2026-08-19 - Traffic and Parking Committee

0:05Good evening everybody. It's the 5:30 so

0:07we're about to get started on our uh

0:09Wednesday August 19th traffic and

0:11parking meeting. First I want to

0:13introduce our principal staff assistant

0:15and fam and uh department trans mo um

0:19department transition mobility

0:20commissioner Steven Raleigh traffic and

0:22mobility um assistant director Todd

0:25Karine hasn't arrived yet. We also have

0:27Sergeant Richard Cypro with us and

0:30District 2 city councelor Rob Balada is

0:33on Zoom and I'm District 5 city

0:35councelor Jose Rivera. We uh um Miss

0:39Fam, can you please start off with the

0:42um attendance?

0:44>> Yes to the chair councelor councelor

0:46Bilada

0:47>> here.

0:48>> Uh councelor O'Ja and chair councelor

0:51Rivera

0:52>> here. Um we get the approval of the

0:54minutes for the um um the the city

0:57council senate committee of traffic and

0:59park and hereby approves minutes of

1:00traffic and park committee of August 11,

1:032026.

1:04Roll call.

1:05>> Councelor Bilada.

1:07>> Yes.

1:07>> Councelor O'Hara and chairperson.

1:09Councelor Rivera.

1:10>> Yes. And I also want to mention that

1:14district 3 city council John Solo is

1:16here with as well. And and can you

1:18please give the virtual attendance

1:19calling information? Yes to the chair.

1:22One virtual attendee call information

1:24pursuant to chapter 20 of the acts of

1:272021. And in order to ensure active

1:30public engagement, the city of Worcester

1:32currently allows for both in-person and

1:34remote participation at all city council

1:36and standing committee meetings. To

1:39partake in the meeting, you may attend

1:40the meeting in person within the main

1:42location. Follow the link uh which you

1:45can find on the city's website or dial

1:47the following line. uh 16468287666

1:54and the access code is 161-411-9888.

1:59Uh if you are joining via Zoom, if you

2:02join a Zoom meeting by dialing in a

2:04phone number or if you're on the

2:06application, uh please raise your hand

2:09um using the raise hand function

2:13uh when the item that you want to speak

2:15on is being heard. And if you're calling

2:17in with a phone number, you can raise

2:18your hand by dialing star 9. Thank you

2:20to the chair.

2:22>> Thank you very much. Uh we always get

2:24started with the handicap petitions

2:25first. So first we're going to start

2:26with three

2:283A. Um Council Lua on behalf of Brenda

2:32Jenkins request installation of a

2:34handicap parking space in front of 11

2:36benefit street. Anybody here speak on

2:38that item? Anybody online

2:42>> to chair? is no one raising their hands

2:44on Zoom.

2:46>> Um, Commissioner Rally.

2:48>> Uh, [clears throat] Mr. Chair, so for

2:49this item, we did have a request to

2:51withdraw the items, so we recommend

2:53file.

2:54>> Sounds good. Move to file the item. Roll

2:55call.

2:56>> Councelor Bada.

2:58>> Yes.

2:58>> Councelor O'Hara and Cherson. Councelor

3:00Rivera.

3:01>> Yes. Um, we got 3B.

3:05Council Lua on behalf of Brena Jenkins

3:07requestation of a handicap parking space

3:09in front of 13 Benefit Street. Um,

3:12anybody here to speak on this item? Come

3:14on up, please.

3:19Name and residence.

3:21Carla Belencio, 13 Vasper Street,

3:23Western, Massachusetts, Zip code 062.

3:28Um, the

3:31point I come to apply for remove the

3:34handicap is because I don't see use.

3:37>> Time out. This is the in installation of

3:40a handicap parking space on 13 Benefit

3:42Street.

3:43>> Oh, no. Benefit 13 Vesper.

3:45>> We're not there yet.

3:46>> Oh, no. I'm sorry.

3:47>> Wait, you don't leave. This is Benefit

3:50Street. Sorry.

3:51>> Yeah. Yeah. Sorry.

3:55Anybody online? Let's pick an item

3:56>> to ensure there's no one raising their

3:58hands.

3:58>> Uh, Commissioner Riley, Mr. Chair. So,

4:01we actually need a little bit more

4:03information on this item. Um, we did try

4:05to contact the petitioner but have been

4:07unable to do so. I don't know if uh if

4:12the clerk's office has any further

4:14information because I know you'd had

4:16some communication with the petitioner.

4:18>> Um, we got

4:20>> Yeah. So, um, my recommendation I think

4:23would be given that [clears throat] we

4:24have a meeting in two weeks, I think my

4:25recommendation would be to hold it if

4:27the petitioner is not online.

4:28>> Sounds good. Anybody online to confirm?

4:31>> To sure there's no one raising their

4:32hands.

4:33>> All right. And so we're going to move to

4:34hold the item. Roll call.

4:35>> Councelor Bilada.

4:37>> Yes.

4:37>> Councelor O'Hada and Chair. Councelor

4:39Rivera.

4:40>> Yes. All right. 3C. Um Jaliss Castillo

4:46request removal of handicap parking

4:48space at 13 Vasper Street. Now you come

4:51up. [laughter]

4:53Sorry.

4:56>> Yes. Um we applied to remove the

4:59handicap because uh for a long time is

5:02an air nobody use and we still don't

5:04have enough space to park in and we have

5:07four cars in the house and we don't have

5:09any place to parking. Okay.

5:11>> If that's is possible they have only one

5:13car and that's they have a a garage and

5:16is in the car in the garage is not in

5:18the street anymore.

5:19>> Okay. Is anybody like anything else you

5:22want to say on this item?

5:23>> Oh yes two more people here. Come on up.

5:25Come in, Joseph. Come on, Elvis.

5:28>> Yeah. Name and residence. Name and

5:31residence, please.

5:32>> Yeah.

5:33>> Hi, my name is Elvis Gonzale. I live um

5:3713 BER Street, Western Mass. Um I'm

5:42coming from Camela Visencio.

5:46Is it possible you can try to remove the

5:50handicap sign because sometime nobody

5:54have a parking lot my house and

5:57especially on Winster I can park in the

6:00other side

6:02I don't have a space I have like five

6:04five or four car on the house you can

6:08possibly do that

6:10>> okay gentleman over here

6:12>> Joseph

6:13>> name and residence

6:14>> you live in the same is

6:16>> I live in the same place.

6:18>> Okay.

6:20>> Hey, I'll just take

6:22>> No problem. I understand.

6:24>> And sometimes there's no packing

6:30space.

6:32>> Good job.

6:32>> Yeah.

6:34>> Good job. Good job.

6:35>> Thank you. Good job. And do we have

6:37anybody online?

6:39>> Two. There's no one raising their hands.

6:41>> Commissioner Raleigh. Mr.

6:42>> Chair. [snorts]

6:44>> Sorry about that, Mr. Chair. So, um,

6:46from available photographic evidence, we

6:49haven't seen use of this space regularly

6:50since 25. It was used regularly prior to

6:532025.

6:55Um, and given that there was no

6:56testimony uh that it is being used

6:58still, I would uh recommend approval.

7:01>> All right. Does my colleague need to

7:02speak on this item?

7:04>> Thank you.

7:07>> Go ahead, Rob.

7:09>> I said no. Thank you, Mr. Chair.

7:10>> Oh, sorry. Okay. So, we're going to move

7:12to approve the item. Roll call.

7:14Councelor Bilada.

7:16>> Yes.

7:17>> Councelor O'Jada and chairs and

7:18councelor Rivera.

7:19>> Yes.

7:21>> Good to go.

7:22>> Thank you.

7:23>> Thank you very much.

7:24>> Okay. Move on to 3D. Maria Murphy

7:28request installation of a handicap

7:29parking space in front of 200 Fairmont

7:32Avenue. Is anybody here to speak on this

7:34item? Anybody online?

7:37>> To ensure there's no one raising their

7:38hands.

7:39>> Commissioner Roll.

7:41>> Mr. Mr. Chair, we spoke with the

7:42petitioner uh to advise them that the

7:45location that was requested is within a

7:47declared winter parking ban. So they

7:48have uh asked that the item be held and

7:51readvertised for across the street

7:53outside of the ban.

7:54>> Sounds good. So we move to hold the item

7:57brok.

7:58>> Councelor Bilada.

7:59>> Yes.

8:00>> Councelor O'Hada and chairs and

8:01councelor Rivera.

8:02>> Yes.

8:04So we move to 3E.

8:07Mari Elsad request installation of

8:10handicap parking space in front of 48

8:12Esther Street. Is anybody here to speak

8:15on this item?

8:16>> Anybody online?

8:18>> Two is here. There's no one raising

8:19their hands on Zoom.

8:20>> Commissioner Rowley.

8:22>> Uh Mr. Chair. So the um this petition is

8:26all set except for we've not confirmed a

8:28placard yet. However, we are comfortable

8:30if the committee did want to approve a

8:32pending receipt of a placard.

8:34>> Sounds good. So we move to approve the

8:36item. Ro,

8:38>> councelor Bilada.

8:40>> Oh, yes.

8:41>> Councelor O'Hara and Chapson. Councelor

8:43Rivera.

8:44>> Yes.

8:46Samira Muhammad request installation of

8:48a handicap park. Oh, sorry. This is 3F.

8:50Samira Muhammad request installation of

8:52panic parking space at 131 Chino Avenue.

8:56Anybody here speak on this item? Anybody

8:59online?

9:00>> To there's no one. Oh, there's one

9:02person raising their hands. Uh to

9:04speaker Wlay,

9:06you may go ahead and press star six to

9:09unmute.

9:11>> Uh yes. Uh I'm living uh I don't hear

9:13the 249 program app, but it say on my

9:16item is 3C. Is that did I pass that? I'm

9:19sorry.

9:20>> 3C you said?

9:21>> Yes, sir.

9:23>> Um so we

9:24>> document here. Yeah.

9:26>> Just so you know that we we we um so go

9:30ahead. Go ahead. If you can

9:32we can hear from you now. We we did 3C

9:35already but go ahead.

9:37>> Uh yes I live in two four year program

9:40for uh since I bought the house 2010. So

9:43recently uh the city just come down put

9:45the handicaps there but I believe

9:47there's only one person park handicap

9:49which is T park right now in front of

9:52347 and he tried to get a second space

9:54for his family. So he takes my pay.

9:57Anyway, you can move across the street

9:59to 52,

10:01>> right? So that would be for another

10:02petition or

10:03>> it's 3H.

10:04>> Oh, 3H.

10:05>> Yeah.

10:05>> Oh, sorry. Okay. So, you're not on 3C.

10:08>> Uh, yeah. I'm sorry.

10:09>> All right. So, we're we're we'll be

10:12we'll be doing your petition shortly.

10:14Right now, we're on um

10:17>> 3F.

10:22So, Commissioner Raleigh. Yeah, Mr.

10:23Chair. Um, this is at a location where

10:26there's a very high demand for uh HP

10:29spaces. There are several that are

10:31designated there currently, but when we

10:32went out to visit, we observed they were

10:35generally all in use. So, we do

10:36recommend approval of this additional

10:38spot.

10:39>> All right. So, we move to approve the

10:40item. Roll call.

10:42>> Councelor Bada.

10:43>> Yes.

10:44>> Councelor O'Hada and Cherson. Councelor

10:46Rivera.

10:47>> Yes. All right. Now, we go to 3G. Lee

10:50Silverstein request installation of a

10:52handicap parking space in front of four

10:54hearts hearthorn Avenue.

10:58>> Hi Lee Silverstein for Hartorn AB

11:01Worcester 01602.

11:05Um we do have it. It's a multifamily

11:08building. We do have a driveway with one

11:11space. I have a handicap partner. My

11:15wife is in the process. she is uh uh of

11:18getting a handicap uh partnered as well.

11:22So, we're just trying to do some

11:24advanced work to try and get the set up

11:27before part of the problem with our

11:30address, if you're familiar with hard

11:32shorn, especially number four. It's

11:35across from the post office salon and

11:38people on June Street come over and part

11:41on hard shorn because they don't want

11:44they don't want to part on the main road

11:46and take a chance of their their cars

11:48getting hit. So that also absorbs up a

11:51lot of space for us.

11:54>> Thank you.

11:55>> So I also wanted to bring something else

11:57to your attention. Um, I got an email

12:02and I checked with my computer people.

12:04It's not on my side, but this someone

12:07hacked into the city of Worcester

12:10parking

12:11thing and I to I got this notice that I

12:14was already approved and uh they had

12:18City of Worcester emblem on it and then

12:20I owed a fee and for $1,950

12:25and they kept pressuring me for payment.

12:27That's for you, sir.

12:28>> That's definitely not your wister.

12:30[laughter]

12:31>> I I don't want to see anybody else

12:32that's I appreciate that very much.

12:35>> Okay.

12:36>> Is anybody online on this item?

12:39>> To chair, we do have one person raising

12:41their hands. Uh to speaker Nelly Gibson,

12:44you can go ahead and unmute.

12:47>> Hi. Yes. Um I know that my item is not

12:50coming up, but I'm glad that gentleman

12:52mentioned um that email because he is

12:55not alone. I also received one of those

12:58yesterday and I did reply back to the

13:01person and I said, "Why would I be

13:03paying for a sign that I'm requesting

13:08for the [snorts] public street?" And

13:10this person went on to uh reply back and

13:13say to me that, you know, it's been

13:15approved, the application is um being

13:18reviewed or something like that, but I

13:19need to make uh a payment. So then I

13:22started thinking then that I got hacked.

13:25So now I know it's not me. So it is on

13:28the city of Worcester.

13:29>> Thank you very much. Uh we're very happy

13:32you guys brought this to our is it we're

13:34very happy you brought this to our

13:35attention.

13:36>> Of course.

13:37>> Are you also speaking on this item?

13:38>> Hey, I'm Ashley Berto, third floor of

13:42shed.

13:43>> Uh so honestly we do not have a problem

13:46about the parking space in front. uh

13:48already there is there that is a

13:50designated space on the driveway and if

13:53comes to the time that we have the

13:56necessity for two parking space then I

13:58think we might be back here because

14:00right now uh there's already the

14:03necessity only for one and there's

14:04already a designated parking spot for

14:06them so it's basically trying to as is a

14:10busy street uh I think we are three

14:12households everyone has two parking uh

14:15cars so let's just try to make

14:18happen for everyone.

14:21>> Thank you.

14:21>> Does it make sense?

14:23>> I'm sorry. I really I'm hard of hearing.

14:25I didn't hear you well.

14:26>> No, sure. Uh I was saying that right now

14:29there is already a designated parking

14:31space in the driveway. I know that it

14:33might come to a time where you guys

14:35might need another one. You just

14:37mentioned that your wife is in the

14:39process of getting the credentials and I

14:41feel that into there at least we should

14:43wait because the street is very busy

14:46that

14:46>> so I would just

14:48>> but it's okay she you spoke she has a

14:50time to spoke you know you guys can even

14:52speak about it otherwise I'm just going

14:55to let the commissioner speak on the

14:56matter.

14:58>> Um Mr. Mr. Chair, so it is it is a

15:00suitable location there. There is some

15:02off- streetet parking, but it is a three

15:04family. So the two or three spaces that

15:06are provided is probably much less than

15:08the amount of parking that's um you know

15:11typically used for that that particular

15:14use. Uh so we we do recommend approval

15:16on this item um given those

15:18circumstances.

15:20>> All right. So we're going to move to

15:22approve the item. Roll call.

15:25>> I'm sorry I couldn't hear you.

15:26>> We're moving to approve the item.

15:29to remove it.

15:30>> Approve it.

15:31>> Approve it. Oh, okay. I'm sorry.

15:35>> All right. Thank you very much. I

15:36appreciate it.

15:37>> Roll call, please.

15:38>> Councelor Bada.

15:40>> All right. C.

15:42>> Councelor O'Hada and Chair. Councelor

15:45Rivera.

15:46>> Yes.

15:483H.

15:49Gusa Gerate request a handicap um

15:53parking space located at 249 Pilgrim A

15:56be relocated to 252 Pilgrim Avenue.

16:00Anybody here to speak on that item?

16:03Anybody online?

16:04>> Two chair. We have two people raising

16:06their hands. Um the first speaker is

16:09Gerard. I will go ahead and recognize

16:12them now.

16:13>> Good afternoon council. I my name is

16:15Franco Gerard on behalf of my mother

16:17Joeppa. This this the way this petition

16:19comes out on this council this this

16:22evening is not what we requested. Uh I

16:25spoke to Mr. Raleigh and his team about

16:27uh this petition was years and years ago

16:30and it was two handicap

16:33spots back to back. So for some reason

16:35or another it got misconstrued and it

16:37got moved 12 years later to 249

16:39children. So, what we requested is to

16:41put it back to where it was in in

16:43lengthening the the the size of the

16:45handicap spot that's there now. That is

16:47way too small. Um, that's that's the

16:50that's the way the petition if you want.

16:51If you have the original petition there

16:53that we filed, it explains everything in

16:55detail there. But it's not in front of

16:57252. It was supposed to be across the

16:59street, across the way, um, directly

17:02across from 252.

17:06>> Any the next person online? Uh yes to

17:10chair. The next person is walk. I will

17:13go ahead and give them permission now.

17:15You can go ahead and unmute.

17:17>> Uh yes, thank you. Uh yeah, park again.

17:20Uh so that I live in 2.9. I only my aunt

17:24parked there long time and I only have

17:26one space park in the front. So I have

17:29my own driver. I park my car in the

17:31drive. But that space is it belong to my

17:32aunt. She used to be handicapped but she

17:34passed away. Now I have a second aunt

17:36parked in the front. So right now uh

17:39it's plus this street is at that end is

17:41really limited space or even in the

17:44winter time I mean plus the three dea

17:46247 they just move in and each each

17:49apartment at least have four car so the

17:53take all the space is is could you

17:55please take off my handicap out of my

17:58space?

18:01>> Did you say that you wanted them to take

18:03the handicap space out?

18:05>> Yes sir. Yeah remove the sign. Yes. Yes,

18:07please. I'll be

18:08>> okay. Commissioner Raleigh.

18:10>> U Mr. Chair, so this is sort of a an

18:13interesting set of circumstances here.

18:15Um so let me walk walk the committee

18:18through it. So there um there are

18:21currently two designated handicap

18:23parking spaces uh in this general area

18:26that we're talking about. Those are

18:27already ordained

18:29um and they have been so for quite some

18:31time. The ordinances were passed in 2012

18:35originally.

18:37for whatever reason and we don't know

18:38what reason because nobody who was

18:40involved in this is still either at you

18:43know DTM didn't exist DPW whole

18:46different group of people so we don't

18:47know how or why uh but the ordinances

18:51were um such that there was an HP space

18:55then there was 22 ft of space and then

18:58another HP space so the 22 feet in

19:01between is big enough to park a car it's

19:03a a little bit tight for a on street

19:06space with a spot on either side of it,

19:08but it's, you know, relatively standard.

19:12Um,

19:13nonetheless, we would typically like to

19:15put the two HP spaces together. It

19:17simplifies signing. It's a little bit

19:19easier for people trying to maneuver in

19:20and out of those spaces. Um,

19:24despite the fact that the ordinances

19:26show a uh a separation between those two

19:31spaces, when they were implemented, when

19:33they were signed, and again, this was

19:34back in 2012, they were signed back to

19:37back. So, whoever installed the signs at

19:40that time made the decision that, hey,

19:42it makes more sense to just install

19:43these backtoback. And that's what they

19:45did. And that's how they've been um

19:48implemented since that time.

19:51Earlier this year, there was a um a

19:55request that came in through I think it

19:57was through the 311 system probably

19:59saying um hey, could you check out these

20:02spaces? I don't think it's what's

20:03supposed to be ordained there. Parking

20:05enforcement went out, they looked at it,

20:06they compared it to the ordinances, and

20:08they realized that what was implemented

20:10was not what was, you know, officially

20:13designated by the ordinances. So, a work

20:16order was put in. Public works adjusted

20:18the signs to match exactly what the

20:21ordinances say, which is the one space

20:2422 ft and then the other space. Um, so

20:27the request now um that uh Mr. Gerardi

20:32spoke to was to basically move that

20:35space officially back to where it was.

20:38So, um it's not a request for an

20:41additional space compared to what's out

20:43there today. It's a request to to move

20:45that space so that the two are back to

20:47back. Um that would leave a third space

20:50in front of number 249 available for

20:54anyone to park in. So in either case,

20:57there's three spaces, two of which are

20:59HP. We do not have a petition before us

21:01to remove an HP space. So that's not

21:03really um your consideration. The

21:06consideration is whether we want to

21:08leave them signed as they are now, which

21:10is a HP space, a general purpose space,

21:13and another HP space, or to go ahead and

21:15move those two HP spaces so they're back

21:17to back.

21:19>> Gotcha. So, we'll go moving them back to

21:21back.

21:22>> So, my recommendation would be to put

21:23them back the way they were back to

21:24back. Um, just because that's, you know,

21:27that's typically how we'd like to do it.

21:28Right.

21:29>> That way in the future if there is

21:30another change, it's easier then to to

21:33get that signage back and more in

21:35alignment with where the users are in

21:37this case across the street. Those two

21:39spaces are closer to the uh the users.

21:43>> All right. So we move to approve the

21:44item roll call.

21:46>> Councelor Bilada.

21:48>> Yes.

21:49>> Councelor O'Hara

21:51and Chair Caser Rivera.

21:53>> Yes.

21:53>> To the chair. Um before we move on to

21:56the next item, can I just like speak

21:58real quick towards about the email?

22:00>> Go back the way it is.

22:02>> Uh so recently the clerk's office was

22:05made aware that there were these emails

22:07sent out to the petitioners about having

22:10requiring payments for like installation

22:12of um like the handicap parking space as

22:15well as like other uh utility of like

22:19public utility works. Um so we just want

22:22to say that it does it did not come from

22:24the city. It did not come from our

22:25office and we are looking into it. So to

22:28people who are like listening if uh you

22:30have received such emails like please

22:32forward it to [email protected]

22:36um because we are looking into it. Thank

22:38you to the chair. Thank you. On to three

22:42I Rebecca Dphano request removal of

22:46handicap parking space in front of 41

22:48Ever Street. Anybody speak on this item?

22:52Anybody online?

22:55>> Chair, there's no one raising their

22:57hands.

22:59[clears throat]

23:00>> Yeah. Yeah.

23:02>> Commissioner Rally.

23:03>> Yeah. Thank you, Mr. Chair. We did

23:04receive uh email correspondents from

23:06residents in the area who did confirm

23:08that they are still using this space. So

23:10we recommend to file the item.

23:12>> Item move to file the item. Roll call.

23:15>> Uh councelor Bada.

23:18>> Yes.

23:18>> Councelor O'Hada

23:20and chair. Councelor Rivera.

23:22>> Yes. 3J.

23:25Rebecca Dafano request removal of

23:27handicap park in front of 49 Edward

23:30Street.

23:31Um, anybody here pick an item? Anybody

23:34online?

23:35>> To there's no one raising their hands.

23:37>> Commissioner Raleigh.

23:38>> Yeah, Mr. Chair. In this case, um, the

23:40signs for this space actually were

23:43removed or disappeared sometime around

23:442019. So, it hasn't been physically an

23:47HP space in quite some time. Um, so this

23:49would bring the ordinance back into

23:51compliance with what's actually been on

23:53the the ground there for the last six or

23:55seven years. So, we recommend approval.

23:57>> All right. We move to approve the item.

23:58Roll call. Councelor Councelor Bilada.

24:06Councelor Bilada.

24:09>> Yes. Sorry.

24:10>> Yeah. Uh councelor O'Hara and Chair and

24:12Council Rivera.

24:14>> Yes. Um, just real quick, I'm going to

24:16move to uh

24:19um out of order real quick to handle I

24:22think there's a lot of people here on

24:23this items want to take care of uh truck

24:26petitions 7A and 7B. Um, council person,

24:32you want to do them together or

24:33separate? We do them together.

24:34>> I'd like to take them together, Mr.

24:36Chairman, if that's best for you. I I

24:38think it would be for me.

24:39>> Sounds good. Um, councelor 7A, councelor

24:44Folo requestation of a truck bandweight

24:47restriction for the um through traffic

24:50of trucks on Hamilton Street.

24:53And when we move to 7B, Council John

24:55Folo request installation of a truck ban

24:58weight restriction for the through

25:00traffic of trucks on Lake A. Um, we'll

25:03let Councelor Folo speak on the item

25:05first.

25:07>> Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Through you,

25:09uh, Mr. Chairman, uh, campaigning last

25:13year in the Lake Avenue and Hamilton

25:16Street areas, uh, I was, uh, peppered by

25:21people who, uh, complained to me about

25:24trailer truck traffic on Lake A and

25:28Hamilton Street going to the CSX

25:32uh, complex at the bottom of Grafton

25:36Street. Uh just a little information uh

25:39for everyone, the general public and

25:41anybody listening today uh on on uh the

25:45government channel. Uh when CSX moved to

25:49Worcester, uh

25:52the city of Worcester and the

25:53Commonwealth of Massachusetts

25:55accommodated them and put in an off-ramp

26:00off of 290 that would line up perfectly

26:03with their entrance. again at the base

26:06of Grafton Street. And at that time,

26:10people were told in that area that all

26:13truck traffic would be encouraged to

26:15take I290

26:17and to come off that exit and get into

26:21uh CSX property by that exit. And what

26:25has happened over time is uh

26:29GPS when the truck drivers the

26:31independent truck drivers uh GPS CSX and

26:35they are uh in the vicinity of uh

26:39whether it be Route 20 in Shbury or

26:42Worester or uh UPS

26:46uh you know on on 140 in Shbury anywhere

26:52uh large truck tra uh trailer truck uh

26:55traffic uh

26:58uh would would originate. The uh GPS

27:03would take them to Lake Avenue and over

27:07to Hamilton Street and down to Grafton

27:11Street to get to CSX. And in doing so,

27:16uh, the people in those, um,

27:18neighborhoods,

27:20uh, are suffering, uh,

27:23immensely with, uh, the

27:28trailer trucks coming by, not only uh,

27:32using the road, but the speed uh, on

27:35that road we're trying to address as

27:37well. And, uh, just to wrap it up, Mr.

27:41Chairman, people are uh in my opinion, I

27:45I haven't heard heard any uh opposed to

27:48this, but people are in support of

27:51trying to prohibit truck traffic from uh

27:56being allowed to use uh when I say truck

27:59traffic, trailer truck traffic, and u

28:04I want to see the weight the the weight

28:06restriction of those trucks. um they're

28:10in favor of restricting that and that's

28:12why I filed these petitions, Mr.

28:14Chairman. And I would like to ask one

28:16question through you, Mr. Chairman, to

28:19uh Commissioner Raleigh. Uh I know that

28:23from here it it I I believe it goes to

28:26the uh state and they have to do a study

28:29of some sort. Uh I I had a suggestion

28:32just curious if this could be uh

28:36implemented. If not, maybe if you can't

28:38answer it, maybe we'll go to the law

28:40department. But um could it could it

28:45happen where we put up cameras

28:48and uh when these trucks uh use trailer

28:53trucks use that road

28:56um that if we able to put in a ban that

29:00we take the license plate and then we

29:02sign we we send a fine to them. uh you

29:06know the ticket and uh uh do it that

29:10way. I don't know if that's possible or

29:12not, but um and if if it was, I would I

29:16would suggest or I would uh offer that

29:19we use the CSX funds in the Grafton Hill

29:22account to pay for such cameras to be

29:24installed. Uh I only say that because uh

29:29to you know everything is done obviously

29:32uh it's it's uh enforcement that will

29:36stop uh these trucks from uh uh using

29:39that route and uh you know our our

29:43traffic division uh is uh you know uh at

29:48at a uh you know sparse um uh level and

29:55I know this would be added an added

29:57burden to that traffic division. So, uh

30:01I just throw that out there. I don't

30:03know if uh Commissioner Raleigh has an

30:04opinion or if it's even legal to do it,

30:06but uh I just ask that question. Then

30:10after that, Mr. Chairman, I know there I

30:12can see that there are residents from

30:14that area that would be uh uh you know

30:18interested in speaking. So

30:19>> before we get to the residents,

30:20Commissioner Riley, so you can answer

30:22his question.

30:22>> Yeah, through the chair. So, um, that

30:24type of enforcement is not legal, uh, in

30:27Massachusetts through camera

30:29enforcement. So, PD does have a

30:31commercial vehicle enforcement team and

30:33Sergeant Cypro might be able to speak to

30:35that better than I could. Um, but that's

30:37how if, you know, if a heavy vehicle

30:39exclusion were established here, that's

30:41how it would be enforced to be through

30:42that team.

30:43>> Sergeant Zipper, you have anything you

30:45want to say?

30:45>> Can a resident speak on the issue?

30:47>> Yes, we're going to get right to you.

30:49Absolutely. So just uh through the chair

30:52uh to the councelor and to Mr. Raleigh.

30:55So yes um yes we do have a commercial

30:57vehicle enforcement team. However, we're

30:59down one currently. Uh he was just

31:01recently one was just recently promoted.

31:03So we're waiting to get another

31:05commercial vehicle uh enforcement

31:08officer on um and then with that um he

31:11is uh there comes additional training

31:14counselor um hazmat training. There's

31:16different things. So we have to then

31:18build it and build a bench. So, you're

31:20correct in your assessment of, you know,

31:22how how we have to do that. Uh, but

31:24currently, we only have two. Um, and we

31:28do expect one of those to retire also by

31:30the end of the year, leaving us with

31:33one. Uh, but then we'll have another one

31:36coming in. So, and we're constantly

31:38trying to uh replace those those

31:41officers uh because it does take a

31:44little bit longer uh than most training

31:47for the commercial vehicle enforcement

31:49because when they do do enforcement on

31:51that um it can take them out of service

31:54and the truck out of service probably

31:55from you know anywhere from two to four

31:57hours when they actually go through the

31:59whole thing and make sure that they

32:00they're where they're supposed to be. Um

32:02but we are actively involved uh with

32:05with the commercial vehicle enforcement

32:07as we know many of this occurs at many

32:10of our low bridges in the city.

32:13>> Um so those are the ones that we we kind

32:16of focus in those areas but uh if

32:19there's any other question answer that

32:20council

32:21>> name uh residence please

32:24name a residents

32:25>> can I speak?

32:26>> Yes name of resident please. First of

32:28all, I want to thank um the counselor

32:31for the petition and for this body for

32:33considering it. I live on Lake Avenue

32:38and my house is maybe 150 years old.

32:41It's field stone. It's not concrete. So,

32:45what happens every time these big trucks

32:48go by, it shakes the house that it's

32:52going to loosen. It's going to destroy

32:54what the foundation to the house soon. I

32:58mean, maybe within a few years. Look at

33:00what happened at that church, Mount

33:03Carmel. I mean, it was near a highway.

33:07It had to be torn down because of the

33:09damage. But it's not only the weight of

33:13the trucks, it's the speed of the

33:16trucks. They hit the road so hard that

33:19the whole house shakes. And I it's it's

33:23it's really bad. And worse than that,

33:27it's not only the 18wheelers.

33:31There are dump trucks. There are other

33:34heavy vehicles and even lightweight

33:36trucks such as uh uh pickups. When they

33:40go 80 miles an hour down our street, and

33:42they do go 80 miles an hour down the

33:45street, my house shakes, too. And I'm

33:48sure that there are other residents who

33:52have field stone foundations that are

33:55going to be ruined shortly if this does

33:59not end. And with that, I'll stop.

34:03>> Thank you, sir. Anybody else want to

34:04speak on this item? Name and residence.

34:07She's coming up. Name and residence. Go

34:09ahead.

34:11>> Hi, I'm Isabella McDonald. I am at 535

34:14Lake Avenue, which is right on the

34:17corner with Sunderland.

34:19And similar to what that gentleman said,

34:22our house shakes. It starts at 3:00 in

34:24the morning. We can't open our windows.

34:26I have two small children that like to

34:28play in the backyard. The smog, the

34:31smell. I can't open my windows. Um, so

34:35it's And again, I'm kind of new to the

34:37area. I didn't know that were trucks

34:39because when I looked at my house to buy

34:41it was on the weekend and we don't have

34:43this problem on the weekend. Um besides

34:46the motorcycles and the muscle cars and

34:48the you know that's another issue. Um

34:51but the trucks is just is just really

34:53diminishing our our quality of life

34:56there on Lake Cav. And to kind of go off

34:59of what do Dr. Fzola counselor Fzola

35:03said and that's a question is resident

35:06enforcement possible because I have

35:09videos of trucks turning down my street

35:12because that's where they slow down to

35:14turn um I can I can monitor that and if

35:17we're able to catch a few then they will

35:20know well we need to reroute ourselves

35:22in terms of um you know making sure that

35:25they're following the rules if we pass

35:27this

35:28>> um

35:29>> through the chair to the citizen. So, we

35:33cannot go off of a citizen's video. We

35:37have to actually see it as a police

35:39officer. I will say this, um I have

35:42personally conducted speed enforcement

35:44on Lake A and you're not wrong that

35:46there there is some speeding um up to

35:49probably at least 50 miles an hour. I

35:52have caught people coming down. We also

35:54have uh some money through CSX that

35:57councelor Fzolo has secured for us and

36:01we are putting proactive speed

36:03enforcement on Lake F. Um

36:07a minimum of three times a month, right,

36:10is is the amount so that the counselor

36:12spread out the money over a period of

36:14time so that we can be down there at

36:16least three times a month just there,

36:19nowhere else. So, so that's been

36:21actively being enforced. Um, as far as

36:25cameras, um, as a law enforcement

36:27officer, I support anything the

36:28legislation does for that. I think it'll

36:30help us, but currently we cannot use

36:32those by by law. We have to witness it

36:36for it to occur. Now, we could use it to

36:38say, okay, we know what time what we'd

36:40like to get from citizens is kind of

36:43like time frames when this is occurring

36:47so that we can be more effective and

36:48efficient during those enforcement hours

36:52because again, um be completely honest

36:55with you, I only have 22 officers that

36:57are assigned to me on two shifts. So, we

37:01have to be very efficient because

37:03everyone here um we speak about speed

37:06enforcement many times in this committee

37:09and we have to strategically place our

37:12people at certain times, certain dates,

37:14certain things. So, if you do have that,

37:16we welcome uh anything to the counselor

37:19because the counselor will inform us of

37:21those times. It's more important that we

37:23get specific times and date like you

37:25know weeks, you know, maybe days of the

37:27week because that will help us

37:30pinpoint that. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

37:32>> Thank you, Sergeant. Anybody else want

37:34to speak on item coming up? Name and

37:36address, please.

37:41>> Thank you. I'd like to elaborate a

37:43little bit on the roads.

37:46Uh I think one of the biggest problems

37:49on Lake Ev are the construction

37:51companies. We counted 84 new digs on

37:57Lake A in the last couple of years. Now,

38:01what this gentleman just referred to,

38:03his house is shaking. Reason for that is

38:07the city of Worcester doesn't go back

38:09and check these people after they make

38:12all these holes and cover them. They

38:15become ruts. Six months later, bang,

38:19bang. That's all you hear. And this is

38:22what this gentleman is talking about.

38:24Count them. Put somebody on the road and

38:27count all the digs. That's what's the

38:30big problem. That's why the trucks are

38:33banging and crashing because of that.

38:37That's that's to me that's a big issue.

38:39I thought the city of Worcester was

38:41supposed to check all these construction

38:44companies after they do a tie in or

38:48whatever reason they're digging up the

38:49road. Why don't they go back and make

38:52sure this road is clear and smooth? No,

38:56it's not. Take a ride. Take a ride down

38:59Lake A and look for yourself.

39:02That's all I have to say.

39:04>> Thank you, sir.

39:06>> Oh, excuse. Wait.

39:08If I could just

39:09>> just give me one second, Councelor Folo.

39:12Uh, I just want to um let the the uh

39:16residents here tonight and anybody

39:18listening know that uh we are going to

39:22uh address Lake Avenue within a month.

39:26Uh I've been told uh by October

39:30uh we are going to do long what is

39:32called long patch uh uh the long patch

39:35program. It's not going to resurface the

39:38whole uh you know curb to curb uh of

39:42Lake AB, but we're going to address all

39:44those uh issues that you just brought

39:46up, sir. And that's going to happen

39:48again. I was told last night by the

39:50manager and the commissioner of DPW that

39:53it'll start in September and hopefully

39:55be done by October. So, you're going to

39:57see uh a lot of uh improvement again.

40:01They're going to mill the road down and

40:03uh resurface

40:05from Coburn Nav to Sunderland Road and

40:09we're going to do as many of those

40:11instances

40:13examples that you've spoke of. Thank

40:15you, Mr. Chairman.

40:16>> Name of residents, please.

40:18>> My name is Gordon John Davis. My father,

40:20my mother still live on Lake A. I visit

40:23them for the well-being, make sure

40:24they're okay. And this this gentleman

40:26just told me and is correct. There's a

40:29big hole in front of my parents house.

40:30And also I just want to know um

40:32counselor if it's possible that you

40:34could put speed bumps on Lake A maybe

40:37between Hamilton and the uh Bigalow

40:41where the park is because there's a lot

40:42of accidents there and there and a lot

40:44of people are speeding on Lake A in

40:45front of my parents house and from the

40:48beginning of Lake Ev all the way to the

40:50end it's always always a problem. So,

40:53and that was a good suggestion that you

40:54made about the cameras and I work at UPS

40:57and I'm just wondering um where are they

41:00going to be diverted now if they're not

41:01going to go through uh UPS and uh thank

41:03you for your time and thank you for the

41:05petition.

41:07>> Thank you.

41:09Name and residents.

41:10>> Uh yeah, I'm at 378 Lake. I have one of

41:13them old houses. Everything shakes. Um

41:16they fill in the potholes and not even a

41:19day later the potholes are gone. Um, I

41:22have videos and I've sent it to John

41:24with t uh a time on it. Um, we have

41:28cameras all over our yard. Um, so we can

41:31get timestamps and everything like that

41:33for you people. Um, but we got to stop

41:36the traffic to go slower. Um, lights at

41:40Hamilton Street. I have videos of today

41:44coming here just to get from Lake A to

41:47Hamilton Street. how many cars I had to

41:51wait for, how many cars the other cars

41:54had to wait for. I felt bad because

41:56there was traffic on Hamilton Street all

41:58the way up. Um because they couldn't

42:01turn because everybody on Lake AB was

42:03turning, you know, and then there's more

42:05cars coming. We got to do something

42:08about it. I have a dog. My husband tries

42:11to walk the dog. It takes us 15, 20

42:14minutes just to get across the street.

42:17Um, counting all the cars that go by,

42:21there's too much traffic on that. I've

42:23been there 30 years and I've never seen

42:26how much traffic has been. I used to

42:28walk the dog and be fine. Now it's hard

42:31to walk the dog. Hard to even cross the

42:34street to get to my car. So, I mean, you

42:38know, I've sent so many things to him,

42:41but he probably says, "Oh my god, not

42:44another one.

42:44>> Keep sending them." you know, um it's

42:47it's just ridiculous. So, I just wanted

42:49to let you know.

42:50>> Thank you.

42:51>> Thank you.

42:52>> Name and address, please.

42:55>> Eric Spencer. Um 113 Hamilton Street. Um

43:00I have a slightly different perspective

43:01and that is one as a business owner. Um

43:05I do agree with my neighbors. A lot of

43:09them are my customers. Uh we do see a

43:11lot of heavy truck traffic in the

43:13neighborhood. Um, and it seems like it's

43:15a lot of it's at night. Um, during the

43:18day, um, we do have a few trailer trucks

43:21go down Hamilton Street. Some of those

43:23trailer trucks service my business. Uh,

43:26for 37 years, we've been getting at

43:28least one trailer truck a week,

43:29sometimes two. Um, and these trailer

43:32trucks that I get are pretty heavy

43:34because they have concrete on them, they

43:36have ice melter, etc. Um, so I'm very

43:40concerned about the language of banning

43:43truck traffic because not only myself,

43:46but there are many other businesses on

43:47Hamilton Street that would feel that uh

43:50banning um it would pretty much put us

43:52out of business if we couldn't receive

43:54trailer trucks. Uh, so I support

43:58uh my neighbors and they should not have

44:01to um hear these trucks going down the

44:04street um at 3:00 in the morning. Uh

44:08speed is a huge problem on Hamilton

44:10Street, both up and down Hamilton

44:12Street. Um trailer trucks, all

44:15everything. It's insane. Um I strongly

44:18strongly suggest that we put speed bumps

44:21right in front of my store if possible.

44:23um because that spot is particularly

44:26bad. Um we know there's tons of

44:28accidents um at the top of Hamilton

44:31Street. Um so that I know that's another

44:34issue, but um that's something we

44:35definitely need to talk about. I would

44:37like to ask the the question is if there

44:40was some kind of ban, how do I get

44:43shipments? How do I survive if you ban

44:47trailer trucks?

44:48>> Commissioner Ali.

44:50>> Yeah, Mr. Chair. So um under the the

44:53state establishes the laws under which

44:55cities can uh establish these what we

44:58call heavy vehicle exclusions. Those

45:00only apply to trips that are traveling

45:04completely through an area. So any truck

45:07trip that is destined to a business or a

45:10location on that corridor can continue

45:13can continue to make that trip.

45:15>> Okay. Thank you. Thank you.

45:20>> Name and address, please.

45:23Hi,

45:24>> Paul Gregoire for 4 419 Lake A. I'm

45:27actually across the street from Gordon,

45:30but um he's it's true about what we're

45:33finding as far as um the trucks going

45:38down that road. I'm looking at this from

45:41a different perspective. I like the idea

45:44that he uh finally gonna do something

45:46about

45:48um grinding lake a um because the

45:51biggest problem is not just the

45:54potholes,

45:56the ones that are needed to be repaired.

45:58What we're finding also is that the um

46:02manhole covers are actually being

46:05collapsed down. So what happens is that

46:08brings that little

46:11divot. Now with every time a truck hits

46:15that divot, it gets bigger and that's

46:18where we need to fix. Um it as far as

46:21Lake A is concerned, the whole Lake A

46:25needs to be done from one end to the

46:28other. If you try to drive down Lake A,

46:32especially across the park in that road

46:36part of the po road, it's like riding a

46:39washboard.

46:41And you'll see a lot of people actually

46:44um drive off to the right, especially if

46:48you're going from Hamilton Street to

46:50Sunland Road area. It it's it's awful.

46:55So,

46:56I think a lot of what people are talking

46:59about, and I'm a big complainer of this,

47:03um, the cars actually hitting uh, the

47:06trucks hitting these divots,

47:10um, that we could actually try to make

47:13sure that the whole road is flat. We're

47:17not going to be able to control the

47:19speed because the speed may even go up a

47:21little bit from that, but it will solve

47:26a lot of the problems that people are in

47:29here today trying to complain about. The

47:32trucks won't make any noise going down

47:35the street anymore if the holes are

47:37fixed.

47:39That'll be the that's the biggest key

47:41right now is to get the street flat.

47:44We're not going to be able to do

47:45anything about traffic because UMass

47:48continually puts together another

47:51building.

47:52Half of them are still empty. If they

47:55ever get to put the buildings to um to

47:58use,

48:00we'll never cross the street again on

48:02Lake A because of the traffic.

48:05>> That That's pretty much what we're up

48:07against. What she had mentioned before

48:09that she can't cross the street. I'm her

48:12neighbor. you can't cross the street for

48:14especially at three o'clock because the

48:17traffic is crazy. We're not going to be

48:19able to control that. But I think we'll

48:22solve a lot of the midnight crashes with

48:26um

48:28container trucks driving down the road

48:32without it being um uh held down

48:35correctly.

48:37that noise will go a good quarter of a

48:41mile every time they hit the bumps. So,

48:44I think that's the biggest thing here is

48:47to fix Lake A

48:50and maybe a lot of the people won't have

48:53the complaints about the trucks anymore

48:55because the trucks are just traveling

48:56down the road. Now, we still have to do

48:59speeds. There's no doubt about that. But

49:02I think that'll be the only the biggest

49:05thing to fix Lake AB is to is to do do

49:09some repair to it. Thank you.

49:11>> Thank you.

49:20>> Name of residence, please.

49:22>> Uh name is Mark Crenus, 317 Lake Avenue.

49:25Um the trucks are what's destroying Lake

49:28A. Uh, Lake A wasn't built to handle

49:32truck traffic as Route 20 was. It's a

49:34different I'm sorry, it's a different

49:36substrate, different grade and stuff

49:37like that. So, even if you skim it over,

49:40it's still going to damage the manhole

49:41covers, you know, and and everything

49:44underneath. It's the T-base and all

49:45that. Um, the truck traffic is routed

49:49there from the truck GPS because there

49:52is no restriction. if the city puts a a

49:55weight restriction on it, the drivers

49:57with the commercial GPS

50:00will be told to avoid that as a route.

50:03So, if you come if you're coming from,

50:06you know, Shoesbury, UPS, Flynn's um

50:08they have a drop up there where

50:10Schneider and uh UPS keep all their

50:12empty containers for overflow

50:15and they're running those guys.

50:18Coming up the next month is going to be

50:20what what's called peak season for UPS

50:23in CSX. And peak season lasts from the

50:27end of September until December 25th.

50:30That's when all the freight increases

50:32because of the holidays and everything

50:33like that. And they want to do it as

50:37quickly as possible, as efficiently as

50:39possible. Um and whether or not they use

50:43stout state routes to use, you know,

50:45because state routes are designed for

50:48truck traffic. You know, Grafton Street

50:52is technically Route 122 and that's

50:55constructed different from Lake AB. Lake

50:57AB is a residential street with the

51:00residential, you know, the T-base and

51:01everything underneath. And that's why if

51:04you go down Lake A right now, you can

51:05actually see ruts from the truck tires.

51:08It's not from the cars, you know. Um,

51:11and

51:12they will, you know, if there's a weight

51:15restriction put on, their GPS will

51:17change and they will be rerouted. So,

51:20right now, I mean, technically for UPS,

51:23this it's technically supposed to go 140

51:26to 290, get off 290.

51:29Okay? There's no there's no need. But it

51:31takes 10 minutes longer. 100 trucks, 10,

51:34you know, 100 trucks a night, 10 minutes

51:36more. it adds up. But, you know, if

51:39you're going to do it right, you got to

51:40do it right, unfortunately. Um, and uh I

51:44I appreciate I've seen you on Lake A.

51:46I've It's been It's been much better

51:49much better. I've seen a lot more

51:50presence on Lake A with the uh with the

51:52radar and stuff like that, but it's it's

51:55still it's still a racetrack. But, I

51:58mean, the the main thing is if you

52:01repair the streets, they're just going

52:02to get destroyed again by the trucks.

52:04There are there are no businesses on

52:06Lake A in Hamilton Street. They they're

52:09using it as a cutth through and you know

52:12it's there's there's no there's no

52:15reason to have a tractor trailer on Lake

52:16A. I mean even the businesses you know

52:19closer to Route 9. I mean there there

52:21are exclusions you know you you put a

52:24weight limit except local deliveries.

52:26It's it's done everywhere. So but yeah

52:29they they they've got to stop the

52:31trucks. It's just, you know, the turn. I

52:34mean, even the turn from from Sunderland

52:36Road to Lake A, they're they're going

52:38over that curve every single time.

52:41There's no way you can make that turn,

52:43you know, and during rush hour, it gets

52:45worse. It's just unmanageable. And I,

52:48you know, just to see a tractor trailer

52:50coming down Hamilton Street to turn onto

52:52Lake E,

52:54that's it's that's a disaster waiting to

52:56happen.

52:57>> So, that's all I really have to say.

52:59>> Thank you, sir. Anybody

53:03online?

53:04>> To a chair, we have two uh three people

53:07raising their hands online. The first

53:09speaker can identify as Alyssa Mathuran.

53:13Please go ahead and unmute and

53:17Hi. Uh this is Alyssa Mathan. I live at

53:20199 Hamilton Street. Um we've lived

53:24here, my husband's been here for 73

53:26years. Um, and the volume of traffic

53:30we're experiencing now is just

53:32mind-boggling for us. Used to be a

53:34decent street to be on. And in spite of

53:37all the new crosswalks, signs signage

53:41you put up uh to slow down and the fact

53:44that you have your nice little signs all

53:46over the place saying the city limit is

53:4825 miles an hour. Trucks are not

53:51following that. As one of the gentlemen

53:53said, it's just a cross through for

53:55people to get their trucks between the

53:58turnpike and CSX quicker than they would

54:01if they were to take other routes to get

54:03there. Um, they they create more traffic

54:07because we've heard a lot of discussion

54:09here about Hamilton Street to Lake A and

54:12my husband and I walk our dogs down at

54:14Lake A every day and every day now we

54:17see accidents. Uh we witnessed an

54:20accident between a truck and a young boy

54:23where the boy got whipped up until the

54:25truck the back end of the truck because

54:28it was right at the bottom of Lake A

54:29trying to make a 45°ree angle turn. Now

54:33that's my biggest concern seeing that

54:35both ways. It's like there's no reason

54:37for trucks to be making those kinds of

54:39turns when there's other ways to do it.

54:42Um and let me see.

54:46It's there's speed, too.

54:48There's no reason for trucks to be

54:50driving fast. And I agree. I think like

54:53you've put on all the side streets here.

54:55I think we need bumps. It might truck

54:58drive CSX might not like it, but that

55:00would be one way of solving the speed

55:02issue. Um there's nothing we can do

55:05about all the the extra uh dirt and gas

55:09and smell in the air from the trucks,

55:11but at least making it slower cuz

55:14there's a lot of kids out here during

55:15the school year walking up and down the

55:17street and it's not even safe for them

55:19anymore. You know, cuz people disregard

55:22the bike lane. We've seen it in front of

55:24our house. Why people still think the

55:25bike lane is a secondary lane on our

55:28street. So, uh the trucks don't make it.

55:31the trucks just aggravate the situation

55:34because people aren't watching what

55:36they're doing when they're driving. So,

55:38I would appreciate if we could get some

55:40sort of system to have the trucks go

55:43another way like limiting the weight or

55:46a bump or a speed bump or restrictions

55:50in the speed on on the street in on

55:53Hamilton Street. Thank you.

55:55>> Thank you.

55:59And the next speaker I can invite is

56:01Hillary Athene. You can go ahead and

56:04unmute now.

56:06Hello. Hi, Hillary Ame. I live at 381

56:09Lake Aav. Um I'd first like to thank the

56:12um the speaker uh John Folo. I hope I'm

56:16saying your name right. Thank you so

56:17much for um bringing this to everyone's

56:20attention. Um I've been here for about

56:2320 years now and I have seen a

56:26significant increase in the last I'd say

56:2810 plus years. Um gradual but

56:30significant increase in daily um just

56:33general traffic of course like

56:34everyone's mentioned but especially the

56:36truck traffic and the like tractor

56:39trailer. And I agree with the with the

56:41gentleman who me who was talking about

56:42the uh the manhole covers being a big

56:45part of the problem. I I agree because

56:47there's one right outside my house and

56:49every time a a tractor trailer hits it,

56:52it's such a loud it's this crashing

56:54boom. It's very startling. And I live in

56:57a stucco house that's over 100 years

56:59old. And I get new cracks all the time

57:02in in the actual bu substrate of my

57:06walls on the exterior and sometimes on

57:09the interior that only a certain amount

57:11of that can be linked to um the settling

57:14of my house. And a lot of it I feel is

57:16is increased due to the increased um

57:19tractor trailer and the deterioration

57:21around the manhole covers. So I think

57:23it's great that you're going to do this

57:25on do the resurfacing of the road this

57:27long patch program and hopefully that

57:29will resolve some of the problems with

57:31the manhole covers. Um I am definitely

57:33supporting a general truck ban. And I

57:37also wanted to mention that the sound

57:40the the the noise pollution is a major

57:42concern for me as well. as the as

57:46everything else. Um because there's been

57:48studies done there many studies have

57:50come out saying that um involuntary

57:53noise pollution contributes

57:55significantly to

57:58a a whole modicum of of health concerns

58:00such as um hearing loss obviously um

58:03increase in blood pressure. It's been

58:05linked to even 10 even a regular like 10

58:08decel 11 decibel increase um over time

58:12um over the course of an eight hour day

58:14can lead to increased stress um mental

58:16health issues such as anxiety especially

58:18in children and adolescence. It's it's

58:21shown to decrease our quality of sleep

58:23and general quality of life. There

58:25obviously air quality concerns. Um, and

58:28as far as um, a lot of people have

58:31mentioned speed bumps, and I just wanted

58:32to throw out that um, like I I

58:35personally find that impractical for our

58:37streets, like actual bumps, but there

58:39are such things as speed humps, which

58:41have been proven to be very useful. Um,

58:44in Europe, they a lot of countries use

58:46what they call uh, a method called

58:48traffic calming, where a lot of that is

58:50is they're diver diverting traffic such

58:52as we're talking about now. But one of

58:54the methods that is popular there are

58:56the speed humps and they're just

58:57essentially just lower speed bumps that

58:59slow traffic down to a reasonable speed

59:01closer to what the posted speed signage

59:04says and um but don't stop it

59:06completely. And that might be something

59:08to consider moving forward. But I know

59:10that's not what this particular bill is

59:12about, but that might that's just a

59:13suggestion moving forward is that um the

59:16city of Worester consider traffic

59:17calming in general as a as an ongoing

59:20solution to our increased traffic

59:22because yeah, we have UMass. We have

59:24such we have increased construction

59:25everywhere. There's houses being built

59:27all the time. There's it's just

59:28constant. And I'm glad to hear that um I

59:32heard the business owner speak from

59:33Hamilton Street. I'm I'm happy to hear

59:35that um through traffic to businesses is

59:38not going to be affected. I do hope that

59:40there will be some sort of um attempt to

59:43get information out to residents who are

59:45not aware of that maybe off the bat or

59:47else you guys are going to get a ton of

59:48complaints probably people saying that

59:50trucks are violating the ban. Um but you

59:52know just maybe a general information

59:54pamphlet being sent out to explain what

59:56the changes are and what's um and who it

59:58affects and who it doesn't. Uh, I'm also

1:00:00curious if I just want to I'm not sure

1:00:03um if if I saw this information clearly.

1:00:06Is there going to be um a time limit on

1:00:08this ban or is it going to be 247? I

1:00:11believe we're I believe it's supposed to

1:00:12be 247, which I would definitely support

1:00:15and because I I do hear most of the

1:00:17there's most of the issues I believe

1:00:19with the the tractor trailers especially

1:00:21and the noise and the and the vibrations

1:00:23caused by them hitting the manhole

1:00:24covers and the potholes during the day,

1:00:27but we do still have issues at night as

1:00:29well. And I think that that about covers

1:00:31it. Thank you again so much um for

1:00:33bringing this this bill. Um Councelor

1:00:37Folo, thank you.

1:00:38>> Thank you, Commissioner Raleigh.

1:00:43Thank you, Mr. Chair. So, we we covered

1:00:45a lot of ground in the comments, and if

1:00:47I I could, I just wanted to respond

1:00:49briefly to some of the the major themes

1:00:51that we heard there because I think

1:00:53there's important information that um

1:00:55there's information that's important for

1:00:57the community to know as we're moving

1:00:58forward trying to address the problems

1:01:00on uh these two streets. And I will say

1:01:03a lot of the things that we heard the

1:01:04residents speak about today, we've heard

1:01:07from the the district counselors as

1:01:08well. Councelor Folo and Councelor

1:01:10Balotta both share these corridors. Um

1:01:13they have responsibilities for for

1:01:15portions of each of them. Same, you

1:01:17know, same things we're hearing on

1:01:19tonight. We we've heard from them.

1:01:21Pavement condition. Um just general poor

1:01:24condition of the roadway, impacts of

1:01:26trucks, speeding's long been known to be

1:01:28a problem out here. Um, so just so

1:01:32people understand kind of how we're

1:01:34trying to address that, it's not

1:01:36something that can all be addressed all

1:01:38at once or corrected overnight, but

1:01:40we're trying to take a sort of stepped

1:01:42approach to it so that we're making

1:01:44improvements immediately while we have

1:01:46our eye on some of the higher cost,

1:01:50longer term improvements that are

1:01:51needed. So, as Councelor Fillo

1:01:53mentioned, um he's been working

1:01:55specifically with DPW on the long patch

1:01:57program, which um is a program where you

1:02:01go in and you address the worst portions

1:02:04of the roadway. As he said, it doesn't

1:02:06fix the entire roadway. It's not

1:02:08necessarily um I would call it more of a

1:02:10medium-term fix than a long-term fix.

1:02:13Those streets still need to be

1:02:14completely reconstructed. As we heard

1:02:16here tonight, um the roadway surface is

1:02:19in bad condition. the sidewalks are in

1:02:21bad condition. There's not good crossing

1:02:23opportunities if you're a pedestrian.

1:02:25So, there's all sorts of issues that

1:02:27need to be addressed on on uh Lake A and

1:02:30on uh Hamilton Street. Those aren't

1:02:32things that that you can fix overnight,

1:02:34but the long patch program is a good

1:02:37first step towards addressing the

1:02:39pavement condition in the worst areas.

1:02:42Um

1:02:43we heard a lot about speeding. There's

1:02:46um some immediate steps that are being

1:02:47taken about Sergeant Cypra talked about

1:02:49the additional enforcement that's um

1:02:52going on in the on the uh Lake A

1:02:54corridor specifically. In addition to

1:02:57that um we are installing uh councelor

1:03:00Fcilla's request speed feedback radar

1:03:03speed feedback signs. So, these are

1:03:05permanent uh mounted signs that will

1:03:07display drivers speed uh and also have

1:03:11the statutory 25 mile per hour speed

1:03:13limit sign adjacent to it. So, they can

1:03:16see the speed they're supposed to go and

1:03:18the uh the way the sign works is it

1:03:20gives drivers different sort of

1:03:22information depending on how fast

1:03:24they're going. Sometimes they get a

1:03:26smiley face if they're going the speed

1:03:27limit. Um if they're not, they'll get a

1:03:30sort of flashing distress uh feedback.

1:03:33So, those are going in. In addition, we

1:03:35did just receive I believe the council

1:03:37actually approved acceptance to this

1:03:39last night. We did just receive a grant

1:03:41from Mass DOT for uh some additional

1:03:44speed limit signs. So, these will be 25

1:03:46mile per hour speed limit signs. Um this

1:03:50always shocks people, but as we've

1:03:51talked about here before, except for at

1:03:54the boundary of the city, we actually

1:03:56were not permitted under law to sign the

1:04:00citywide speed limit previously. That

1:04:01was true when it was 30 mph and it's

1:04:03true now that it's 25 mph. That law

1:04:06recently changed uh and we'll be

1:04:08receiving 54 speed limit signs that'll

1:04:10be installed on the um the major

1:04:13corridors around the city where speeding

1:04:15is the biggest problem. So a number of

1:04:16those are earmarked for here. Um, the

1:04:20third thing I wanted to mention is I

1:04:21heard a couple of folks talk about the

1:04:24uh intersection of Hamilton Street and

1:04:26Lake A, which is actually that last

1:04:28little block is known as Bigalow Davis

1:04:30Parkway. I always refer to as Hamilton

1:04:33Street because people don't know where

1:04:34it is otherwise. Um, very problematic

1:04:37intersection. There was a a a bad crash

1:04:40there just a couple of weeks ago. it is

1:04:43difficult to navigate if you're driving,

1:04:45if you're trying to cross as a

1:04:46pedestrian, if you're biking, whatever

1:04:48it is you're doing, it's difficult to um

1:04:50navigate. We uh have received funding

1:04:53from the state for a project there to

1:04:55improve that intersection. So, that

1:04:57project is starting this fall in terms

1:05:00of the planning and design process. So,

1:05:02I want to make sure people know about

1:05:04that and keep their eyes open so that

1:05:06they can participate as we have public

1:05:07meetings to design improvements to that

1:05:10intersection. And that'll also help

1:05:12inform how those improvements can then

1:05:15be implemented up and down the corridor

1:05:17to help control speeding as well.

1:05:21Um, what else did I hear? In general,

1:05:24speed Yeah, speed humps. So, we do have

1:05:26a traffic calming program in the city.

1:05:28Um, we utilize speed humps, not not

1:05:30speed bumps. They're um a little bit

1:05:33more gradual, but they do slow vehicles

1:05:35down to about 15 miles per hour as

1:05:37they're going over the speed hump.

1:05:39That's the speed you generally need to

1:05:40get folks down to um to have sort of a

1:05:43steady 25 miles per hour at the the

1:05:45correct spacing for those. Um they are

1:05:48not an appropriate treatment for

1:05:50corridors that are known as principal

1:05:52arterials. And currently Lake Avenue is

1:05:56uh designated as a principal arterial.

1:05:58That means that is the highest

1:06:00designation a street can have in the

1:06:02city in terms of the amount of traffic

1:06:04it's supposed to carry. um its

1:06:07importance in not only the local

1:06:09transportation system but the entire

1:06:10regional transportation network. I think

1:06:14um there's a good argument to be made

1:06:16that that's maybe a little bit too high

1:06:18of a designation and the city actually

1:06:21did we don't set the designations. The

1:06:24Federal Highway Administration does. Um,

1:06:26but we did initiate a request through uh

1:06:29with cooperation from Mass DOT and the

1:06:31Central Massachusetts Regional Planning

1:06:33Commission uh to re-evaluate the

1:06:36classifications of a number of streets

1:06:37and Lake Avenue is one of those. It

1:06:40probably still needs to be designated

1:06:41arterial, but there's a the next step

1:06:43down is a minor arterial classification

1:06:45which recognizes that, you know, in this

1:06:48case it's in a residential area. There's

1:06:50frequent driveways. Um slower speeds are

1:06:52appropriate. Um, and that opens the door

1:06:55to some types of traffic calming that

1:06:57wouldn't be wouldn't um necessarily be

1:06:59possible otherwise. Probably still not

1:07:01looking at speed humps on Lake A, but

1:07:03there could be some other techniques um

1:07:05that that may be feasible. Hamilton

1:07:08Street's actually classified as a minor

1:07:10collector, so we have a little bit more

1:07:11leeway there. It is an important

1:07:13corridor for Worcester Fire Department.

1:07:15So, that's something we'd have to work

1:07:16closely with them on in terms of any

1:07:18traffic coming that's installed there.

1:07:20Um but you know, one of the problems on

1:07:22both of these streets is that for a

1:07:25large portion of the corridor, they're

1:07:26just they're too wide. Um so you see on

1:07:29Hamilton Street, there's been some

1:07:31attempt to address that through paint

1:07:32with taking some of the space to

1:07:34establish the bike lanes. Has a little

1:07:36bit of a positive effect, but paint

1:07:38alone isn't going to solve the speeding

1:07:40problem. Same thing on more particularly

1:07:42in the northern part of Lake A. So

1:07:44really important when we get to the

1:07:46point where, you know, this is a

1:07:47multi-year, multi-million dollar thing

1:07:49to to actually rebuild these streets,

1:07:51but they need it. As we do that, it's

1:07:53important that we build in measures that

1:07:55are going to help control vehicle

1:07:56speeds. So that's a whole lot not about

1:07:59the truck exclusion study that's before

1:08:00us, but because folks raised that, I

1:08:03wanted to to address it the best I

1:08:05could. Um, in terms of the two requests

1:08:08for heavy vehicle exclusions,

1:08:12so under state law in Massachusetts, uh,

1:08:15the Massachusetts Department of

1:08:17Transportation has the final

1:08:19jurisdiction on determining whether we

1:08:21can place a truck exclusion or not. So,

1:08:23it's it's their decision and the

1:08:25criteria is specified in state law.

1:08:28However, we have responsibility as a

1:08:30city for initiating a request. So that's

1:08:34what's before um the committee tonight

1:08:36is to initiate requests

1:08:38um on both of these corridors on Lake A

1:08:41and on Hamilton Street. Uh as well as

1:08:44the city has responsibility to conduct

1:08:46the required engineering study. Um so

1:08:49it's a a pretty intensive study. It

1:08:51includes taking um 24-hour continuous

1:08:54classification counts for the vehicles

1:08:56using the roadways. So we understand

1:08:58just how much traffic there is on

1:09:01various locations uh on the roadway and

1:09:04what size of vehicles. So you know in

1:09:06particular trying to understand those

1:09:08that are over five tons which is the

1:09:10cutoff for the heavy vehicle exclusion.

1:09:13Um the study will also look at the

1:09:16zoning in the area, the physical

1:09:17characteristics of the roadway, the

1:09:20types of buildings and properties and

1:09:21uses that abut the roadway, the zoning,

1:09:25um the classification of the streets. Um

1:09:28an important component is the proximity

1:09:31and suitability of probable alternate

1:09:34routes. So there has to be a good way

1:09:38for commercial vehicles to make the

1:09:39trips that they're making. Um, you know,

1:09:43in this case, I think, um, there

1:09:45probably are some alternatives that will

1:09:47will be looked upon favorably, probably

1:09:50looking at Grafton Street, um, some of

1:09:52the other state, some of the other

1:09:54numbered state routes. Um, but that's

1:09:56something that'll have to be determined

1:09:57in the engineering study. Um,

1:10:01look at everything including traffic

1:10:03control, lighting, all so whole nine

1:10:06yards. It's a it's a pretty intensive

1:10:07study. Um, once

1:10:11If the committee votes to request that

1:10:13that study be made um once the study is

1:10:16completed then it would be submitted to

1:10:17Mass DOT along with the request. Uh I I

1:10:20want to be, you know, as as sort of

1:10:23transparent as I can be that it's an

1:10:26uphill climb to request a commercial

1:10:28vehic ve vehicle exclusion on a street

1:10:31that's classified as a principal

1:10:32arterial because that is um again the

1:10:35highest classification of a roadway in

1:10:37terms of that roadway's importance in

1:10:39the overall transportation system. Um,

1:10:43so I just want to make sure that that

1:10:45that everyone understands that it's not

1:10:48the city's decision at the end of the

1:10:49day. It's mass DOT's decision. Um, but

1:10:52the study will go through and look at

1:10:53all of those factors. Um, if we are

1:10:56requested to conduct the study

1:10:59um, so this isn't something that will

1:11:01happen overnight. You know, there's a

1:11:03process involved. There is some cost,

1:11:05you know, as you can understand from

1:11:07what I just described, there is some

1:11:08cost involved in conducting these

1:11:10studies. We don't currently have the

1:11:11funding to do that. So, that's something

1:11:13we'd need to work with the city manager

1:11:15to identify the funding um to conduct

1:11:18these studies. You know, it's not a huge

1:11:20amount, but it's also not

1:11:21inconsequential.

1:11:23Um

1:11:25think I think I'll stop there and just

1:11:27open it up to any questions from from

1:11:29yourself or or uh others on the

1:11:32committee as well

1:11:33>> to the chair. Sorry if I interject. Um

1:11:35we do have one more person raising their

1:11:36hands on Zoom. Uh to speaker Margaret

1:11:40Cormier, you can go ahead and unmute.

1:11:46>> Hi. Uh my name is Margarite Cormier. I'm

1:11:49here with um another person who would

1:11:51like to speak as well. I um wanted to

1:11:54say that I've lived on Lake A at 441

1:11:58Lake A in the 90s and here I am on at

1:12:02139 Lake A. 2000 since 2002 to present

1:12:07time. And I want to say with uh Paul and

1:12:11Eddie and all my other neighbors, I

1:12:13absolutely agree with everything they're

1:12:15saying and I agree with practically

1:12:17everything everybody else was saying.

1:12:19So, I didn't really need to add to this.

1:12:21I just wanted to say thank you and

1:12:23please any help for Lake AB would be

1:12:26awesome. And I'm going to um turn you

1:12:28over to Stephen now. He's with me.

1:12:30>> Hi, I'm Steven Powers. I'm at 107 like

1:12:34Margarit and yeah, [clears throat] I'm

1:12:35not gonna repeat this with like a dead

1:12:37horse. Everybody already took everything

1:12:39I was gonna say. Mostly the biggest

1:12:41thing is my foundation is also an old

1:12:44one and uh it's literally crumbling all

1:12:46the time from the humongous, you know,

1:12:48booms from all the divots in the road.

1:12:51So, it will be great if the road can

1:12:52get, you know, fixed up a little bit at

1:12:54least first and then u we go on from

1:12:57there. But yeah, everything else sounds

1:12:59great and um thanks for looking into

1:13:01this for us all. Appreciate it. Thank

1:13:03you.

1:13:04>> So to the next person I can identify is

1:13:07Wayne.

1:13:10Uh you can go ahead and unmute.

1:13:16>> Hello. Yes. My name is Wayne Camp. I

1:13:18live at 92 Lake Avenue. Uh down near

1:13:22where there the highrises are. I would

1:13:24like to first of all uh thank everyone

1:13:28for just about

1:13:30uh you know explaining everything that I

1:13:33have have uh you know endured in the

1:13:36last couple years when the uh traffic

1:13:38has the truck traffic has been uh you

1:13:42know really unacceptable with the amount

1:13:44of noise. My house was built in 1886,

1:13:48as are a lot of houses along Lake

1:13:50Avenue, and I'm concerned about the

1:13:53foundation. There are a couple manholes

1:13:55that are out in front of my house that

1:13:58as soon as the truck hits, it's

1:13:59unbelievable. It shakes the house. I

1:14:02work from uh 19:30 at night time till

1:14:066:00 in the morning, and I sleep from

1:14:09about 8:00 till about 2 o'clock in the

1:14:13afternoon. So, I have a hard time just

1:14:15sleeping. My wife uh has a regular job

1:14:19during the uh daytime during normal

1:14:21hours. And uh she has she has problems

1:14:24sleeping also, which I'm sure uh we fall

1:14:29into the same same situation as most

1:14:32people on Lake AB. Uh I will say if they

1:14:36can't stop or to limit the truck traffic

1:14:42like uh you know everyone has said and

1:14:45uh you know certainly the last gentleman

1:14:48that spoke said that it's not up to the

1:14:51the city it's up to the uh state to

1:14:54determine what happens with GPS. But uh

1:14:58you know from the standpoint of of uh

1:15:01doing the roads if uh you know a lot of

1:15:03people spoke about Hamilton if you can

1:15:06go down at least uh you know around the

1:15:0992 Lake Avenue area we do have a couple

1:15:12of patches that were uh you know

1:15:15addressed by uh DPW. They did a really

1:15:19good job in trying to to uh fill those

1:15:22holes, but it doesn't take long before

1:15:25uh you know the holes come back because

1:15:28of the heavy traffic, the the commercial

1:15:30vehicles traveling down the road. About

1:15:33once a week, I go out and pick up bolts

1:15:35in front of my uh driveway, shackles,

1:15:39uh you know, rubber uh uh you know,

1:15:44suspension components that come from

1:15:46vehicles, heavy vehicles that are

1:15:49typically over 10,000 pounds. Uh but but

1:15:53you know, I'm glad things are being

1:15:54addressed and thank you so much for my

1:15:56neighbors to to uh you know, for for

1:16:02addressing the the the the local

1:16:06Worcester uh you know, representatives

1:16:10and I appreciate it. Thank you so much.

1:16:12>> Thank you. All right, we've gone through

1:16:15a lot of discussion on this item. We're

1:16:18not going to we're just going to move it

1:16:21uh forward to prove uh to get it city

1:16:24manager's office discussed because it's

1:16:26obviously something that needs to be

1:16:28taken care of.

1:16:28>> Mr. Chairman, one quick question.

1:16:30>> Sure. Maybe the last one.

1:16:32>> Mark brought up um through you to uh

1:16:36Commissioner Raleigh. Uh a resident Mark

1:16:39brought up and Mark Mark is uh

1:16:43very well verssed. He's he's uh in the

1:16:46in this type of uh his occupation is

1:16:49this type of uh and you know his

1:16:53knowledge of this is his occupation and

1:16:57he brought up that u

1:17:00weight restriction if you put that in

1:17:03place it affects their GPS is that

1:17:07something we can do without the state so

1:17:10that affects GPS and then they're not u

1:17:13you know given in this route to take

1:17:15>> commission.

1:17:16>> Yeah. Through through the chair. So, um

1:17:18there there isn't really uh a mechanism

1:17:21for putting suggested routes uh in with

1:17:24the GPS the the mapping providers. Um we

1:17:28have not specifically for this this um

1:17:33type of thing, but for other similar

1:17:34items, we've tried to work with them to

1:17:36get them to sort of preferentially route

1:17:39people and haven't had a lot of success

1:17:41at that. They'll really only respond

1:17:44when there is a a legal or a physical

1:17:47barrier.

1:17:50And Mr. Chair, I did I did want to add

1:17:52just one other thing because a resident

1:17:53had brought this up as well. Um

1:17:57it is there is some potential too that

1:17:59if Mass DOT does not ultimately approve

1:18:03a truck exclusion for 24 hours a day,

1:18:06they do uh sometimes approve exclusions

1:18:09overnight. So, that's a a possibility as

1:18:12well is um if the full exclusion doesn't

1:18:14get uh approved, we would ask that they

1:18:17consider a nighttime exclusion.

1:18:20>> I'm sure that would be part of the

1:18:21study. In the meantime, we just uh move

1:18:24to approve the item.

1:18:26>> It it would So, uh that's correct. So,

1:18:28the motion should be um for the

1:18:30committee to uh request that the city

1:18:34conduct the uh required truck study and

1:18:37submit it to Mass DOT.

1:18:38>> Yes. roll call. Thank you,

1:18:41>> Mr. Chairman.

1:18:44>> Uh to I believe council.

1:18:46>> Yes. Go ahead. Council

1:18:47>> Bada I just wanted to say I appreciate

1:18:50councelor Fzolo's order here in the the

1:18:52residents talking because yeah Hamilton

1:18:55Street the amount of truck traffic on

1:18:57Hamilton is you know 18 whlers doing 40

1:19:00miles an hour on on Hamilton Street and

1:19:02then going down uh Hamilton big old

1:19:05Davis Parkway to Lake A. Um and it is

1:19:07having a big impact on the roads. You

1:19:09can also see it down in Washington

1:19:11Square, too. Just the amount of truck

1:19:12traffic that's not supposed to be on our

1:19:14roads is really doing uh some real

1:19:16damage and impacting quality of life.

1:19:18So, we're excited to support this and I

1:19:20know there's uh between myself and

1:19:22councelor Fazal, I know we're working on

1:19:23things to address, you know, the traffic

1:19:25issues on uh Lake. So, I appreciate

1:19:27really appreciate this order. Thank you.

1:19:29>> Thank you.

1:19:31>> Roll call.

1:19:32>> So, chair um just for clarification. So

1:19:34that would be I recommend approval for

1:19:377A and 7B.

1:19:38>> That is correct.

1:19:40>> Councelor Bilada.

1:19:41>> Yes.

1:19:42>> Councelor O'Hada and Cheriffson.

1:19:44Councelor Rivera.

1:19:45>> Yes. Before we move on to the other

1:19:48petition, first uh um clerk fan uh and

1:19:51fam wants to read something out

1:19:55>> to chair. Thank you. So the Wester city

1:19:57clerk's office has just sent a notice

1:19:59regarding the fraudulent email um for

1:20:02traffic and parking application to the

1:20:04petitioners for tonight's meeting. But I

1:20:06would like to also read the notice so

1:20:08people who are listening in can also be

1:20:10aware of this matter. Uh so the our

1:20:13office has been made aware of a

1:20:15fraudulent application associated with

1:20:17tonight's traffic and parking committee

1:20:19meeting. Uh, please be advised that the

1:20:22correspondence is fraudulent and was not

1:20:24sent by the city of Worcester. The email

1:20:26the email falsely represents itself as

1:20:29coming from the city of Worcester

1:20:30planning commission and request a $1950

1:20:34payment by wire transfer to an

1:20:37individual's bank account. The city did

1:20:39not issue this invoice or these payment

1:20:42instructions. Please do not send any

1:20:45payment, respond to the sender, or

1:20:47provide any personal or financial

1:20:49information. If you have already

1:20:51initiated a payment, please contact your

1:20:54financial institution immediately. We

1:20:57are reviewing this matter closely. Any

1:20:59legitimate correspondence or payment

1:21:01request from the city of Worcester

1:21:03should be verified through official city

1:21:05means. Thank you to the chair.

1:21:08>> Thank you. Now we're moving on to um bus

1:21:11stop petitions 4A Nicholas Bernham on

1:21:14behalf of the Wester Regional Transit

1:21:15Authority request installation of one

1:21:18new inbound bus stop on the western side

1:21:20of Constitution Avenue in front of the

1:21:22apartment building located at 258 to 268

1:21:26Constitution Avenue. approximately 25 ft

1:21:29west of building driveway with bus stop

1:21:32signage being installed on street on a

1:21:34street light pole 10 in conjunction with

1:21:37existing no parking signage. Is anybody

1:21:40here to speak on this item? Anybody

1:21:42online?

1:21:44We have one person raising their hands

1:21:47to speaker Aani can go ahead and unmute.

1:21:52>> Hi. Um I actually am still speaking on

1:21:55the prior issue with the truck ban. I

1:21:57guess you didn't see me. Um I guess I

1:21:59just have a quick follow-up question um

1:22:01about as our street being a principal

1:22:04arterial. Um it it is good that you

1:22:06clarified that the state needs to

1:22:08approve it and that well actually I

1:22:10guess I have a couple questions because

1:22:11I was going to ask um

1:22:12>> if you have any idea

1:22:14>> sorry we've moved on to the other items.

1:22:17Um but any questions you may have on

1:22:19this item you can feel free to reach out

1:22:21to Commissioner Raleigh and give her the

1:22:22information so she can contact you.

1:22:25>> Okay. All right. Thank you

1:22:26>> through the chair. Just look for our

1:22:28contact info on the city web page for

1:22:30the Department of Transportation and

1:22:31Mobility and we can answer any

1:22:32additional questions you have.

1:22:34>> Okay. Thank you.

1:22:36>> Thank you.

1:22:37>> Yep.

1:22:38>> Uh Commissioner Rally.

1:22:40>> Um so, Mr. Chair, this is uh this and

1:22:44the next item actually are um changes to

1:22:46bus stop locations to um reflect some

1:22:49minor routing changes that have been uh

1:22:51or that are in the process uh for WRTA

1:22:54in conjunction with um the the park

1:22:58project that was completed nearby. So we

1:23:00recommend approval both on this item as

1:23:02well as on the next one 4.

1:23:03>> 4B right which is also similar in behalf

1:23:06of West Regional Transit Authority. Um

1:23:09request a reactivation of the one

1:23:11outbound bus stop on the northern side

1:23:13of the Constitution Avenue opposite from

1:23:15165 to 175 Constitution Avenue

1:23:18approximately 118 ft east of uh

1:23:21playground driveway with uh said bus

1:23:23stop signage being installed on street

1:23:25light pole 7. So between 4 and 4B u we

1:23:30move to approve the items.

1:23:33Roll call.

1:23:35>> Councelor Belada.

1:23:37>> Yes.

1:23:37>> Councelor O'Hada and chairs and

1:23:39councelor Rivera.

1:23:40>> Yes.

1:23:42All right. Moving on to number five. No

1:23:45parking petitions 5A. Sher Robinson

1:23:48request installation no parking anytime

1:23:50signage between 4 and Aperry a to deter

1:23:54vehicles from blocking driveways.

1:23:56Anybody here to speak on this petition?

1:23:58Anybody online?

1:24:00>> To the chair is no one raising their

1:24:01hands.

1:24:02>> Commissioner Raleigh.

1:24:03>> Yeah. So, Mr. Chair, we generally do not

1:24:05sign no parking um zones around

1:24:08driveways because there are tens of

1:24:10thousands of driveways in the city, and

1:24:12that'd be a lot of signs. Um, however,

1:24:14in this case, we did go back and take a

1:24:16look at the 311 calls and the work

1:24:19orders, and parking enforcement has been

1:24:21dispatched to this location nine times

1:24:23so far this year, and they found

1:24:25violations six of those times. So, for

1:24:27whatever reason, it does seem that there

1:24:29is a recurring problem here. Um, and

1:24:32given that, we think that it it may make

1:24:34sense to go ahead and uh request that we

1:24:37install the no parking signs um at this

1:24:40location.

1:24:41>> Sounds good. Move to approve the item.

1:24:44Roll call.

1:24:45>> Councelor Bilada.

1:24:48>> Yes.

1:24:48>> Councelor O'Hada and chairperson.

1:24:50Councelor Rivera.

1:24:51>> Yes. 5B.

1:24:54Um we have Vance Hollands. I request

1:24:58removal of no parking anytime signage on

1:25:00Providence Street from Dorchester Street

1:25:02to South Street with installation of

1:25:04resident permit parking on the even side

1:25:07in its place. Anybody speak? Come on up,

1:25:10please. Neon residents.

1:25:15>> Thank you for your time. By the way, I'm

1:25:16France Hollands. I'm the owner at 92 Pro

1:25:19Street, third generation. And um the

1:25:21petition that we actually submitted um

1:25:24the letter we got is incorrect. What we

1:25:27are petitioning is that the parking net

1:25:29available presently on the even side be

1:25:32switched back over to be switched to the

1:25:34odd side and go back to what originally

1:25:38was on the even side having no parking

1:25:40in Proton Street which it was that way

1:25:42for like a hundred years. Um the issue

1:25:45that we're having um is in particular is

1:25:48the only people that park on the even

1:25:50side in those boundaries are the people

1:25:53that live across the street, the tenants

1:25:54from across the street and many visitors

1:25:57from out of town visiting Frankie's

1:25:59Pizza, etc., etc. And they like to camp

1:26:02out in front of the house sometimes and

1:26:03block driveways, be on top of driveways,

1:26:06dropping their pizza boxes and

1:26:07everything else there. So what we're

1:26:09suggesting is that the people who are

1:26:10actually using the parking spaces, which

1:26:12the people which are the tenants across

1:26:13the street, put the parking on their

1:26:15side of the street and restrict the

1:26:17parking for them rather than anybody

1:26:19who's coming from Providence the other

1:26:21day, California. The list goes on and

1:26:22on. So that's basically what we're

1:26:24looking to do if that's clear.

1:26:26>> Yeah. Is anybody else online on this

1:26:29item?

1:26:31To

1:26:31>> make sure there's no one raising their

1:26:32hands.

1:26:33>> Commissioner Al, are you uh up to date

1:26:35with his uh request?

1:26:38Mr. Chair, I believe someone from our

1:26:40office spoke with Mr. Hollands earlier

1:26:42earlier this week. So, we did understand

1:26:44um that the request wasn't exactly as

1:26:46was advertised. Um it's not especially

1:26:51straightforward to alternate the sides

1:26:53that the parking is on. Um and I'll look

1:26:56at at on here. Um, I think given that

1:27:00the the way this is advertised is

1:27:02considerably different than what the

1:27:04intent is, I'd be more comfortable if we

1:27:06held the item and readvertised it um for

1:27:10for the the proper what what you're

1:27:12actually requesting. Uh, and that'll

1:27:14give us a little bit more time to

1:27:16quantify exactly how difficult it would

1:27:18be um to switch in this block just for

1:27:21the benefit of the committee and the the

1:27:23petitioner. When we do that, there has

1:27:25to be a little bit of a transition of

1:27:27the double yellow line. So, we end up

1:27:28losing some parking spaces on either

1:27:30side. Um, and so we want to understand

1:27:33what that's what that involves. And

1:27:35there's also some complications for the

1:27:36snow plow driver. So, we want to have

1:27:38that conversation with DPW as well.

1:27:40>> Gotcha. So, we're going to do is we're

1:27:42going to hold the item so we can

1:27:44>> fix it the way you would Yes.

1:27:46>> request originally requested and then

1:27:49come back again.

1:27:49>> If I may, one more thing. Of course,

1:27:50just just to go back in time, like I was

1:27:52saying, originally there was no parking

1:27:54on my side of the street and the other

1:27:56side had 15-minute parking only forever

1:27:59until that was changed several years

1:28:00ago. Just so we're kind of on that page.

1:28:03Gotcha.

1:28:03>> Okay.

1:28:04>> Thank you for the update.

1:28:04>> That's all I have.

1:28:05>> Thank you.

1:28:06>> I appreciate it. So, we're going to move

1:28:07to hold the item. Roll call.

1:28:09>> Councelor Bada.

1:28:11>> Yes.

1:28:12>> Councelor O'Hada and Chairson. Councelor

1:28:14Rivera.

1:28:15>> Yes. Moving on to 5C,

1:28:18we have Patricia and Brian Rivers

1:28:20request installation of no parking

1:28:22anytime signage on the even side of

1:28:25Arbor Vet Street. Anybody here to speak

1:28:28on this item?

1:28:30Name and address, please.

1:28:31>> Uh Patricia Rivers, 9 Arborite Street.

1:28:34Uh it's been going on since we've been

1:28:36there almost 14 years. Technically, our

1:28:40street is is allowed to park on both

1:28:42sides. If you've got people parking on

1:28:44both sides, you can't get up and down

1:28:45the street. You can't get emergency

1:28:47vehicles, you know, it's it's time that

1:28:49something was done with with more people

1:28:52moving into the neighborhood.

1:28:53>> Thank you. Anything you want to add?

1:28:55>> Uh Brian Rivers, uh nine Arborvite

1:28:58Street. Um yeah, mostly it's around the

1:29:00corner between Arborvite and West Lake.

1:29:03Uh cars tend to park right there and if

1:29:06you have one car coming up Arboright and

1:29:08one car coming up West Lake, you can't

1:29:10even get no one can make a turn there if

1:29:12someone's parking on that corner. So

1:29:15that's it.

1:29:15>> Thank you. Do we have anybody online

1:29:17>> to share? We do have two people raising

1:29:19their hands. The first person I can

1:29:22identify is Erica Campbell. You can go

1:29:24ahead and mute now.

1:29:26>> Hi. Um my name is Erica Campbell. I live

1:29:29at 7 Westlake Street in the three deck

1:29:31around the corner. Um, I oppose the

1:29:33parking ban on the even side of Arbor.

1:29:36Um, my child uses a wheelchair and West

1:29:38Lake entrance has steps and it's steeper

1:29:41hill. Our side entrance and driveway are

1:29:43on the even side of Arbor Street. Um, I

1:29:46briefly stopped there to pull over or to

1:29:49let him out the car for school and after

1:29:51school and then I moved my car 20 ft

1:29:54down to the driveway. Everybody in um,

1:29:56the three decker uses this entrance. Um

1:29:59there isn't much parking on the West

1:30:01Lakes side street. Um even the delivery

1:30:04trucks use this side of the street on

1:30:06Arubber. Um the mailman sometimes does

1:30:08too. Um it would limit a lot of parking.

1:30:12I mean it would just be our building

1:30:14really that uses it. I do agree that

1:30:18further down it is if somebody parks on

1:30:21the opposite side on both sides, nobody

1:30:23can get up and down the street. And I do

1:30:25agree on the corner if you're really

1:30:27close to the corner. I agree. But um I

1:30:30do oppose a parking ban completely on

1:30:32the whole thing.

1:30:35>> Thank you. Next person.

1:30:37>> And the next person I can Zoom user um

1:30:41you can go ahead and mute.

1:30:46My apologies. You can go ahead and mute

1:30:48now.

1:30:50>> Hi. Um yeah. So, I oppose the parking

1:30:54ban as well because um my kids have

1:30:56autism and the people that park on that

1:30:59side street is their therapist and they

1:31:03only park there in the morning, but it's

1:31:06only for a couple of hours while the

1:31:08kids have their baby during the day and

1:31:11they're the only ones that use that park

1:31:13in on the side

1:31:16and um that's the only people that park

1:31:18there on the side, but that's really it.

1:31:20I don't really park on that side street.

1:31:22I park in the front, but that's really

1:31:25it.

1:31:27>> Thank you, Commissioner Ali.

1:31:29>> Yeah, Mr. Chair. So, um,

1:31:34you know, in the case of of the physical

1:31:38layout of the street, the it's only 23

1:31:40feet wide. So, so that's only wide

1:31:42enough to accommodate parking on one

1:31:44side. um at any time if vehicles park on

1:31:47both sides and they're near each other,

1:31:49it's it's impassible.

1:31:52So, uh we typically do recommend that

1:31:54parking be prohibited on one side of the

1:31:56street and uh retained on the other. Um

1:31:59you know, coming into the meeting, my

1:32:00recommendation was to uh approve this.

1:32:04It's a very short walk across the

1:32:06street. Um if you park on say on the I

1:32:09believe it's the uh west side where

1:32:11parking would be allowed, you know, it's

1:32:13a 13 foot distance across the street to

1:32:16get to the airside. There's very little

1:32:18traffic on the street, probably just a

1:32:19few hundred vehicles a day. Um, so I I

1:32:22think that still makes sense uh and is

1:32:25still my recommendation given the

1:32:27testimony. If you'd like us to take a

1:32:29little bit closer look at that, we could

1:32:30certainly do that and come back as well.

1:32:33Um, but it really isn't wide enough to

1:32:36allow parking on both sides of the

1:32:37street.

1:32:39>> Thank you. uh

1:32:42just move to a wait.

1:32:52Yeah, Mr. Chair. So, we're just looking

1:32:54at some some street view pictures, too.

1:32:56It's um the side where you know where

1:33:00the petition proposes to continue to

1:33:02allow parking has sidewalk. It's a safe

1:33:05place to park. The opposite side street

1:33:07is mostly guard rail. Um there's nowhere

1:33:09for pedestrians to walk. So I I'm going

1:33:12to go ahead and stick with the

1:33:13recommendation to approve the item.

1:33:15>> Sounds good. Move to approve the item.

1:33:17Roll call.

1:33:18>> Councelor Bada.

1:33:21>> Yes.

1:33:22>> Councelor O'Hada and Chair and Councelor

1:33:23Rivera.

1:33:24>> Yes. Moving on to uh D. Mario Mah

1:33:30request installation of no parking

1:33:31anytime signage in front of the pathway

1:33:34located at 26 King Street. Anybody here

1:33:39speak on this item?

1:33:41>> Anybody online?

1:33:43>> Two chairs. No one raising their hands.

1:33:47>> Commissioner Riley.

1:33:48>> Mr. Chair, our understanding is that the

1:33:50petitioner actually seeks to um

1:33:54has realized that the petition won't

1:33:55accomplish what they're looking for. So,

1:33:57we can go ahead and file it.

1:33:59>> Sounds good. Move to file the item. Roll

1:34:01call.

1:34:02>> Councelor Bada.

1:34:04>> Yes. Councelor O'Hada and chairperson.

1:34:06Councelor Rivera.

1:34:07>> Yes. All right. Now we go to 5E.

1:34:11Theres Richardson request installation.

1:34:14No parking anytime signage on one side

1:34:16of lower Byron Street. Anybody here

1:34:20speaking? Come on up.

1:34:26Name and residence, please. [snorts]

1:34:29Virginia Nelson, Six Byron Street. I've

1:34:32lived on Six Byron Street now for over

1:34:3420 years. I disagree with having this no

1:34:38parking. I do agree that yes, there is a

1:34:41lot of traffic that does cut through up

1:34:43and down Byron Street. It's only been

1:34:46happening now, I'd say maybe for a

1:34:47couple of years. Before it wasn't as

1:34:49bad, but yes, now lately it is. I live

1:34:52on the low I actually live at the lower

1:34:55half and I do not agree with this at

1:34:58all. So, I'm really hoping that this

1:35:00does not happen. Thank you.

1:35:02>> Name and residence, please.

1:35:06>> Hi. Um, my name is Paula Damascino. I'm

1:35:08on the number eight Biden Street. I am

1:35:11on the lower end of the street as well

1:35:14and I don't agree with this park bang on

1:35:17just one side of the street. Um, I could

1:35:21suggest like a speed bomb because we are

1:35:23having a lot of traffic or maybe one way

1:35:26going up but not the parking van. that

1:35:30you name my residence.

1:35:32>> Hi, my name is Anna Rodriguez and I'm

1:35:34Sing Baron Street also on the low side.

1:35:37So, and then most they got damaged

1:35:40because every every winter I got cars

1:35:43going through my um my porch to my

1:35:46backside to the almost to the kitchen

1:35:49because the when you come down to Byron

1:35:51Street, it's a hill so they always land

1:35:54on my backyard. So right now if they

1:35:56they cancel this the other side going

1:36:00down that mean I'm going to get more

1:36:02damage like I suggest also that we have

1:36:0618 wheelers going by there like in speed

1:36:10time also. So I suggest that we can um

1:36:13probably either go one way or or bump

1:36:17the speed I would say.

1:36:19>> Thank you. Do we have anybody online?

1:36:22>> Sure. There's no one raising their

1:36:24hands. Commissioner Riley.

1:36:27>> Thank you, Mr. Chair. So, um, the

1:36:30street's a little bit different set of

1:36:31circumstances. Um, for the lower part of

1:36:34Byron Street that we're talking about,

1:36:35it's about 30 ft wide. Um, and what that

1:36:38means is if you have two cars parked

1:36:40next to each other, it still leaves

1:36:41about 15 to 16 ft in the middle. Um,

1:36:44which meets the minimum requirements of

1:36:46the ordinance. It is a little tight for

1:36:49a street once the traffic level gets up

1:36:51to a certain level. So here we have

1:36:52about 200 vehicles a day. 15 ft is still

1:36:56narrow enough that if you meet at that

1:36:58point where there's cars parked on both

1:36:59sides, one car has to yield and let the

1:37:01other car proceed at a time. Um so it is

1:37:05a a circumstance where we'd start to

1:37:07think about whether it makes sense to

1:37:08prohibit parking on one side. You know,

1:37:10you've heard from a couple of residents

1:37:12here that they don't agree with that

1:37:15particular approach and it's not it's

1:37:17not like the last case where it's just

1:37:18obvious that it's needed. Um there is we

1:37:22took a look at the crash history here.

1:37:23There have been six crashes over the

1:37:25past 5 years which for just one block is

1:37:29quite a bit um on a street with

1:37:32that level of traffic. Um five of those

1:37:36six crashes involved vehicles hitting

1:37:38either parked cars or or roadside

1:37:40objects. So they're hitting things on

1:37:41the side of the roadway. Um if you know

1:37:45if there isn't consensus on prohibiting

1:37:48parking on one side of the street um

1:37:51other options we could look at is we

1:37:53could you know we could initially look

1:37:54at is there some sort of signage we can

1:37:56put in here to help warn drivers of the

1:37:58sharp curves in the roadway. There's a

1:38:0190° curve where Byron Street um meets

1:38:04the cross street at the bottom of the

1:38:05hill. Um and there's also kind of a

1:38:09sharp bend about midblock. So, we could

1:38:11put some signage up that alerts drivers

1:38:13to that. The other thing we could

1:38:15consider and we could either do it now

1:38:17uh as a sort of reduced version of this

1:38:20petition or we could try signage,

1:38:23monitor it, and then come back if if it

1:38:25still proved to be problematic is we

1:38:27could look at just prohibiting parking

1:38:30at those areas where we have the sharp

1:38:32turns and the sight distance is limited.

1:38:34So you could look at say 50 feet either

1:38:36side of the curves prohibiting parking

1:38:38to open it up there um where the sight

1:38:41lines aren't quite as good. So um you

1:38:45know h

1:38:46this is one of those where there's no

1:38:49particularly right answer. Um if there

1:38:52wasn't a lot of parking demand down here

1:38:54I would say yeah let's go ahead and and

1:38:57uh restricted to one side but we have

1:38:59observed people parking pretty regularly

1:39:01on both sides of the street. Um, so if

1:39:03we did want to start with something that

1:39:05was less intensive with that, we could

1:39:08we could certainly do that.

1:39:09>> Can we start with the signage part that

1:39:11you were talking about? Um, see how that

1:39:13goes first instead of just eliminating

1:39:15the parking right now, especially if

1:39:17they have the the width it meets the

1:39:19minimum at least as opposed to the other

1:39:21one where it's too small.

1:39:24>> Yeah, Mr. Chair. So, in that case, I'd

1:39:25recommend a chair's order requesting

1:39:27advanced signage for um both of the

1:39:30curves in the roadway. Let's do that

1:39:32please. Did you get that and fam?

1:39:36>> Uh to chair. Yes.

1:39:37>> I appreciate it.

1:39:38>> Order.

1:39:39>> Thank you, Mr. Chair. I think that would

1:39:41be good. Yeah, it is a tight street

1:39:42there. It's in district two, so I'm

1:39:43familiar with it, but yeah, it is it is

1:39:45tight there. So, especially with the

1:39:48more traffic coming with the new

1:39:49apartment building up on Poet Hill

1:39:51there, I think it it warrants some type

1:39:52of intervention. So, thank you.

1:39:54>> So, when we do the chair's order with

1:39:56this, we just end up filed.

1:39:58>> That that that's correct. then through

1:40:00the chair to councelor Bada. Um I know

1:40:04there's some grade there so I don't know

1:40:06if it would be appropriate for

1:40:07consideration for speed humps but if

1:40:09you're interested that's something that

1:40:10we could look at as well and give you a

1:40:12preliminary read on whether that might

1:40:14be a an appropriate place.

1:40:16>> Yeah I again I agree with you just

1:40:18because of the gray there. I was just

1:40:19curious, would it be this might be for

1:40:22DPW, but I'm just looking on street view

1:40:24now and 66

1:40:26Byron is I'm noticing it's like on the

1:40:30if you're going towards North Street is

1:40:32on the right and I could see how that

1:40:34might be uh

1:40:37potentially hit by cars in the winter

1:40:38time. Uh so maybe I'll do a petition to

1:40:41put maybe a traffic barrier there. I'll

1:40:43reach out to the resident, but it is

1:40:45very tight here and um would appreciate

1:40:48some type of signage. Yeah, in the

1:40:50vicinity of these curves curves.

1:40:54>> Thank you. So that's your counselor Rob

1:40:57Balada on online. So

1:41:00>> Oh, okay. Um, so we're just going to

1:41:03move to file that item. I put the

1:41:04chairman in order to kind of fit a a

1:41:07safer air route so that way you guys

1:41:09don't lose the parking. Okay.

1:41:11>> Roll call.

1:41:13>> Councelor Bilada.

1:41:14>> Yes.

1:41:15>> Councelor O'Hada and Cher and Councelor

1:41:17Rivera.

1:41:18>> Yes.

1:41:19Thank you. Thank you.

1:41:20>> Thank you very

1:41:21>> All right. We're moving on to six a

1:41:23traffic sign petition 6A. Uh Willas

1:41:27Almeida request installation of speed

1:41:29limit signage facing traffic traveling

1:41:31downhill in the vicinity of 604 Berno

1:41:34Street. Nobody here on that item. No

1:41:38online

1:41:38>> to chair. There's no one raising their

1:41:40hands.

1:41:40>> Commissioner Rally. Uh Mr. Chair

1:41:42recommending file uh only because the

1:41:44committee approved this uh similar

1:41:46petition just a few months ago.

1:41:48>> Oh, perfect. Move to file the item. Roll

1:41:49call.

1:41:50>> Councelor Bella.

1:41:52>> Yes.

1:41:52>> Councelor O'Hada and Cher and Councelor

1:41:54Rivera.

1:41:55>> Yes. 6B. Councelor Jose Vera on behalf

1:41:58of Molly Bez requestation of 25 mile per

1:42:01hour speed limit on Mo Street. Anybody

1:42:05online?

1:42:06>> To chair. There's no one raising their

1:42:07hand.

1:42:08>> Commissioner Raleigh. Yeah, Mr. Chair.

1:42:10So we over the years we've had

1:42:11complaints about speeding on this

1:42:12section of Mo Street. I I know there's

1:42:14been some concern among residents with

1:42:17the mass DOT project on Pleasant Street

1:42:19as well. I don't think that's going to

1:42:21cause diversion, but I want to make sure

1:42:23we are addressing the issues that do

1:42:26exist on Mar Street. And so um you know,

1:42:29we've collected

1:42:31um travel speed data there. Uh the 85th

1:42:34percentile speed is 30 miles per hour on

1:42:38um on the lower section of it and goes

1:42:41up to 34 miles per hour on the upper

1:42:43section. So that's you know 5 to 9 miles

1:42:45an hour over the applicable speed limit.

1:42:48And this is kind of a a windy heavily

1:42:50populated road. So getting those speeds

1:42:52down as close to the 25 mph speed limit

1:42:54as we can makes sense. Um, so we do

1:42:58recommend approval of the newly

1:43:00authorized uh 25 mile per hour signs on

1:43:02this segment.

1:43:04>> I agree. Move to provide a roll call.

1:43:06>> Councelor Bada.

1:43:07>> Yes.

1:43:08>> Councelor O'Hada and Chair. Councelor

1:43:10Rivera.

1:43:11>> Yes. Uh 6C council on behalf of Natalie

1:43:14Gibson request installation of warning

1:43:16signage on Cold Street adjacent um to

1:43:19the Sterns uh Sterns Tavern in both

1:43:21directions to alert motorists of the

1:43:23sharp curve. I think uh Natalie Gibson's

1:43:26online

1:43:29>> to chair. Uh I believe that speaker

1:43:32Natalie Gibson is online. Um she's not

1:43:35raising her hands, but I will go ahead

1:43:37and uh give her permission to speak.

1:43:46>> Uh to chair uh she's not unmuting so I

1:43:49think you can go ahead and

1:43:50>> Commissioner Raleigh. Yeah, Mr. Chair.

1:43:53So, at this location, Coast Street does

1:43:55have a very sharp 90° bend. Um, and the

1:44:00I think the driver's ability to sort of

1:44:02read what the streets doing is impacted

1:44:04by the driveway that's located right on

1:44:06the corner of that bend. Um, so we agree

1:44:09that advanced curve signage should be

1:44:11placed for both approaches uh to Coach

1:44:13Street and recommend approval.

1:44:15>> I agree with that. Uh, roll call approve

1:44:17the item.

1:44:18>> Councelor Bada,

1:44:21>> yes. Councelor O'Hara and chair

1:44:23councelor Rivera.

1:44:25>> Yes. All right. We're moving on to We

1:44:29did the seven already, so we're moving

1:44:30on to 8A. Petition of Natalie Gibson

1:44:33request center solid yellow line be

1:44:36painting on Cole Street. Um is Natalie

1:44:39still not available?

1:44:41>> Uh to a chair. Um uh it appears so.

1:44:45>> Okay. Commissioner Raleigh. Um Mr.

1:44:47Chair, so we recommend file on this. We

1:44:49did paint the solid double yellow line,

1:44:52center line, um, on both ends of the

1:44:55corridor last year. So, that's going

1:44:56around the curve section that we just

1:44:57talked about, which is important. Uh,

1:44:59and then we also painted it over toward

1:45:01Park Avenue to make sure that vehicles

1:45:04weren't strained too far into the middle

1:45:05of the street as as other vehicles are

1:45:08turning off of Park Avenue. We

1:45:10intentionally did not paint a double

1:45:12yellow line uh on the mid block portion

1:45:15of the street. Um first reason is that

1:45:18it has low traffic volumes and um you

1:45:21typically don't apply uh a center line

1:45:24to streets with the traffic volumes that

1:45:26are experienced here except in extinuane

1:45:28circumstances as I described at either

1:45:30end. Um but more so here parking is

1:45:34actually allowed on one side of the

1:45:35street and so if we did paint the center

1:45:37line we'd be forcing traffic to cross

1:45:39that center line every time they're

1:45:40going around a parked car. So, we

1:45:42thought it was better to go ahead and

1:45:43put it on either end of the street but

1:45:45not in the middle.

1:45:47>> Sounds good. And we move to file item.

1:45:50Roll call.

1:45:51>> Councelor Bilada.

1:45:53>> Yes.

1:45:53>> Councelor O'Hada and chairs and

1:45:55councelor Rivera.

1:45:56>> Yes. We have AB, report of committee on

1:45:59public works upon the petition of

1:46:00councelor Robert Bolato request

1:46:02installation of traffic bolards at 173

1:46:06Grove Street to the north and south of

1:46:08driveway to prevent illegal parking and

1:46:10improve driver, cyclist, and pedestrian

1:46:12visibility.

1:46:14Uh, you want to speak on that item, sir?

1:46:16>> Yeah. You want to let the people go

1:46:18first?

1:46:18>> Well, no. I'm going to let you go first

1:46:19because it's councelor Bada. He's going

1:46:21to speak on it as well as his petition.

1:46:22You want him to speak?

1:46:24>> Oh, gotcha. All right. So, councelor

1:46:27Councelor Bada, you want to speak on

1:46:29that item?

1:46:30>> Sure. Yeah. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I

1:46:32appreciate uh us hearing this today. I

1:46:34know it's kind of gone back and forth

1:46:35between this committee and and public

1:46:37works. So, uh would appreciate this

1:46:40being uh approved or I see the

1:46:42recommendation to approve and I think

1:46:44this will be helpful to really make sure

1:46:45folks can get in out of 173 uh safely.

1:46:50>> Anybody else online want to speak on

1:46:52this item? to each to have one person

1:46:54raising their hands to speaker Becky

1:46:56Dumpy. You can go ahead and unmute.

1:47:04Hello.

1:47:05>> Hello. Hi. Thanks so much. Um yeah, just

1:47:10following up um I know we've shared at

1:47:12several meetings um just about the

1:47:15dangerous area that it is where people

1:47:17are legally parking. Um, so really

1:47:20appreciate you guys taking the time to

1:47:22um to work on this. Um, we have a lot of

1:47:26young drivers pulling in and out of um

1:47:29the businesses at 173

1:47:31um as well as pedestrians, bikers. Um,

1:47:35so the installation of these bullards

1:47:37would be greatly appreciated.

1:47:41Thank you.

1:47:42>> Thank you, sir. Name and address.

1:47:45>> How you doing? Eddie Dumpy, resident of

1:47:47Worcester. And just adds to that a

1:47:49little bit. Again, Okconor Fields did a

1:47:50great job the city did with it. Uh in

1:47:522021 when it was installed, we knew

1:47:55parking has always been some issues over

1:47:56there. Um and in 2024, they they made a

1:48:01new plan. They marked in lines as I've

1:48:03been sitting here and hearing of the

1:48:04importance of uh doing this. And

1:48:07particularly when you're pulling out of

1:48:08that driveway to the left, there is a

1:48:10crosswalk and then there's probably

1:48:12about 10 15 feet. And that's really

1:48:13where we we want to be able to have some

1:48:15visibility to the right. Again, it's

1:48:17blocked off where it should be no

1:48:18parking for probably a car or two to the

1:48:21right and that's it. Um, but again,

1:48:24constantly I I'm there four or five

1:48:26nights a week and pulling out of there.

1:48:29Um, you have parents that will just park

1:48:31their car. They know it's not parking

1:48:32and I and we've gone over to the coaches

1:48:34and asked a variety of different teams

1:48:36to say, "Hey, can you just tell the

1:48:37parents not to park over there so we

1:48:39don't have to deal with this?" But, uh,

1:48:40um, it's just a constant issue. and the

1:48:42parents will sit in the car and even

1:48:44when you're not going like, "Well, I'll

1:48:45move when my kid's done." And and so

1:48:47there's been a variety of issues um that

1:48:49have happened. And again, it's just a

1:48:52constant issue. The visibility to the

1:48:54left and right if if you're ever there

1:48:56and again, I mean, speed, people do move

1:48:58down that street pretty quickly,

1:49:00especially at night. Um 311 we've tried

1:49:02a lot of different times. Um again it's

1:49:05at night and typically on Saturday where

1:49:07the main issues are there and there's a

1:49:09lot of parents there and it's just I

1:49:11mean if just you gave us that 10 ft to

1:49:13the left and right so you could pull out

1:49:15of that. Um we want to support small

1:49:17businesses. There's variety of uh small

1:49:19businesses in there. Uh especially again

1:49:21I'll just say like there's a lot of teen

1:49:24drivers, youth drivers. There's a dance

1:49:25facility in there that has about 80

1:49:27people. Families are constantly coming

1:49:28in. Like I said I've been in I'm there

1:49:31four or five nights a week.

1:49:32>> [laughter]

1:49:33>> So, um this would this would be like our

1:49:35final uh chance to uh solve this

1:49:38problem. I hope to to install these um

1:49:40signs have been there. They've ripped

1:49:41signs down over the five just I I can't

1:49:44tell you how many signs have been ripped

1:49:45down left and right that said no park

1:49:47and

1:49:48>> they rip them down. [laughter]

1:49:50>> Thank you.

1:49:50>> So, this I hope solved the problem.

1:49:52Again, in the winter it's not an issue.

1:49:53It's just usually spring to uh through

1:49:55the fall. Thank you very much,

1:49:57>> Commissioner Raleigh.

1:49:58>> Yeah, Mr. Chair. So um gentleman just

1:50:01spoke gave you a little bit of

1:50:02background here which is that um you

1:50:05know there was a situation where

1:50:06Okonnell Field didn't have much parking

1:50:09uh nearby so people were parking

1:50:11illegally because they didn't have

1:50:12another way to access the field. Um that

1:50:15was impacting sight lines for nearby

1:50:17uses blocking the bike lane. Uh so we

1:50:20did go ahead and implement a revised

1:50:22lane marking plan a little over a year

1:50:25ago that creates on street parking on

1:50:27both sides of the street. Um, but we're

1:50:29still observing people parking in areas

1:50:31that they shouldn't be. Um, so this

1:50:34request is really for some of the the

1:50:36flex posts right around that driveway

1:50:38location to keep them out of the areas

1:50:40where they shouldn't park. Um, we have

1:50:43noted that the appropriate no parking

1:50:45signs are not actually up. So, that's

1:50:48something we're going to get rectified

1:50:50uh as well. Um, and there is an active

1:50:53work order to get the pedestrian

1:50:55crossing signs for that new crosswalk.

1:50:57And I think that'll help people's

1:50:58comfort level parking on the other side

1:50:59of the street. Um having a little bit

1:51:02more attention drawn to that crosswalk.

1:51:04Um so they can walk their their kids and

1:51:06they can walk themselves there. So um

1:51:10you know, initially I I wanted to

1:51:12recommend um let's get the signs up and

1:51:16see if people obey those, but we've

1:51:18heard that people people know they're

1:51:20not supposed to park there and they're

1:51:21not. So, I'm going to go ahead and

1:51:23recommend uh approval that we put a few

1:51:26flex posts in there. Should only take

1:51:28probably probably four to five flex

1:51:31posts, I would say, to treat this area.

1:51:33Um it does create a little bit of a

1:51:35complication during during plowing

1:51:37season. Um but I don't I don't think

1:51:39it's, you know, not workable here. Um

1:51:43and we can certainly attempt to there

1:51:45are some locations where we do take them

1:51:47out over the winter. We can certainly

1:51:48attempt to do that here. But even if

1:51:50even if they did end up year round, I

1:51:52don't I don't think it'd be an

1:51:53insurmountable problem. So, uh, long way

1:51:55saying I recommend approval.

1:51:57Thank you. Move to approve the item.

1:51:59Roll call.

1:52:00>> Councelor Bada.

1:52:01>> Yes.

1:52:02>> Councelor O'Hada and Cher and Councelor

1:52:04Rivera.

1:52:05>> Yes. I think uh that cuts it. That does

1:52:08it. Uh, attendance to uh adjourn the

1:52:12meeting. Roll call.

1:52:13>> Councelor Bilada.

1:52:15>> Yes.

1:52:15>> Councelor O'ha and chair. Councelor

1:52:18Rivera. Yes.

1:52:20>> Thank you so much, guys. Yeah, it was

1:52:22first time here. A lot of fun watching

1:52:24all that good. [laughter]

1:52:29Have a nice drink tonight.