First Big Storm, Winter 2009-2010

A lone car waits for the light at the Veteran’s Riverway.   I measured 7-1/2” outside my apartment at 8 AM this morning.

Bypass Road: Now the Veteran’s Riverway

Finally, Salem’s Last Road has a name.  Last week, the City Council voted to call it “Veteran’s Riverway”.  It’s an appropriate name at that!

Not appropriate though, is the nearly two year delay to decide on a name.  I thought it should be called the “Sosnowski Byway” because my councilor dragged his heels for a very long time before taking action on this.

It seems like a small matter when there are much more important matters facing the city, but naming a road should not take as long as it did.  If the council can’t name it in an hour of discussion in what should be an uncontroversial subject, then I have no respect for that body.

I’ve always known Mike didn’t approve of the road.  This wasn’t a problem;  I didn’t approve either.  And my friend Leo Jodoin is constantly harping on that, “It’s not a bypass road!”

I suspected Mike snubbed the mayor when she dedicated the road and he didn’t show up.  That didn’t reflect well on him. 

Neither does this matter.

At least the courthouse is already named after Mike Ruane.  When I and my colleagues on the Commission attend the opening of the new Salem Depot, I’m not expecting him to be there. 

It’s OK, Mike.  Just don’t blame the mayor.

Salem’s Last Road is 1 Year Old!

I’ve been too busy to recognize a recent anniversary:  The Bypass Road is one year old!  I’ve written about the road, and photographed it too. 

John Keenan considers it a success:

"I think overall the bypass road has been a great success in terms of diluting the traffic on Bridge Street," said state Rep. John Keenan. "There are still issues with noise and motorcycles — I can hear them from my backyard as well. But overall, I think it's been a big success."

But Rob Liani, owner of the Coffee Time Bake Shop is less sure:

Business has remained about the same, but Liani is particularly bothered by what he considers poor signage on the Salem-Beverly bridge that fails to direct drivers to Bridge Street. One of the big green signs simply tells motorists that a left turn will take them to "Swampscott 1A" without mentioning Bridge Street, Salem Willows or Pickering Wharf.

The state has been obstinate on this point.

There haven’t been as many accidents as I’ve feared.  A reckless motorcyclist crashed running away from the cops.  I worried about kids at the Jefferson complex being hit;  no pedestrian accidents have happened that I know of.

At the end of last year, when the road had been open for several months, I noted that it split the Bridge St. neighborhood in three parts.  That hasn’t changed.  The triangular greenspace at St. Peter St. now is the focal point of three distinct neighborhoods.  (Little wonder that I don’t want to see it be a parking lot.)

The one thing we haven’t gotten yet is new talking signals for people with disabilities at St. Peter St. (or, indeed, on all of Bridge St.)

The bell-sounding audible signal at St. Peter, adjusted for being too loud at the Jefferson, is now all but inaudible.  The bell signal at Washington & Bridge is also inaudible;  I can’t remember the last time I really heard it, and I use that intersection several times a week.

The Commission on Disabilities has been waiting for the MAAB and MassHighway to finish feuding over accessibility on the bikeway/walkway before asking the city engineer to purchase and install a new pedestrian signal. 

I wish we hadn’t waited on that.  Originally, our thought was that we wanted this dispute handled by the state,  To protect the city from liability, we advised the city not to take ownership of the road until it was settled.

The city, apparently, has already taken over responsibility for the roadway, and the matter between MAAB and MassHighway is still unresolved.  (Still very much unknown is how the state’s proposed massive reorganization of transportation departments will affect this and the Bridge St. project.)

And we still don’t have our talking pedestrian signals downtown, at a place where we really need them, with the new courthouse going up and Salem Depot with its heavy pedestrian traffic.

The road is still not named:

Mayor Kim Driscoll proposed officially naming it the "North River Greenway" last year, but city councilors opted instead to hold a citywide naming contest.

[…]

The naming contest seems to be on hold for now. The council doesn't have the matter scheduled for any of its upcoming meetings.

The council should just hand it over to the Mayor to name.  They can’t do it.  They can’t decide anything.  Perhaps it can be the “Sosnowski Byway” or the “Nathaniel Hawthorne Highway for Historic Property Owners”.

February 2009 Salem Commission on Disabilities, Unofficial Minutes

The February meeting of the Salem Commission on Disabilities was held February 17th, 2008 at 4:05 PM.  Attending:  Jack Harris, chair, Charlie Reardon, co-chair, Debra Lobsitz, Jean Harris, David Martel, David Moisan, David Tracht, Andrew J. LaPointe, Michael Taylor, Jean Levesque, Assistant ADA Coordinator and Mike Sosnowski, City Council liasion.

Sidewalks:  Jack reports that Councilor Pelletier will propose an ordinance to  increase fines for those who don’t shovel sidewalks as required by law.

Mike S. was concerned about the elderly, disabled or others who are physically unable to shovel;  he cited one person that was cited by the city for not shoveling, when he had been recovering from open-heart surgery.  He concludes that we need to know our neighbors better to avoid these problem

Andy:  Andy worked with the Planning Board, Ellen Davinci and Joe O’Keefe on a main route that people would use, that would be maintained.  DPW was to get this route and maintain it with Bobcats but this never happened.  Andy believes many able-bodied can shovel but don’t bother. 

Jack:  Agrees with Mike, and our eminence Jean, that we have lost a sense of community and need to bring that back.  The equipment is there to clean sidewalks, but no one is there to run it.  It’s up to the city council.

Tom St. Pierre is the one to be contacted for sidewalk issues. 

Dave Martel:  Charter St.’s curb cuts are being plowed under inadvertently;  elderly must climb banks.  Jack:  Curb cut at Hawthorne Blvd. still covered.  Where is the civic pride (on the city workers)?

Andy:  Salem Council on Aging will connect elderly homeowners with shovelers.   Charlie and Andy both have great neighbors who help with shoveling.

Dave Moisan:  Almost witnessed a serious accident involving a guy in a wheelchair passing in the street near the one-hour lot at Museum Place (Federal @ St. Peter) and almost being hit by an SUV and tractor-trailer truck.  Emailed Jason Silva;  Jason says the city would prioritize this sidewalk.

Outdoor Seating:  Beth Rennard is drafting an ordinance regulating outdoor seating.  Jack suggests a joint meeting of the Licensing Board and the City Council to discuss outdoor seating.

Jaho Coffee (new store on Wharf St.:)  [photo above]  The new location of Jaho Coffee, at the old Russian Aid Society is not accessible to canes or wheelchairs.  Dave Martel reported the alleyway to the emergency exit was chained;  he reported on that and the chains were removed.

Andy asked why the store was allowed to open:  The law as it existed allowed him to do so.  He spent money for renovations under the ADA limit and so wasn’t required to make his store accessible.

The Commission was very disheartened and disappointed by this development.

Andy:  Andy’s son was a friend of the owner [of Jaho]and he thought the owner was aware of these issues. 

Community Sailing:  Community Sailing applied for a grant to get accessible boats;  they didn’t get the grant but are hoping to get it for next year.  We want to invite Paralympian sailor (and gold medalist!) Maureen McConnell, working with Community Sailing, to our March meeting to talk about the program.  The Commission is OK with that.

Old Business:  Office Space:   Jack:  The Commission currently has office space in the South Harbor Garage.  The Commission was promised the possibility of having space at 120 Washington St.

We’re not getting anywhere with that, so we are going to set up our office at the South Harbor Garage.  A list will be drawn up for material and necessities.  We’ll discuss staffing later on, but we should get it fitted out.  Dave Moisan:  Doesn’t look forward to office management—a big task—but may have access to donated items from SATV.  Dave M. assures the Commission that this “reappropriation” will be above board.

Permanent Secretary:  Jack has asked Ken Bonnachi to come back to be our secretary.  We are having a tough time doing our work without a secretary.  Ken will come back;  the decision on our office space is related to Ken’s reinvolvement.  Ken wrote excellent minutes [no doubt better than my own!—DCM]

MAAB Updates:  Bypass Road:   The MAAB granted an extension to February 1st for further information;  A fine hearing has been set up for April 27th;  if the situation on the bikepath hasn’t been resolved, MassHighway could be assessed $1,000 per day per violation.  Jack has updated Jason and Dave Knowlton, city engineer, and advised the city not to take ownership of the bikepath yet.

Salem Willows bathrooms:  They are completed!!  A grand opening (much eyerolling) is planned.  (The original facility dates to the 1940’s, so says Dave Martel.)

MBTA Bus stop on Highland Ave:  Dave Moisan was quoted in the Salem News recently about the T stop at Highland Ave.   Market Basket is trying to get the T to reroute the bus (450 and 456) through the parking lot to stop at the store.  They have talked with their contractor (they own the sidewalk outside the store on Highland Ave.) and this will be looked after in the future.  The Commission gives a hand to Dave M. for getting this issue attention.

Barcode Scanner:  Andy gave a demo of a barcode scanner by En-Vision America, the IDMate Omni.  This will scan and verbally announce products in its database, much like a grocery-store scanner.  It also lets you make audio notations for items not in the database.  The database is updated every few months and it goes onto an SD card that plugs into the device.

Andy also talked about his new GPS unit—it has changed his life!  He can get around much easier with this device.  He will demo it at a later meeting, outside when the weather’s warmer and brighter outside.

Salem’s Last Road: How Salem Changed with the Road

Even after only four months, it is very apparent that Salem’s Last Road has changed traffic patterns in Salem.  It has also changed neighborhoods.

The road, centered on the new triangular parkland at St. Peter’s St., has divided the Bridge St. area into three distinct neighborhoods.

The first neighborhood is my own, the section of St. Peter’s St. and Bridge going southeast towards Federal and Church Sts.  It includes Ash St., the steep street between my building and the Unitarian church, and extends out to Washington St.

This has changed the least out of the three.  It’s more or less the same neighborhood I found when I moved into my current apartment in 1995.  Parker Brothers was demolished around the same time I moved in, and the Jail was long closed.

I have the same traffic noise I always have, and the train noise to let me know when I oversleep and miss the 7:05 to Boston.  Bridge St. is no longer the intimate and very congested street it was when I came, but is a full 4-1/2 lane highway.  I have mixed feelings about that. 

The sidewalk along Bridge St. was very dangerous to traverse in 1995, with the steep drop and broken fence at the old Harley-Davidson dealership at 234 Bridge St.  It is much safer now, even if it lacks character.  Despite what I first feared when the road opened, I have no trouble getting to Salem Depot on time for my bus or train with a crosswalk just steps from the door.

The second neighborhood created by the bypass road is really two neighborhoods.  The first one goes from St. Peter St. northeast, away from downtown, out to Winter St. where Route 1A curves south from Bridge St. to Salem Common and Hawthorne Boulevard. 

This area between 1A and 107 is very quiet with the new roadway.  Standing at the Howard St. Cemetery above the Salem Jail, you would hardly know there is a busy road.  The triangular park is a very effective buffer against road noise.  If the Jail is developed, its residents will find it a nice refuge virtually in downtown.

The second part of this neighborhood extends from Winter St. northeastwards to the bridge.  This hasn’t changed a lot, but it has subtly changed as most of the heavy truck traffic is now off Bridge St.  This is for the better.

Of course, all of the neighborhoods I’ve talked about are connected by a very nice bikepath which has gotten rave reviews by most who have walked it, myself included.

The third and last neighborhood, unfortunately, is not really a neighborhood at all.  It is the saddest example of development anywhere in the city.

It is the Jefferson, stretching north from Salem Depot, along the old Parker Brothers property out to Howard St. on the southbound lane of Bridge St.  It is nine apartment buildings cut neatly in half by the bypass road.  For all intents and purposes, the Jefferson is almost completely isolated from the rest of the city by Bridge St. and the bypass road, especially buildings 5 through 9 on the Howard St. side which make a tight triangle isolated from every other neighboring street.

The fault is entirely on former mayor Stan Usovicz’s shoulders.

As much as I opposed the routing of the road, I can forgive that and I can probably even accept it now. 

But the process that led to a fly-by-night developer erecting cheap and probably dangerous buildings was one of the worst things to happen to Salem since the old Depot was demolished.

There were many many possibilities for development, even with the routing of the road that was selected.  It was rumored a hotel chain was interested—the bypass road would have been a boon for them!  There was talk about building the courthouse complex there.  Imagine no over-sensitive neighbors to complain (I certainly wouldn’t have!)  Imagine reusing part of the Parker Brothers complex for offices or even an inn!

But no, Stan did what was cheapest and quickest.  People in the Jefferson are cursing;  I have already had comments in my blog about the noise that Jefferson dwellers experience from the road.  Someday, some child trying to get to his friend’s house across the road will be killed.  One hopes there won’t be a fire as there was at the complex in Peabody.

That poor decision to develop is responsible for all the ills that the road has caused in Salem.   The road could have been better, but it hasn’t turned out to be the nightmare I feared it would be.  The Jefferson, on the other hand, is different.

Stan Usovicz needs to admit to his culpability.  If more retired officials thought about what their decisions meant to Salem, 10, 20 years down the road or longer, they might have made better decisions.  Perhaps we would demand—and have—better officials.

Who knows, the Old Salem Depot and Leslie’s Retreat Bridge might be still with us.  And we might have had a great development on Bridge St. making money for the city.

Instead of crapbox apartments hemmed in by a highway.

Salem’s Last Road: Its Progress, Twenty Weeks Later (Part 2)

Last post, I mentioned the problem MassHighway made for itself with the bikepath on the bypass road.  Now my other peeve:  Audible pedestrian signals. 

The Commission met with Sue Cranney almost three years ago, and she was receptive to installing the newer Polara talking signals already at other locations in Salem.

MassHighway installed the Polara signals at North St., but not at St. Peter St. as we requested.   Technically, the bell signal that’s there is in compliance, so there’s nothing we can do.

But I and the Commission are still very disappointed.  When we meet with someone and convince them to provide access for people with disabilities, and show them how they can provide access, we don’t expect to have to get every little concession in writing.  We can’t lawyer up on everything.   (Though Jack has written documentation and minutes on all of this.)

We had Ms. Cranney’s word and we gave her the benefit of the doubt.  These talking signals would have been much better for pedestrians and neighbors than bells and buzzers are now. ( Bob Moran wondered if the speakers for the Polara signals are up above the street.  They are not.  They are in the same housing that the pedestrian button is, at street level where pedestrians can hear them.  And they adjust for ambient noise so they are not loud at night.)

In addition, the Polara signal buttons don’t freeze in cold weather, unlike older signals, and I am told, they are cheaper to maintain.

They are more expensive than other signals and no doubt a beancounter at MassHighway was behind this;  in today’s economy, one cannot expect a lot of sympathy to our desires.

However, we could still get our signal.  The Commission is working with Dave Knowlton, our city engineer, and he is receptive to installing the Polara signal.  But the project, pending the MAAB hearing, is still controlled by the state;  the city hasn’t taken over the road and bikepath yet.

If I and the Commission only get this done in 2009, it will be a good thing.

Next installment of Salem’s Last Road:  How Salem changed with the road.

Salem’s Last Road: Its Progress, Twenty Weeks Later

The Salem News recently ran an article on the bypass road, “Life After The Bypass Road, Jury’s Still Out”.  Rather than summarize that article, which doesn’t have any insights I didn’t know already, this post and the next few, have  my observations on the road so far and its impact on Salem over twenty weeks after it opened.

There are two problems with the bypass road that I and the Commission on Disabilities are working on.  The first problem involves the bike path.

Last June, MassHighway notified the Commission about a problem with the bike path.   The entrance to Lemon St. at the path was too steep for wheelchairs and fixing this would have been all but impossible.  The Commission (Jack, Charlie and myself) met with MassHighway and agreed to kick the problem over to the MAAB (Massachusetts Architectural Access Board).

Only problem was, MAAB requested that they stop construction on the bikepath while they reviewed MassHighway’s variance request.  This was in late July.

The road and bikepath opened and everyone was happy. 

Except the MAAB.  As Jack related to me, to the MAAB, MassHighway was behaving like a homeowner who did an addition to his house without pulling a permit.   And then going to the building inspector to say, “CAN HAS OCCUPANCY PERMIT PLEEZ?  KTHX BYE!”

The MAAB wasn’t going to let that go with a handshake and a smile;  they requested MassHighway go to Boston in person to request their variance.  (Normally, this isn’t necessary if the petitioner has collected all the information for the MAAB to make a determination.)

So, two state agencies fight it out.  Great.  This doesn’t seem like a big deal but it is disappointing.  The Commission really doesn’t live to fight;  we like when projects go smoothly without drama.  If  MassHighway had only asked our advice earlier, say in April when we could see the site, this would not have happened.

As a result, the Commission has urged the city to not accept or take control of the bikepath until the MAAB has had its hearing with MassHighway and the issue is settled.  That ripples into the next problem, the audible pedestrian signals, and my next post.

First Accident on the Bypass Road

Bypass Road 2008-10-08 003, originally uploaded by dmoisan.

The aftermath of the first accident on the bypass road, as a MedFlight helicopter leaves the scene. I didn't see the accident itself, but judging by the scanner traffic, it involved a motorcyclist and was near the bend in the road where it meets Bridge St.

Update: Salem News has the details. It was a motorcyclist with "non-life-threatening" injuries. (Then why the Medflight?) According to several commenters on the Salem News, the motorcyclist was going 80 southbound from Beverly. He hit the bend and went flying. We are supposed to be surprised?

Bypass Road Dragway

 

As many of us predicted, the bypass road’s straight track is very attractive to racers.  A commenter on one of my bypass road posts complained about motorcycle races.  The Salem News was finally made to notice it:

SALEM — Since it opened outside her home last month, Carol Brunaccini says the bypass road has become a racetrack — and she means that literally.

"One weekend, we had a group of 20-something kids hanging out at the Carlton School," Brunaccini said. "I assume they were drinking because they had containers with them."

They were standing near the school parking lot cheering on about five motorcyclists who were drag racing up, then down the bypass road, Brunaccini said.

 

More quotes from a cop:

Even before the one-mile, $15 million straightaway to downtown Salem opened last month, police knew the road might tempt lead-footed drivers.

It's a speed demon's dream — flat, wide and straight.

"It presents an attractive opportunity for people to see how fast you can go," said Salem police Capt. Brian Gilligan.

Brunaccini said she's seen motorcycles doing wheelies on the straightaway.

One night while working a detail on foot near Bridge Street, Gilligan saw a motorcycle fly over the Salem-Beverly bridge and onto the bypass road.

"I'd characterize him as somewhere in the 80 to 90 to 95 mph range," Gilligan said. "You were crossing your fingers hoping the kid would make it."

I wanted to see that!

I’d love to be on the road with my camera just to see one of these guys sail over the March St. bridge.  Perhaps I can see someone attempt a Darwin Award!

Going south, the only things that would stop you are the side of the Jefferson complex and the Salem Depot platform, which is in a dip relative to the bypass road, so it’s easy to hop the fence to the tracks.  (I see people on foot hop the fence by the Jefferson all the time.)  

That’s one way to meet the 1 AM train to Rockport!

Going north, you can end up on top of Stromberg’s!

If I were to see any of these things with my camera, you’d see it on TV and YouTube as fast as I could get it there!

Brunaccini has a solution:

One partial solution, she said, is forcing commercial traffic, including trucks, onto Bridge Street, which she says has seen a dramatic drop in traffic since the bypass road opened.

 

Um, no.  That would not be such a good idea.   The very reason traffic is light on Bridge St. is precisely that the new road is open. 

Further south on Howard St., traffic heading for Bridge St. has to take a sharp right at the light.  The routing and intersection was designed to divert most traffic to the bypass.

If I lived on Howard St., I’d much rather see truck traffic go straight down the bypass than turning virtually in front of my house.  I can foresee a jackknifed trailer piled up on Bridge St. at Howard if this restriction were put in place.

I was and am dead set against the new road.  However, it is built and it is here.  It makes no sense to block it to trucks, especially as most truckers will not blow through the road at 100 MPH and they have federal regulations that your drunk maniac motorist doesn’t have to cope with.

Article:  Bedlam on the bypass - SalemNews.com, Salem, MA

Salem’s Last Road: Remarks of Luisa Paiewonsky, MassHighway

MassHighway Commissioner Luisa Paiewonsky speaks.

Salem’s Last Road: Kim Driscoll’s Remarks

Kim Driscoll speaks on August 18th, 2008 at the opening of the bypass road.

It was a windy day, and a little dangerous to get to the ceremony on the south end of the Veteran’s Memorial Bridge, as others have pointed out.

Salem’s Last Road: It’s Open!

Two and a half years—and almost 1100 pictures and videos—later, Salem’s Last Road is open!  It didn’t take long after the ceremony, opening around 3:45 PM today.

It has been a long process to record this road in pictures, but a fun one.  It was a great pleasure and I felt a great sense of purpose to document the road.  After all this, the bypass road feels like “my road”.  (If Regina Flynn can have “her” Common…)  It was the inspiration for this blog and one of my spurs towards being more involved in my community.

I only regret not thinking about this sooner, and even more regret not being involved in the public meetings for the road.  There’s a lot I still don’t know about the history of the project, and still much I have to learn about the road, and transportation in Salem in general.  I had hoped to produce a video documentary on the road, but I couldn’t put aside the time to make it work.  Salem’s Last Road would be a great subject for a  history project that I would love to make happen.  Perhaps I will “down the road”.

I’m going to make another post in a few days on what I think the road means for Salem, but this is the end of my regular posts on the road.  Of course, it’s near my house and I love taking photos there, so there’ll be more occasional shots to come.

One last photo for now. 

See a slideshow of "Salem’s Last Road” on Flickr.

Salem's Last Road: Ribbon-cutting

Bypass Road Diary 2008-08-18 046, originally uploaded by dmoisan.

Dignitaries cut the ribbon for the new bypass road. I took video and hope to have this online in a few days. The road didn't open immediately afterwards, but it may open around the time you read this.

August Transportation Update

Lots of transportation developments for August!  Besides the bypass road, there’s news all over, and out of, Salem in the past few weeks.

The North Shore is getting new MBTA buses.  Historically, Lynn Garage (the center of MBTA bus activity here) has been one of the last garages to get new equipment. In 2004, we still had the old broken-down RTS buses, most of which were 16 years old, with the old flip-dot electronic signs I could never read.

The sting is not so bad this time, since the Neoplan buses that are currently in service are less than five years old and in good shape, if somewhat dirty.  Most importantly, they have new LED signs I can read! 

But I look forward to the new buses;  I’ve seen them running the 455 today, so I’ll be on one soon.

Here's a hat tip to Beyond Red and Blue:  Robert Sullivan wrote a post on Walk Score, applying that site’s walking score to various T stops.  Responding to my post on Walk Score, Mr Sullivan says:

I found the walkability scores for all the stops on the Newburyport/Rockport line (see below), and Salem actually gets a 94 (out of 100), which is better than all of the Red Line stops in Dorchester and all of the Blue Line stops in East Boston. Salem gets a near-perfect score thanks to such nearby amenities as a movie theater, a "bookstore" (Harrison's Comics), and a "fitness" establishment (Body & Soul Massage).

The Walk Score data is, as they say themselves, incomplete;  there are two full-service bookstores nearby (Cornerstone Books and Derby Square Book Store) and of course, the Y.

The worst score I've come across so far is Rowley Station, which gets a single-digit 6. Chelsea and Lynn each get a 75, which says something about how underserved those areas are despite having very dense populations.

I had thought Newburyport would be the worst score since it’s so far from downtown, but Rowley is truly a bedroom-community stop.  In Lynn, Central Square has been rundown for decades, and a sad story of decline and city mismanagement.

Salem is paying attention to pedestrians at long last.  A Globe North article from a few weeks ago, “Salem joins effort to steer commuters away from cars” explains:

Salem is a great walking city, and residents and people who work there have traditional transportation options: commuter rail, bus line, Salem State shuttle, and a ferry to Boston.

But its roads still overflow with traffic, particularly at peak periods.

So it's not surprising that the city became the first municipal partner for the North Shore Transportation Management Association, a new group that is trying to reduce gridlock and the region's carbon footprint through alternative commuting methods.

"It seems like it's a perfect time to be looking at those things," Mayor Kim Driscoll said. "We don't have anything in our region that asks, 'How do we get to employment sectors? How do we get to places where students are going? Is there a better way to get people to where they want to be, that's good for them, saves them money, and also helps the environment?' I think there are a lot more options for us to think about."

I’m glad the Driscoll administration is making this shift away from car-centrism;  it’s been delayed for too long, but it seems to be finally coming after years and years of lip service and inaction.

According to a press release I got from the mayor’s office, the city is fixing some curb cuts in and around downtown:

City Works to Improve Accessibility in the Downtown

SALEM, MA – This week, the City of Salem’s Department of Public Services is working to improve the accessibility in and around the downtown for disabled individuals who live or visit the City.

The Department of Public Services has hired Marchese and Sons Construction to make sidewalk and ramp improvements in several areas within the City’s extended downtown area. Close to 20 curb cuts that have been identified as problematic for individuals with disabilities are being completely reconstructed to make it easier for people to traverse.

“While many improvements still remain, this round of construction is a great start to ensure that all individuals feel welcome in our City and can navigate in our downtown safely,” stated Mayor Driscoll. “I am pleased that the Department of Public Services has made this work a priority.”

New ramp curb cuts are being installed at the Public Library crosswalk where no curb cut had existed before; Essex Street at Hamilton, Beckford, Cambridge and Barton Square; Washington Street at Church and Lynde Streets; the crosswalk at 27 Charter Street (Salem Housing Authority senior housing complex); and at 60 Washington Square.

I’ve seen them working at North & Essex Sts., a known problem area, and had assumed it was related to courthouse work.  It’s excellent news!

But the city shouldn’t stop there. 

One of Andy LaPointe’s pet causes, and now my pet cause, was to get the new-style talking audible signals in Salem.  I’ve talked about this too many times to mention.  We have these at Salem State College Central Campus, Vinnin Square, and Marlborough Road.

But not on Bridge St. at the train station.  Nor at St. Peter St. (this last one was promised by Sue Cranney, project manager for the bypass road, in my presence.)

I suggest a project for the new association:  Get new audible signals—not the buzzer or the chirping models—throughout downtown Salem, and other pedestrian-heavy areas on the North Shore.

Finally, a trolley story in the Times:  Downtowns Across the U.S. See Streetcars in Their Future - NYTimes.com.  Cities like Cincinnati are trying to get new trolleys.  When I was in Cincinnati on a business trip 10 years ago, people were just beginning to kick the idea around.  At that time, they had a “Big Dig” project of their own underway, Fort Washington Way.  There seems to be a sense there, as there has long been in Boston, that there’s no more room for new road projects.

I just wonder what planet the Times is on.  How can people embrace the great cost and disruption of construction for trolleys, when, as I’ve wrote before, any such project in Massachusetts would die of learned helplessness (“It costs too much!”  “It destroys the character of the city!”  “It lowers my property values!”  “It brings those people here!”)

Next up:  Bypass road opens Monday and the courthouse traffic project reaches an important milestone as the old east ramp off Bridge St. is permanently closed, tentatively scheduled for Wednesday the 21st.

New and Old Transportation Corridors

When the bypass road was opened briefly last week to serve as a detour while Bridge St. was being paved, I got to see Salem's newest transportation corridor--the road--next to Salem's oldest transportation corridor--the rails.

Video:

The engineer is blowing his horn for work crews putting in sound barriers on March St., which you can see near the end of the clip.

Bypass Road Opens for One Day

Bypass Road Diary 2008-07-23 041, originally uploaded by dmoisan.

The bypass road wasn't only open to detoured traffic but also to this jogger!

Yesterday, the bypass road was temporarily opened so that Bridge St. could be repaved, as mentioned in my last post. Unsurprisingly, the traffic signals caused a jam well past Salem Depot.

The road has been closed and will remain so while the work remains to be completed. There's still a hole on the Howard St. traffic island, and still people from National Grid milling around.

Bypass Road Has A Date

Bypass Road Diary 027, originally uploaded by dmoisan.

The Bypass Road--as yet still unnamed for anyone--has a date:
August 12th.

The Salem News reports that the road is in "the home stretch". The intersection at St. Peter is taking shape; past that, the lighting on the north end of the road needs to be connected, the signals at the bridge itself are due, screening put up on the commuter rail fence, and the pedestrian path needs to be finished.

At the other end of Bridge St., not much to report; construction at the overpass ramps is continuing, but demolition hasn't yet started on the houses.

Construction update on Salem's Last Road

Bypass Road Diary 020, originally uploaded by dmoisan.

At 11:15 this morning on May 12th, the long-anticipated (to me) realignment of Bridge St. towards the new road has taken place. Unlike the Courthouse intersection, there was no notice from the city. Traffic will now move a short distance up the new roadway, seen to the left, and then jog back to Bridge St.

The short section of old Bridge St., seen to the right in the photo, will be closed permanently and made into a pedestrian walkway.

Note that the new traffic signals are turned on, while the old signal in front of the Jail is turned off. Around the time this picture was taken, 11:30 AM, the first red light of what is sure to be many red lights appeared on the new roadway.

I'm still concerned about the pedestrian signals on St. Peter St., and of the sidewalk access during construction of the pedestrian pathway that will now replace the St. Peter to Howard St. section of Bridge St., and I'm already making another round of inquiries about this.

It's nearly the end of the beginning for Salem's Last Road.

Most Salemmites are uninformed on the bypass road

Annotated Bypass Road Blueprint St. Peter, originally uploaded by dmoisan.

In talking with people on Salemweb and elsewhere, a lot of people are unaware of this project. By contrast, the Salem-Beverly bridge project in the early nineties happened before the Internet, the web and blogs, but it was much better reported. The Salem News had good newspaper reporting then with frequent and substantial news updates on the bridge project. People were very ambivalent about the bridge, but they were not uninformed. That may not be the case with the bypass road.

Except for one photo in the Gazette last summer, and scattered mentions of the project, there's been little reporting on a project that directly affects not only my corner, but also all of Bridge St., including the impending Jail project.

The image above is an annotated copy of a blueprint sheet that I got from Sue Cranney, the manager of the road project, two years ago when it started. I've marked several major landmarks, including both halves of the Jefferson, the Salem Jail and the elderly housing complex on the corner of Bridge and St. Peter.

Of most interest to me and others, is the section in the middle of the print between St. Peter and Howard. This section, directly in front of the Jail, will be turned into a pedestrian path when Bridge St. is jogged towards the river to meet the new roadway.

This is, as far as I'm aware, the last major part of the road to be completed. As you can see elsewhere in my Flickr set, the lighting and traffic signals, and some of the signage, have already been in place for a while. There was a lot of digging and utility relocation done in the past two years of construction that might well be complete.

I'm concerned about the pedestrian signal to be placed on my corner. I and the Salem Commission on Disabilities asked Sue Cranney two years ago to put in voice-announcement ("Talking") signals for people with disabilities. These signals can be found at Marlboro Road, Vinnin Square and the Jefferson/Canal/Loring Ave intersection near Salem State College Central Campus. These are different, and much nicer, than the buzzing audible signals you may have run into.

We wanted these installed at Salem Depot, but when the rotary was removed, we got "regular" audible (buzzing) pedestrian signals. Apparently, they had been ordered well prior to construction before we had even met with Sue.

I hope not to be disappointed again.

The project is presently shut down for the winter but spring is not far away. It's still scheduled for completion in the summer.

"Salem's Last Road" September 2007 Update

Bypass Road Diary 9-25-2007 008, originally uploaded by dmoisan.

So far as I know, the Salem Bypass Road is on time for opening next summer. This is a view of Bridge St. @ St. Peter, the southern end of the road.

Note the pedestrian. This intersection is currently the widest in Salem, though this will change soon. The solid red line indicates where Bridge St. will be relocated; it will be jogged 100 feet to the NW to meet the new road. Even with that, the spot that that woman is crossing will be five lanes wide.

I have definite mixed feelings about this as a pedestrian. Instead of the very congested, but managable Bridge St. to cross, there is now a wide river of road between my building and the train station.