of the church because we uh have uh we

5:39have couple of handicap people coming in

5:41back that had the plate but we have a

5:44special special case that is we um one

5:49of our season who lost he left leg. So

5:53and um either that is a a public street

5:58but it it is a chain that on Sunday when

6:02he come over so he can have the space

6:06available for him and it's easy for him

6:08to get in on the church and he don't

6:10have a lot of trouble and the first time

6:12he come to church he even fell because

6:15um he had to park in you know five from

6:19the church and trying to get in the

6:21wheelchair. So I think um uh it will be

6:24nice if you guys can approve that for

6:27hand and we appreciate it and all the

6:30church we appreciate it too. Thank you

6:32so much.

6:33>> Thank you. Uh anybody else here to speak

6:35on that item? Is anybody else on Zoom?

6:38>> To sure there's no one else raising

6:40their hands.

6:41>> My colleagues want to speak on this

6:42item.

6:45>> Commissioner Raleigh.

6:46>> Uh Mr. Chair. So our recommendation is

6:48to approve uh this location. However, it

6:51is in front in a uh permanent winter

6:54parking ban. So, I just wanted to to

6:55state that for the record. So, that

6:57means there's no overnight parking that

6:59would be allowed during the winter

7:00months, but it's unlikely that there

7:01would be uh usage during those time

7:04periods. So, while we typically try to

7:06avoid that in this case given the

7:08special use, we do recommend approval.

7:11>> Thank you. So, we're going to move to

7:13approve the item. Roll call.

7:15>> Councelor Bilada.

7:17>> Yes. Councelor O'Hada and chairs and

7:19councelor Rivera.

7:20>> Yes. All right. Moving on to crosswalk

7:23and lighted crosswalk system petitions.

7:26Um for a councelor Robert Bada request

7:28installation of a rapid flashing beacon

7:30on Elm Street at its intersection with

7:33Maple Street. Anybody here speak on this

7:35item?

7:37Councelor Bada.

7:39>> Yes. I know. Um, the reason I had filed

7:42this back in February was after hearing,

7:44you know, a conversation that we had

7:46about a uh the property on the corner of

7:50Elm and Chest that's getting renovated.

7:53Uh, so I thought this, you know,

7:54anticipating the um added density that's

7:59going to be happening downtown and that

8:00the city's pushing for, I thought it

8:02would be wise to try to get ahead of it

8:03and try and improve. Um, a rapid

8:06flashing beacon here. There is also a

8:08daycare center. uh that's in the in the

8:12area that also during the summer there's

8:14if you see in the picture there's to the

8:17upper left corner of the picture there's

8:19a grass area that's where uh the

8:21children from the daycare center um you

8:25know play during the warmer months. So,

8:27I thought it would be trying to get a

8:30crosswalk here, like rapid flashing, and

8:32I believe as it says, there is a block

8:35being converted to two-way travel this

8:38summer. So, I think it would be really

8:39wise to to get ahead of improving

8:42pedestrian safety in that area.

8:46>> Thank you, Commissioner Raleigh.

8:48>> Yeah, thank you, Mr. Chair. If I could

8:49through you to the council, I just

8:51wanted to try to confirm um the intent

8:54here as far as the location Uh, are you

8:57looking for a new crosswalk going across

8:59Elm Street or was this thought of um as

9:02addressing the existing crosswalk that

9:05kind of goes across the uh Elm Maple

9:08connector?

9:10>> Okay. Yeah, thank you, Commissioner. Um,

9:11no, it would be a new for a new

9:13crosswalk going across across Elm from

9:17north to south.

9:22going across, not not that current one

9:24that's going across Elm Maple.

9:27>> Okay. So, I think my recommendation

9:29would be we're actually in the process

9:31of I think as um the commission knows

9:33this street is actually being converted

9:35to to two-way. That item uh passed last

9:37night, I believe. Um and as part of

9:41that, we've initiated a design process

9:43where we'll be looking at the pedestrian

9:45crossing. So, maybe the right thing to

9:47do is to hold this item for right now.

9:49We certainly understand the intent

9:51behind it, but I just want to sort of

9:53figure out where the best place that is

9:55through the design process before we

9:57actually go and and approve something.

10:01>> Yeah, that sounds great. Thank you.

10:02>> Sounds good. Move to hold the item. Roll

10:04call.

10:05>> Councelor Bella.

10:07>> Yes.

10:07>> Councelor O'Hada and chair. Councelor

10:09Ribera.

10:10>> Yes.

10:12Okay. Moving on to 4B. Shauna Gaffffne

10:16requests installation of crosswalk and

10:17lighted crosswalk signage at the bus

10:20stop located at 150 Blackstone

10:22Blackstone River Road. Anybody here to

10:24speak on this item?

10:26Uh I think councelor Pola want to speak

10:29on this item. Nope. 4B. It's on here.

10:34You need to speak on it.

10:35>> Mr. Chairman, if the petition is not

10:37here, um I read what the uh

10:42the commissioner of uh traffic and

10:45mobility requests and I'm in agreement

10:47with that.

10:48>> All right.

10:48>> Thank you,

10:49>> Commissioner Raleigh.

10:50>> Yeah, Mr. Chair. So, this is a location.

10:53Yeah, this is a location where there

10:55there are WRTA bus stops um and some

10:58large employers nearby and it's a

11:01difficult street to cross because

11:02traffic's coming off the highway at a

11:04pretty high rate of speed. Um and

11:06there's a bit of a corner uphill here um

11:10from the bus stop location. So, they're

11:11looking for improvements to help them

11:13safely cross the street. Um we do agree

11:16that uh a crosswalk

11:19um is appropriate here. It should be to

11:21the north of the intersection near the

11:23bus stops to get enough sight distance.

11:25Um, but because there's no connecting

11:28sidewalks in the area, we actually have

11:29to construct a little bit of sidewalk,

11:31too. It's not enough to just paint the

11:33crosswalk. We need to actually have a

11:34safe place for people to to walk.

11:37So, we are asking that the order be

11:39approved, but recognize um that included

11:42in that need to be uh ADA and proide

11:45compliant uh ramps, pedestrian crossing

11:49signs um and a small section of sidewalk

11:52as well, but the recommendation is to

11:54approve. Sounds good. Anybody on Zoom on

11:57that item

11:58>> to a no one raising their hands?

12:00>> All right, we're going to move for roll

12:02call to approve the item.

12:04>> Councelor Bilada. Yes,

12:06>> councelor O'Hara and chair and councelor

12:08Rivera.

12:10>> Yes.

12:11All right, we're moving now to

12:15that was 4 B. So that's 4 C. Joseph

12:18Scandlin request the pedestrian crossing

12:21signals at the Webster Street, Campus

12:24Street, and Main Street intersection be

12:25reviewed and fixed to activate only when

12:29to activate only when the crosswalk

12:30button is is pressed. Anybody here to

12:33speak on this item?

12:36Anybody online

12:37>> to make sure there's no one raising

12:39their hands?

12:39>> Commissioner Raleigh.

12:40>> Yeah, Mr. Chair. So, we did check the uh

12:42pedestrian uh signals and actuators at

12:45this location. They are all working

12:47correctly. So, the recommendation is to

12:48file.

12:49>> Okay. Move to a roll call file the item.

12:54>> Councelor Pilada.

12:55>> Yes.

12:56>> Councelor O'Hada and chairs and

12:58councelor Ribera.

12:59>> Yes. 4 D. Carl Long request installation

13:03of a crosswalk with flashing beacons on

13:05South Street at Washburn Street.

13:09Anybody hear that item?

13:11>> Anybody on Zoom?

13:13>> There's no one raising their hands on

13:15Zoom.

13:15>> Commissioner Rally.

13:16>> Yeah, Mr. Chair. So, this section of

13:18South Bridge Street for a long time did

13:20not have any crosswalks and was actually

13:23um fairly dangerous in terms of

13:25pedestrians crossing the street um and

13:28having some some bad outcomes out there.

13:30To be uh candid about it, we did

13:33recently install the the first crosswalk

13:35in this uh stretch. It has curve

13:37extensions and a rapid flashing beacon

13:39further to the north. Um but it's a very

13:42long stretch. There's a second set

13:44that's under design now. This would be a

13:46third uh crosswalk and it also makes

13:48sense it's located at an intersection.

13:51[snorts] There's been some recent

13:52commercial development in the area. Uh

13:54so we do recommend approval again

13:56pending funding of the other related

13:58sidewalk and and ADA ramp improvements

14:01that are necessary as well.

14:03>> Sounds good. We'll move to approve the

14:05item. Roll call.

14:07>> Councelor Bilada.

14:09>> Yes.

14:09>> Councelor O'Hada and Jeffson. Councelor

14:11Rivera.

14:12>> Yes.

14:14Right. We have the no parking petitions.

14:165A, communication of the city manager

14:19recommend adoption of an ordinance to

14:22permanently establish no parking any

14:24time on por on portions of both side of

14:26Grafton Street. Anybody here speak on

14:29this item? Come on up, please.

14:38>> Name and residence, please.

14:40>> Uh, Edward Gonzalez, 280 Grafton Street.

14:44Um yes. Um recently

14:49on Grafton Street around 280 Grafton

14:51Street in the around the neighborhood in

14:5330 minute parking. Um

14:57and um I grabbed the park parking permit

15:00and the city hall said it was okay for

15:04me to park in front of 280 Grafton

15:07Street with this parking permit and for

15:10a guest.

15:11Um in front of my house there's a 30

15:14minute parking um and there's a a few

15:19other residents that have no park in

15:22driveway parking. So to take that away

15:25from the whole neighborhood uh where

15:27there's no parking on both sides of park

15:29and um Grafton Street, you know, and

15:32it's a school district as well.

15:39>> One second.

15:40>> Yeah, that No, no.

15:42>> Yeah, just to clarify, so this item

15:45pertains to uh Grafton Street down by

15:47Roosevelt School. No. Uh down by Grafton

15:50Street School, 280 Grafton Street. No,

15:53no. We're saying this petition is by the

15:55Roosevelt School.

15:56>> Oh. Oh, so I got up for the wrong one.

15:59>> Yeah. [laughter]

16:02>> Well,

16:02>> we know now.

16:04>> Okay. Well, that was a kind of waste of

16:05a breath. [laughter]

16:07>> I heard Grafton Street. So long.

16:08>> Gotcha. Thanks.

16:22confuse me.

16:23>> Yeah. Yeah. Confused all of us.

16:28>> Zoom.

16:40>> So, just for clarific clarification

16:42purposes, because it wasn't specifically

16:44written, it's not all Grafton Street

16:46that this petition is for. is for the

16:50section of where Roosevelt School is at.

16:53>> Yeah.

16:53>> Yeah.

16:53>> And Mr. Chair, I can clarify further

16:55just for people's information. So, this

16:57would be

16:58>> it's not all Grafton Street. This is

16:59just for the area of where Roosevelt

17:02School. He's going to clarify it right

17:03now.

17:03>> Yeah. I'd be extending from the driveway

17:05of Roosevelt

17:07um up toward up toward the shopping

17:09plazas

17:11um

17:13to uh all the way to Enid Street

17:16>> all the way to

17:17>> which is just past Taco Bell and the the

17:19Bay State Bank there.

17:20>> There you go. So that area Taco Bell Bay

17:24S Roosevelt School.

17:27>> All right. So there's nothing for the

17:30street.

17:31>> No.

17:32>> No. Your 30-m minute parking is safe.

17:35>> But my question is every time we park

17:37there, we use a parking thing. We always

17:39get ticketed for some reason. We are

17:41getting multiple tickets.

17:43>> Yes.

17:44>> So, let me we'll give you our number so

17:46you can talk to us offline. This doesn't

17:48pertain to that.

17:50>> Yeah. Just trying to keep it all in

17:51order.

17:52>> Okay.

17:53>> But thank you.

17:54>> Thank you.

17:54>> Okay.

17:56>> Name and residence, please.

17:57>> How you doing? My name is S. Louis and

18:00I'm going to talk about

18:02uh 90day ban in Grafton Street.

18:06>> Yeah.

18:06>> I want to tell you guys know let you

18:09guys know that is making it worse. It

18:12the traffic the line before it move

18:15faster now it move left. I have video

18:18the traffic is stuck in five and six and

18:22seven minute stuck. They're stuck.

18:25People even I have video of people even

18:27turning around and going the other way.

18:30Mr. Rolley was there for 20 minutes. I

18:32bet you if I ask him how many cars went

18:35in battery or limited,

18:38he had no clue. Zero. Zero car went in

18:42battery limited. Mr. Folo was there on

18:44the 27. I can ask him how many car went

18:47in there. I bet you he he don't know how

18:49many car went in there. Zero cars. And I

18:52have all videos. I have all the videos

18:54and the picture the the cons in in front

18:58of battery unlimited that was everything

19:02and I have picture you can see before

19:05the con is the problem after the con the

19:09traveling line is free with the 90 band

19:13it the same thing I have picture and

19:15video you can see clearly

19:17behind the con is a mess everybody stuck

19:21for minute now worse than before after

19:24the con and the crosswalk over there.

19:28Clear, free and clear. Plus the most

19:31important thing, they putting the kid in

19:35danger

19:37with all those kid now have to go to

19:40walk to Grafton 3 and sixth grader.

19:44walking between cars and in winter time

19:48will be worse because now when the snow

19:50come all those kid they want to go in

19:55the car in the right side the car had to

19:58go halfway in the middle in the

20:01traveling lane if you want to enter the

20:05kid from the driver side

20:08somebody going to get killed over there

20:10that that that's for winter time and I

20:13have all the picture and the evidence

20:17and uh I don't know if if they want to

20:19be serious and and take a look with me.

20:22Uh you guys can have a better judgment

20:24because Oha and Both and you guys you

20:29guys never been there. Folo is busy over

20:32there working with the with the housing.

20:35Mr.

20:37uh Rolley and and the assistant I see

20:40them couple of times over there but it's

20:42problem right in front of their nose and

20:44uh they cannot figure it out yet

20:49what I have to say I don't know

20:51>> thank thank you Louie

20:52>> I think

20:53>> um anybody else here to speak on this

20:54item do we have anybody online

20:57>> two we do have one person raising their

21:00hands online to speaker kila I will go

21:02ahead and allow uh recognize you

21:06You can press star six to unmute.

21:09>> Hello.

21:11>> Hi. Can you hear me?

21:12>> Yes. Can you give a name and residence,

21:14please?

21:15>> Hi, my name is Kayla. Um, I'm I'm a

21:17Wester resident. Um, earlier, I believe

21:20yesterday, I submitted a uh email to the

21:24city councilors and the mayor in regards

21:26to the parking ban on Grafton Street

21:29that is proposed. I also submitted

21:31videos on three different occasions that

21:33showed that the parking ban in fact is

21:36not resolving the issue. The parking ban

21:38in fact is causing more congestion than

21:41it does because now the cars cannot

21:43flow. The traffic does not flow. A car

21:45cannot safely pull over to the side of

21:47the road and let the traffic flow. The

21:49cars now stand in the middle of the

21:52street and wait in order to access the

21:55school. The cars are blocking now are

21:58blocking entrances to the businesses

22:01because they have nowhere to go. So, not

22:04only did the parking van not help the

22:07situation, it's making it worse. So, the

22:11the traffic isn't flowing, the kids are

22:13being put at risk. So, come wintertime

22:16when there's ice and snow, I'm not sure

22:19how some of these cars are going to make

22:21it up the small little hill of

22:23Roosevelt, how some of these kids are

22:25going to cross the street with ice and

22:27snow on the ground. Um, I really think

22:30that this is just a traffic issue and

22:33not an access to business issue because

22:36if the cars are pulled over to the side

22:38of the road, the traffic can flow and

22:41business can be accessed. But when the

22:43cars are in the middle of the street,

22:45stop at a standstill going all the way

22:48back to Burger King because I submitted

22:50videos that clearly show that. And I'm

22:54not sure if you guys seen them. I

22:56submitted three videos on three

22:58different occasions that show that the

22:59traffic goes past the traffic signs from

23:01the plaza. And that obviously shows that

23:05the parking ban is not helping. It's

23:08making it worse.

23:12Thank you.

23:13>> Thank you,

23:14>> Commissioner Rob Fzo. You want to speak

23:16on the matter? Yes. Can I get councelor

23:17Fzo to speak on item? Mr. Chairman,

23:20through you, I [clears throat] couldn't

23:22disagree more

23:24in all in all honesty for anyone to say

23:28that the

23:30condition

23:32that we have now implemented there is

23:35worse than before. Uh people started

23:39parking on Grafton Street at 12:30

23:43and they would line up in front of those

23:46businesses and as far back to Dalton

23:49Street for for over an hour the sir if

23:54you would. Okay.

23:58They

24:00that area of road was

24:05affected by people parking in their cars

24:08for over an hour to be the first one or

24:11the closest one to the door when they

24:14allowed cars to come on to Roosevelt's

24:17property. And in doing so, they affected

24:21traffic on Grafton Street for well over

24:23an hour. Now, what you're talking about

24:26is not perfect. You're right. But it

24:28happens. You just said it, sir, for 10

24:31minutes. 10 minutes as opposed to an

24:34hour and a half. How you can say that

24:38that is worse?

24:41I just am bewildered that anyone could

24:45feel that way. Secondly,

24:47[clears throat and cough] we have tried

24:48to work with the principal

24:51to allow

24:54parents to come on to the property and

24:56she has allowed parents to come onto the

24:59property at 2:00.

25:02I'm aware that the dismissal is at 2:18

25:06once

25:08those cars start to flow on the

25:10property. And then I I also let me stop

25:12here and say the young lady that spoke

25:15said, "How are they going to make the

25:16hill in the snow?" Well, they've made

25:18the hill in the snow prior to they've

25:21made the hill. They come up they they've

25:24picked up their kids

25:26for how long the school has been open.

25:30They've picked up their kids and they've

25:31made it up the hill. So, I guess they'll

25:33make it up the hill the same way they

25:34made it up the hill right along.

25:37And uh as far as I'm concerned, can it

25:41be tweaked? Yes. Mr. Raleigh

25:45and his assistant

25:47uh are looking into certain ways to

25:49tweak it. But for anyone to say that,

25:54and I can't tell you, Mr. Chairman, how

25:56many people have come up to me and

25:58thanked me for the improvement

26:02of that road? Not only the businesses,

26:05but residents of that area said, "I

26:09would never go near there

26:12prior to you putting the no parking

26:16exist existing signs up there." So, uh,

26:19again, uh, if it's such an issue, we

26:23have two people here tonight saying it's

26:24it's worse than before. You don't have

26:28anyone else here saying negative things

26:31about it because in all honesty, it's

26:34much improved.

26:36And I'll leave it there, Mr. Chairman.

26:38Thank you,

26:39>> Commissioner Raleigh.

26:41>> Yeah. Thank you, Mr. Chair. So,

26:44[clears throat] uh, when we introduced

26:45this item to the city council, one of

26:46the things that we wanted to be very

26:48clear about is that, um, and this is

26:51true at schools all across the city. So,

26:53we have circumstances now where, um, a

26:56majority of kids are getting picked up

26:58by automobile. We don't have as many

26:59kids walking, taking buses as as used

27:02to. And so that creates a very

27:04significant problem because you have

27:06particularly in the afternoon dismissal,

27:08you have a bunch of automobiles trying

27:09to show up to the exact same place at

27:11the exact same time. Um, and so it

27:14overwhelms the capacity of the system to

27:16deal with that. What we observed out at

27:19Roosevelt is that the onsite parking

27:23areas didn't seem to be being utilized

27:26as efficiently as they could to help

27:28with that process.

27:30And as a result, we saw traffic that was

27:34looking to basically wait on Grafton

27:36Street. Uh, and you know, if that street

27:40was configured in a way where parking on

27:42street was safe and not disruptive, that

27:45would be a

27:47>> that would that would be a different

27:48story. But, uh, in this case, we have a

27:51location where the shoulder is not

27:53really wide enough to function as a a

27:55safe, um, parking lane. So, we see cars

27:59having to moving vehicles having to

28:01cross the double yellow line uh as these

28:04cars queued up in the parking lane.

28:06There's very frequent driveways in this

28:07section. So, that makes it difficult to

28:09see when you're coming in and out of the

28:11driveways, which is a safety issue. And

28:13there also uses that have very very high

28:16rates of use at this time. So, there's

28:17fast food restaurants and and other

28:19similar types of business with a lot of

28:21traffic coming in and out. Um, so it was

28:23creating a problematic situation. And as

28:25councelor Friso said, we observed

28:27vehicles queuing there well over an hour

28:30before dismissal time, which was

28:32surprising to me to be honest. Um, so

28:36it's creating this very extended period

28:37of time where there were safety issues

28:39observed. Those cues were extending back

28:40to the shopping center. They're blocking

28:42the travel lane. Um, vehicles were

28:44parking out around the curb extension

28:47near the crosswalk.

28:49So what we did is we convened a group uh

28:52that involved ourselves, Worcester

28:54Police Department, um Roosevelt School,

28:58and we started looking at first of all,

29:00what can we do to improve the um drop

29:04off and and pickup procedures on the

29:06school to to make those more efficient.

29:09Um and so as part of that and also

29:11working with the the Massachusetts safe

29:12route to schools program, uh a scheme

29:16was developed where the entire parking

29:18lot is utilized which allows more of the

29:20vehicles to access the on-site parking

29:23lot at any one time. Um reducing the

29:26need for people to queue and wait on

29:28Grafton Street. Uh and the way that's

29:30made safe is that the school is very

29:32strict about making sure that everyone's

29:34vehicles are stopped and the motors are

29:36off. Kids come out of the school, they

29:39go to the vehicles. Only when everybody

29:41is loaded up do they get the start your

29:43engines and that queue goes away and a

29:46second wave can can come in. Um, has it

29:50completely addressed the situation? No,

29:52it hasn't. And just like at other

29:54schools around the city, we're always

29:55going to see a period of time where

29:57there's significant congestion that

29:58happens right around drop off and right

30:00around um pickup. It's just it's too

30:02many vehicles going to one place at one

30:04time. Um but the thing we have observed

30:08is that it has helped with the safety

30:10issue uh at the the driveway locations

30:13and it did seem to significantly shorten

30:16the duration of that impact. So when

30:17we've been out there postimplementation

30:20of this what we saw is yes there was a

30:23period of time where Grafton Street was

30:24very heavily congested stop and go at

30:27times that lasted about 10 minutes. Um,

30:30so it was significantly shorter than

30:32what we were uh observing previously.

30:35There's more to be done. We're going to

30:37work with the school in the fall again

30:38um to continue to try to improve the

30:40efficiency of their their on-site pickup

30:44um to help share information with

30:45parents about how they can best um time

30:48their arrival so that they're minimizing

30:51uh you know the amount of time that

30:52they're impacting the street or looking

30:53for a place to wait if they are early.

30:56Um we have we are continuing to allow

30:59parking on Grafton Street itself beyond

31:02the driveway. So there is an area um

31:04that's not interrupted by by um crossing

31:08driveways and has a little bit more

31:10width in that parking lane. There is an

31:12area where parents can wait there. Um

31:14and the city is also resurfacing this

31:17section of Grafton Street in the coming

31:19year. When that happens, we'll actually

31:21make that parking lane uh that's south

31:24of the drive, actually east of the

31:25driveway, southeast. Uh we'll make that

31:28a little bit wider, too. So, it'll be a

31:30better accommodation for those folks,

31:31including in winter when you've got some

31:33some snow accumulation there. So, um,

31:37you know, we continue to recommend that

31:39that parking be prohibited on the

31:41portions of Grafton Street to the west

31:44of the driveway. Um, just for the simple

31:46matter that the street is not suited to

31:48accommodate on street parking. Uh, and

31:50the impacts that were observed from that

31:53um were of of concern to us.

31:57>> Councelor Bolato, you anything you want

31:59to share on this item?

32:02I I just Yeah, I understand that the

32:04challenge was pick up here and I think

32:05the hope was from the city to to, you

32:08know, have parents start, you know,

32:10going up the driveway to pick up

32:13children and then coming back down. Um,

32:15I can understand some of the the

32:17concerns, but I just want to say, you

32:19know, in in with winter pickup, you

32:22know, having, you know, foot of snow,

32:25eight inches of snow on the curb, and

32:26then having cars stay on the street to

32:29pick up um students. And I think that

32:32just can be very dangerous, too. And and

32:35like to hopefully encourage, you know,

32:38drivers to um have children, you know,

32:41get in the car on on the passenger side.

32:43We don't want, you know, kids getting

32:45out of getting in the car on the

32:46driver's side. But I I do feel that, you

32:49know, having cars pick up on the street

32:51in in the winter time is is very

32:54dangerous. So, I think we really need to

32:57work with the school and I think the

32:58school really needs to step up to

33:00encourage and inform u parents that, you

33:04know, this option's there and it's it's

33:06going to be much safer. considering the

33:08amount of construction that's going to

33:09be happening on that area of Grafton

33:10Street with some new apartments coming

33:12in, it's going to be very very

33:13challenging. So, I think we really need

33:15to push for parents to and and and

33:18whoever's picking up to to use the the

33:21the um the parking lot that was built.

33:24So,

33:26>> thank you.

33:28Needed something else that

33:31>> Can I take something

33:33or we finished?

33:34>> Quick, please. Go ahead.

33:36>> Okay. Uh Mr. Folo, how can you say there

33:39is there is a lot better now? Look at

33:42those pictures. Uh after before and

33:46after uh in January 22nd the tension

33:50between

33:52>> look at those two.

33:56>> After this is before cleaning.

34:03>> Mr. Chairman, I I don't need to see the

34:05pictures. I' I've been on the street

34:08several days, maybe uh 50 days, uh

34:12seeing how traffic is. I I've monitored

34:15this situation like no one has,

34:17>> but I appreciate this. And you're right.

34:19It's like this for 10 minutes. You're

34:22right. Excuse me.

34:24>> It's right. It's it's it's like that for

34:2610 minutes as opposed to what it was.

34:29Why didn't you take pictures ear uh

34:31prior to when when the when the uh

34:36situation was as bad as it was all the

34:38way back to Burger King, uh people would

34:42line up for an hour.

34:43>> An hour. That that that's not

34:45>> Oh, that's that's not exaggeration.

34:47That's exaggeration.

34:48>> January 20 22nd.

34:50>> Mr. Chairman, I'm all set. Okay. Thank

34:52you.

34:52>> I just I just want to say how liar how

34:54how much lie you saying. Yeah,

34:57>> this is all lie

34:58>> when you sit in January 20 22nd.

35:01>> Can I No, no. Yeah, we're good because

35:05we're we're not we're going not being

35:07productive and Okay. I I do have the um

35:10commissioners um recommend

35:12recommendation the studies they did, you

35:15know, counsel stuff like that. So, um

35:17but I think somebody else wanted to

35:19speak.

35:20>> Yeah, go ahead. Come on up. Give the

35:22young lady time to speak.

35:24Name and res, please. Hi, my name is

35:26Kristen McAuliff. I live at 38 Bedford

35:28A.

35:29>> Okay.

35:30>> I would like to ask what you're going to

35:31do about traffic studies once 471 units

35:35go across the street from Roosevelt

35:36School. When are those traffic studies

35:38going to begin?

35:39>> Okay, that item is not on, but I have

35:42the commissioner here and I'm sure that

35:44they're going to be very prepared for

35:46that. So, I'm going to let him answer

35:47that question.

35:47>> Thank you,

35:48>> Mr. Chair. The one thing I will say is

35:50that there those are all reviewed by the

35:51planning board and a traffic study is

35:53conducted by the planning board for any

35:55large development like that by

35:58>> all right before we move to approve this

36:00item I do want to put a chairman's order

36:02that I want to ask department of

36:04transportation because I met with Louie

36:06I've been there I bet the school I know

36:08the the craziness the traffic everything

36:11I know the safety concerns I've seen it

36:14I want to ask the um department of

36:16transportation mobility the

36:18and Cman Folo to work with the school

36:21cuz we need to make a make it better for

36:24the parents picking up these kids. Uh

36:26the traffic is is is really tough there.

36:29But but for now, we're going to move to

36:32approve the item. Roll call.

36:36>> Councelor Bilada.

36:38>> Yes.

36:38>> Councelor O'Hara and Chairman Councelor

36:40Rivera.

36:41>> Yes.

36:43All right. Moving on to 5B.

36:48Sherry Robinson request installation of

36:50no parking anytime signage between 4 and

36:538 Perry A to deter vehicle from blocking

36:56the driveways.

36:58Anybody hearing that item?

37:01>> Stop signing.

37:03>> No, not yet.

37:04>> Not yet.

37:05>> We're getting we're getting there.

37:07>> Okay.

37:08>> Sorry. Um, anybody online?

37:12>> To sure there's no one raising their

37:13hands on Zoom. Commissioner Raleigh,

37:16this is 5B.

37:18>> Yeah, thank you, Mr. Chair. Um, so this

37:21request was there are two houses with a

37:23very small uh space between their

37:26driveway, driveways of about 8 feet. Um,

37:30they were requesting that no parking

37:31signs be installed there. It's already

37:33prohibited by by statutory ordinance.

37:36You can't park within 5t of a driveway.

37:38So, that basically prohibits parking

37:40through there.

37:42you know, we don't we don't typically

37:44sign that unless there's a demonstrated

37:47history of vehicles violating that. And

37:50just from viewing the site and viewing

37:52the available aerial photography, I'm

37:54not seeing evidence of regular issues

37:57here. So, I'm reluctant to recommend

37:59approval. Um, you know, it's it's only

38:02an 8ft section. If someone's parking

38:03there, they know they're parking in a

38:05place they can't. So, I don't think

38:06signage is going to help the issue. And

38:08I recommend file. receive anybody online

38:11on that item.

38:13Chair is no more raising their hands.

38:26>> Uh Mr. Chair, maybe uh if we could hold

38:28this item, we'll try to follow up with

38:29the the petitioner and see if we can get

38:32more information.

38:32>> Sounds good. Move to hold the item. Roll

38:35call.

38:36>> Councelor Bilada.

38:37>> Yes. Councelor O'Hada and chairperson

38:40councelor Rivera.

38:41>> Yes. Moving on to 5C. Councelor Robert

38:44Bada request installation of no parking

38:46anytime signage on the even side of

38:48Elliot Street between Eastern A and

38:50Edward Street.

38:54Anybody here to speak on this item?

39:02Name and residence, please. Reinardo

39:05Chave.

39:06Yeah.

39:08I just got a question. Uh I own 65 Aliot

39:11Street. Is it three family?

39:12>> Okay.

39:13>> Are they going to affect the tree there,

39:14not part or is going to be the whole

39:16Aliot tree or?

39:18>> Commissioner Raleigh.

39:20>> Yeah, Mr. Chair. Just let me look up

39:21that property to see exactly where it

39:24where it is. Um

39:27I think I think it is on the

39:30>> It says on the side of Elliot Street.

39:32>> It's going to be impossible. You know

39:33what I mean? There's there's only three

39:34houses on the road. There's no park

39:36space either or.

39:37>> Yeah. Through through the chair. So

39:39that's actually outside of the area that

39:41we're we're recommending. Um

39:44>> doesn't affect you.

39:45>> It's not going to affect.

39:46>> No.

39:46>> Because it's just going to be very hard.

39:48There's no park space then.

39:49>> Yeah.

39:50>> So good then.

39:51>> So So I just want to to clarify and also

39:54wanted to mention that a related item

39:56that it might make sense to take at the

39:58same time is um

40:00>> we do have a problem that I've been

40:02trying to work with the engineer

40:04department. Uben have a problem right

40:05around the corner right before my house.

40:08I know he's in the top of the hill. They

40:09have a water problem built into the to

40:12the side of the road but Uben have a lot

40:15of problem in the winter. The water come

40:17from the road and create this big ice.

40:19So you have like every year we have five

40:21six accident in the winter time. So I've

40:23been work with them but there's no

40:24progress. Just I want to point it out to

40:26you guys.

40:26>> No I appreciate putting it out but that

40:28would be a different item on a different

40:30uh committee.

40:31>> Okay. All right.

40:32>> But thank you. Thank you very much.

40:34>> You got it,

40:35>> Mr. Chair. I'd recommend that we also

40:37take items 6B at the same time because

40:39they they are related.

40:41>> So 5C and

40:44six

40:49>> I believe it's 6B.

40:50>> 6B

40:53is right here.

40:57It's uh yeah, Councelor Rob Bella

41:00requests Elliot Street be made a one-way

41:02street.

41:04>> That's correct.

41:05>> Gotcha. So, the two proposals are um for

41:09this section of Elliot Street, which

41:11extends from Eastern Avenue to the west

41:13essentially to its end, it turns into um

41:17well, it intersects Edward Street and

41:18then shortly after turns into to Liberty

41:20Avenue. Um it's an extremely narrow

41:23section of street. It's only 23 feet

41:25wide. Uh, so what that means is that if

41:27you ever, and people are pretty good

41:29about not doing this, but sometimes it

41:31does happen. If you ever have cars

41:32parked on both sides of the roadway,

41:34there's no way you can get through. Um,

41:36and if you're a firet truck or

41:37something, ambulance, it's it's just

41:39impossible. So,

41:41>> um, what's being recommended here and

41:42and we agree with is from Elliot Street

41:46to the west, which is this narrow

41:48section, um, to prohibit parking on the

41:50south side of the street. we've observed

41:5399% of people already are not parking on

41:55this side of the street. Um and then

41:58additionally

41:59at this width, it's still very difficult

42:02to travel down there uh with two-way

42:04traffic if you have um vehicles parked

42:07even on the one side. So recommending

42:09also to make it one way in the westbound

42:11direction. So basically going from

42:13Eastern A um toward Liberty Avenue. So

42:16we recommend uh approval of both of

42:19those items. Councelor Bolato, you want

42:21anything you want to share in this? No,

42:23>> I appreciate uh TTM's analysis and um

42:26you know, I think this will definitely

42:27help alleviate, especially in the

42:29winter, just alleviate traffic

42:30congestion and make the street safer and

42:32um provide better traffic flow. So,

42:34thank you.

42:35>> All right, so we move to approve the

42:36item. Roll call.

42:38>> Councelor Bada,

42:40>> yes.

42:40>> Councelor O'Hara

42:43and Jefferson, Councelor Rivera,

42:45>> yes. All right. So, we're going to move.

42:47We're going to take 5D and 5e together.

42:50Um, Maria Castillo request installation

42:53of no parking anytime signage on the

42:56even side of South Street and Maria

42:59Castillo request installation of no

43:00parking anytime signage at the driveway

43:02of 8 Chapen Street. Um, anybody here to

43:06speak on this item?

43:09Come on up.

43:17name and residence, please.

43:19>> Hi, Matthew Early Worcester. Um, I own

43:22three houses on South Street. The

43:25parking is very tight. There's only in

43:27the winter parking ban, if I'm not uh

43:30incorrect, is only on the even side.

43:33There's no parking really for the staff

43:36at Union Hill School with exasperates

43:38the parking. So, I'm just not sure where

43:40the tenants will park if we can't park

43:42on the on the even side. Maybe if they

43:45know they do it from Chapman Street

43:48towards Dorchester Street, that won't

43:50affect the the side of South Street

43:53where all the nine houses are.

43:56That's it.

43:57>> Thank you. Okay. Name and residence.

44:03>> Hi. So, my name is Maria Cast. um

44:08um or the contrary of what the gentleman

44:12just says, uh South Street um on the

44:17even numbers, they park all the way on

44:23that on that side on South Street and

44:27the right side on South Street is for

44:30residential parking only. Uh, thank God

44:33we've been living there for 30 years and

44:37I love my house. I love the piece and I

44:40would like to congratulate all of you

44:42for your amazing work to the s

44:45especially I appreciate what you're

44:47doing. I seen how the neighborhood uh

44:51have been changed. I haven't talked

44:53about this yet but uh not everything is

44:56bad. I seen the change in the

44:58neighborhood. 30 years is a lot of time

45:01to see the progress. So, um I appreciate

45:05you know the cross for the kids in front

45:07of our house. We have the union school

45:10and also we have the Worster Academy.

45:14So, they always cross in front of our

45:16house and then they have the pathway to

45:19go to the um football stadium and the

45:22amazing new building in which we are so

45:26grateful. There are so many they're so

45:28grateful kids. They're amazing kids. So

45:30everything is good. So um that is great.

45:35So not everything is bad. This is really

45:37really good and we more than grateful

45:39for it. So not the part that it concern

45:43us. Um, so I've been dealing and going

45:48back and forth here at the at the

45:50courthouse and also um I've been to the

45:54Worster public work and I've been

45:58talking to the gentleman names um as

46:00well um

46:02Mr. Kotoski.

46:06And um the next day that I I spoke with

46:10him, a police officer, he just turned on

46:13his webcam and in front of my house. Uh

46:16my house is a the corner right between

46:19South and Chap. It's right there in the

46:22corner. So we have the crosswalk of the

46:28for the kids. And then we have our own

46:31driveway. So the on we put um um the

46:36police officer said that Maria but

46:38that's not a legal sign. Well I I need

46:42to put something because they keep

46:44blocking us. I have many pictures here

46:47that I'm not willing to show as an

46:50evidence. Um, so he decided to take the

46:55measurements and he put tape on it and

46:57he said, "Maria, this is not it's not

47:00even 4 feet available to park a car."

47:04So, I'm going to suggest it. This is the

47:07police officer saying that to to put the

47:11no parking and also I have my driveway

47:15that don't don't block my driveway that

47:18is in front of the house. So um so I was

47:21so grateful to the police officer and to

47:24Mr. Koski to the to the city hall her I

47:28know her uh for so many times. So there

47:31were two other thing that um

47:35uh uh if I me able to say or to make a

47:39small comment um when I came here so

47:44because of I we care we care about the

47:48kids we care about the workers we give

47:51water we could do car we could we

47:57it means something so we do not

48:00appreciate

48:02that the faces of the dogs people do not

48:07care. I cannot be sitting on the chair

48:10waiting for people come with the

48:13>> I know.

48:14>> I know that's a problem but just not

48:16part of this meeting.

48:17>> I know. I know. I know. I'm so sorry.

48:19>> Sorry. No problem. No problem. I just

48:20trying to you got a lot of people here

48:22and

48:22>> I know but I understand your issue and

48:25>> Yeah. Exactly. Because this street they

48:27have the sign from here.

48:30>> I'm going to I'm going to do it again.

48:31It's okay.

48:32>> No, we'll be happy to contact the

48:34department inspectional services.

48:36>> Who?

48:36>> The department inspectional services.

48:38The department of inspectional services.

48:41That's

48:41>> okay. Your council for will help you

48:43out.

48:43>> I will do that. And the last one.

48:49>> No. So I that's it.

48:51>> Thank you so much.

48:52>> Yes. Go ahead.

48:53>> They even park in the school is a No

48:57parking space if they park overnight

49:00>> block blocking that one way.

49:03>> Yeah.

49:03>> And then that's not right.

49:05>> Do you guys call 311 on that?

49:07>> We call

49:08>> 311.

49:08>> They come. Yeah.

49:09>> Okay. They do come.

49:10>> They don't do nothing.

49:11>> They don't do nothing. Okay. No

49:12enforcement.

49:13>> Okay. We'll work on that.

49:14>> We call at 311 and they just take the

49:17car and sometimes um I put signs on the

49:21winter. Please do not block that way. in

49:24the morning I said how long you gonna

49:26stay because I go very nicely and he

49:30just shouted at me and I said oh my god

49:33so sometimes we feel victims and we

49:35don't know I mean I'm not 40 or 30 years

49:39old I don't 100% strength so anything

49:41that they could harm to us so we became

49:44that prisoners in our own house so when

49:48once the city takes over I mean we did

49:52so many things that the city. I'm so

49:54proud of the city because the one way on

49:57South Street, I was the one who was

49:59doing the we did so many great things.

50:02But now we have this business this is

50:04serious situation and by law you know

50:09the measurements and everything uh it

50:11needs to be taken care of. We appreciate

50:14on on that situation because there's

50:17obviously there's no space for parking

50:19and also please do not block our traffic

50:22because it's it's ridiculous at 12:00 at

50:25night 311 is closed. So we we have to do

50:30whatever we can and and we try to make

50:32the peace but uh this guy coming up to

50:36me and wow this is too much. I don't

50:39want to lose anybody. So, please help us

50:42with this and I appreciate that.

50:44>> Councelor Poor, you have anything you

50:45want to say?

50:48>> Uh, no, Mr. Chairman. I know the area

50:50well. I grew up in Union Hill and we

50:53just had a cleanup in that neighborhood.

50:55So, I know the parking is difficult and

50:57uh I agree with the recommendation from

51:00the city.

51:02>> Yeah. Um, Mr. Chair, so I I'm actually

51:05wondering and uh this is a little bit of

51:07a Yep. A little bit of a change from a

51:09recommendation. I'm wondering if it

51:10makes sense to hold this item for one

51:12meeting so we can go out and and meet

51:14with the petitioners because you've

51:16described several different issues out

51:18there and I want to make sure that we've

51:19got the right solution before we you

51:21know before we vote it through. So um if

51:25I could through the chair the second

51:28issue the issue with your driveway

51:30that's the driveway on the chapen street

51:32side is that correct? Is that where

51:34you're having issues with people

51:36blocking it or on the south street side?

51:38No, no, it is a chap street. Okay. So

51:40the guy said, "Oh, it's uh so we have

51:43you know the the entrance as as the

51:46driveway. So we have we don't have the

51:49asphalt. We we have it in the dirt." And

51:51he said, "It's not in the asphalt." I

51:53go, "Sir, I want to be the green because

51:56not everything is alpha." Asphalt, you

51:59need the green. No, kids can run in the

52:02green. We don't need to put everything

52:04is alpha or cement. So he that's when he

52:08just got like a fire fire back at me and

52:11I said no I want to keep it the way that

52:14it is but it is a driveway so we can go

52:16in and out as because that's our we pay

52:20taxes for this for this all this right

52:22now.

52:22>> So Mr. Chair the good news is I think we

52:25have previously taken action that should

52:27have resulted in no parking signs there

52:28already and if they're not there I'll

52:30need to find out why. Um, but there

52:34should be no parking signs there already

52:35is my understanding. So, my

52:37recommendation on the second one would

52:38be to go ahead and hold that item so we

52:40can investigate that. If if my memor is

52:43correct and the signs aren't there,

52:44we'll get those installed. Um, and then

52:47we could file the item at a later

52:48meeting. But, um, for the first one, in

52:50terms of parking on one side of South

52:52Street or the other, there's a couple of

52:53different ways we could approach this.

52:55One is we could prohibit parking. That

52:57would have some negative impacts in the

52:58neighborhood in terms of reducing the

53:00number of spaces. Um, but the street is

53:02very narrow to have parking on both

53:04sides of the street. Just as a way of

53:06comparison, the the street I live on,

53:08which I know you're familiar with, is um

53:12same width as this street. So, uh, you

53:14know, we have parking allowed on one

53:16side of our street. When someone does

53:17park on both sides, it's it's pretty

53:19tough for for vehicles to pass through.

53:21>> Another option is we could look at

53:23making this section of South Street one

53:25way, though, and that the street would

53:26be wide enough to accommodate parking on

53:28both sides. So, I think if you're

53:31agreeable to this, I think it makes

53:32sense to hold this item and I can go out

53:35and and meet with the residents out

53:36there and and see if there's consensus

53:39as to which approach is the right way to

53:41do it.

53:41>> Receive. So, we we brought C and D

53:44together. So, are we holding both C and

53:46D or just C or just D or just both?

53:48>> Mr. Chair, I'd recommend both.

53:49>> Okay.

53:51>> Can I say something else? Because

53:53between the because the the fire the

53:56crosswalk for the kids. The fire hydrant

53:59is there. The emergency ram is there.

54:03Then you have the space by law that you

54:05know uh no parking because of that. So

54:09they only have five feet because the

54:10police officer did. Then our driveway is

54:14there. So nobody respect. I mean whoever

54:17speaking of the kids is fine with us. We

54:20happy to. Why not? It's the fact that

54:24the neighbors just it's too much. We

54:27don't want that. So, it's like a no

54:29parking and please do not block on

54:30driveway is

54:32>> So, Mr. Chair, I believe we have I

54:33believe the driveway we've already

54:35passed that regulation. So, if that's

54:36the case, we'll get we'll get the work

54:38order and to get those signs installed.

54:40I just need to confirm that.

54:41>> Yeah, no problem. We'll hold the items

54:43roll to have one person raising their

54:45hands on Zoom.

54:46>> Sorry. Go ahead.

54:47>> Yeah. to speaker Nana Amaning. Um, you

54:50can press star six to unmute.

54:52>> Yes, please.

54:52>> Okay.

54:53>> Hello.

54:53>> Thank you so much.

54:55>> Hello. Are you doing name and uh

54:56residence please?

54:58>> I'm Nana Manning. I'm a resident of

55:00South Street.

55:02>> Go ahead.

55:03>> Hi. So, I actually live in one of the

55:06properties that Matt mentioned. I've

55:08lived here for a few years. The road is

55:11narrow. I do understand that. And uh I

55:14just there would be nowhere for anyone

55:16to park if we got rid of parking on the

55:18even side. It's already extremely

55:21unfortunate in the winter. Sometimes I

55:23live at the all the way at the end

55:24towards Shannon Street. Sometimes I have

55:26to walk with my groceries from the end

55:28of Union Hill probably where Maria is

55:31mentioning where her house is just to

55:33get to my house with all my bags and

55:34stuff. And if we get rid of parking on

55:36the opposite side, it's going to be

55:38extremely limited. Um, I I I don't know.

55:44Maybe she can get a no parking. I think

55:46she already mentioned that she's

55:47supposed to have one for her area, but I

55:48think putting no parking on the whole

55:50street would be very unfortunate for the

55:52people who live here and who don't have

55:54access to driveways because I can't park

55:57in a driveway.

55:58>> Thank you. Na, we're going to move to

55:59hold the item.

56:01>> Yeah, Mr. Chair, if either of the other

56:02people who spoke on this want to discuss

56:04it further with our office, they can

56:06just reach out to um mobilitywormma.gov.

56:10gov. Um, or they can call us at 508. I'm

56:13going to get the number wrong, Todd,

56:15because I never remember our number. Um,

56:1792,

56:19>> sorry,

56:19>> phone numbers are available now that we

56:21programmed them all in

56:22>> our 508 929300

56:26extension 49500

56:30>> or mobility uh at wormma.gov. So, if you

56:33want to reach out and you have any

56:34thoughts on this or or just want to keep

56:36track of what our thinking is prior to

56:38the next hearing, happy to chat with

56:40folks.

56:42>> All right. Thank you. Uh move to all the

56:45items. Roll call.

56:46>> Councelor Bada.

56:48>> Yes.

56:48>> Councelor O'Hara and chairperson.

56:50Councelor Rivera.

56:52>> Yes. All right. We're going to move to

56:55item 5F and 5G. We're going to bring

56:59together. Um we got 5F. Jody Rhiner

57:03request installation of permanent no

57:05parking anytime signage on Berno Street

57:07along the bike lane. And uh 5G council

57:11Tony Economo request installation of no

57:14parking anytime signage along the bike

57:16path uh routes on Burko Street in the

57:19interest of public safety. Uh name and

57:21address please.

57:22>> Hi, I'm Jody Rhymer, 105 Hillcraftoft A.

57:25Um we have a bike lane on both sides of

57:28Burncoat. Um, and it is frequent daily

57:31occurrence that people will park in the

57:34bike lane. And there are two issues. I

57:36think some people are just repeat

57:38offenders, especially if you see someone

57:40parked half in the bike lane and half on

57:42the street or half on the sidewalk that

57:44know they're not supposed to do that.

57:46Um, but I think a bigger issue in

57:49general is that it's not very dwell very

57:52well demarcated. And so the bike lane in

57:55some spart spots is almost wide enough

57:57to look like it could fit a car, but

57:59it's not quite. Um, and the painting on

58:03the street, there's like 50 yards

58:05between. So I could see people thinking,

58:08oh, it's parking, especially if they're,

58:10you know, visiting or not from from the

58:13neighborhood. And there's just not good

58:15signage that that indicates no parking

58:18because it is a bike lane. So just any

58:20way to to get people to understand that

58:23better. It's my my request. Thanks.

58:26>> Thank you. Name and address, please.

58:29>> Yeah. I'm uh Terrence Seymour. I live at

58:32537 Bernoke. We live diagonally across

58:35from the Triangle.

58:37And uh anyways,

58:40the bike lane we have we have a split

58:43driveway that we share with our

58:45neighbors. The woman next door, the

58:47chair van comes. I parked my car out

58:50there so the chair van could pull

58:51around, swing in easier. I've gotten

58:54three tickets. Okay. And uh besides the

58:59bike, the the street is wider at that

59:02point just before the triangle. You can

59:04look it up. It's wider than the other

59:05ends. And I only see two people a week

59:08if I'm lucky even using the bike lane.

59:10And when I park, I pull right over to

59:12the curb. And besides, what do we do if

59:15we have company one day? They pull right

59:17in front of our house and they get a

59:18ticket. You know what I'm saying? That

59:21part of the that part of uh Burn Coat

59:24Street, it's wider and I don't think it

59:26should be uh closed, you know? I mean,

59:30but you know, for the bike lane. That's

59:33all I got. Thank you.

59:34>> Thank you.

59:37>> Feel the same way. It's like where when

59:40he parks it's usually

59:43>> on the weekend. Well, mo most of the

59:45time I park there on the weekend.

59:47>> I mean, across from us is Vendor

59:49>> because her son comes and visits us and

59:51so we don't want two cars out there. So,

59:53I park out there. So, anyway,

59:55>> across from us is Vendor Street or road

59:59and most people park out there. So, we

1:00:03can't really park there because it's

1:00:04already taken up by then if we have

1:00:07company or we want to whatever. So,

1:00:09where where are we supposed to park?

1:00:14if somebody comes. Uh

1:00:17>> and in the winter time, we make sure

1:00:19both cars are in the driveway on our

1:00:21side. We share a split driveway. So,

1:00:23>> and the people to the right of us have a

1:00:25lot of parties and they park out front.

1:00:27>> They have their their guests come. They

1:00:29parked all the way down uh almost all

1:00:31the way down to East Mountain Street

1:00:34>> and it's narrow down there. So, we we're

1:00:37not eligible for any like residential

1:00:39parking like one area.

1:00:42>> That's a different petition.

1:00:45>> Speak to your uh city counselor.

1:00:49>> Park in the triangle.

1:00:51>> Well, I don't think the city would

1:00:52appreciate it parking on the triangle,

1:00:54right?

1:00:55>> Well, anyways, I talked to Donna Colorio

1:00:58when she was here about residential

1:01:01parking and Yeah.

1:01:02>> never happened.

1:01:03>> Yeah.

1:01:05Well, I mean one area,

1:01:07>> right?

1:01:09>> City council over here can take care of

1:01:10you.

1:01:11>> So, is this going to be continued

1:01:13another time or

1:01:14>> Well, we're still we're still having

1:01:16testimony here, will you? [laughter]

1:01:18>> I'm sorry. I didn't know you

1:01:21>> name and res, please.

1:01:22>> Yeah. Good afternoon. My name is uh

1:01:25David Sheay. I've resided at 464 Buro

1:01:29Street for the last 40 years. Before

1:01:31that, I lived on Gunnison Road and prior

1:01:33to that Angina AB. So, I have been in

1:01:35the Burnco Street, upper Berno Street

1:01:37neighborhood my whole life. And today,

1:01:40I'm here to voice my opinion in

1:01:41opposition to these two items in the

1:01:43agenda.

1:01:45It appears the request includes all bike

1:01:47lanes on Burn Code Street from 146 to

1:01:51541 Burn Code as this is a section that

1:01:55was recently paved and then striped with

1:01:57bike lanes that did not exist before the

1:02:00repaving of the street.

1:02:03This section of Burn Cove Street

1:02:04contains

1:02:06196 homes, both single family and

1:02:09multi-residential.

1:02:11It contains three schools, two churches,

1:02:14one bank, as well as several

1:02:16brickandmortar businesses, two markets,

1:02:19and several Addison homebased concerns.

1:02:23The average age of these homes in this

1:02:25section are between 80 and 120 years of

1:02:28age, with the 278-year-old

1:02:32Amos Flag House built in 1748.

1:02:37In 1900, there were a total of 8,000

1:02:41cars registered in the entire country.

1:02:45In 1940,

1:02:47only 50% of households in Worester owned

1:02:50an automobile.

1:02:52Most houses on Burno Street were built

1:02:54before the automobile was a common

1:02:57household necessity. On most properties,

1:03:00a onecar approach was installed to

1:03:03facilitate off- streetet parking for

1:03:05most homes. Some houses to this day have

1:03:09no off- streetet parking. Today, with

1:03:12multiple car families the norm, on

1:03:15street parking is a necessity we cannot

1:03:18afford to negate.

1:03:20Other effects of this request failed to

1:03:23take into consideration are those who

1:03:25provide services to residents of the

1:03:28neighborhood.

1:03:31I don't think there is anyone in this

1:03:34room who at one time or another receives

1:03:37a delivery from Amazon, UPS, or FedEx.

1:03:41Where are they to park when performing

1:03:42their deliveries? What about artisans

1:03:45who perform homebased services? medical

1:03:48professionals, plumbers, electricians,

1:03:51carpenters, and landscapers who now must

1:03:53haul their tools and materials for

1:03:55longer distances while parking their

1:03:57vehicles around the corner in front of

1:04:00another neighbor's house, tying up their

1:04:02street.

1:04:03I am not without heart.

1:04:06Safety of bicycle riders should be the

1:04:09concern of all. I asked you to tell me

1:04:12in the last two years how many

1:04:15auto/bicycle events have occurred in

1:04:18this section of Burnco Street causing

1:04:20personal injury or death. The speed

1:04:23limit on Berno Street is now 25 miles

1:04:27per hour and 20 in the school zones.

1:04:30Auto drivers and cyclists share an equal

1:04:34responsibility of always operating their

1:04:37vehicles in a safe manner and in doing

1:04:39so makes this request unnecessary.

1:04:44Most importantly,

1:04:46in addition to these already mentioned,

1:04:48guests to my home will now have to seek

1:04:51alternative parking if I or one of my

1:04:54neighbors should be hosting a graduation

1:04:56or cookout. I would like to think that

1:04:59the requesters of these items would

1:05:01publish their addresses, allowing my

1:05:03guests to park in front of their home

1:05:05with shuttle services to my event.

1:05:11>> Thank you.

1:05:12>> Um I'm at 105 Hillcraftoft A and you are

1:05:15welcome to park at my house. That's

1:05:17fine. That's totally fine. Um I think

1:05:20we're talking about Oh, sorry. Jody

1:05:22Rymer, 105 Hill. I think we're talking

1:05:24about two different things. I think the

1:05:26people who have spoken are very opposed

1:05:29to having there been a bike lane put in.

1:05:32Um, and I understand and I understand

1:05:35that and I think that had uh there

1:05:40should have been potentially more

1:05:42discussion of like do we have parking on

1:05:44one side of the street, bike lane on one

1:05:45side, more but I wasn't privy to any of

1:05:48that. My only thing is that there is a

1:05:51bike lane and where there is a bike lane

1:05:54there's not enough spaces for cars in

1:05:56places I see sometimes cars parking and

1:05:59I think they think there's enough space

1:06:01but it's not safely there and so just

1:06:03marking it as a bike lane and like hey

1:06:05this is a bike lane and I took the bus

1:06:08here today uh I waited six to 10 minutes

1:06:12um on the corner of Clark and Burncoat

1:06:13and I saw four bike four bic different

1:06:16bicyclists a guy on a skateboard with

1:06:20his kid on a scooter using it, right?

1:06:22So, um yeah, I'm all for safety and I'm

1:06:26all for access and stuff, but just, you

1:06:28know,

1:06:30marking it as a bike lane and they're

1:06:33Yeah, as as far as I understand, you

1:06:35can't park in a bike lane. So,

1:06:38>> thank you, uh, Council Con.

1:06:40>> Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I appreciate

1:06:42the residents coming out today and

1:06:44talking on that item, and quite frankly,

1:06:46I agree with them. Um

1:06:49the the purpose for my item when I when

1:06:52I filed the item was

1:06:54um specifically between Clock Street and

1:06:57Fair Haven Road. There are habitual

1:07:00abusers

1:07:02in that stretch and that stretch is

1:07:04probably the narrowest of Burnco Street

1:07:07where the cars don't even fit when they

1:07:10park within the bike lane. So I sat

1:07:13there on Fair Haven Road and just

1:07:14watched for a day, cars come in parking,

1:07:17bicyclist coming around, and what it

1:07:20just causes whatever vehicle is in that

1:07:22lane, if they're not willing to wait

1:07:25till the bicyclist clears the car,

1:07:28they're going into the other lane, the

1:07:30oncoming lane. And in that section

1:07:32there, that's the tightest. In addition

1:07:35to that, um it'll need to be a a

1:07:39different discussion, but I would agree

1:07:40with all of them in regards to parking.

1:07:42Um it does limit parking for those

1:07:45people who don't have parking there. Um

1:07:48but I'll talk to them. I won't burden

1:07:51this committee at this moment about it,

1:07:52but that's the section that is most

1:07:56troublesome in that in that area. Thank

1:07:59you, Mr. Chair.

1:08:00>> Thank you, Commissioner Raleigh.

1:08:01>> Yeah. Now, Mr. I'll go ahead and

1:08:03simplify it even further for the

1:08:04committee. So, um, there are bike lanes

1:08:07out there today. It's illegal across the

1:08:09state of Massachusetts to park in a bike

1:08:10lane. So, regardless of whether we put

1:08:12signs up or not, it's not a legal

1:08:14parking space now and and people will be

1:08:16ticketed for it. Um, the both of the

1:08:19petitions are asking for the same thing,

1:08:20which is that we more clearly

1:08:22communicate that to people so that

1:08:25they're aware that they can't park

1:08:26there. if they happen to not notice it's

1:08:28a bike lane or confuse it as a parking

1:08:30lane, they might inadvertently park

1:08:32there and get a ticket. So, this is

1:08:34really um a request to further

1:08:39communicate what the existing

1:08:40regulations uh are. I I will say that

1:08:43the bike lanes on on Berno Street were

1:08:45established in large part because the

1:08:47the width of the street didn't really

1:08:49facilitate accommodating on street

1:08:51parking and there wasn't very much on

1:08:53street parking that had been observed

1:08:55previously um largely in part due to

1:08:58that constraint. Um so you know

1:09:03recognizing that there there wasn't a

1:09:04lot of parking demand on the street

1:09:06there were cross streets that had

1:09:07parking available and we had this

1:09:09physical constraint to deal with. uh in

1:09:12addition to this being really the one

1:09:14corridor that was an opportunity to

1:09:15provide a bicycle facility from that

1:09:17whole neighborhood uh down toward the

1:09:19downtown area. That was the reason for

1:09:21the decision. But again, this decision

1:09:25before you today isn't about whether

1:09:26that's a bike lane or not or where the

1:09:28bike lane goes. It's do we put signs up

1:09:31so people understand that it's a bike

1:09:32lane in our recommendation. In this

1:09:34case, given the history of um some

1:09:37violations, we receive calls all the

1:09:38time asking for parking enforcement to

1:09:41go out and and ticket. So, uh we do

1:09:44think adding signs will help to better

1:09:46convey that

1:09:47>> for for communication purposes. Is

1:09:50council, you anything you want to say on

1:09:52this item?

1:09:55>> No, I I'm agreeing with with whatever

1:09:57was saying.

1:09:58>> I think you want to say one more thing.

1:09:59Well, the only question I had about when

1:10:01the gentleman referenced the uh

1:10:04availability of cross street parking and

1:10:07there are I believe 34 cross streets.

1:10:10So, if you're lucky enough to have a

1:10:12corner lot, then you have options. But

1:10:15there is one section between Clark

1:10:17Street and Fair Haven Road where there

1:10:19are 21 houses with no cross street. So,

1:10:24you're asking someone

1:10:26uh I mean that road is two miles long.

1:10:27ever asking someone to walk an eighth of

1:10:30a mile from parking their car on a cross

1:10:32street to their front door, which is

1:10:34it's it's ridiculous. You know, in the

1:10:37winter time, burnt coat is an emergency

1:10:39street. There is no parking on both

1:10:41sides from December to May. Right now,

1:10:44the city promises to plow our street

1:10:47curb to curb. In the 40 years I have

1:10:50lived on Berno Street, I don't see my

1:10:52curb from first snowstorm in December

1:10:55till the last melt in July.

1:10:57You know, so I mean, I love my city,

1:11:00don't get me wrong, and they try their

1:11:02best, but like I say, when you put five

1:11:05feet of snow in a bike lane that's only

1:11:072 ft wide, the bike lane is going to

1:11:09disappear for six months out of the

1:11:11year, you know, and

1:11:15like like I say, I I don't want to hold

1:11:17things up any more than I have to, but

1:11:19to to have to have uh no parking to take

1:11:22the parking away from the residents of

1:11:24Bronco Street for the seven or eight bic

1:11:26bicycles that I see drive by in a day is

1:11:29absolutely ridiculous.

1:11:31>> Councelor Conor,

1:11:33>> thank you. Uh, Chairman,

1:11:36like I said earlier, I'm more than happy

1:11:38to have a meeting with the neighbors up

1:11:39there and Commissioner Raleigh, if

1:11:40you're you're open to attending that,

1:11:42maybe we can look at something, see what

1:11:44we can work out to

1:11:46um see what we can do because they're

1:11:48they are all valid points. So, that's

1:11:50all I have to add to that. Thank you.

1:11:52>> Okay. And just for clarification

1:11:54purposes, what's in front of us today is

1:11:56not are we taking parking away from

1:11:58anybody in Burko Street. This is

1:12:00clarification to put up the no parking

1:12:03signs on where there's already no

1:12:05parking. That's what this is about

1:12:07today. There's already no parking there.

1:12:10Now, we're just going to put up the park

1:12:12no parking signs so the residents know

1:12:14you can't park in the bike lane.

1:12:17>> Okay. So, to clarify,

1:12:19>> just announce one more thing. The

1:12:20gentleman over here already has three

1:12:22tickets because he parked in a no park

1:12:25but he just wasn't decided.

1:12:26>> So on that note,

1:12:27>> yeah,

1:12:28>> right, if there is a bike lane, there is

1:12:31no parking in the bike lane. That is the

1:12:32law.

1:12:33>> Yeah.

1:12:33>> Okay. If we were to look at the way

1:12:36they've laid the bike lane out,

1:12:38sometimes there is a three or four foot

1:12:40section that is not road and not bike

1:12:44lane. Can you park there? So that's

1:12:47where counselor and department of

1:12:50transability is going to meet with you

1:12:52guys to come up with a better suggestion

1:12:54>> because we don't want another mil

1:12:56street.

1:12:57>> There you go. [laughter]

1:13:01>> So So for now we're just going to move

1:13:03move to uh Yes, sir.

1:13:07>> I I just wanted to say something. Now

1:13:09where we live the bike lanes a little

1:13:12wider. I pulled right up against the

1:13:14curbing and if you can't get a bike

1:13:18beside my car running out, there's

1:13:19something wrong with you. Okay, it

1:13:22really I'm serious and I I still got a

1:13:25ticket.

1:13:26>> I'm sorry to hear that.

1:13:27>> Okay,

1:13:28>> move to approve the item. Roll call

1:13:30>> to judges clarification. So, because we

1:13:33have

1:13:34>> Oh, sorry. Sorry. It's approving uh um F

1:13:38and filing G.

1:13:40>> Okay. Councelor Bilada.

1:13:42>> Yes.

1:13:43>> Councelor O'Hada and chair. Councelor

1:13:45Rivera.

1:13:45>> Yes. All right. We're on to um Oh, I

1:13:49think uh H is over here. Yep. 5H. Joshua

1:13:55Cali request installation of no parking

1:13:57anytime signage at the intersection of

1:13:59Bristol Street and Berno Street. Anybody

1:14:02here on that item?

1:14:04>> Anybody online? To

1:14:06>> there's no one raising their hands on

1:14:08Zoom. Commissioner Raleigh.

1:14:11>> Mr. Chair, we are hoping to hear from

1:14:13the petitioner for some clarification as

1:14:15to um why this may be needed. I don't

1:14:19know if councelor econom might have

1:14:21thoughts on this. Maybe we want to hold

1:14:23it until he's he's back. Otherwise, we

1:14:25could hold the item.

1:14:26>> There he is.

1:14:27>> Uh council economy

1:14:30request installation of no bargain

1:14:31anytime signage at the intersection of

1:14:33Bristol Street and Berno Street. Do you

1:14:36have up?

1:14:36>> Sorry. I could probably speak to that.

1:14:39Um, he actually lives across the street

1:14:41from me and I don't know him, but my

1:14:42name is Janice Mlan and I live at 15

1:14:45Bristol Street. Okay. And when I saw

1:14:47this, I was actually pretty excited

1:14:50because

1:14:51>> right now um cars on occasion are

1:14:55parking on both sides of Bristol Street

1:14:58at the entrance to Burncoat and it's

1:15:01it's making it very narrow and it's very

1:15:04dangerous for if there's a car trying to

1:15:06turn in and a car trying to come out. Um

1:15:09I don't know if someone has spoken to

1:15:10the neighbors because the last few days

1:15:12they have not been parking there and

1:15:14it's like much nicer. Um but I think

1:15:17really do think it's a safety issue.

1:15:20>> Anything you want to say?

1:15:23>> Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I would agree

1:15:24with with with the woman who just spoke

1:15:27at that section there right at the top

1:15:29right at that right where it comes into

1:15:31Berno Street. It's probably the

1:15:32narrowest of that whole street and the

1:15:35street in general is narrow as it is.

1:15:38Um, so anything that could be done to

1:15:39help alleviate that bottleneck right at

1:15:42the tip there would be would be welcome.

1:15:44>> Thank you, Commissioner Ali.

1:15:47>> Yeah, thank thank you both for the uh

1:15:49the clarification. So, the street is

1:15:51about 30 ft wide there. Um, if people

1:15:54are parking on both sides, it's not wide

1:15:56enough for two-way traffic to get

1:15:57through. Um, so by law, it the there's

1:16:01already a 20 foot prohibition from the

1:16:03intersection. that's not especially far

1:16:06for someone to be able to um to navigate

1:16:10that. So, we have two options before us.

1:16:12We could um the committee could

1:16:15recommend an order that that statutory

1:16:17limit be signed. So, we could go and put

1:16:19signs up right now that say um no

1:16:22parking within 20 ft of the

1:16:23intersection. Again, that's not a whole

1:16:25lot of distance. Um, if we want to go a

1:16:28little bit further back than that and

1:16:30perhaps just on one side, um, I think it

1:16:33it would make sense here to perhaps uh

1:16:35prohibit parking for 40 to 50 feet on

1:16:39one side of the street. Uh, and that

1:16:41will ensure that there's enough room

1:16:42there that if someone's waiting at the

1:16:44stop sign that a car turning in could

1:16:46could get by them. Todd, if you had a

1:16:48recommendation on north side versus

1:16:50south side, maybe the north side because

1:16:52of the stop bar. Yeah, I' I'd recommend

1:16:5540 feet on the north side because of the

1:16:57stop bar and then I would still

1:16:59recommend um posting the 20 foot

1:17:01statutory on the south side just to

1:17:03communicate that as well so you're

1:17:05ensure that both areas are clear.

1:17:07>> Mr. Mr. Chairman, if I may.

1:17:09>> Yes.

1:17:09>> Um if I could just ask us to hold it

1:17:12hold the item. I want to just talk to

1:17:14the other neighbors that this would

1:17:15affect if that's okay just to save us

1:17:17all some

1:17:19>> that that sounds

1:17:20>> further grief.

1:17:20>> That sounds good to me. Yep. All right.

1:17:23So we'll hold the item. Roll call.

1:17:25>> Councelor Bilada.

1:17:27>> Yes.

1:17:27>> Councelor O'Hada and Chairson. Councelor

1:17:29Rivera.

1:17:30>> Yes. Move on to five. I councelor John

1:17:33Fodto on behalf of Donald Lean request

1:17:36installation of no parking at any time

1:17:39signage between the driveways of Three

1:17:41Village Street and Seven Village Street

1:17:42to protect the driveway from being

1:17:44blocked.

1:17:46Um, anybody here on that item?

1:17:50Name and address, please.

1:17:52My name is Donald Bond. I live at Three

1:17:54Village Street. Um, between three and

1:17:57seven Village Street, there's about six

1:17:59feet of curb. It's hardly room for a car

1:18:03constantly. Either one driveway is

1:18:04blocked or the other driveway is

1:18:06blocked. I've 311 it numerous times, but

1:18:09the cars usually move before 311 can get

1:18:12out there. And on the weekend, there's

1:18:15no parking enforcement. So, when they do

1:18:17park, it's tends to be on the weekend

1:18:19when there's no parking enforcement.

1:18:21It's caused a problem for DPW for trash

1:18:24pickup. It's caused a problem in the

1:18:26winter because even though there's no

1:18:29there's a parking ban on the odd side of

1:18:31Village Street, it cars parked there and

1:18:35a plow one one night couldn't even get

1:18:37through. Toted his horn, tooted his

1:18:40horn, tooted his horn. Finally, somebody

1:18:41on the other side moved their car so he

1:18:43could get through. So, it's just in

1:18:45general this little and that's the only

1:18:47place anybody seems to park is that

1:18:50little section. The rest of the street,

1:18:52nobody parks on that side of the street.

1:18:54So,

1:18:55>> thank you.

1:18:55>> That's anything you want to say on that.

1:19:00>> Mr. Chairman, I've I've viewed uh I've

1:19:02gone up and viewed it personally. So, I

1:19:04agree with the petitioner and I'm hoping

1:19:06the city uh agrees with the uh petition

1:19:10we filed. Thank you.

1:19:11Is anybody online want to speak on this

1:19:13item

1:19:14>> to chair? Uh we have one person raising

1:19:17their hands on Zoom to to speaker with

1:19:20phone number ending in 3088. You can go

1:19:23ahead and press star six to unmute.

1:19:32>> Hello.

1:19:32>> Good evening. Can you hear me?

1:19:34>> Yes. Name and address, please.

1:19:37>> Yes. My name is Bill Galley. the

1:19:39property manager for Seven Village

1:19:40Street. Just wanted to make sure you

1:19:42could hear me. Okay.

1:19:43>> Yes.

1:19:45>> I wanted to thank the board and also

1:19:47Dawn next door who I've yet to meet, but

1:19:50uh he actually kind of beat us to the

1:19:52punch on this request. I agree with him

1:19:54wholeheartedly. Um it's it's absolutely

1:19:58I don't know how there hasn't been an

1:19:59accident to date. I'll admit that um one

1:20:02of our tenants was parking there at one

1:20:05time. Uh, I don't know if it was either

1:20:07out of spite or out of out of laziness.

1:20:10We have plenty of off- streetet parking,

1:20:11but it would require them to swap cars

1:20:14in the morning if one of the tenants had

1:20:16to get to work early in the morning. And

1:20:18when they saw that the fellow across the

1:20:20street was parking there, I think um,

1:20:23one of the young ladies that is one of

1:20:25our tenants was parking there um, as

1:20:27well. Um, you know, I told her, "Look,

1:20:29we don't we don't control the city

1:20:31streets, only our parking lot, but that

1:20:33it's an accident waiting to happen." Uh,

1:20:35one particular day the city trash truck

1:20:39actually could not get through. I don't

1:20:41know if it was our tenant that was there

1:20:42or the fellow across the street. Um, and

1:20:44actually had to back down and go around

1:20:47the block and then back down the road,

1:20:49which is a huge waste of time. Um,

1:20:53the fell that had been parking there

1:20:54lives across the street and apparently

1:20:56does Uber in the evening. We got a

1:20:59letter from the city sanitary inspector

1:21:02about a tree limb. This was recent. It

1:21:04was going over the sidewalk. Um, it

1:21:06wasn't even our tree. It was number

1:21:08three's tree, but it went over our

1:21:09property and over the sidewalk. When we

1:21:11showed up with the crew to clip the

1:21:13limb, we couldn't uh we couldn't do it

1:21:15because the uh the fella was parked

1:21:17there in the middle of the day. Um there

1:21:19was a patrol car locally and and uh the

1:21:22officer had asked the located the

1:21:24individual on the third floor of the um

1:21:28resident across the street um and spoke

1:21:31in a different language to him

1:21:33indicating that it was a dangerous place

1:21:35for him to park. She did say um the

1:21:38officer that because it wasn't posted no

1:21:41parking and that it is in fact a two a

1:21:44two-way street that it wasn't illegal

1:21:47for him to park there. but yet that it

1:21:49was dangerous. He agreed and he moved

1:21:51his vehicle and of course subsequently

1:21:53went back there and started parking

1:21:54there again and and has since. Um so it

1:21:59was just by sheer coincidence that we

1:22:01received this letter in um the petition

1:22:04that our neighbor filed. Um but I'm I'm

1:22:07in agreement with him 100%. It it's uh

1:22:10just an accident waiting to happen. If

1:22:12if any of you have on the board have had

1:22:15driven by there and saw it, it's just a

1:22:17real small stretch of the road that it

1:22:21barely fits a car. And what it what it

1:22:23does do is it blocks the road so that

1:22:25the city trash truck can't get through.

1:22:27And uh our tenants can't back out. I

1:22:30assume that's uh uh why the petitioner

1:22:33requested it as well. Um but it is truly

1:22:36an accident waiting to happen if they

1:22:37park there.

1:22:39>> Thank you, sir. Commissioner Rally.

1:22:41Yeah, Mr. Chair. So, this is uh an

1:22:43interesting little stretch of curb that

1:22:45apparently is just long enough to be

1:22:46enticing to encourage someone to park

1:22:49there. Um it's not big enough to

1:22:50accommodate it between the two

1:22:51driveways. So, we do recommend approval.

1:22:53>> Sounds good. And approve the item. Roll

1:22:55call.

1:22:56>> Councelor Bilada.

1:22:58>> Yes.

1:22:59>> Councelor O'Hada and Chipsson. Councelor

1:23:01Rivera.

1:23:02>> Yes.

1:23:03>> All right. Thank you. Good luck.

1:23:05>> Thank you. 5J Abigail BS request

1:23:09installation of no park anytime signage

1:23:11on the southeast side of the driveway

1:23:13located on the vicinity of 85 Mountain

1:23:15Street East. Anybody here on this item?

1:23:20Anybody online?

1:23:22>> Show to have one person raising their

1:23:23hands. I would go ahead and recognize

1:23:25them now.

1:23:29>> Hi, my name is Abigail Bose. I live at

1:23:3179 East Mountain Street. Can you guys

1:23:32hear me? Okay.

1:23:33>> Yes. Thank you.

1:23:35>> Okay. Thanks so much. Um, so I, um, had

1:23:38submitted for this, um, and it kind of

1:23:41got split into three different items, so

1:23:43I can talk about them all at once, but I

1:23:46live at 79 East Mountain Street, and I

1:23:48share a driveway with about six units.

1:23:51It's three duplexes. Um, there's lots of

1:23:53kids. There's people of all ages. Um, as

1:23:57many people probably know, a lot of

1:23:58folks drive pretty fast on Mountain

1:24:00Street going in both directions. And at

1:24:02baseline, it can be pretty hard to turn

1:24:04in either direction out of there. Um,

1:24:07left being much more unsafe than right.

1:24:10Um, even when there's no cars parked on

1:24:13the road, we often have to pull all the

1:24:15way out so that you're just about going

1:24:16to touch the north going traffic and

1:24:19roll your window down, listen, and make

1:24:21sure there's no cars coming just so you

1:24:22can get out safely. Um, and more

1:24:25recently there have been a lot of folks

1:24:27parking right on that shoulder all the

1:24:30way up until the very entrance to the

1:24:32driveway and that can cause um an even

1:24:37an even shorter period of time for us to

1:24:39be able to see oncoming traffic safely.

1:24:41My husband and I know several other

1:24:43residents and their older family members

1:24:45have almost gotten t-boned trying to get

1:24:46out of there even after waiting quite a

1:24:48while. Uh so my request had just been to

1:24:51try to address this in some way and you

1:24:54know if we if we need to allow people to

1:24:56park there you know is there a way to

1:24:58put up uh a convex mirror where we can

1:25:00actually see the cars coming at a little

1:25:02bit of a warning or um a blind driveway

1:25:07sign or perhaps I think the the simplest

1:25:10would just be to ask that there's no

1:25:11cars allowed to park uh in the at least

1:25:14the one to two car spaces right before

1:25:16the driveway.

1:25:18Thank you, Abigail. Commissioner Riley.

1:25:20>> Yeah. And Mr. Chair, if do we want to

1:25:22also take 11A and 10 I at the same time,

1:25:25which are the other two items that um

1:25:27the petitioner spoke about?

1:25:29>> Um 11. Yes, let's do that, please. But

1:25:32let me grab it. You said 11 A.

1:25:34>> 11 A

1:25:36and 10 I

1:25:40>> 11 A. We have Abigail BS request uh

1:25:43installation of a convex mirror in the

1:25:46vicinity of 85 Mountain Street East.

1:25:49And you said what's the other one?

1:25:52>> 10 I

1:25:53>> Oh, 10 I going backwards now.

1:26:02All right. 10 I Abigail Rose

1:26:04requestation of blind driveway signage

1:26:06in the vicinity 85 Mountain Street East.

1:26:11Commissioner Robin.

1:26:13>> Yeah, Mr. Chair. So, um, you know, I

1:26:15think the petitioner fully described

1:26:17what the issue is here. There's traffic

1:26:18on Mountain Street is often traveling,

1:26:22uh, faster than it should be, frankly.

1:26:24Um, they're having difficulty

1:26:27safely pulling out of their driveway and

1:26:29having enough sight distance to be able

1:26:31to see oncoming traffic. Um, so they

1:26:33have three sort of separate petitions as

1:26:35has been described. The first is to

1:26:39prohibit parking along that section of

1:26:41of Mountain Street East. Um there's a

1:26:44wide shoulder there. Parking is not

1:26:45currently specifically prohibited. You

1:26:48don't often see people parking out

1:26:50there, but when they do, I imagine it is

1:26:52um it does make it very difficult to uh

1:26:56to pull out of those driveways. Um the

1:26:59other two suggestions were uh permission

1:27:01for a convex mirror. I'll start with

1:27:04that one. Um, formerly DPW would uh

1:27:08allow convex mirrors to be installed.

1:27:10They haven't for many years. Uh, and

1:27:12that's that's actually pretty typical

1:27:14among jurisdictions now because there's

1:27:16a number of issues with them. Um, they

1:27:18tend to distort the image and people

1:27:21develop a sort of a false sense of

1:27:23security. And that's especially a

1:27:25concern on our street like this where

1:27:26people are traveling 40 miles an hour.

1:27:28Um, you just can't adequately gauge

1:27:31oncoming traffic in those mirrors. um

1:27:33they they've proven to be a maintenance

1:27:35issue um on a wide street like this.

1:27:38They're really they would be too far

1:27:40away to see. So, that's that's not

1:27:41really an option here um in the public

1:27:45rideway. The second was a blind driveway

1:27:48sign. Uh that's another sign that tends

1:27:52to not have a lot of uh positive

1:27:54effectiveness. People just tend to

1:27:56ignore them. And we really do try to

1:27:58only place those where there's a very

1:28:00tight uh curve. and you literally can't

1:28:03see that there's a driveway um

1:28:05immediately after it. So, we don't

1:28:07recommend either of those. We do agree

1:28:10that parking should be prohibited in

1:28:12advance of the driveway. Uh I think in

1:28:14my re written recommendations I said for

1:28:1640T. Um I'm going to go ahead and

1:28:18increase that to 50 feet which would

1:28:20take it basically to the property line.

1:28:22So it would prohibit parking on this

1:28:25side of the road uh essentially along

1:28:27the frontage of the the subject

1:28:29property.

1:28:31>> Thank you. So, with that being said, um

1:28:34we're going to file 10 I and 11A and

1:28:39we're going to approve um

1:28:42is it 5J?

1:28:45Roll call.

1:28:47>> Councelor Bada.

1:28:49>> Yes.

1:28:50>> Councelor O'Hara and Chapson. Councelor

1:28:52Rivera.

1:28:53>> Yes. And now to 5K. Councelor Robert

1:28:55Bada requests installation of no parking

1:28:58anytime signage in front of 145 East

1:29:00Central Street to improve traffic and

1:29:02pedestrian visibility.

1:29:05Anybody on that item?

1:29:07Councelor Bolato.

1:29:10>> Yes. I just want to submit this because

1:29:12it's driving on East Central Street and

1:29:13it's in front of parking right in front

1:29:15of the uh Pompus Brazilian Steakhouse

1:29:18and it's just very hard line of sight.

1:29:21Uh there's a you know uh as you're going

1:29:24west on that road there's a sharp corner

1:29:26that you know when you're coming from

1:29:28Shoes Street on East Central there's a

1:29:30lot of cars parked there and there's a

1:29:32crosswalk right in front of the the uh

1:29:34address there. So hoping to just make

1:29:36this clear for pedestrian safety and

1:29:38traffic.

1:29:40>> Thank you very much uh Commissioner Ali.

1:29:44>> Mr. Chair. Yeah. Just to clarify, this

1:29:46is just the sort of short section

1:29:48between the the crosswalk on um

1:29:53uh the East Central and then the the

1:29:56side street which is Sorry, I've lost my

1:29:59place.

1:30:00>> Shamrock.

1:30:01>> So, we're just talking about that that

1:30:03short section. Um technically parking's

1:30:05already prohibited there because that is

1:30:07within the intersection. Uh it's also

1:30:09within 20 feet of both crosswalks, but

1:30:11we do agree that that should be signed.

1:30:13You know, frequent to observe people

1:30:16parking there. Um so we agree that

1:30:18signage does make sense and recommend

1:30:20approval.

1:30:21>> Sounds good. Move. We're going to move

1:30:23to approve the item. Roll call.

1:30:25>> Councelor Bada.

1:30:27>> Yes.

1:30:27>> Councelor O'Hada and chairperson

1:30:29councelor Rivera.

1:30:30>> Yes. Moving on to 6A.

1:30:32Lisa McHugh requests Standard Street be

1:30:35made a one-way street.

1:30:38Come on up, please. Name and address.

1:30:43Hi, thank you. Um, I'm Robin Carowway

1:30:45Waterhouse. Uh, I live at 61 Standish

1:30:48Street. Um, I share my neighbor, the

1:30:53petitioner's frustration with the

1:30:54speeding problems in our neighborhood.

1:30:57Um, and I support her request for a

1:31:00speed bump in front of her house. Um,

1:31:03but I'm very much opposed to making

1:31:05Stand Street a one-way street for the

1:31:08following reasons. Um, I've lived there

1:31:11for 16 years. My end of Stand Street is

1:31:13a hill.

1:31:15Um, in the summertime, it doesn't look

1:31:17like much, but it's deceivingly steep

1:31:19and long, and um, it's difficult to get

1:31:24up and down in icy conditions. And on a

1:31:27personal level, my garage is located

1:31:30right in the middle of that hill. Um,

1:31:34so that

1:31:36whether you make the street one way in

1:31:38one direction north or the other

1:31:40direction south, that's going to greatly

1:31:43affect how I get into my garage. I won't

1:31:45be able to get into my garage. Um, if

1:31:48it's one way south heading down the hill

1:31:50towards Grafton Street, um, 16 years of

1:31:54snow has taught me that I will slide

1:31:56right past my garage broadside. Um, and

1:31:59I can't recover from that and then back

1:32:02up because they the the hill is too

1:32:05steep. Um, and if you make the one way

1:32:08in the opposite direction north towards

1:32:11Hamilton Street, I would be backing out

1:32:14of my garage into the middle of the hill

1:32:17and trying to climb the hill from a from

1:32:20a stop and I my car can't do that. I

1:32:22can't get up that that part of Standish

1:32:25in the winter.

1:32:27Um, so I just I'll never be able to get

1:32:29into my [laughter] own garage again if

1:32:31you if you make it one way. Um, and I'm

1:32:33not the only person that has trouble

1:32:35making it up that hill. Um, I've been

1:32:37digging out people every winter who get

1:32:39stuck on Stand Street right in front of

1:32:40my house. Um, so I'm asking to keep it

1:32:44two ways so that people whether they get

1:32:47stuck going up the hill or coming down

1:32:49it. uh they need to be able to safely

1:32:52turn around um one direction or another,

1:32:56whatever's from whatever direction

1:32:58they're coming from and and get out of

1:33:01this the slip that they're they're in on

1:33:03the ice. Um

1:33:06and last, you know, I I'm a busy

1:33:08commuter. I often have a two-hour

1:33:10commute. Um,

1:33:15I access um various highways um for my

1:33:19commute and having that that um

1:33:24access either way to either Grafton

1:33:26Street or Hamilton Street, you know,

1:33:28Hamilton takes me to 495, Grafton Street

1:33:31takes me to the Mass Pike. I really

1:33:33don't want to spend the next 20 years of

1:33:35my career coming home after a long

1:33:38commute and then having to navigate

1:33:40other people's neighborhoods which are

1:33:43largely also one ways. Um, also very

1:33:47densely parked, also very hilly. Um, I

1:33:52just I like my street the way it is. I

1:33:55love living on Stand Street. It's very

1:33:56easy to live there. Um, I'm sure my

1:33:59other neighbors feel the same about

1:34:01access to those two streets and dropping

1:34:03kids off at school and going to the

1:34:05doctor. It's just it's a very easy

1:34:07street to live on. I think it's safer if

1:34:09it stays two ways. And um, you know, I

1:34:12just want to say that life is getting

1:34:14harder for workingclass people in all

1:34:16kinds of ways. Please don't add access

1:34:19to my own home to that list. [laughter]

1:34:21Thank you.

1:34:22>> Thank you.

1:34:24Name and address.

1:34:26Tegan Mckran, 14 Stannis Street. Um, I I

1:34:31agree with a lot of what the previous

1:34:33speaker said. Uh, I've lived at Stannis

1:34:35Street uh for the past 11 years. Uh, it

1:34:37was my first apartment and I absolutely

1:34:39love living there. Um if this uh gets

1:34:44passed, if you look at Google maps, um

1:34:48Stannis Street going towards uh

1:34:52Engleside, Fairmount, Pilgrim, Puritan,

1:34:55um is already designated as a one way in

1:34:58one way or the other. Um and that

1:35:01everything past us heading down towards,

1:35:04you know, Delmont Fair are both two

1:35:07ways. Um, if either way, if you, you

1:35:11know, cut us off at Grafton Street, then

1:35:13all that's going to do is push us down

1:35:15to the Massasoya at Grafton Street

1:35:17intersection, which while improved, it's

1:35:20still a fiveway intersection. And past

1:35:22that, we have to deal with the rotary

1:35:24down at Billings Square, which is

1:35:26greatly improved. Um, I'd also like to

1:35:29thank you guys for putting in speed

1:35:30bumps on her end of the street. And if

1:35:32it could be noted to put speed bumps on

1:35:34my end of the street towards Hamilton

1:35:36Street,

1:35:36>> put in the position. F. Yep. Fantastic.

1:35:38Um as as well as the repair. So we'll do

1:35:43>> um so the you know Worcester Fire uses

1:35:46our street a lot uh to get from Hamilton

1:35:48to Grafton Street um and then back

1:35:50again. I think that you know I can't for

1:35:53the life of me as a former FedEx driver

1:35:54think of the benefit of making that a

1:35:57one-way street. I don't know if you know

1:35:59the person that proposed this could

1:36:00elaborate on that. Um then that'd be

1:36:02greatly appreciated.

1:36:04>> Thank you. Thank you.

1:36:06>> Name and address.

1:36:07>> Gity Toronto. I actually live on Far A.

1:36:10So, this actually does affect me because

1:36:12in the snow, Stannis Street from

1:36:14Hamilton is the only like flat road that

1:36:17you can come up and then turn flat to

1:36:19get up to my street. So, I agree with

1:36:21them. Like, I think it should stay

1:36:22two-way. I think if you're coming up

1:36:24from the Graphin Street side, we're all

1:36:26going to be going up hills and rolling

1:36:27back into Grafton Street, which is super

1:36:29dangerous. So, I just want to like back

1:36:31them up on this point. Thank you.

1:36:32>> Thank you.

1:36:36name and address. Hi,

1:36:37>> my name is Sheila Karate. I live at 57

1:36:40Standish Street, which is uh that

1:36:44section of Standish

1:36:47that goes from Bedford to Grafton

1:36:50Street. I'm at the crest of the hill. I

1:36:54just want you to know though, you won't

1:36:55believe this, I have lived there for 55

1:36:58years. So, I have a lot of experience

1:37:02with the street. It just happens that as

1:37:06my neighbor Robin, who just spoke, we

1:37:09live next to each other. At 57,

1:37:14my front stairs are at the crest of the

1:37:17hill.

1:37:19There's no elaboration on whether or not

1:37:22one way Standish will be north or south,

1:37:24but because of the configuration of the

1:37:27streets before, it seems to me that if

1:37:31it was to happen, it would be made

1:37:33south. So, let me just explain something

1:37:37to you. I have been living there long

1:37:40enough to see not only accidents at the

1:37:43foot of the hill onto Grafton Street,

1:37:46but also fatalities, pedestrian. It's a

1:37:49very dangerous and you may not realize

1:37:53why because people coming down 122 North

1:37:58Grafton Street from Lamar to Standish is

1:38:03a curve because we know speed anyway but

1:38:08they don't as they round the curve see

1:38:11that we are backed up if you make it a

1:38:14one way and are forced

1:38:17to take a left or right onto Grafton

1:38:19Street.

1:38:22Understand one thing.

1:38:25Myself and many of my neighbors

1:38:28take great care never to go down to the

1:38:32foot of Standish to Grafton Street

1:38:35because of the danger.

1:38:38I always go up to Hamilton Street to get

1:38:42to where I need to get. The other

1:38:44thought in my mind is if you were to

1:38:47make that street one way so that people

1:38:51are forced to if it's south come down to

1:38:55the foot of the hill

1:38:58and take a right it's going to back up

1:39:01rice square

1:39:03you know incredibly the other part of

1:39:06this is winter

1:39:10if it is a situation where it's one way

1:39:13going south, then cars are going to be

1:39:16traveling down to the foot of the hill

1:39:19on Grafton Street. They're not going to

1:39:22realize it. I've lived there long enough

1:39:24to see this that when they even though

1:39:26there's a speed bump at um at 55

1:39:31about there because I'm 57. Cuz still

1:39:34speed, but they don't realize that this

1:39:38is a hill. It's not just a small. It's a

1:39:41situation where then they say, "Oops,

1:39:44snow, ice, break it, skid all the way

1:39:48down. If it was made one way going

1:39:52north, I've lived there long enough for

1:39:55winters to tell you this. Two out of

1:39:57five cars cannot make it up that small

1:40:01crest of the hill. They're forced. It's

1:40:03happened to me backing out of my I have

1:40:05a garage there. So, just as Robin is

1:40:07suggesting, trying to get out of that

1:40:09garage is another, but I've had it

1:40:12happen to me because I didn't have

1:40:14winter tires, which I have all the time

1:40:16because I had allseason tires when I

1:40:18bought this car before I got winter

1:40:20tires. I pulled out, tried to go up, and

1:40:23I couldn't get up that hill. I had to

1:40:25back down and fortunately was able to

1:40:28skid into my neighbor's uh driveway

1:40:31across the street. So, I guess I'm here

1:40:34to just implore you not to um you know,

1:40:37the other thought in my mind is all

1:40:39those streets before me, Engleside,

1:40:44Fairmont,

1:40:46Pilgrim, Puritan that have been made one

1:40:49way.

1:40:50They're flat mostly from Grafton Street

1:40:53to Hamilton Street.

1:40:56my street standish

1:40:59going um south up to Delmont Farah Dana

1:41:04so on those are all hills so that's

1:41:07another reason why I would suggest that

1:41:08you won't um start to make these streets

1:41:12one way um

1:41:15other than that

1:41:18as far as um I'm concerned I love living

1:41:22where I am

1:41:24um and I just

1:41:26don't want to see this um become very

1:41:30very dangerous because it will be very

1:41:32dangerous. Um speed bump. Yes, speed

1:41:35bumps. Great to put a speed bump up up

1:41:38near Hamilton. We have two speed bumps

1:41:41in my area, but I can tell you this,

1:41:44people still go over the speed bumps and

1:41:46just gun it. So, you know, that's

1:41:49another that's another problem.

1:41:51>> Thank you.

1:41:52>> Better anything. But anyway, thanks for

1:41:54taking the time to listen to me and I

1:41:57vote. I hope you do, too. Thank you.

1:42:00>> Thank you.

1:42:02Name a resident, please.

1:42:04>> Yeah.

1:42:05>> Good evening. Uh, my name is Michael

1:42:07Padon. I live at 92 Standish. I feel

1:42:10like the old man on the street. All

1:42:12these people 10, 15 years. Well, welcome

1:42:14to the neighborhood. Uh, obviously

1:42:16living there most of my all of my life

1:42:18really. And I drive up and down the

1:42:21street a lot. And I've never ever in my

1:42:24mind say, "Gee, this would be great if

1:42:26this was one way." I I I don't see any

1:42:29need for it. Do we have our issues like

1:42:32probably many streets uh with with with

1:42:35speed? Obviously, I like to stand out in

1:42:38front of my house in yellow 25, you

1:42:40know, and the intersection at Grafton

1:42:45and Standish.

1:42:47It It's not good. We We've known that my

1:42:49my whole life. Um, but that's not an

1:42:53issue with Standish Street as much as it

1:42:55is with Grafton Street. And one way

1:42:59either way,

1:43:01it's it's really going to be at best an

1:43:04inconvenience. You know what I mean? I

1:43:07wouldn't mind putting up at a little

1:43:08inconvenience for something productive,

1:43:11something that's going to benefit the

1:43:13neighborhood, but just to be a pain in

1:43:15the neck. No, it's not. So, I'm asking

1:43:18you, please let it roll the way it is. A

1:43:21speed bump, maybe. I like the speed bump

1:43:23deal. Thank you for your time.

1:43:24>> Thank you.

1:43:27>> Name and address, please.

1:43:30>> Hi, I'm Josh. Um, I'm Mike's neighbor.

1:43:33Uh, also one of the potentially seven

1:43:36people who ride a bike in the city of

1:43:37Worcester, as that man mentioned

1:43:39earlier. Um, so I I I want to mirror

1:43:43every sentiment said prior to me. Um, I

1:43:46don't see it being beneficial. Um, I

1:43:49think there's plenty of room for both

1:43:50ways. Like I said, I'm on the

1:43:52southernmost part of Stish Street. So, I

1:43:54have the opportunity to go on Massasoyet

1:43:56or to go on Grafton Street. As Mike

1:43:58mentioned, turning or even crossing

1:44:01Stish, crossing Grafton Street to go

1:44:04from one end of Standish to the other is

1:44:05a nightmare. I rather I I I'd like to

1:44:08know the rationale behind the

1:44:09petitioner's um petition, but I would

1:44:13think that it would be better suited I

1:44:15don't know that that money would be

1:44:17better suited putting

1:44:20a light there, a stop. I don't anything

1:44:22a crosswalk, anything to make that a

1:44:24safer intersection. I do not see this

1:44:27being a uh I don't see this being

1:44:30helpful whatsoever. So,

1:44:32>> thank you.

1:44:33>> Yeah, no problem. Clerk fan, is anybody

1:44:35online on this petition?

1:44:36>> To chair, we do have two people who are

1:44:39on Zoom currently. So, the first speaker

1:44:41I can identify is David Coroa. I would

1:44:44go ahead and give you permission to

1:44:47speak.

1:44:47>> Speak.

1:44:48>> Hello. Um, yeah, David Crowa, 46 Bedford

1:44:51AB. Um, I'm just going to echo what has

1:44:53been said about uh making Sandish uh

1:44:56street into a oneway. I'm opposed to

1:44:59that. Um, we already have uh four-way

1:45:02stop signs for most of the street and we

1:45:05also have uh permanent speed bumps which

1:45:08I'd like to thank the Department of

1:45:10Transportation and Mobility for

1:45:12installing them. Um, but I oppose making

1:45:14Sandage Street into a oneway.

1:45:17>> Thank you.

1:45:18>> Next speaker, please.

1:45:20>> Thank you. The next person I can

1:45:21identify his phone number ending in

1:45:230133. You can press star six to unmute.

1:45:32Hi,

1:45:32>> can you hear me?

1:45:34>> Yes. Name and address, please.

1:45:36>> Yes. I'm I'm Rick Lebec. I live at Five

1:45:39Scander Street. Um, just like a lot of

1:45:41the other people that spoke. Um, I'm a

1:45:44longtime resident here. 24 years on

1:45:48Puritanab I was born on and 38 years on

1:45:51Standard Street. So, I know all the

1:45:53people's concern. have actually probably

1:45:56delivered newspapers to all of those

1:45:57homes as well. Um, one of I I I'm

1:46:01hearing both sides of this this argument

1:46:03and and there is a lot of truth to this.

1:46:05There's a lot of problems on Rapid

1:46:06Street, but one thing I'm not either for

1:46:08or against this at this point. I'm just

1:46:10kind of listening. But I did want to

1:46:12make one point and that's on the

1:46:14Hamilton Street side. Um, there is a lot

1:46:16of accidents on Hamilton Street at that

1:46:19corner every year. Um, I don't know what

1:46:21the statistics are. We could probably

1:46:23get police reports on that if that is

1:46:26made a one way that would on at uh if

1:46:29stands in one way on the Hamilton Street

1:46:31side. Right now there's eight different

1:46:34combinations that the cars can navigate

1:46:37right there. That would cut it down to

1:46:39four. So that would reduce some of the

1:46:42accidents there. No question about it.

1:46:45But I also understand some of the other

1:46:47arguments about the hill raft street the

1:46:49police and fire department as well too.

1:46:51So, I just wanted to voice that concern.

1:46:53That's it for me. Thank you.

1:46:54>> Thank you so much, Councelor Fellow.

1:46:58>> Mr. Chairman, through you, I agree with

1:47:00all of the speakers. Um, a perfect point

1:47:04here tonight is the petitioner is not

1:47:06even here to speak on it. So, that's

1:47:08number one. And number two, I'd like to

1:47:10uh just uh inform uh everyone that lives

1:47:14in that area, there will be a speed bump

1:47:16uh coming this construction season on a

1:47:19portion of uh Standard Street near

1:47:22Hamilton Street. I believe it's in

1:47:25between Hamilton and Cohasset. So that's

1:47:28that's coming this construction season.

1:47:30Okay.

1:47:30>> Thank Thank you, Commissioner Raleigh.

1:47:35>> Yeah. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I I'll be

1:47:37brief. um you know as we one of the

1:47:39things we are interested in is trying to

1:47:41understand the the rationale behind the

1:47:43petition in that um it is a fairly

1:47:46narrow streets 27 ft wide we've talked

1:47:48about 27 foot wide streets earlier um

1:47:51but the parking utilization here isn't

1:47:53as high as on some of our streets and

1:47:55the traffic volume is relatively modest

1:47:57so there's you know decent opportunities

1:48:00for for two-way traffic to pass each

1:48:02other um I think if it were converted to

1:48:05one way there'd be a lot of unintended

1:48:06consequences which we heard some of

1:48:08those from the petitioners today. So our

1:48:10recommendation is to file the item.

1:48:12>> Receive. So we're going to file the

1:48:14item. It's not going to be approved. You

1:48:16still want to speak.

1:48:17>> I just had a clarification.

1:48:18>> Go ahead.

1:48:20>> Come on up. Name.

1:48:21>> Thank you. Tegan Mak 14 Santa Street

1:48:24again. Um sir, could you just repeat

1:48:27what you said about did I misar you that

1:48:29there's construction to the coming to

1:48:31the Hamilton Street side? If you could

1:48:32elaborate on that.

1:48:33>> No, I said there's going to be a speed

1:48:36bump. uh installed.

1:48:38>> Sweet.

1:48:39>> Closer to Hamilton Street in between

1:48:41Hamilton and

1:48:42>> we get two

1:48:42>> Cohass just one is

1:48:44>> two would be cool.

1:48:46>> Yeah. Okay.

1:48:46>> The other end of the street got two if

1:48:48we could get two.

1:48:48>> Yeah. Yeah. Through the through the

1:48:50chair. Just to clarify. So there'll be

1:48:51one per block now. So the block that

1:48:53you're on will have a speed. So all

1:48:55three blocks will be treated with speed

1:48:57humps after the summer.

1:48:59>> Thank you. We'll move to file the item.

1:49:01Roll call.

1:49:01>> Councelor Bada.

1:49:05Councelor

1:49:07Bilada.

1:49:08>> Yes.

1:49:09>> Councelor River Oha and chair. Councelor

1:49:12Rivera.

1:49:13>> Yes. All right. I'm just going to go a

1:49:16little bit out of order here. Just take

1:49:17care of a couple petitions. I know

1:49:19people are here for this. Um we're going

1:49:20to start with 9A. Councelor Tony Economo

1:49:23on behalf of the residents of Beachmont

1:49:25Street request um white stip white stop

1:49:29lines be painted at the existing stop

1:49:32signs at the intersection of Beachmont

1:49:34Street and Bankro Towers Road.

1:49:37Anybody here on that item?

1:49:41Council Conal.

1:49:43>> Thank you, Mr. Chairman. This is um the

1:49:45stop signs have been there a while now

1:49:48and the stop bars have not been uh

1:49:52installed as of yet. So um if they are

1:49:55going to be installed, is there a

1:49:57timeline?

1:49:58>> Yeah. Through the chair. So we'll we'll

1:49:59paint those. We'll paint those this

1:50:01summer.

1:50:02>> Okay.

1:50:02>> Uh they should they should have stop

1:50:04bars. It's you know I think particularly

1:50:06on on Beachmont if you're not expecting

1:50:08that stop sign that helps convey the

1:50:10information. So, um, you know, and

1:50:13therefore we chair's preference if you

1:50:15want to approve an order asking for that

1:50:17or or just file the item item. But

1:50:19either way, we'll No, that's fine. I can

1:50:20f if if they're going to be done, we

1:50:22just file them.

1:50:23>> I just want to let the young lady speak

1:50:25over here.

1:50:25>> There she is right there.

1:50:27>> Okay.

1:50:27>> Okay.

1:50:28>> My name is Sheila Reed, 14 Beach Street.

1:50:32I have been living there for 61 years

1:50:35with my husband.

1:50:37And it pains me to see people going

1:50:40through stop signs. It's very, very bad.

1:50:46The problem, I think, is in part that

1:50:49the white lines that that people expect

1:50:52to see are missing. The other part

1:50:57that's missing is police presence.

1:51:01If we have just one police car at the

1:51:05top of Bankrooft Tower Road where the

1:51:09intersection of Farnum is once in a

1:51:13while

1:51:14at um

1:51:18at, you know, when they're going home,

1:51:21>> reasonable time. Uh these people are

1:51:24frantic or early morning rush hour and

1:51:29just c keep catching people giving them

1:51:33tickets and telling them you've got to

1:51:36respect the law. That's all that's all

1:51:39we're asking for.

1:51:42And what happens is I live three houses

1:51:46down.

1:51:48I I watched that with my neighbor Kim

1:51:51Cberi

1:51:53and we see them slow down and go on or

1:51:58just zip through.

1:52:02It's very disrespectful

1:52:04of the rules of this city. On the other

1:52:09side, I want to thank the city for four

1:52:14hump speed humps.

1:52:17The last time I testified here was 10

1:52:20years ago about Beach Street. And since

1:52:23then, we are really happy. We are all

1:52:27happy on that street to have those speed

1:52:30humps. Finally, we have something to

1:52:33slow them down, but they've got to

1:52:35respect the laws.

1:52:37>> Thank you so much. We love happy

1:52:39residents. [laughter]

1:52:42>> Thank you,

1:52:42>> Mr. Chairman. Real quick.

1:52:43>> Yes. Go ahead. Council.

1:52:45>> Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Just I just

1:52:47want to say thank you to Mrs. Rey for

1:52:48being here. I just want to say thank you

1:52:50for coming in today. I appreciate you

1:52:52coming down today and I will put an

1:52:54order in for stop sign enforcement at

1:52:57Beachmont and um

1:53:00>> um

1:53:00>> the other street Bank Tower Road.

1:53:02>> Bankrooft Tower Road.

1:53:03>> You got it. Thank you.

1:53:05>> So since the work is going to be Is

1:53:07anybody online on this issue?

1:53:11>> I'm sorry, Mr. Chair.

1:53:12>> No, it's not going to cler. Do we have

1:53:13anybody online?

1:53:16to make sure there's no one raising

1:53:17their hands on.

1:53:18>> All right. Um,

1:53:21Commissioner Riley, anything good? Yeah.

1:53:24All right. So, you guys say good work is

1:53:25going to be done. So, he's going to file

1:53:27the item. Roll call.

1:53:28>> Councelor Balada.

1:53:31>> Yes.

1:53:31>> Councelor O'Hada and Chair and Councelor

1:53:33Rivera.

1:53:34>> Yes. We're going to 9B. Councelor Satcha

1:53:38Bitra request installation of threeway

1:53:41stop signage at the intersection of

1:53:44Chester Street and Westchester Street.

1:53:47Anybody here on that item?

1:53:49Council member

1:53:56>> thank you for taking this item. Uh I

1:54:00think the resident around on the West

1:54:03Chester and Chester Street um they had

1:54:06requested me to uh put that uh stop sign

1:54:10there. If you think look at that street

1:54:12there Chester uh going forward there is

1:54:16a three-way stop sign uh commissioner

1:54:18can identify that it is just before that

1:54:22they wanted another three-way stop sign.

1:54:24I just noticed that there is a stop sign

1:54:26put in there now on the corner of

1:54:29Chester and Westchester but don't have

1:54:32the other two. So, uh the issue also

1:54:37there to think about is that it is a

1:54:40steep road and in the winter if you have

1:54:43a stop sign and people are going up and

1:54:45to stop then the wheels start you know

1:54:50uh kind of skidding over. So that may be

1:54:52an issue. But if the commissioner thinks

1:54:54that just putting that one stop sign

1:54:57will bring the safety because people are

1:54:59concerned about when people you know

1:55:01they're coming from Westchester going

1:55:04towards the Chester Street and make a

1:55:06left turn at the Chester then that it

1:55:10becomes a little bit difficult. They

1:55:11think that that could be accident prone.

1:55:14So they request a three-way stop sign.

1:55:18But uh I'll leave it to commissioner uh

1:55:20his judgment. If you think that it is

1:55:23safer, then I'd like to implement that.

1:55:26>> Commissioner Rally.

1:55:29>> Yeah. Thank you, Mr. Chair. So, we did

1:55:30do a um a traffic engineering study on

1:55:33this intersection. So, just as point of

1:55:36background, and this will apply to the

1:55:37next uh few items, too. for any location

1:55:40where an all-way stop is requested. Uh

1:55:42we're required by federal regulations to

1:55:45do an engineering study that looks at

1:55:46specific um what are called warrants uh

1:55:50associated with the traffic volume and

1:55:52the crash history uh at that particular

1:55:54intersection. And in order to install

1:55:58allway stop, we have to meet at a

1:56:00minimum one or more of those those

1:56:01warrants. Uh otherwise, according to the

1:56:03federal regulations, we we can't install

1:56:05an allway stop there. So, we did conduct

1:56:07this study uh at this location and it

1:56:09does not meet the requirements for um

1:56:12any of the warrants that are specified,

1:56:14including the traffic volumes uh or the

1:56:17crash history. So, there have, this is

1:56:20good news, there have been no reported

1:56:21crashes or at least no recorded crashes

1:56:23at the intersection over the last 5

1:56:25years. Um, two of the legs, um, on

1:56:29Chester and Westchester have about 2,200

1:56:31vehicles, uh, a day, which is modest,

1:56:35but not inconsequential. Um, the other

1:56:38leg, the southbound leg has about 914,

1:56:40so pretty light volume on that leg. Um,

1:56:43so from a traffic engineering

1:56:45standpoint, the stop sign just facing

1:56:47the one movement is the is the um

1:56:50correct approach and the one that's

1:56:52consistent with the federal regulations.

1:56:53So, our recommendation is to to file the

1:56:56item. Now, I will say that we've noticed

1:57:00um that the uh the stop line the stop

1:57:04sign location is uh partially obscured.

1:57:07So, that's something we should take a

1:57:08look at is whether there's a better

1:57:10location for that existing stop sign and

1:57:12whether it may make sense to extend that

1:57:14stop bar out a little further either

1:57:16also so you can get a better view of the

1:57:18oncoming traffic. Uh, and we'll also

1:57:21take a look at whether there's any

1:57:22regulatory signage that could be uh

1:57:25established on Westchester to help

1:57:27inform people that the intersection um

1:57:29is, you know, that they're approaching

1:57:31the intersection. Um, but in terms of an

1:57:33allway stop, we do have to recommend

1:57:34file on that on that

1:57:36>> receive. Uh, we move to uh file that

1:57:39item roll call.

1:57:40>> Uh, to do have one person raising the

1:57:42hands on Zoom.

1:57:43>> Okay. Please, let's be sorry.

1:57:45>> To speaker Elaine M. you can go ahead

1:57:48and uh unmute.

1:57:50>> Thank you very much. Uh with regard to

1:57:52this issue, I live in that neighborhood

1:57:55and I noticed that part of the problem

1:57:56is that the traffic that comes down

1:57:58Westchester Street that continues on to

1:58:01that first leg of Chester comes down

1:58:03generally at a rapid rate of speed and

1:58:05sometimes it's difficult uh to to see

1:58:09them because of other other things

1:58:12obscuring your view. So, if there's no

1:58:15stop sign there, perhaps there could be

1:58:17another alternative such as a speed bump

1:58:20further up the road there to slow that

1:58:22traffic down because the traffic just

1:58:24goes way too fast on that area.

1:58:29>> Lobbyist who actually was lobbying on

1:58:32one person raising their hands to the

1:58:35next speaker. You can go ahead and

1:58:37unmute.

1:58:39>> Name of resident, please.

1:58:48to the chair. Seems like they may have

1:58:50um problems with unmuting. I will try

1:58:54again.

1:58:55>> All right. In the meantime, we'll have

1:58:57councelor econom speak.

1:58:59>> Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I agree with

1:59:00Commissioner Raleigh on this. Um, and I

1:59:04just do want to let the person who's

1:59:06listening in to let them know that um,

1:59:08we have discussed as well as uh, for

1:59:11speed bump on Westchester Street as

1:59:14funding allows. So, um, as that comes

1:59:16up, it's certainly on my radar. I just

1:59:19wanted to let the the U caller know.

1:59:21Thank you.

1:59:22>> Thank you.

1:59:24Caller online.

1:59:26>> I'm not sure.

1:59:27>> Name and address, please.

1:59:29Um, Bridget Murphy, 10 Westport Road.

1:59:35>> Oh, this is not the this is a second

1:59:37different item.

1:59:38>> Oh, sorry. Okay.

1:59:39>> What item I What item are you on for?

1:59:43>> I I thought this was the one for um 10

1:59:46Westport Road. So, I'll lower my hand

1:59:47until that. Apologize.

1:59:49>> No problem.

1:59:49>> Thank you,

1:59:50>> Mr. Chair. [clears throat]

1:59:52>> Yes, Councelor Metra.

1:59:53>> Yeah. No, thank you very much. I would

1:59:56go along with the commissioner and

1:59:59councelor Konamu that a speed het place

2:00:02would be a good idea

2:00:04>> as we go forward with it.

2:00:05>> All right, we'll move to further item

2:00:07roll call.

2:00:08>> Councelor Bado,

2:00:10>> yes.

2:00:11>> Councelor O'Hada and chap councelor

2:00:13Rivera.

2:00:14>> Yes. Move on to nine I mean uh yeah 9C.

2:00:18William Nu Yang requestation of a stop

2:00:20sign on Beaver Street at this

2:00:23intersection with Oliver Street and

2:00:25Florence Street. Anybody hearing that

2:00:27item?

2:00:28>> Anybody online?

2:00:30>> There's no one raising their hands.

2:00:31>> Commissioner Raleigh,

2:00:33Mr. Chair. So, we um this was an item

2:00:36that was continued from a a prior

2:00:38meeting um just because we wanted to

2:00:40further evaluate the status of some

2:00:42street improvements that are planned

2:00:44here um and to complete the the warrant

2:00:47analysis. We are able to warrant this

2:00:49based on the the uh geometry in the

2:00:52sight lines at the intersection and the

2:00:54left turning volume. Um but

2:00:59the the catch here is that the stop sign

2:01:01should not go in until those

2:01:02intersection improvements are made

2:01:03because we're just concerned that people

2:01:05aren't going to actually follow it under

2:01:07the current configuration. What's going

2:01:09to happen is this intersection is going

2:01:11to get squared off and look more like a

2:01:13a normal, you know, four-way

2:01:16intersection. And at that point then

2:01:18having the stop signs on the the two

2:01:19approaches will make sense. So our

2:01:21recommendation is to approve but pending

2:01:23the construction of related intersection

2:01:25alignment improvements.

2:01:26>> Okay. Said there's nobody online.

2:01:30>> Ch is no one raising their hands.

2:01:32>> All right. So we move to approve the

2:01:34item. Roll call.

2:01:35>> Councelor Bada.

2:01:37>> Yes.

2:01:38>> Councelor O'Hara and Chson. Councelor

2:01:40Rivera.

2:01:41>> Yes. We're going to move on to 9D.

2:01:43Councelor John Fullo requests

2:01:45installation of four-way stop signs at

2:01:46the intersection of Delmont Avenue and

2:01:49Bedford Avenue. Councelor Folo, Mr.

2:01:52Chairman, thank you through you. I just

2:01:55want to explain to uh the people that

2:01:57are here and anybody listening uh in the

2:02:01general public. I was uh contacted by

2:02:05constituents on both uh uh D&E this one

2:02:09here at the intersection of Delman A and

2:02:12Bedford A and also at Farah A and

2:02:14Bedford a and that's why I filed the

2:02:17petitions but since I filed the

2:02:19petitions I have heard from both sides

2:02:21of the issue. So, uh, I just want to let

2:02:25people know it's up to them to voice

2:02:27their, uh, opinion on what they'd like

2:02:30there, and I think they'll be happy

2:02:32with, uh, what the, uh, commission and

2:02:36assistant commission have come up with a

2:02:38solution, but I'll let them speak first

2:02:39and then, um, obviously after they're

2:02:42done, the commission will explain what

2:02:44their thoughts are. Okay. Thank you, Mr.

2:02:46Chairman.

2:02:46>> Thank you. Name and address, please.

2:02:48>> Good evening, counselors. My name is

2:02:50Nancy McAuliffe and I have lived at 38

2:02:52Bedford A for 72 years.

2:02:56I am here tonight because I care about

2:02:58this community and I am asking the city

2:03:01to take a thoughtful and responsible

2:03:03look at the proposed four-way stop signs

2:03:06at Delmav and Bedford Avenue. I

2:03:09understand that Worcester is growing. I

2:03:11understand we need housing and

2:03:12investment. My concern is making sure

2:03:15that growth happens safely and

2:03:17responsibly for everybody.

2:03:20When large devel developments are

2:03:23approved and established in

2:03:24neighborhoods, the city also has a

2:03:27responsibility to plan for what comes

2:03:29with that growth. That means considering

2:03:32traffic, parking, emergency access,

2:03:36pedestrian safety, school traffic,

2:03:38winter conditions, and the daily quality

2:03:41of life of the residents who live there.

2:03:44I have lived through the construction

2:03:46and the changes in this area. I have

2:03:48seen the buildings go up and I have seen

2:03:51how traffic patterns, pedestrian safety,

2:03:54vehicle safety, and everyday life in

2:03:57this neighborhood have changed.

2:04:00Ah, as our neighborhood continues to

2:04:02grow, I believe those impacts should be

2:04:04studied before problems developed, not

2:04:07after.

2:04:09Delmmont A and Bedford Avenue are now

2:04:11part of a much busier corridor. There's

2:04:14so many new residential units built and

2:04:16proposed nearby. It is only natural that

2:04:20more people will use these streets to

2:04:22reach their homes, schools, businesses,

2:04:25and major roads.

2:04:27That is why I keep asking one simple

2:04:30question. Where is the comprehensive

2:04:33traffic and safety analysis for this

2:04:35corridor?

2:04:37I understand that the city is looking

2:04:39into whether this type of study has been

2:04:41completed or is planned. If it has not,

2:04:45I respectfully ask that the qualified

2:04:49traffic and transportation professionals

2:04:52conduct one more permanent traffic

2:04:54change before traffic changes have been

2:04:57made. This inter intersection has unique

2:05:00challenges. It sits on two hills. During

2:05:04the winter, snow banks reduce

2:05:06visibility. Plows already already

2:05:08struggle with these conditions and snow

2:05:11and ice make travel even more difficult.

2:05:15The taller buildings nearby now have

2:05:17also changed the sunlight patterns which

2:05:20will affect how long the snow and ice

2:05:23remain after these storms. A four-way

2:05:26stop sign may be part of the solution,

2:05:29but it should be based on reliable data,

2:05:32professional traffic studies, and a

2:05:34complete understanding of the conditions

2:05:37throughout this corridor.

2:05:39Worcester is going to continue to grow,

2:05:42and with that growth comes a

2:05:43responsibility to plan carefully. I

2:05:47respectfully ask the city to look at

2:05:49Delmont A and Bedford Avenue as part of

2:05:52a larger RG5

2:05:55corridor

2:05:56and evaluate the communive impacts of

2:06:00the development on traffic safety,

2:06:03infrastructure and residents daily

2:06:05quality of life. I have lived there for

2:06:0972 years. I love my neighborhood and I

2:06:13want to see Worcester continue to grow

2:06:15and succeed. I am simply asking that the

2:06:18needs of the community and the safety

2:06:20and quality of life of the residents you

2:06:24represent

2:06:25remain at the center of this decisions.

2:06:28Thank you very much. And I would also

2:06:31request that a traffic study be made.

2:06:35>> Thank you.

2:06:36>> Thank you.

2:06:37>> Anybody else want to speak on this item?

2:06:40name and address, please.

2:06:42>> Kristen McAuliffe. I have not lived

2:06:43there 72 years.

2:06:46>> All righty. Thank you for having us this

2:06:48evening. Um, I want to begin by saying

2:06:50that I also love seeing Worcester

2:06:52continue to grow and evolve. It's a

2:06:54really special place and especially this

2:06:56past weekend. The weather is beautiful

2:06:58and I saw families enjoying the

2:06:59beautiful weather, homes field, having

2:07:01picnics, walking with baby strollers,

2:07:04spending times with their dogs, enjoying

2:07:06our parks, World Cup. Awesome.

2:07:09These moments represent what makes

2:07:11Worcester special and they show families

2:07:12and neighbors coming together across our

2:07:14limited green spaces enjoying everything

2:07:16our city has to offer. But they also

2:07:18remind us that growing and active

2:07:20communities need safe waves for everyone

2:07:22to move through it. Families and

2:07:24children on strollers and pets crossing

2:07:26streets across these spaces while

2:07:28vehicles, buses, delivery vehicles,

2:07:30motorcycles, bicycles are all sharing

2:07:31the same roads. This highlights the

2:07:33importance of careful considering

2:07:35consideration of pedestrian and roadway

2:07:37safety especially near Plantation

2:07:40Street, Hamilton Street, Lake Avenue,

2:07:42and especially we discussed this

2:07:43evening, Grafton Street.

2:07:47I do not believe a four-way stop is the

2:07:49larger issue. The larger issue is

2:07:52whether the city is evaluating the

2:07:53cumulative transportation impacts of

2:07:55significant growth throughout this area

2:07:57and making decisions based on complete

2:07:59information. A four-way stop may

2:08:02ultimately be the right solution, but it

2:08:04cannot simply be the only response after

2:08:07development has already changed traffic

2:08:09patterns and residents are f focused and

2:08:11forced to raise concerns like they have

2:08:13this evening throughout District 3.

2:08:16Our neighborhoods are experiencing

2:08:18significant growth. Large residential

2:08:20developments have been built and are

2:08:22being built and addition developments

2:08:24are occurring throughout Franklin

2:08:25Street, Grafton Street, Plantation

2:08:27Street, and Hamilton Street. More than

2:08:292,000 additional units are a part of the

2:08:32growth of this corridor.

2:08:34Residents and community members do not

2:08:36experience development one project at a

2:08:38time. They experience the combined

2:08:40impacts of the same roads,

2:08:42intersections, sidewalks, schools, bus

2:08:44routes, and emergency response systems

2:08:46and neighborhood streets.

2:08:48Individual profit project traffic

2:08:51studies are not enough. A study for one

2:08:53development evaluates one project. It

2:08:56does not evaluate the cumulative impact

2:08:58of multiple developments occurring

2:09:00throughout the same connected

2:09:01transportation network.

2:09:05Before approving further density and

2:09:07reducing parking requirements in the

2:09:08city, I would like to ask for more

2:09:11traffic studies in the district 3 area.

2:09:18I want to connect this issue to the

2:09:20upcoming parking requirements and

2:09:21limitations being lifted.

2:09:24Before voting to reduce parking

2:09:26requirements, it makes sense that the

2:09:27city should have two complimentary

2:09:29studies. A comprehensive parking and

2:09:31development impact analysis. This should

2:09:33evaluate the impacts of changing parking

2:09:35requirements and traffic, including

2:09:36current and projected parking demand,

2:09:39resident transportation needs, potential

2:09:41spillover parking impacts, and how these

2:09:43changes may influence future development

2:09:44patterns.

2:09:46Second, a comprehensive corridor-wide

2:09:48transportation impact analysis. This

2:09:50should evaluate whether the

2:09:51transportation network can safely

2:09:53support increased density and continued

2:09:55growth in district 3. These studies

2:09:57answer different questions. A parking

2:09:59analysis evaluates a policy change and

2:10:01if it makes sense. A transportation

2:10:03analysis evaluates the real world

2:10:05impacts of that change. Both are

2:10:07necessary for counselors to make full

2:10:09informed decisions when it comes to

2:10:11development and traffic and

2:10:13infrastructure. These are not questions

2:10:15about whether should grow. Worcester

2:10:17should grow. These are questions about

2:10:19how Worcester can grow responsibly.

2:10:22Everyone wants Worcester to succeed. We

2:10:24want families to enjoy our parks and

2:10:25roadways safely. But successful grow

2:10:28growth requires more than approving new

2:10:30buildings, units, and new inspection

2:10:32vehicles. It requires making sure

2:10:34transportation, safety, and

2:10:36infrastructure grow with the community

2:10:39beforehand and simultaneously, not after

2:10:41buildings and development occur. The

2:10:44question should not be how we read react

2:10:46like we are to this evening after

2:10:48concerns arise. The question should be

2:10:50how we plan responsibly before they do.

2:10:53I respectfully ask the committee to

2:10:55support a process where transportation

2:10:57and development decisions are guided by

2:10:59engineering data, professional analysis,

2:11:01and complete understanding of the

2:11:03condition conditions residents

2:11:05experience every day, especially in

2:11:07district 3.

2:11:10>> Thank you. You

2:11:13>> that's I think that's next. Yeah. Um

2:11:18Commissioner Riley.

2:11:21>> Uh Mr. Chair, thank you. So, I'm I'm

2:11:24going to focus back on the the matter

2:11:26that is before us, which is just the

2:11:28stop signs. There's a lot of Sure.,

2:11:29>> you know, a lot of um impassion points

2:11:32that are made tonight, but the item

2:11:34that's before us is the the operations

2:11:36at the intersection. So, we did conduct

2:11:37the engineering study um at the

2:11:39intersection. As I described earlier,

2:11:42the uh uh installation of a four-way

2:11:45stop does not meet the federal

2:11:47requirements for the installation of of

2:11:49those um traffic control devices.

2:11:52um based on the amount of uh traffic

2:11:54that is experienced out there as well as

2:11:55the crash history. What we did notice is

2:11:58that the current stop signs facing

2:12:00Bedford Avenue do not have painted stop

2:12:03bars. Um and they should uh and the two

2:12:05crashes that have occurred at this

2:12:07intersection over the last 5 years both

2:12:09involved uh drivers who had run the stop

2:12:12signs. So something to improve the

2:12:14visibility and awareness of those stop

2:12:16signs is warranted. So, uh, again, we

2:12:19recommend file on the item because it

2:12:21doesn't meet the federal requirements

2:12:23for installation of hallway stop, but

2:12:24we, uh,

2:12:25>> chairman's order.

2:12:26>> We do intend to paint stop bars for the

2:12:28existing two stop signs.

2:12:30>> Perfect. Perfect. Uh, councel,

2:12:33>> very quickly, uh, Mr. Chim, through you

2:12:35to the commissioner, could you explain

2:12:36what a uh, stop bar is, please? So,

2:12:40>> yeah. So, that through the chair. So, a

2:12:42stop bar is the the white painted line

2:12:44on the pavement that's placed next to

2:12:46the stop sign to help increase awareness

2:12:49as a driver's approaching the

2:12:50intersection.

2:12:52>> All right. So, we're going to file the

2:12:53item. We're going to roll to have two

2:12:56people raising their hands on.

2:12:57>> Oh, sorry. I jumped again. Please go to

2:13:00the

2:13:01>> speaker. Um, David Caroa,

2:13:03you can go ahead and unmute.

2:13:05>> Well, it it seems like the item has been

2:13:07file. It's going to be filed. Um, but

2:13:10I'm just calling in support of a

2:13:12four-way stop sign. Um, I live on, uh,

2:13:1546 Bedford Avenue. Um, both Delmmont and

2:13:19Farah are cutthroughs to Hamilton Street

2:13:22and Grafton Street. And both my wife and

2:13:26I walk the neighborhood. We see kids

2:13:28playing out in the neighborhood. We see

2:13:30people walking their dogs in the in the

2:13:32neighborhood. And people just speed

2:13:34ridiculously. They think it's NASCAR

2:13:36driving from Hamilton Street to Grafton

2:13:40Street. Like they they just go really

2:13:42fast. And there is precedent where

2:13:44Sandish Street and Bedford Avenue has a

2:13:47four-way stop sign. I don't understand

2:13:49why there can't be a four-way stop sign

2:13:52in on Delmont and Bedford and Fair and

2:13:55and and Bedford. Um but it's just, you

2:13:59know, we're thinking about traffic

2:14:00calming measures. People cut through the

2:14:02these streets. Um, and so yeah, that's

2:14:06uh why I'm in favor of it.

2:14:10>> Okay. And the next speaker I can uh

2:14:13identify is Laura Winslow. You can go

2:14:16ahead and unmute now.

2:14:19>> Hi, good evening. My name is Laura

2:14:21Winslow. I reside at 46 Bedford Avenue.

2:14:23And I also just wanted to speak in

2:14:26support of um traffic calming measures

2:14:30for Delmont Fair. Um it does in addition

2:14:34to painting stop sign bars there, it

2:14:37would be greatly appreciated if there's

2:14:40any other sort of um measures that can

2:14:43be implemented implemented to slow cars

2:14:46there. Um as was noted, people drive

2:14:50very fast on the streets. There's going

2:14:52to be an increasing amount of traffic on

2:14:53the streets and also the hills there are

2:14:56blind spots. as you drive both up and

2:14:59down the hills, you cannot see over the

2:15:01crests and the cars that drive really

2:15:03quickly um do not always

2:15:07pause long enough to tell what

2:15:09pedestrians are there on the streets um

2:15:13and they will continue very quickly um

2:15:16both in summer and wintertime and it

2:15:18creates dangerous conditions um for the

2:15:21people who are living and walking around

2:15:24that area. Um, so again, I understand

2:15:27that the lines will be painted, but if

2:15:30there are any other measures that could

2:15:32be implemented in addition to um to

2:15:36that, that would be greatly appreciated.

2:15:40>> Thank you. Um, before we do roll call to

2:15:42father item, I'm going to do a

2:15:44chairman's order requesting that stop

2:15:45bars be painted at the existing stop

2:15:47signs facing Bedford Avenue and roll

2:15:51call to father item.

2:15:53Councelor Bilada.

2:15:57>> Yes.

2:15:57>> Councelor O'Hada and chairperson.

2:15:59Councelor Rivera.

2:16:00>> Yes. All right. 9E. Councelor John P.

2:16:04Fizzo request installation of four-way

2:16:06stop signs at the intersection of Ferrar

2:16:08Avenue and Bedford Avenue. Councelor

2:16:11Pizzolo.

2:16:14No. Fine. All right. Name and address.

2:16:17Name of resident. Okay.

2:16:26Hello.

2:16:26>> Name your residence, please.

2:16:28>> Yep. Tony Smith, 115 Farah A.

2:16:32>> Um, good to see you. Good to see you

2:16:34again. Um, I'm here with support of my

2:16:37neighbor who's across the street. She

2:16:38brought to my attention they talked

2:16:41about putting a four-way on Farah in

2:16:44Bedford. Um, what makes it pretty

2:16:48dangerous for a four-way is the hill. I

2:16:51drive a expedition. My wife drives a

2:16:53car. Uh, I go out when the snow, light

2:16:56snow, heavy snow, and I test the hills

2:16:59for her. Being able to come back up

2:17:01there with a little snow. Sometimes

2:17:04after the snow has melt a couple days,

2:17:05it becomes ice. So, it makes it

2:17:08difficult for her to drive up that hill.

2:17:11um she can't come up through Grafton

2:17:13Street because that hill's even steeper.

2:17:16So, I'm just not in favor of having a

2:17:19four-way sign there because it's just

2:17:21becomes very icy, very slippery, and

2:17:24very dangerous. Um I know my neighbor

2:17:27here has a little bit more information

2:17:29uh to give you than I have. So, thank

2:17:30you.

2:17:31>> Thank you, sir. You appreciate your

2:17:32time.

2:17:33>> Hi, I'm Janity Toronto. I live on Br.

2:17:36>> I live on Farah AB. Um, so I have lived

2:17:39there with my family since 1980. That is

2:17:41many winters trying to get up and down

2:17:42that hill. We have an SUV. We have a

2:17:44regular car. Right now I have not really

2:17:47seen accidents. I played there as a kid.

2:17:49I rode my bike there as a kid. Whatever.

2:17:51You need momentum to get up the hill.

2:17:54Grafton Street, as we've said in this

2:17:55whole meeting, is very dangerous. If you

2:17:58slide down, you go right to the main

2:18:00street, you're going to get crashed. So

2:18:01our safer option is coming Hamilton. You

2:18:04come standish flat. You have options to

2:18:07get up safely up Bel Delmont or Farah

2:18:09and build momentum. If you put stop

2:18:11signs here now, we will probably be

2:18:14rolling back down the street. There's

2:18:16way more cars. There's way more people

2:18:17living on these streets now. Sometimes I

2:18:19can barely get up and down as it is. No

2:18:22snow with cars on both sides because

2:18:23there's more families, more people. So

2:18:26now if you add in stop signs, this is

2:18:29like not something that's just like an

2:18:32opinion. This is like physics. If you're

2:18:34going downhill, gravity's going to pull

2:18:36you. Your car is going to go faster.

2:18:38You're going uphill, gravity's going to

2:18:40pull you. Your brakes are going to, you

2:18:41know, like your tires are going to spin.

2:18:43This has to do with like friction, all

2:18:44those things. So, I think this is a

2:18:46really bad idea. I think it's like if it

2:18:48ain't broke, don't fix it. You're

2:18:49bringing a problem. When you're coming

2:18:51up where the two stop signs are, as it

2:18:53is, if you're coming from Dana to to

2:18:56Bedford and you take that left, it is so

2:18:58hard in snow and ice. You spin. We also

2:19:02have people I myself has a mother that

2:19:04has to get to dialysis. That means I do

2:19:06not have an option. I have to drive up

2:19:08and down that hill three times a week in

2:19:10the winter. It is a life or death thing.

2:19:12The person across from me, his father is

2:19:14handicapped as well as you'll see from

2:19:15the handicap signs there. So for us,

2:19:18this is like not a joke. This isn't like

2:19:20whatever. Now, I don't think it's fair

2:19:22for us to get punished because people

2:19:24that probably take the street once or

2:19:26twice because a map quest told them to

2:19:28do it are speeding up and down this hill

2:19:30or supposedly speed up and down it. If

2:19:33people are feeling concerned about that,

2:19:35I don't know if someone's child got

2:19:37hurt, a dog hurt, whatever, we're

2:19:38willing to say like if you want to put

2:19:40some kind of temporary sign like a slow

2:19:43down or something at the top to help

2:19:45slow people down during the summer,

2:19:47fine. But in the winter, I do not think

2:19:49we should have permanent. I think this

2:19:50is going to cause more accidents and

2:19:52also if we start having accidents, the

2:19:55insurance companies aren't going to care

2:19:56that there was like snow and ice and

2:19:58then we're going to be the ones paying

2:19:59crazy high premiums. So that is my

2:20:02thoughts on this. Thank you for hearing

2:20:03it.

2:20:03>> Thank you for sharing your thoughts. Do

2:20:05we have anybody online?

2:20:07>> To do have one person raising their

2:20:09hands on Zoom to Speaker Ashley. Uh you

2:20:12can go ahead and unmute now.

2:20:20Hello

2:20:24to a jer.

2:20:26Oh, hello.

2:20:27>> Hi. Um, my name is uh Christopher Levit.

2:20:30I live at the corner of uh Bedford and

2:20:33Ferrar Avenue at 48 Bedford. Um, I think

2:20:37that the uh pure um safety concern is um

2:20:44exactly the uh opposite of what the

2:20:47other woman was saying. Um I'm concerned

2:20:49for my child. I'm concerned for the

2:20:51pedestrians that use the cross streets

2:20:54for uh switching bus routes. Um I think

2:20:58a stop sign is a valid point and uh

2:21:01would greatly add safety to the

2:21:03neighborhood. Ferrar is the only street

2:21:06in the neighborhood that has no stop

2:21:08signs regarding it and that is known to

2:21:11a lot of people and they use it as a

2:21:13shortcut between Hamilton and Grafton

2:21:15Street and the opposite and when they're

2:21:18going from Grafton Street to Hamilton

2:21:20Street the pure blind spot at the top of

2:21:22the hill and the speed increase due to

2:21:25that hill uh

2:21:28is greatly misused to say the least. Um

2:21:32it's uh they use it through all hours of

2:21:34the night as a uh pass through and I

2:21:37think um due to that that concern alone

2:21:39that the safety is very necessary to put

2:21:41a four-way stop sign there. Um I'm more

2:21:45than willing to uh

2:21:48put a slow down sign or whatever on the

2:21:50top of the hill. I thought that was a

2:21:52great idea, but I think a stop sign

2:21:54there is uh extremely necessary for the

2:21:56safety of both motorists and um

2:22:00pedestrians in the neighborhood.

2:22:02Um that's all I have to say. Thank you.

2:22:06>> Okay. Can I speak one more time then on

2:22:07this? So, I did some searches and it

2:22:10says like right here, yes, stopping on

2:22:11an icy hill slope is one of the quickest

2:22:13ways to cause a skid. Gravity pulls the

2:22:15car down while breaking removes tire

2:22:17traction instantly breaking a grip on

2:22:19locking wheels. Same with this. Winter

2:22:22has higher accidents than summer as far

2:22:24as like ice inclines cause frequent loss

2:22:27of traction leading to sliding

2:22:28backwards, multiple vehicle pileups,

2:22:30severe property damage. So if you want

2:22:33to look at just a simple Google search

2:22:35of hills rolling back, ice conditions,

2:22:38it has to do with literally physics,

2:22:40traction, gravity. So yeah, you can put

2:22:42a stop sign, but if ice and snow are

2:22:45happening and your car slids, even if

2:22:47you're trying to stop, it's not going to

2:22:49matter. It's just physics. So, I'm not

2:22:52opposed to once again someone has

2:22:54children trying to slow things down, but

2:22:56you can't fight physics unless you guys

2:22:58are going to flatten this hill. You live

2:22:59on Grafton Hill. Thank you,

2:23:01>> Commissioner Riley.

2:23:02>> To the chair, we do have one more person

2:23:04raising their hands.

2:23:06>> Um to Speaker David Coroa, you can go

2:23:09ahead and unmute.

2:23:10>> Yeah, just um calling.

2:23:13>> Hello, David. David Crow, 46 Bedford A.

2:23:15I'm just calling in again in favor of a

2:23:18four-way stop sign for this. Um I think

2:23:20it's already been said. I I like the

2:23:22idea of a of a slow down sign at the top

2:23:25of the hill. Um or even if if there

2:23:28needs to be a speed bump, maybe we can

2:23:30have a temporary speed bump uh on Farah

2:23:33A. It's just people just fly down fly

2:23:35down this this street. Um as um uh

2:23:39Christopher said, there is no stop signs

2:23:41on Farer. um all the other um parallel

2:23:45streets have have some sort of stop

2:23:47signs. People just fly down and and it's

2:23:50really t talking about safety throughout

2:23:53all all time, all seasons, winter and

2:23:56and summer. People just fly down. Uh

2:23:58they don't care. They just want to get

2:23:59to Hamilton Street or they want to get

2:24:01to rushing over to Grafton Street. Um I

2:24:05you know, we've we've crossed that

2:24:06street plenty of times. We've seen so

2:24:09many cars flying down that road. Um, but

2:24:11if if if we can get something, if it's

2:24:14if it's a slowdown sign, um, speed bumps

2:24:17or or or I think this stop sign makes

2:24:20sense. Um, yeah. And so, um, that's what

2:24:25I'm calling about. Thank you.

2:24:26>> Okay. Council,

2:24:28>> Mr. chairman through you very quickly.

2:24:30Uh I will um put in a petition for a

2:24:34sign to slow down uh you know slow down

2:24:37on the sign or whatever the phrase would

2:24:39be to uh

2:24:42add to that. Okay. As as people have

2:24:44requested. So I will file a petition.

2:24:46>> Thank you, Commissioner Riley.

2:24:47>> Yeah, Mr. Chair, and I I'm just going to

2:24:49offer to councelor Folo. Um we'll work

2:24:51with you on figuring out what the

2:24:53appropriate type of petition to put in

2:24:55is. some of the sign types that were

2:24:57previously allowed are no longer allowed

2:24:59under the METCD. So, we'll just want to

2:25:01touch base on that. Um,

2:25:04you know, just like the last petition,

2:25:06we are hearing concerns about um safety

2:25:08on these streets, and that's that's

2:25:10always a case when you have um you start

2:25:12to see traffic cutting through between

2:25:14the major corridors on a residential

2:25:15street. Uh really what we need to do on

2:25:18in those circumstances is look at actual

2:25:20traffic cominging measures and stop

2:25:22signs are specifically cited as not

2:25:25being trafficcoming measures um in the

2:25:28federal regulations.

2:25:30So uh you know both of these streets

2:25:32would be not something we can decide

2:25:35today. There needs to be different types

2:25:37of um analysis done for it and there

2:25:39would need to be a petition. But both

2:25:40these streets could potentially be

2:25:42candidates for speed humps if we can

2:25:44find locations that are flat enough. We

2:25:46can't place speed humps on grades uh

2:25:48that are over about 8%. So that's, you

2:25:51know, something to to keep in mind. But

2:25:53that's a trafficcoming tool that has

2:25:55proven effective on other similar

2:25:57streets. Uh in the case of this specific

2:26:01petition, same engineering study, same

2:26:03analysis. Um, and again, the traffic

2:26:07volumes and the crash history don't meet

2:26:10any of the warrants that are specified

2:26:11in the manual of uniform traffic control

2:26:13devices. Um, which outlines the

2:26:16requirements for for establishing an

2:26:18allway stop. Um, traffic volumes are

2:26:21relatively low. They may feel high for

2:26:24the context, which is a local

2:26:25residential street, but they aren't high

2:26:27enough to to warrant the allway stop

2:26:29based on that. Um, sight distance was

2:26:32was adequate. Um and uh in terms of the

2:26:35crash history, there have been no

2:26:36reported crashes at this location in the

2:26:38last five years. So um for those

2:26:41reasons, we have to recommend file on

2:26:43the hallway stop. One other thing I did

2:26:44want to mention though, just in general,

2:26:46when we do these evaluations, if we get

2:26:49to a point where hallway stop or a stop

2:26:51sign in general does meet the warrants,

2:26:53then we do look at other factors like

2:26:55grades and those kinds of things to make

2:26:57sure that it can get safely uh installed

2:26:59at those locations. So just want to

2:27:01assure people that there's a number of

2:27:03steps that take place in these

2:27:04evaluations.

2:27:07>> Commissioner, I mean uh councelor Fris

2:27:10Commissioner, thank you for uh

2:27:11mentioning that because I know you have

2:27:13gone through uh quite a bit of uh

2:27:16thoughts and and and investigating that

2:27:19area before you make a decision. So I'm

2:27:21glad that you told the general public

2:27:23that you have uh did you do diligence on

2:27:27these two intersections, Mr. Chim just

2:27:29very quickly um through you Delmon a I

2:27:34have filed a petition for a speed bump

2:27:36and it will go in next year. Uh you

2:27:39can't have it the same construction

2:27:40season but I have filed that and just so

2:27:43people know it it as the chairman uh the

2:27:46commissioner said uh it has to go on a

2:27:49flat part of the road. So, uh, it's

2:27:52going to be somewhere in between

2:27:55[clears throat] Grafton and, uh, Bedford

2:27:58and, uh, when we, you know, when they go

2:28:02out and find a the the right place to

2:28:05put that, uh, the surface is flat

2:28:07enough, that's where it will go. Thank

2:28:09you, Mr. Chairman.

2:28:10>> Thank you. Uh, we're going to move to

2:28:13before we move to file the item. Roll

2:28:15call. I'm going to do a chair's order

2:28:16requesting that the stop bars painted at

2:28:18the existing stop signs facing Bedford

2:28:20Avenue and the roll call to file the

2:28:23item.

2:28:24>> Councelor Bilada.

2:28:26>> Yes.

2:28:27>> Councelor O'Hara and Chair Caser Rivera.

2:28:30>> Yes. All right. Real quick, I'm going to

2:28:33move to 8A school zone petitions.

2:28:36Councelor Sacha on behalf of Kali Hes

2:28:39request installation of school safety

2:28:41zone signage in the vicinity of Thornike

2:28:44Road School.

2:28:45located at 30 Thorn Dyke Road, including

2:28:48but not limited to signage indicating

2:28:51appropriate and inappropriate locations

2:28:53for vehicles to turn on the turn onto

2:28:55the road. Name a residence, please.

2:28:58>> Um, my name is Cali Hes, 28 Christine

2:29:00Street. Um, I'm the crossing guard for

2:29:03this area. So, I've already studied all

2:29:06this. I've done the research. I told you

2:29:08guys last time that I was here, if it's

2:29:10predictable, it's preventable. I

2:29:12literally have a touch of the tism,

2:29:13guys. I can I know what's happening. I

2:29:16can tell you which car is coming when. I

2:29:17know who's coming where. Um I've I've

2:29:20become like they call me in that little

2:29:22community right there. They call me like

2:29:24it's Callie's Crossing. Like I know

2:29:26who's there. So in my petition, I just

2:29:28requested that um when you come down

2:29:31Thorn Dikeke Road, if if you guys drive

2:29:33down there, you don't even know there's

2:29:34a school there. That school was built in

2:29:361952.

2:29:38So it's it was designed for like when we

2:29:40all used to walk to school when it was

2:29:41just really a neighborhood. But now

2:29:42we've got buses. Um, I've got a fireman

2:29:45on the corner that I work with, you

2:29:47know, like stuff like that. We've

2:29:48studied things. That street is a oneway,

2:29:52but to the point of Beverly. So then

2:29:55you've got everybody cutting across

2:29:56Burncoat Street and then they're flying

2:29:58down Beverly. So, but there's no signs

2:30:00that it's a school zone at at Beverly

2:30:03Road then. So part of it is I don't know

2:30:06if you've ever seen it, but it's a mess.

2:30:08There's like a little kind of rotary

2:30:10right there between Beverly,

2:30:12Thorndikeke, Monterey, and Bay State.

2:30:15It's supposed to be a Rotary, but nobody

2:30:17knows that. Everybody do does whatever

2:30:18the hell they want to do. Sorry, excuse

2:30:20my language, but it's like I see it

2:30:24every day. So, what I requested was

2:30:26because we can't park on Thornike

2:30:29because it's a oneway, our buses are

2:30:31loading in the fire lane. Not a good

2:30:33idea, right? So we I've got everyone

2:30:36coming down to Beverly to park to pick

2:30:38up their kids. That way they're on the

2:30:39passenger side and I can load the kids.

2:30:41So that's why I was asking for the turn

2:30:43the right hand turn there because the

2:30:45buses can't even swing that because you

2:30:47got everybody parked. Then you got

2:30:49people coming up this rotary. There's no

2:30:51even crosswalk.

2:30:53There was a neighbor that actually

2:30:54painted their own crosswalk on Monterey

2:30:57which is totally illegal.

2:30:59>> No good.

2:31:00>> No good. but trying to get something

2:31:03done, you know.

2:31:04>> Um, my dad works for Mass DOT. I have an

2:31:08obsession with like traffic safety. It's

2:31:10it's a bad habit. I even went into the

2:31:12school just to teach these kids how to

2:31:14look for me before they cross because

2:31:16you can't even see them. So, with that

2:31:18right hand turn, that's going to stop

2:31:21all of that problem. Then you've got

2:31:23people on Monteray. So when you come

2:31:25down and you go thorn just stops and

2:31:28then all of a sudden you're coming up,

2:31:29you don't even know that it's a one way

2:31:31until you're already on the one way. So

2:31:34I was saying if we made that all like

2:31:37it's supposed to be come down Thornike

2:31:40and make it all a oneway because you got

2:31:42people coming up Thornike the buses. I

2:31:45literally had to help a bus driver

2:31:47navigate. I'm not supposed to do that.

2:31:49So then people take that, you take that

2:31:52left. You're not supposed to take that

2:31:54left. There should be a sign there.

2:31:56Caution, two-way traffic, because you

2:31:58got people from Monterey coming and then

2:32:00you get Thorn Dikeke. I have literally

2:32:02thrown children out of the way because

2:32:05they can't see me until it's too late.

2:32:07I've dressed up in an inflatable unicorn

2:32:09costume with that vest on. I've dressed

2:32:11up as like one of those green Gumby

2:32:13things. I've done everything to try. I

2:32:16even even made a joke like if they

2:32:18deputized a crossing guard, I could give

2:32:20tickets for these people that aren't

2:32:21doing the right thing because I do the

2:32:23same thing. I go to 311, you know, I I

2:32:25try I've literally made that whole area

2:32:27in my community, the man in the

2:32:29wheelchair, I've had to help him because

2:32:31people are coming down and he's got

2:32:34Thornike is tiny. It's tiny. It's not

2:32:38meant to be like I I I I made a

2:32:41suggestion to the school. I don't know

2:32:42if you've ever seen Thornike. They have

2:32:44no parking lot, so the teachers are

2:32:46parking there, too. So, I made the

2:32:48suggestion, you guys using this field

2:32:49back here. Level it, make the cut behind

2:32:53the school. They don't even use the

2:32:54field. Then we oop, sorry. Then we got a

2:32:56wraparound. Then that aliates all the

2:32:58traffic there. I've had so many great

2:32:59ideas. I've had DTAM come out. If we put

2:33:02that stop sign there and then fix

2:33:04whatever the heck that rotary is, there

2:33:06was just an accident on Baygate, someone

2:33:08coming. Then if you guys did put the

2:33:11speed bumps in, thank you. Thank you.

2:33:13You you put the speed bumps in on the

2:33:15corner of Beverly and Rexam and I

2:33:17appreciate that very much because

2:33:19there's a family that lives there. They

2:33:20had someone crash into their house

2:33:22literally into that house because people

2:33:23are speeding. They don't know it's a

2:33:25school zone. They're trying to avoid

2:33:26that burnt coat mess. So they're coming

2:33:28down Rexand whipping through and they go

2:33:31to take that left right up Thornike.

2:33:33I've even got residents going up the

2:33:34wrong way just to avoid all the they

2:33:37can't get out of their driveways because

2:33:40we've got four buses.

2:33:43If there was an accident, like if the

2:33:45fire truck can't even fit, it's a mess.

2:33:47I understand it. All the schools are

2:33:48going through it. We get that. But the

2:33:50stop sign and then fix whatever the heck

2:33:54that is. There is no signage. There is

2:33:56no cross. I've got kids coming down, but

2:33:58they have to go to Monteray. There's no

2:34:00crosswalk. So, I literally have to be

2:34:03they have to walk,

2:34:05you know? I'm like, don't do that. But I

2:34:08have to kind of stop traffic because I

2:34:09can't stop everybody from coming. It's

2:34:12become a four-way intersection. I have

2:34:14to be on guard like all the time. I If

2:34:18we put that no right-hand turn, we need

2:34:20really good like on Beverly like this is

2:34:22a school zone. You don't you don't know.

2:34:24You just think that that flashing light

2:34:26at the top of Thornike, you think that's

2:34:27for the burn code traffic. No, we've got

2:34:29a school down here, you know, and then

2:34:32um that whole mess, there are kids from

2:34:35that from school that are walking here.

2:34:37They're walking up Bay State and they

2:34:40have no way to get to the school. They

2:34:42have no way to get to me. So, they have

2:34:43to cross in that random triangle thing

2:34:45that's there. So, all I need, all we

2:34:48need is that. No, no, no, don't do that.

2:34:51And we need more proper signage. We need

2:34:53someone to come and look at it. That is

2:34:55supposed to be a rotary. I said make

2:34:56Thorn Dike the one way all the way down

2:34:59cuz those buses try to take that

2:35:01lefthand turn to go up Monteray and

2:35:03there's cars parked over there and it

2:35:05becomes

2:35:06I'm like a superhero like trying to

2:35:09predict what's going to happen. I just

2:35:11it just needs help. I've I've tried

2:35:14[laughter] like that's it.

2:35:15>> Thank you.

2:35:16>> Thank you guys.

2:35:16>> Councelor Mitra,

2:35:19>> Mr. Chairman, uh I think [clears throat]

2:35:22Khali has has explained everything to me

2:35:26safety is very important here the school

2:35:28being uh there I request the

2:35:31commissioner to kind of take a look at

2:35:33the situation and do our best to bring

2:35:36the safety for our children community

2:35:39for all of us so that's what we work for

2:35:41that's what our main goal is and it's

2:35:43very nice of her even though I think if

2:35:46I could say that she had a surgery but

2:35:48she uh asked the doctor's permission to

2:35:51come here I said It'll be nice if you

2:35:52could come. So, it was nice of her to

2:35:54wait this long and it was nice of you to

2:35:56go and ask her to put this forward. So,

2:35:59but thank you for coming and I couldn't

2:36:01explain any better than she feels it.

2:36:04She stands there every day and she sees

2:36:06the whole picture. I think she gave us a

2:36:09great illustration. I like this. We take

2:36:11some good action and commissioner can

2:36:14help it out. Thank you.

2:36:15>> Yeah. Before I hand it over to

2:36:16Commissioner Riley, I was uh councelor

2:36:18Con anything you want to say?

2:36:21There's not much more to add. I think

2:36:22she hit the nail on the head and I'll I

2:36:25agree with uh Council Meer as well.

2:36:28>> All right. Anybody online?

2:36:30>> To there's no one raising their hands.

2:36:33>> Awesome. Commissioner Ali.

2:36:34>> Yeah. Thank you, Mr. Chair. So, and I

2:36:36was out at Thornneck I want to say about

2:36:38a year ago and um it is I mean it's a

2:36:41really it's a really confusing um

2:36:44configuration street configuration on

2:36:47that far easterly end. Um,

2:36:50so I think the right thing to do on this

2:36:52got a lot of good information tonight.

2:36:54Thank you for that. Um, I think the

2:36:56thing to do is to hold this item so we

2:36:58can start to think about and brainstorm

2:37:00what are some potential improvements out

2:37:02here that can address this. Um, all of

2:37:04the signage that's proper for what the

2:37:08existing regulations are is it's out

2:37:10there. Um, with the exception of the

2:37:12school zone signage and that's going in

2:37:14this summer. Um, we're installing school

2:37:16zone signage across the city this

2:37:17summer. So, there'll be some

2:37:18improvements right away with that. Um,

2:37:20but in terms of looking at the

2:37:22configuration of the streets at the end

2:37:23of the roadway and how those operate,

2:37:26uh, you know, I think

2:37:27>> it merits holding this coming up with

2:37:29some specific proposals. Um, because we

2:37:32will need to also inform the

2:37:33neighborhood about the impacts they

2:37:35might have on circulation through the

2:37:37>> man in the wheelchair. That was the man

2:37:39in the wheelchair that was here. We call

2:37:40him the mayor of the fortech road. Um,

2:37:43we've studied it so much. So that's what

2:37:44I said would be probably a bigger issue

2:37:46because there is a sign that is missing.

2:37:49Um so when you come down Thornike,

2:37:51people are taking that left. There

2:37:54should be a caution two-way traffic sign

2:37:56because people are taking the now people

2:37:58are taking the right on Monterey and

2:38:00they're coming headon all winter long.

2:38:02All winter long I had people coming

2:38:04headon at each other. It was a mess.

2:38:06[laughter]

2:38:06>> The good news is that you're going to

2:38:08have two great counselors working at the

2:38:09Department of Child.

2:38:10>> Yeah. And I appreciate everything you

2:38:11guys. I appreciate you listening. I

2:38:13tried to reach out to the school to get

2:38:14help, but that's a dead end. So, I

2:38:16appreciate you guys coming and me

2:38:18letting me be here and talk about it.

2:38:20It's like the kids are all I worry

2:38:21about.

2:38:22>> Thank you. So, we're going to move to uh

2:38:25hold the item. Roll call.

2:38:27>> Councelor Bilada.

2:38:29>> Yes.

2:38:30>> Councelor O'Hada and chairs and

2:38:32councelor Rivera.

2:38:33>> Yes. Um, what item are you here for?

2:38:36>> Thank you.

2:38:36>> 14.

2:38:37>> 14B. That's perfect.

2:38:40That kills two birds with one stone.

2:38:4614B.

2:38:49>> Huh?

2:38:50>> 12B.

2:38:50>> 12B. Okay. Well, I'm I'm doing right now

2:38:5414B.

2:38:55Right. We got Mayor Joseph Lampetti and

2:38:58counselor Tony Economal on behalf of

2:39:01Lewis Bourjette. Request installation of

2:39:04additional truck bandweight restriction

2:39:06road related signage on Mount A. U. Um,

2:39:10warning truck drivers. The road is um

2:39:12not appropriate for tractor trailers.

2:39:15Um,

2:39:17name and address.

2:39:18>> Good evening. I'm Lois Borette, 62 Mount

2:39:20Dav. We have requested signs that

2:39:24indicate the the truck drivers that are

2:39:26using their GPS to come up our road that

2:39:28it is no trucks. There's a two and a

2:39:30half ton limit on that street, but the

2:39:32truck drivers follow their GPS and go up

2:39:35there. They've taken out um the street

2:39:37sign five times so far this year and two

2:39:40fire hydrants so far this year.

2:39:44There we if they if the signs are there

2:39:48legibly so the truck drivers can see it.

2:39:50We also are requesting some on the

2:39:52bottom of EMS coming up Mount Dav so the

2:39:55trailer trucks coming from the polar

2:39:57factory um so there's no trucks because

2:40:00people's yards getting destroyed, cars

2:40:02are getting hit. So, if we just get more

2:40:04signage,

2:40:06if we can't get the GPS changed,

2:40:09>> then we can't do.

2:40:11>> Thank you. Anything you want to say,

2:40:12sir?

2:40:12>> Yes.

2:40:13>> Yes. Name and address, please.

2:40:16>> Yes. My name is John Sullivan, 54 Mount

2:40:18Avenue. Um, I was hoping Todd would be

2:40:21here because uh Todd and I switched

2:40:23allegiances. I left this employee of the

2:40:25city of Worcester uh eight years ago and

2:40:27went to Brooklyn and he came uh here to

2:40:30uh to Worcester. Um,

2:40:33I've lived in this neighborhood all my

2:40:34life. Um, Mount A is a little sliver of

2:40:38residents, uh, surrounded by industrial

2:40:41on all sides. If you look at the zoning

2:40:43map, you can see that there's literally

2:40:46just one sliver of residential property.

2:40:48Uh, that includes Mount A, about half of

2:40:51the side streets in the Brook Street

2:40:52area. This this issue is a result of

2:40:58some of the things that people were

2:40:59talking about earlier is the economic

2:41:01development and the changes in the city

2:41:03uh that have occurred over the years.

2:41:05Rockdale Street uh when I was growing up

2:41:07used to go through all the way to

2:41:09Higgins A. Uh, and Brook Street went

2:41:12through until they put the um the movie

2:41:15theater down there and they made a a

2:41:17culde-sac so that uh the residents

2:41:20weren't getting inundated by all the

2:41:22traffic for for the movie theater. When

2:41:24Em's Road got paved, uh that became the

2:41:28green light for folks to be able to cut

2:41:30through to that industrial park. Uh and

2:41:33that we we've played kind of whack-a-ole

2:41:36with the uh with the the businesses down

2:41:38on Higgins. uh in in that industrial

2:41:41park. Now, we understand that the former

2:41:44theater complex is slated to uh be a

2:41:48trucking depot. Um it's it's just going

2:41:51to continue to add on. Every one of the

2:41:53trucks that comes up that street, either

2:41:55from Brook Street or from Emmes Road and

2:41:57Higgins, uh says the same thing. Oh, GPS

2:41:59told me to come this way. GPS told me to

2:42:01come this way. They realize as soon as

2:42:03they get there, even though there are

2:42:05five signs down there, and Polar's been

2:42:06great neighbors, uh, Velmoid Corporation

2:42:09have been great neighbors. They've put

2:42:10up signs on their buildings. the the uh

2:42:13depot uh folks at at Polar talk to their

2:42:16um to their drivers and tell them they

2:42:18even switched what they actually had in

2:42:21that sto uh that facility so that it

2:42:24wasn't long-distance truckers that it

2:42:26was local truckers that were using that

2:42:28facility so that they would become

2:42:30familiar and not come that way. Um I'm

2:42:32not sure what the the long-term fix is,

2:42:36but um the signage they just ignore it.

2:42:40There's there's signs there now, but

2:42:41they just ignore it. They have literally

2:42:43ran over the sign uh and and taken out

2:42:46the end of Brook Street and Mount Avenue

2:42:49um with their trucks. We had two a now

2:42:52for some reason there are Amazon

2:42:5518wheelers with um long-distance uh cabs

2:42:58that have gotten stuck at the corner of

2:43:01uh Brook Street and uh Mount A. Two

2:43:04trucks got jammed in. Police were there

2:43:06for like three hours. We've had the

2:43:08police truck team up there. Um it it's

2:43:11it's it's just ongoing. Whenever any of

2:43:14the businesses change down on Higgin

2:43:16Street, we see more traffic. And I'm

2:43:19really concerned that with the truck

2:43:20depot that's slated to go in where the

2:43:22former theater was. Um we came and tried

2:43:25to petition to get uh Brook Street open

2:43:28again uh at um at the movie theater when

2:43:32they when they they uh shut down the

2:43:34movie theater. that didn't that didn't

2:43:36happen. It's still a culde-sac there. Um

2:43:39they put new apartments down there. The

2:43:41traffic on Mount Avenue has increased a

2:43:43thousandfold over the over the course of

2:43:45my lifetime. And so we're asking for at

2:43:48the very least I know we we're having a

2:43:50tough time with the GPS folks to get

2:43:52them to designated as a truck route. I

2:43:55don't know. I I think there is um uh if

2:44:01I'm if I'm I'm wrong, the commissioner

2:44:02can probably tell me that you know if if

2:44:05the the Federal Trade Commission limits

2:44:08what you can do to limit truck routes

2:44:10and and make it so that it's not just a

2:44:13two and a half ton limit but no trucks.

2:44:15Uh is there any way for us to get it

2:44:18designated as no trucks? If there is no

2:44:20trucks, then we can petition the GPS

2:44:23companies to put that into their metric.

2:44:25So, that's what we're kind of looking

2:44:27for. Thank you, Councelor Cono.

2:44:30>> Thank you. I don't have a lot to add. I

2:44:32think uh Mr. Sullivan hit the nail on

2:44:35the head. Um but I will say

2:44:38it's it's in my opinion, it's not just

2:44:42at the bottom of Mount Dav and Ames. I

2:44:45feel that signage should be up sooner in

2:44:49the process

2:44:51before they even get to that location

2:44:54to understand that Mount Dav is not a

2:44:58truck route or is limited in size. Um,

2:45:03as you know, I'm sure Commissioner Brook

2:45:04Street is relatively flat and then you

2:45:06got a steep incline onto Mount Dav which

2:45:10they cannot make that corner. that

2:45:12street sign, if I'm not mistaken, last

2:45:14week was down if if I if I saw if I saw

2:45:17it properly. Um,

2:45:20and then you got the problem from the

2:45:22other side from Higgins coming up the

2:45:23hill, banging a left, and that

2:45:25neighborhood is very tight as it is on a

2:45:28good day. So, I would I would just amend

2:45:31to add additional signage prior to

2:45:34arriving to that point.

2:45:38>> Commissioner Raleigh.

2:45:40>> Yeah, thank you, Mr. Chair. So, this,

2:45:42you know, you described it better than

2:45:43than I could. Um, this is the last

2:45:46street that connects through the

2:45:48neighborhood, and that's that's why

2:45:49we're seeing this. Uh, the city does try

2:45:52to work with the GPS providers to help

2:45:55clarify routes that are suitable and

2:45:58not. Some cooperate more than others,

2:46:01frankly. Um, you know, and

2:46:03unfortunately, we do see trucks

2:46:05continuing to use this street even with

2:46:06the the signage that has been in place.

2:46:08I know that sign gets hit all the time.

2:46:10Last time I looked at it, it was turned

2:46:1290 degrees. Um, looks like it's

2:46:14directing you down the wrong street. Uh,

2:46:17so, um,

2:46:20we'll go out and take a look again at it

2:46:23in a comprehensive fashion in terms of

2:46:26additional signage further away from the

2:46:28corridor and what can be done to

2:46:30communicate to trucks earlier so that

2:46:32they still have choices to use other

2:46:34routes. Um

2:46:37because I I I think that is necessary

2:46:39here. Once they get there, even if they

2:46:40see the sign, if they're already

2:46:41committed, they're going to they're

2:46:42going to do it.

2:46:44>> So, and you know, the street is

2:46:46physically just not suitable. So, it's

2:46:48not just it's a residential street. It's

2:46:50got steep grades on both EMS and Mount

2:46:52A. It's got the 90° uh turn that's

2:46:55required on a fair two fairly narrow

2:46:57streets. So, um, we do recommend

2:47:01approval of an order requesting

2:47:02installation of supplemental signage

2:47:04just to dissuade trucks from using Mount

2:47:06A.

2:47:07>> Sounds good. Uh, clerk fan, you got

2:47:09that?

2:47:09>> If I may, Mr. Chair, um, one of the

2:47:12things that we had looked at earlier

2:47:14when we were talking to the polar

2:47:15corporation to the the commissioner's

2:47:18point, uh, is to have signage on the

2:47:21exit ramp to Ararat Street. I know that

2:47:24requires mass DOT approval. Uh but to to

2:47:28have signage at the exit ramp that says

2:47:31uh Higgins Street, access Higgins

2:47:34Street, go straight instead so that they

2:47:37would go over that second access way all

2:47:39the way over to West Mountain, which is

2:47:41the proper way to get to those to the to

2:47:44that industrial park. Um once they get

2:47:47there, they figure it out and and and

2:47:49and they come back the other way. It's

2:47:52just and it's it's amazing to me because

2:47:55they if they get the right direction the

2:47:58first time and they come in through West

2:47:59Mountain Street to those to those uh

2:48:02industrial area, then they've set it in

2:48:04their GPS and they come up through the

2:48:06neighborhood anyway. So, it's it's kind

2:48:08of a catch 22. But one of the things to

2:48:10look at perhaps is signage at the at

2:48:12that exit ramp that says, you know,

2:48:14continue straight to Higgins to the

2:48:16industrial park up there. So, thank you.

2:48:18>> Thank you. to the chair. We have one

2:48:20person raising their hands on Zoom.

2:48:23>> Two speaker phone number 1340. You can

2:48:27go ahead and press star six to unmute.

2:48:34>> Hi.

2:48:37>> Hi. Thank you uh for letting me speak

2:48:40today. My name is Shannon and I uh live

2:48:42on Mount A. And like my neighbors, I

2:48:47just wanted to come and speak to you uh

2:48:49in support of 14B. Um as Mr. Rally is

2:48:53aware from the previous June meeting um

2:48:55about the increased number of large

2:48:57trucks coming up Mount A uh which has

2:49:00caused uh many issues on our street uh

2:49:03as what was said um you know we do have

2:49:06a fairly uh narrow street and with cars

2:49:10parking on either side as well as the

2:49:1290° turn to get uh from Brook Street to

2:49:15Mount Dav, it's just it's impossible for

2:49:18these large trucks to come up here. And

2:49:22um a lot of times they they do try to

2:49:24attempt it and end up uh either

2:49:28[snorts] damage to people's property as

2:49:31well as um you know just blocking the

2:49:34entire street and having the street shut

2:49:36down. Um, so I'm in I am in support like

2:49:40my neighbors um to allow some sort of

2:49:42signage or uh work with uh mass DOT or

2:49:47anything that is needed to be done in

2:49:49order to uh implement

2:49:51um the the signs or to prevent uh

2:49:55further trucks from entering Brook uh

2:49:58Mount Davic, excuse me.

2:50:02>> Thank you. U move to approve the

2:50:06petition. Roll call.

2:50:08>> Councelor Bilada.

2:50:10>> Yes.

2:50:11>> Councelor O'Hada and chairperson.

2:50:12Councelor Rivera.

2:50:14>> Yes.

2:50:15>> All right.

2:50:16>> Thank you.

2:50:17>> I'm going to move real quick to 12 uh B.

2:50:21Mr. Mike request installation of a

2:50:23traffic light at the intersection of

2:50:25Bigalow Davis Parkway and Lake A. Name

2:50:29and address.

2:50:31>> Good evening. Thank you. My name is Mike

2:50:32Roger and uh thank you for sticking it

2:50:35out this late. Now I know why you all

2:50:37love doing this so much. Um

2:50:42um I'm here to petition about uh

2:50:44intersection of uh Lake and Hamilton

2:50:47Street, also known as Bigle Davis

2:50:49Parkway. Um

2:50:53unfortunately I couldn't come up with

2:50:55enough data, enough uh crash history

2:50:57just because I don't have access to all

2:50:59the information. Um I was able to go on

2:51:02uh mass dot and collect some information

2:51:05although limited um that I have here. Uh

2:51:10but most of the information that I could

2:51:12uh that I would want to get uh requires

2:51:15a specific dates and VIN number and

2:51:19names of people that were involved in

2:51:20crashes. So I couldn't give get enough

2:51:22information that way. But um basically

2:51:25the the traffic pattern has changed

2:51:27significantly in this area. the traffic

2:51:29has increased quite a bit uh with the

2:51:31increase in number of uh employees and

2:51:33folks who u visit um UMass as well as

2:51:38the new government agencies that are on

2:51:40the other end of Lake AV on the south

2:51:41end uh in the plaza. Uh there's quite a

2:51:44bit more traffic.

2:51:46Um again, I don't have the traffic data

2:51:49unfortunately, but I'm I know you do. Um

2:51:52as you know that the intersection is uh

2:51:54it's a fairly large intersection. It's

2:51:56well traveled. Uh it's used by

2:51:57pedestrians, bicycles, motorized

2:51:59vehicles, and this is also a major bus

2:52:02route. Uh I believe the city bus goes

2:52:05through once every 15 minutes in each

2:52:07direction. Um

2:52:10and uh lately, it's been feeling less

2:52:12and less safe with all the increased

2:52:14traffic. Um during the rush hour between

2:52:187 to 9:00 a.m. and then again between

2:52:20roughly 3:00 to 7:00 in the afternoon uh

2:52:23the traffic uh is significantly more

2:52:26especially during the um school season

2:52:29um when the fields are being used for

2:52:31games. Um there are also a number of um

2:52:36um clubs that have uh the you know their

2:52:39members running in that area. I'm not

2:52:41sure if you're aware of it or not, but

2:52:43they have the running clubs. They use

2:52:44that uh stretch of the street. Um

2:52:47anyhow, um during the uh especially

2:52:50during the uh school season when when

2:52:53the games are being played, people park

2:52:56up and down um um Hamilton Street on the

2:52:59hill, typically facing down. So, if

2:53:01you're driving down on Hamilton Street,

2:53:04you are basically forced over the double

2:53:06yellow line onto the other side to

2:53:09bypass the parked cars. Um,

2:53:13I'm not sure if there's probably enough

2:53:15parking for them on the other side. It's

2:53:17just more convenient for them. So, uh,

2:53:19that's an issue. But um when you get to

2:53:24the bottom of the hill, u it's if if

2:53:28people are taking a left turn onto Lake

2:53:30A, it's not unusual for the traffic to

2:53:32back up uh halfway up the hill closer to

2:53:36uh um Cobra Nav. Um that's one part of

2:53:40the issue. There's also people that are

2:53:42turning onto Hamilton Street that need

2:53:44to navigate the incoming cars and then

2:53:47there's a pedestrian. There are a good

2:53:49number of pedestrians in that area as

2:53:50you know during the summertime um all

2:53:53the way from spring actually until late

2:53:55fall. Um visibility is kind of poor. Um

2:54:00if you're coming up the hill you're

2:54:02especially this time of the year you're

2:54:03always driving well not always but

2:54:05you're driving into the sun uh for a

2:54:07couple of hours especially during those

2:54:09peak rush hour afternoon um traffic

2:54:11hours. Um,

2:54:14and then if the road is being blocked in

2:54:17the other side, it kind of pushes the

2:54:18cars into each other. Um,

2:54:24I know there's probably you you probably

2:54:26I'm I can't imagine that I'm the first

2:54:28one who's asked for uh for a traffic

2:54:31sign uh in this area, but uh it's just a

2:54:34very difficult intersection, and I

2:54:36personally know of at least three people

2:54:38that have had major crashes in this

2:54:40intersection.

2:54:42Um, I pulled up this little uh thing

2:54:46from Mass DOT. I don't know if you want

2:54:48to see it or not, but it shows about

2:54:51probably six to eight crashes just from

2:54:53January of 23

2:54:56until now.

2:54:58And that's just with the limited data

2:55:00that I was able to get. Each one of

2:55:02those dot those dots are sitting on top

2:55:03of each other, but there's probably

2:55:05about eight of them uh just in the past

2:55:07uh, you know, two and a half years or

2:55:09so.

2:55:11um what I was hoping for. Um

2:55:16I didn't quite understand how this

2:55:18works. I apologize. Um I don't know if

2:55:20it's too late to amend this or uh if I

2:55:23can just say my piece and and let you

2:55:25folks run with it. Maybe the commission

2:55:27can come up with some ideas. But what I

2:55:29was hoping for was um a traffic sign uh

2:55:32a traffic signal um you know at the

2:55:36intersection and something that would

2:55:40potentially

2:55:42turn red and you know green during the

2:55:45rush hour and then just be like a

2:55:47blinking light during the rest of the

2:55:48time. I don't know if that's an option

2:55:50or not. And then uh hopefully a right

2:55:53turn only lane

2:55:56that extends about 100 ft or so. The

2:55:58least expensive way out of this will

2:56:00probably be to shift the the sidewalk. I

2:56:03don't know how familiar you are with

2:56:04that, but if you could if you could

2:56:06shift the sidewalk over by about five or

2:56:08six feet, you could create a second

2:56:09lane, a right turn only lane that would

2:56:13alleviate significant amount of traffic.

2:56:15And along with the um traffic light, it

2:56:19would go greatly against uh preventing

2:56:23future issues

2:56:25because it's just a matter of time

2:56:26before somebody gets, you know, my

2:56:28mother was actually, you know, she got

2:56:30t-boned in that intersection. One of my

2:56:32neighbors got, you know, got hit head on

2:56:34in that intersection. Just

2:56:38that's all I have to say. Thank you.

2:56:40>> Thank you. Is anybody online?

2:56:45to chair. I believe council bil is

2:56:47raising their hands, but there's no one

2:56:49else raising their hand.

2:56:50>> Go ahead, councelor Bada.

2:56:52>> Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Yeah, thank

2:56:54you, Mike, for this testimony. I think

2:56:55it really illustrates the need for um a

2:56:58traffic light, a traffic signal there. I

2:57:01know DTM is working on it with, you

2:57:04know, the tip funding uh to do a type of

2:57:06rotary there. And I'm not opposed to a

2:57:09roadie, but what I really concerns me is

2:57:12how much longer it's going to take to do

2:57:15that. I did submit a a order last night

2:57:18just asking the DTM and the manager to

2:57:20kind of give a report on what the

2:57:22timelines are and and status with this

2:57:25project. But I think there, you know,

2:57:26this is Mike submitted a petition here.

2:57:28I know there's been several petitioners

2:57:31for a traffic light. I know I did it.

2:57:33I've submitted it as well. So, I think

2:57:34we it's really important to put some

2:57:36type of traffic control down here. And I

2:57:40I just worry that, you know, waiting for

2:57:42a rotary is is

2:57:46not going to be helpful just only

2:57:48because of the amount of time it's going

2:57:49to take to get it done. So, I would just

2:57:50love to hear from from DTML like what

2:57:53the the plans are moving forward and

2:57:56also is it possible to work on a traffic

2:58:01signal? But I I really do think some of

2:58:03the traffic signal is needed down there.

2:58:06>> Commissioner Raleigh.

2:58:07>> Yeah, M through the chair. So, um, as

2:58:10the councelor uh indicated, we actually

2:58:12have just started a project at this

2:58:14location. It is everything that the

2:58:17petitioner has said is is accurate. It's

2:58:20um it's a intersection that's difficult

2:58:22to navigate because of the volume of

2:58:24traffic and even more so the speed of

2:58:26traffic. Lake Avenue is a street where

2:58:28there's just people fly. Um there's some

2:58:32side issues when you have a lot of

2:58:33people parked there to use the park

2:58:35facilities and the athletic fields. Uh

2:58:37it's really difficult to navigate as a

2:58:40pedestrian because the crosswalks are so

2:58:42long and there's really no sort of safe

2:58:44refuge for people. So we had identified

2:58:47that as well. I know councelor Bolad has

2:58:49been concerned about it as has councelor

2:58:50Folo. Um and so therefore we initiated a

2:58:55project through the the regional

2:58:57transportation improvement program. Um

2:58:59for the first time they're offering

2:59:00design money for these types of of

2:59:02things. So we were successful in getting

2:59:04that funding. We've um we've either just

2:59:08signed the consultant contract or it's

2:59:09in the process of getting signatures

2:59:11right now. So that project's going to

2:59:13get underway this summer. I'm going to

2:59:15give you a card with the website on it

2:59:17so you can follow it because I know

2:59:18you'll want to participate when we have

2:59:19community meetings and that kind of

2:59:21thing. Um, but just to clarify, that

2:59:23project will be looking at multiple

2:59:26options. So, we're not only looking at a

2:59:28roundabout, and I think a roundabout is

2:59:30actually probably going to prove to be

2:59:31infeasible here because of the grade

2:59:33coming down from the hill. If it proves

2:59:35to be feasible, great. Um, those are

2:59:37very safe improvements. They actually

2:59:39have the the highest safety benefit in

2:59:41most um contexts, but there's a lot of

2:59:45constraints here which may end up

2:59:46pushing us to a signalized intersection.

2:59:48That's another option that will be

2:59:50evaluated.

2:59:51um they're both comparable in terms of

2:59:53cost and time frame for developing it.

2:59:55So there's not really an advantage one

2:59:56or the other. Um but that process is

2:59:59getting underway. You'll want to

3:00:00participate in that. In the meantime,

3:00:02there are some safety improvements at

3:00:04that intersection um that have been

3:00:06coordinated with councelor Bilada. So

3:00:08there'll be some lighted um pedestrian

3:00:11uh crosswalk signs going in in that

3:00:13general vicinity both on Hamilton Street

3:00:15and on Lake Avenue. And those will be

3:00:17going in uh as soon as we receive the

3:00:20order. They're on order currently. So,

3:00:21in matter of just a few weeks, um so

3:00:24there is some interim work that's being

3:00:26done and then uh a project that'll be

3:00:29transformative that's just getting

3:00:31underway and I know you'll want to

3:00:32participate when we start having

3:00:34community meetings for that. So, I

3:00:36appreciate it.

3:00:36>> So, as you heard the you're you're a

3:00:40little ahead of schedule, but it's

3:00:42coming.

3:00:43>> All right.

3:00:45>> The chair, thank you to Commissioner

3:00:47Raleigh for for clarifying that. I think

3:00:49that'll be really helpful for the, you

3:00:51know, myself and other folks in the

3:00:52neighborhood to know that there are some

3:00:54other options and that most likely like,

3:00:56like you said, there options to

3:00:58consider. So, thank you.

3:00:59>> So, we're going to do is we're just

3:01:00going to file this because there's more

3:01:03work to become a lot of work meeting

3:01:05stuff. So,

3:01:06>> and sorry, just before I leave, um, if I

3:01:09can just put in my two cents, um, the

3:01:12about the rotary, I agree with you. is

3:01:14not feasible just because of the hill

3:01:16and also it doesn't solve the pedestrian

3:01:19issue uh in all directions. So hopefully

3:01:24intersection. All right. Thank you very

3:01:25much.

3:01:25>> All right. Move to file item. Roll call.

3:01:28>> Councelor Bada.

3:01:29>> Yes.

3:01:30>> Councelor O'Hada and chairs and

3:01:32councelor Rivera.

3:01:33>> All right. We have nobody here. So we

3:01:35got somebody online. We're going to go

3:01:37to 10E. Councelor Satcha Mitra on behalf

3:01:39of the residents of Westport Road

3:01:42request installation of go slow children

3:01:45plane signage in the vicinity of 10

3:01:48Westport road. Is anybody online on

3:01:51that?

3:01:52>> Two chair. There's one person raising

3:01:54their hands on Zoom.

3:01:55>> Okay,

3:01:56>> I will go ahead and recognize them now.

3:01:58Uh you can go ahead unmute.

3:02:02>> Um yes. Can you hear me?

3:02:04>> Yes.

3:02:05>> Yes. My name is Bridget Murphy. I live

3:02:07at um 10 Westport Road. I've been here

3:02:09about three years. I have um a

3:02:1212-year-old, a 14-year-old, and a couple

3:02:15grandkids, and a lot of kids that are in

3:02:17the neighborhood. I'm requesting

3:02:20take a look at I mean, the speed down

3:02:22the road is it's dangerous. The kids

3:02:24don't play in the road, but when they're

3:02:26riding their bikes or what have you, or

3:02:29you know, balls go in the road, they're

3:02:30just going so fast. In addition to that,

3:02:33when they're walking to and from the bus

3:02:35stops, they have to cross the road

3:02:37because they can't just stay on the

3:02:38sidewalk and the cars just go by so

3:02:40fast. So, I don't know if a speed bump

3:02:43would warrant it or just sign saying the

3:02:45kids are playing in the street or what

3:02:46have you, but I'm nervous and and I get

3:02:50nervous every time the kids are out

3:02:51there. Again, I'm out there with them,

3:02:52but there's a lot of kids in the

3:02:54neighborhood as well, and that is my

3:02:56concern.

3:02:58>> Thank you. Uh if nobody else online yet

3:03:01we're sorry we do have one more person

3:03:03raising the hands.

3:03:04>> Sure to speaker Elaine M.

3:03:08Oh

3:03:12you may go ahead unmute.

3:03:13>> Thank you very much. Uh I just wanted to

3:03:16second what Bridges said here. Um, and

3:03:19particularly

3:03:21I would I would like the council to

3:03:24draft some kind of a memorandum to the

3:03:26school bus committee because the school

3:03:28buses go up and down this street so fast

3:03:32and this is not a long street from Jason

3:03:35Manard Way until Venus Drive is probably

3:03:39only seven or eight houses and yet they

3:03:42pick up so much speed that it's it's

3:03:44just unbelievable.

3:03:47So, something needs to be done to slow

3:03:48the traffic down. I've lived in this

3:03:50neighborhood in my house for 39 years

3:03:53and I've never seen the traffic go as

3:03:55fast as it goes now.

3:03:58>> Thank you, Elaine. Commissioner Raleigh.

3:04:01>> Yeah, thank you, Mr. Chair. So, um

3:04:03>> um just real quick, actually, let me let

3:04:04councelor meet speak first and then it

3:04:07Sorry.

3:04:08>> No problem. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Thank

3:04:10you for listening to the uh residents

3:04:13around there. And uh I I lived in the

3:04:16same on the same street and I see that

3:04:19I've been there for 44 years and you

3:04:21know my kids were born there and they're

3:04:24grown up but I see so many children now

3:04:27and the summertime they're also playing

3:04:29outside basketball running around biking

3:04:32uh and yes as we have noticed uh in our

3:04:36entire city that somehow people have

3:04:39been driving with lot more speed than it

3:04:43used to be 44 years back. So I think it

3:04:46it is again a matter of safety. Uh bring

3:04:48in the safety for the children's sake

3:04:51and um maybe a speed hump could help us

3:04:55on Westport Road uh to slow traffic down

3:05:00and also maybe along with the sign that

3:05:02says uh go slow you know children

3:05:05playing. Uh I know that uh council

3:05:08econom also probably attest to that

3:05:11because it is his district and uh it was

3:05:15my neighborhood so that the residents

3:05:17had requested me to put some so I'd like

3:05:19you also to support that as well. Thank

3:05:22you.

3:05:24>> Thank you commissioner.

3:05:27>> Yeah thank you Mr. Chair. So um

3:05:30certainly hear what the residents are

3:05:32and the council are saying about

3:05:33speeding in neighborhoods. something

3:05:34that we, you know, we're hearing across

3:05:37the city concerns with that. Um, in

3:05:41terms of the signage itself, so all of

3:05:43the, um, signs that say have messages

3:05:46like go slow or children or those kinds

3:05:49of things, uh, are no longer allowed

3:05:51under the MUTCD. And the reason for that

3:05:54is that they were found to be

3:05:55ineffective. Um, so any of the signs

3:05:57that are sort of non-specific like that,

3:06:00um, recognizing that there's children in

3:06:02neighborhoods all across the community,

3:06:03so it's not really conveying information

3:06:06that drivers then do much with. Um, and

3:06:09the study showed that people weren't

3:06:10slowing down um, as a result of the

3:06:12signs. So, those were pulled out of the

3:06:14manual and we no longer install those

3:06:16because they're inconsistent with the

3:06:18federal regulations. Um, there are

3:06:20you'll still see children signs up

3:06:21around the city. We haven't gone around

3:06:23and taken the ones down that are there.

3:06:25Um but we haven't installed new ones for

3:06:27for a long time for that reason. Um now

3:06:30that doesn't help at all with solving

3:06:32the problem of course. So um looking at

3:06:35trafficcoming devices is a good

3:06:37approach. Speed humps are the ones that

3:06:39we've been installing today. These would

3:06:42probably be good candidates for that.

3:06:43That's something we could certainly

3:06:44study. Um if there was a petition for

3:06:46that. Um there's also other devices

3:06:50which we haven't really applied here

3:06:52that you know we need to put a little

3:06:53bit of thought into but things like um

3:06:55small traffic circles at intersections

3:06:57can be helpful at slowing traffic as

3:06:59they they travel through the

3:07:00intersections and yielding right away.

3:07:02Um so if there was interest in the

3:07:04neighborhood in pursuing something like

3:07:05that, you know, one of the things you

3:07:06have to think about in those cases is

3:07:08does it impact snow plowing and are

3:07:10there ways to to address that? So, um,

3:07:13my recommendation

3:07:15recommendation regarding the signage is

3:07:17to file it. But, um, my recommendation

3:07:19would be that we put some thought into

3:07:20what the appropriate trafficcoming

3:07:22devices in this street might be. We can

3:07:24pull some speeds and do a speed study on

3:07:26it, both working with, uh, councelor

3:07:28Mitra as well as the district counselor.

3:07:31Um, and, uh, continue to look at the

3:07:33street.

3:07:35>> Sounds good. [snorts]

3:07:37>> Councelor and Connor,

3:07:39>> Mr. Chairman, um would it be worth a

3:07:42chairman's order over to the school

3:07:45department to notify

3:07:48uh bus use just to

3:07:52um

3:07:53slow down as they're as they're

3:07:55traversing through the neighborhood just

3:07:57as a precursor to the school year

3:07:59beginning? I think that might be worthy

3:08:01of a chairman's order. You

3:08:03>> said chairman's order to the light

3:08:05school department for the bus used for

3:08:07that.

3:08:07>> That's right. to to notify the the

3:08:10Louisa public school buses, bus drivers

3:08:12to watch their speed as they're

3:08:14traversing through the neighborhood.

3:08:16>> Sounds good. Uh did you get that clerk

3:08:18fan?

3:08:19>> Sure. Yes.

3:08:21>> Awesome. Uh council me.

3:08:23>> Yeah, I would second that. I think uh

3:08:25since there's a concern about the speed

3:08:28of the school buses and I see that live

3:08:31there. So I recommend that uh chairman

3:08:34if you could uh request the school

3:08:36department to take that into

3:08:38consideration to kind of alert the

3:08:41school this this bus drivers to be slow

3:08:44there

3:08:45>> and do I hear then u Mr. Commissioner

3:08:48the alternate would be if not the uh go

3:08:52slow children uh what would be the other

3:08:54alternate do you want uh Mr. econom

3:08:59or myself to a request for put an order

3:09:02for speed hump or anything else that

3:09:05could bring the traffic be slower

3:09:10>> through the chair. Certainly, if either

3:09:12of you um after talking with the

3:09:14residents thought there was interest in

3:09:15speed humps, that would be a solution

3:09:17that would make sense to look at here.

3:09:19Um or alternate traffic calming options.

3:09:22To date, we've really relied on speed

3:09:24humps. That's like that's the quickest,

3:09:27easiest, most effective thing to deploy.

3:09:29But there could be some other treatments

3:09:31too if there wasn't so much interest in

3:09:32in speed humps and if the neighborhood

3:09:34want us to look at something else.

3:09:37>> Thank you. We'll take care of that.

3:09:39Thanks.

3:09:40>> Thank you. So for the petition, we're

3:09:42going to file roll call and the

3:09:45chairman's order is already in place,

3:09:46right?

3:09:47>> Yes, that's correct.

3:09:49>> Chair,

3:09:50>> uh, councelor Bada.

3:09:53>> Yes. Councelor O'Jada and chairs and

3:09:55councelor Rivera.

3:09:57>> Yes. All right. I'm going to go to 10J.

3:10:00Councelor Tony Economo on behalf of uh

3:10:05Let me read that right. Is Juan Perez

3:10:08request to stop one way and do not enter

3:10:10signage in the intersection of Pasadena

3:10:14Parkway and Tacoma Street be moved out

3:10:16of the bushes to a more visible location

3:10:19in the interest of public safety.

3:10:22Uh, councelor Conamo,

3:10:24>> thank you. Pretty much as it reads, um,

3:10:27when I went down there to check it out,

3:10:29the sign the sign post was actually

3:10:31crooked and into the bushes. So, um, I

3:10:35don't know if it's your responsibility

3:10:37or public works responsibility to

3:10:39straighten that out or get it back to

3:10:40light um, so it's visible.

3:10:48>> Commissioner.

3:10:48>> Yeah, Mr. Chair. So, um, uh, maintenance

3:10:51of the signs is public works

3:10:52responsibility. As as the counselor

3:10:55noted, the the bushes have basically

3:10:57swallowed up the signs on that quarter

3:10:59corner, so they do need to be adjusted.

3:11:01Uh, we'll go ahead and enter work orders

3:11:03so that they can they can do that work.

3:11:05Um, and I, you know, I will take one

3:11:07more look too to see if there might this

3:11:10might be a location that warrants a

3:11:12supplemental sign on the other side of

3:11:13the street. Y, thank you. So, we can

3:11:14take a look at that, too.

3:11:15>> Appreciate that. Um just just so I can

3:11:18let the resident know um rough

3:11:20timelines. Do you do you have any idea

3:11:23>> uh through the chair? I'll put the work

3:11:24order in tomorrow. Okay.

3:11:25>> I I'm not sure where it'll end up on

3:11:28their

3:11:28>> I'll let them know that the work order

3:11:29has been submitted.

3:11:30>> Yeah. Thank you.

3:11:31>> So you take care of it. Is this saying

3:11:33the chairman's order? This looks like

3:11:35>> Mr. Chair, your your your choice. You

3:11:37could either do an order or we could

3:11:39file it.

3:11:40>> Well, I'm going to file it and uh Yeah,

3:11:43you guys already on top of it.

3:11:44>> I'd file it.

3:11:45>> Yeah. Okay. Roll call.

3:11:48>> Councelor Bilada.

3:11:49>> Yes.

3:11:50>> Councelor O'Hada and Cherson Kazer

3:11:52Rivera.

3:11:53>> Yes. And then now moving on to 14A.

3:12:00Councelor Tony Economo on behalf of Bob

3:12:02McCaulay request installation of a truck

3:12:04manway restriction on Arera Street that

3:12:08would augment where the state has

3:12:09restrictions in an effort to ensure a

3:12:11truck bandwid restrictions limit can be

3:12:14enforced on the street. Councelor Econo.

3:12:17>> Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Um

3:12:20I know we had this discussion before, so

3:12:22I'm just going to just I spoke with Mr.

3:12:24Macaulay earlier today and um

3:12:27unfortunately he couldn't make it here

3:12:28tonight. So he wanted me to to pass that

3:12:31along um that he could not be here but

3:12:33he is still uh very interested in this

3:12:35item as it uh has created havoc along uh

3:12:39that section of our red street.

3:12:43>> Thank you Commissioner Raleigh.

3:12:44>> Yeah and Mr. Chair just to confirm. So

3:12:46this is the section of Arat Street

3:12:48that's west of of uh I90. Um and we had

3:12:52heard this item previously. We held it

3:12:54because that we've actually discovered a

3:12:56discrepancy between our records and Mass

3:12:58DOT's records. Um just as a point of

3:13:01background, Mass DOT has to approve all

3:13:03truck exclusions uh in the state. We

3:13:06were able to rectify that and confirm

3:13:08that um the records are the correct

3:13:12location of the the truck exclusion is

3:13:15as is sought here which is between uh I1

3:13:19190 and uh and Holden Street essentially

3:13:22or actually it's Battle Street at that

3:13:24point. Um so we will be putting work

3:13:27orders in to get the proper signage up

3:13:29so that that can then be enforced moving

3:13:31forward. Can I if I may ask one more

3:13:33question?

3:13:34>> Absolutely. So with that signage that

3:13:36would allow Worcester PD to do their

3:13:38job.

3:13:40>> That That's correct. So it's it's a um

3:13:43official truck exclusion. So trucks over

3:13:45I believe it's two and a half tons

3:13:47>> um are excluded from using it.

3:13:48>> Two and a half tons

3:13:49>> with with the exception if there's a

3:13:50local delivery or something, they can

3:13:52certainly use it.

3:13:53>> All right. Hey, I I really appreciate

3:13:54you guys uh looking into that. Thank

3:13:56you.

3:13:57>> Thank you. Move to approve the item.

3:13:59Roll call.

3:14:00>> Councelor Councelor Bilada.

3:14:04Yes.

3:14:04>> Councelor O'Hara and chair since

3:14:06councelor Rivera.

3:14:08>> Yes. Council Bad. I'm ask favors. Give

3:14:10me some quick second. I'm going run to

3:14:12the bathroom real quick.

3:14:22>> Thank you.

3:17:07Okay, we back in action.

3:17:13>> Good. All right, we're going to go with

3:17:157A.

3:17:17Abdul Ghani request installation of

3:17:19parking meters in front of 241 Lincoln

3:17:22Street. Anybody online?

3:17:25>> There's uh no one raising their hands.

3:17:28>> Okay. Commissioner Raleigh.

3:17:31>> Yeah, Mr. Chair. This uh location

3:17:33actually had been changed to a 15minute

3:17:36space. Not all I guess August 1990, so

3:17:39quite some time ago. Um and I suspect

3:17:42it's because it's just such a short

3:17:44parking area. In the photo, you can see

3:17:46uh two vehicles there, but it's actually

3:17:48can only legally accommodate one

3:17:50vehicle. Um, so it just doesn't make

3:17:52sense to put it on a parking meter. Um,

3:17:55we would recommend keeping it at the 15

3:17:57minutes. If the shop owner wants

3:17:59something a little longer, we could look

3:18:00at going to 30 minutes. Okay.

3:18:02>> Um, but it just it doesn't make sense to

3:18:04bring it into that that parking meter

3:18:06zone for one space. So, uh, we recommend

3:18:09file on this item and we'll try to

3:18:11follow up and see if there's something

3:18:12else that might might work for them. All

3:18:15right. Move to file the item. Roll call.

3:18:17>> Councelor Bilada.

3:18:21>> Yes.

3:18:22>> Councelor O'Hara and chairperson.

3:18:24Councelor Rivera.

3:18:25>> Yes. 7B. Council Jose Vera on behalf of

3:18:29Demi Nephoros and Nia Nephoros and Lewis

3:18:32Ortiz owners of Kalamos Market request

3:18:35installation of 30 minute parking on

3:18:37June Street from 116 June Street to 120

3:18:40June Street. Anybody online? to chair.

3:18:44There's no one raising their hands.

3:18:46>> Commissioner Raleigh.

3:18:47>> Uh Mr. Chair, I did have the opportunity

3:18:49to to speak a little bit with the uh the

3:18:52honors on this petition and we went down

3:18:54and evaluated it a little bit further.

3:18:56So, there's six parking spaces on on

3:18:59their side of the street. They're

3:19:00currently two-hour metered parking

3:19:01spaces. They had requested um 30 minute

3:19:05spaces. Uh and I do think that that

3:19:08makes sense given the uses there. Both

3:19:09their store as well as some of the other

3:19:11restaurants. there's a lot of delivery

3:19:13service there, some of which I may uh

3:19:16utilize myself fairly frequently.

3:19:17[laughter] So, there is a lot of demand

3:19:19for quick quick turnover uh in those

3:19:22spaces. At the same time, we do want to

3:19:24retain some of the two-hour parking

3:19:26because, you know, if you're

3:19:28>> eating in a restaurant or spending some

3:19:30more time there, there's there's a need

3:19:32for that, too. So, our thought was,

3:19:35let's go ahead and approve converting

3:19:37the first three of those spaces into 30

3:19:39minute parking. that'll be right in

3:19:41front of their store. Um down to the

3:19:43intersection. Uh those are the easiest

3:19:45to pull in and out of frequently. Um and

3:19:48those will be pulled out of the meter

3:19:50zone. So those will just be 30 minutes

3:19:52uh free parking.

3:19:53>> Okay.

3:19:54>> DTM has also been looking at whether the

3:19:56meter makes sense there. And we think it

3:19:58probably doesn't at this point. So, I

3:20:00suspect we're also going to um submit a

3:20:03separate petition proposing to take that

3:20:05meter zone away and just have twohour

3:20:09um unmetered parking there, but that'll

3:20:11be a separate petition.

3:20:12>> Yes. So,

3:20:13>> okay. Therefore, we uh Nobody online you

3:20:17said right?

3:20:18>> Two. That's correct.

3:20:19>> All right. We move to approve the item.

3:20:21Roll call.

3:20:22>> Councelor Bilada.

3:20:23>> Yes.

3:20:24>> Councelor O'Hara and chairperson.

3:20:25Councelor Rivera.

3:20:27>> Yes.

3:20:28Um, so now we're up to uh 10A

3:20:35traffic sign petitions. Aren Schwab on

3:20:38behalf of the Green Island Residence

3:20:39Neighborhood Group request a selection

3:20:42of additional oneway and do not enter

3:20:44signage on Canton Street at this

3:20:46intersection with Quinc Sigman Avenue.

3:20:49Anybody online?

3:20:51>> To chair, there's no one raising their

3:20:53hands.

3:20:53>> Commissioner Raleigh.

3:20:55>> Yeah, Mr. Chair. So, we did evaluate

3:20:57this location and it has all of the

3:20:58proper signage that it's supposed to

3:21:00have. It has a one-way sign. It has do

3:21:02not enter signs on both sides of the

3:21:03roadway and there's actually two uh no

3:21:07left turn signs as well. So, there's not

3:21:08really any additional signage we can add

3:21:11here. Um, I will haven't done it yet,

3:21:14but we will follow up with WPD and see

3:21:16if they've had any reported issues with

3:21:18wrongway driving here, but it is it is

3:21:21signed to the fullest extent that the

3:21:23regulations say uh it should be.

3:21:26>> Therefore, we're going to move to file

3:21:28item. Roll call.

3:21:30>> Councelor Bilada.

3:21:32>> Yes.

3:21:32>> Councelor O'Hada and Chair. Councelor

3:21:34Rivera.

3:21:35>> Yes. Um 10B Marine Schwab on behalf of

3:21:39the Green Island Resident Neighborhood

3:21:40Group request installation of oneway no

3:21:42left turn signage on Can Street in the

3:21:44vicinity of Krampton Parking lot exit.

3:21:49Commissioner, anybody online?

3:21:51>> To sure there's no one raising their

3:21:53hands.

3:21:53>> Commissioner Roll. Uh Mr. Chair, so same

3:21:56street but now we're further back kind

3:21:57of midblock where the parking lot is.

3:21:59And here we suspect there may be a

3:22:01little bit of a problem because as you

3:22:02exit that driveway, there's no signage

3:22:04that indicates to you that it's a

3:22:06one-way street. So, we do recommend uh

3:22:08an order requesting installation of no

3:22:10left turn uh one-way street signage at

3:22:13this location.

3:22:14>> All right, I move to approve the item.

3:22:16Roll call.

3:22:17>> Councelor Bilada.

3:22:19>> Yes.

3:22:19>> Councelor O'Hara and chair. Councelor

3:22:21Rivera.

3:22:22>> Yes. 10 C. Marine Schwab on behalf of

3:22:26the Green Island Resident Neighborhood

3:22:27Group request installation of additional

3:22:29oneway and do not enter Sanjan Lafayette

3:22:32Street.

3:22:34Anybody online? To

3:22:35>> make sure there's no one raising their

3:22:36hands.

3:22:37>> Commissioner Rowley. So, this is another

3:22:39situation where we have a one-way street

3:22:40and there's a number of cross streets

3:22:42and they they don't actually have uh

3:22:45signage at those cross streets

3:22:46indicating that it's one way and that

3:22:48you should not make the left turn. Um,

3:22:50so we are recommending an order at all

3:22:52these cross streets or an order

3:22:55requesting that all these cross streets

3:22:57the appropriate do not enter um no left

3:22:59or no right turn as the case may be and

3:23:01one way signage be added.

3:23:04>> Sounds good. Approve roll call.

3:23:07>> Councelor Bilada.

3:23:09>> Yes.

3:23:10>> Councelor O'Hada and chair. Councelor

3:23:12Rivera.

3:23:13>> Yes.

3:23:15Attendee. Councelor Robert Bada request

3:23:17the solation of a dead end sign at the

3:23:19entrance of East Park Terrace.

3:23:22Councelor Bada

3:23:24>> as it reads.

3:23:26>> Commissioner Raleigh.

3:23:27>> Uh Mr. Chair, we confirmed it is a dead

3:23:29end and we recommend approval.

3:23:32>> Approval roll call.

3:23:34>> Councelor Bilada.

3:23:36>> Yes.

3:23:36>> Councelor O'Hara and chairperson

3:23:38councelor Rivera.

3:23:39>> Yes. 10F. Councelor Morris Bergman

3:23:42request installation of GO slow children

3:23:44signage on Kenwood Avenue.

3:23:47>> Mr. Chair, so again this is another um

3:23:50case where it's a sign type that's not

3:23:52permitted anymore. So we recommend

3:23:53filing.

3:23:54>> Got you. Uh move to file it Adam. Roll

3:23:56call.

3:23:57>> Councelor Bilada.

3:24:01>> Yes.

3:24:02>> Councelor O'Hada and chairperson

3:24:04councelor Rivera.

3:24:05>> Yes.

3:24:0810 G. Patrick Grady request installation

3:24:10of N through street signage at the

3:24:12interest of assumption A on West Poston

3:24:15Street. Anybody online?

3:24:18>> There's no one.

3:24:19>> Commissioner Commissioner Rley.

3:24:21>> Yeah, Mr. Chair. So, this doesn't

3:24:23actually meet the definition for a not a

3:24:25through street sign. Um even though it

3:24:27is a private street, it does provide

3:24:28through connections. So, uh it's not

3:24:31eligible. So, we recommend file.

3:24:33>> Uh file roll call.

3:24:36>> Councelor Bada.

3:24:37>> Yes. Councelor O'Hada and chairperson.

3:24:39Councelor Rivera.

3:24:40>> Yes.

3:24:4210H. Patrick Grady request installation

3:24:44of signage indicating assumption nav is

3:24:47a private road. Uh anybody online?

3:24:51>> There's no one online.

3:24:52>> Commissioner Raleigh.

3:24:53>> Uh we recommend approval.

3:24:55>> Okay. Approval. Roll call.

3:24:57>> Councelor Bilada.

3:24:59>> Yes.

3:24:59>> Councelor O'Hada and chairperson.

3:25:01Councelor Rivera.

3:25:03>> Yes. Right. Uh 12 traffic. Uh this would

3:25:07be 12A traffic control signal petitions.

3:25:10Patrick uh Grady request installation of

3:25:13left turn arrow traffic signals on West

3:25:15Poston Street southbound at this

3:25:17intersection with Loop Road. Anybody

3:25:20online for that?

3:25:22>> There's no one online at the moment.

3:25:23>> Commissioner Raleigh. So this is at the

3:25:25uh entrance to Quincigan Community

3:25:27College. Um we did an evaluation in

3:25:29accordance with the US DOT guidelines

3:25:32for protected left turns um which

3:25:35evaluates both uh traffic volumes as

3:25:38well as gaps in oncoming traffic and uh

3:25:40the crash history as well. Uh in this

3:25:43case it did not meet those thresholds

3:25:45indicating that a um a protected left

3:25:48turn was was merited at the location.

3:25:51The other thing is that there isn't a

3:25:53dedicated left turn lane. So even if you

3:25:56do add the protected left arrow, it's of

3:25:57limited value because of the fact

3:25:59everyone's still in the same lane of

3:26:01traffic. So if they're not one of the

3:26:02first two or three cars at a red light,

3:26:05doesn't really do anything. Um, so we

3:26:07are recommending file on this item.

3:26:09>> All right, move to file item. Roll call.

3:26:11>> Councelor Bella,

3:26:13>> yes.

3:26:14>> Councelor O'Hara and Cher Celera.

3:26:16>> Yes. Right. Moving on to 13A. Joseph um

3:26:21Corazini requests a traffic study be

3:26:23conducted on Southbury Street that

3:26:26tracks vehicles.

3:26:28Um

3:26:30yeah,

3:26:33anybody? Anybody online?

3:26:35>> To sure there's no one online.

3:26:38>> Commissioner Robin.

3:26:39>> Yeah, Mr. Chair. So, we know the

3:26:40petitioner submitted this petition a

3:26:42while ago. um never really got

3:26:44clarification on what they were looking

3:26:46for, but just for the interest of the

3:26:48committee, we did go ahead and pull

3:26:49traffic in and speed data. And it's, you

3:26:51know, I think it kind of tells us what

3:26:53we know about Salsbury Street, which is

3:26:54that out toward the the Holden line,

3:26:57it's not not super busy, but the speeds

3:26:59are really high out there. They're um 30

3:27:0233 to 41 miles an hour, depending on if

3:27:05you look at the average speed or 85th

3:27:07percentile speeds. street gets much

3:27:09busier as you get down past Flag Street

3:27:12up to 22 23,000 vehicles a day. So,

3:27:15that's a significant amount of traffic.

3:27:17Um the speeds are a little bit better

3:27:19moderated there because of that, but

3:27:21they're still 85th percentile speeds are

3:27:23still 33 miles per hour. Um and then as

3:27:26you get down to Forest, we actually see

3:27:28the the um traffic levels drop down

3:27:31because of that cutthrough issue that

3:27:32we're having in the Monteale

3:27:33neighborhood. A lot of that traffic is

3:27:34peeling off and and cutting through

3:27:36there. So just presented that for the

3:27:38information of the committee but uh a

3:27:41recommendation on the item is to file

3:27:42it.

3:27:43>> Yeah. File roll call.

3:27:45>> Councelor Bada.

3:27:47>> Yes.

3:27:47>> Councelor O'Hada and chairs and

3:27:49councelor Rivera.

3:27:50>> Yes. Uh to last two petitions 15A uh 15

3:27:55communication city manager 15A

3:27:57transmitting information communication

3:27:59relative to 2026 speed hump

3:28:02installations. Commissioner Raleigh.

3:28:04>> Yeah Mr. Chair. So, um, this

3:28:07communication detailed the installations

3:28:09for this year, including both the

3:28:10temporary speed humps as well as the

3:28:12permanent speed humps. The permanent

3:28:14speed hump contract is being put

3:28:16together now. So, now it's the new

3:28:18fiscal year. We have that funding.

3:28:20That'll go out later this summer, and

3:28:21those will be constructed before fall is

3:28:23over. Um, so the permanent speed humps,

3:28:26of course, are only in during the summer

3:28:27and the fall until early November. Uh,

3:28:31the good news are the permanent speed

3:28:32humps is once they're in, they're in. Um

3:28:35so they're conveying that benefit year

3:28:37round. Uh and happy to answer any

3:28:39questions.

3:28:40>> Yes. Uh could the temporary speed humps

3:28:43like uh they they we don't have to wait

3:28:46like how was the the time limit on that

3:28:50where we're already going to be in

3:28:51August.

3:28:52>> Yeah. So most of them are in um at this

3:28:55point. We did have Todd maybe you can

3:28:57speak to this. We did have an issue with

3:28:59some of the new locations. Todd I don't

3:29:01know if you

3:29:02>> Yeah. Uh so there were there were uh two

3:29:04delays that took place. So um the vast

3:29:06majority of the seasonal speed humps are

3:29:08already installed. Um there's I think

3:29:10about seven locations that have not uh

3:29:13there was

3:29:14>> in order to ensure that um motorists are

3:29:17are well aware that they are there. We

3:29:19require the contractor to install the

3:29:21signs first

3:29:22>> and then install install the speed humps

3:29:24afterwards. And um we ran short of

3:29:26signs. So we're waiting for delivery on

3:29:28those. The other thing that caused the

3:29:29delay in the entire um uh installation,

3:29:33we generally try to like to we we

3:29:35generally want to install these in the

3:29:37beginning of May. U unfortunately we

3:29:39have to wait until um street sweeping is

3:29:42done. Uh and DPW did not finish street

3:29:44sweeping uh due to uh their staffing

3:29:47levels until the beginning of June. So

3:29:49we cannot start installing these. Uh so

3:29:51we're a month behind from when we

3:29:52normally try to start installing these.

3:29:55But these once they are in, they

3:29:56generally remain in until around

3:29:58November 15th, sometimes a little bit

3:30:00later depending on weather predictions

3:30:02for the winter.

3:30:03>> Council Bal, you have any questions?

3:30:06>> No, I think it's a great report. I

3:30:07appreciate, you know, the effort that

3:30:09DTM's been making over the years to to

3:30:11get these out and definitely has an good

3:30:13impact for our neighborhood. So, thank

3:30:15you.

3:30:15>> Thank you, Annie. And I think number 15B

3:30:18was transmittingformational

3:30:20communication relative to the mobility

3:30:22action plan and your report.

3:30:24>> Yeah, Mr. Mr. Chair, so this was just a

3:30:25summary of the various activities that

3:30:28um our department as well as other

3:30:30related departments had conducted over

3:30:31the course of the year and how they

3:30:33relate back to the mobility action plan.

3:30:35Um happy to again address any any

3:30:38questions you might have. Um not going

3:30:40to go into it too deep given the hour.

3:30:42Um but if there are sort of more

3:30:44detailed questions that either of the

3:30:46committee members would like, we could

3:30:47certainly come back and do that or happy

3:30:49to to file it too if there are no

3:30:51questions at this time. Yeah. Uh I think

3:30:53uh if you have any you don't have any

3:30:54questions um councelor Bada I'm going to

3:30:57move to file 15 A and B.

3:31:00>> Absolutely. No problem.

3:31:01>> All right. Roll call.

3:31:03>> Councelor Bada.

3:31:05>> Yes.

3:31:06>> Councelor O'Hada and chairs and

3:31:07councelor Rivera.

3:31:09>> Yes. And uh

3:31:12we're done. [laughter]

3:31:15>> Would you like to do a roll call?

3:31:16>> Roll call please. Yes.

3:31:18>> Councelor Bilada.

3:31:19>> Yes. Councelor O'Hara and Chair Cera.

3:31:22>> Yes.