My years of futility in Salem transit, part 1

In my last post, I updated the status of Salem Depot and its endless revisions and delays.  A little further south of downtown, there’s another situation that I am reminded of again and again.

I’ve long wrote about the Market Basket bus stop and the problems navigating to it in the winter.  Around this time of year, most of us are shopping for new winter boots and hoping against hope that the upcoming winter will be mild, or at least with little snow.

This picture outside Pep Boys showed that this was not to be, early in 2011.  In 2010, the Commission hoped that the MBTA would route buses through Market Basket to eliminate the problem.

That was also not to be;  the MBTA declined the idea.  The Market Basket plaza was never designed for buses, the routes would be delayed going through there, but most importantly, the abutter to Market Basket—the adjacent shopping complex with Shaws and TJ Maxx, objected.

There will be no new bus stop in the winter of 2011-2012 and, I fear, there may never be.

Since I’ve started this blog, I have heard regularly from a gentleman, a former city councilor, who’s been upset over the bus stop and its snowbanks.

Like clockwork, I’ll hear from him when Mayor Driscoll announces funding for some new project (“She can spend $XXXXX for something but not on the bus stop!”)

Repeatedly.

He’s made me even more cynical than I am already.  I have seen and known enough about government to know that the fact of Mayor Driscoll seeking to start some project or another is totally orthogonal and unrelated to that bus stop.  I didn’t even vote for her but I have expressed my thoughts on transit to her and other elected officials regularly.

Most people who’ve been outraged over this issue have cars and don’t need to wait in the snow for the bus!

I use that bus stop regularly. If I get run over standing next to a snowbank one gray chilly day, isn’t that poetic justice?  Given what the Tea Parties say about government and those who work for it, I wouldn’t expect an ounce of sympathy from anyone if that happened!  I don’t know the politics of my correspondent, but I do know a lot of people his age who parrot  the “hard work and personal responsibility” trope of the Tea Parties so often that it is just screaming noise.  (Obviously, I didn’t work hard enough to overcome my vision problems so I could drive!)

And my correspondent is an ex-city councilor!  I feel that if you are a current city official or even a former city official, you have an obligation to answer when someone asks, “What did you do to make Salem better when you served?”

I’d like to ask my correspondent what he did when he had the reins.

I know that in 4 years and 1-1/3rd terms into my service on the Commission on Disabilities, I have to ask myself that question every time I get up in the morning and every time I sit in our conference room at SATV every third Tuesday.

I’m beginning to wonder if I can really answer that.  Thoughts in my next post. 

Back after an absence

Essex Street Mall 2011-05-26 007, originally uploaded by dmoisan.

Via Flickr:
Nature finally turned a switch to "Summer" today, as these folks are realizing.

And I've turned a switch, too.

I haven’t posted in almost six months.  I’m dispirited.

Last winter, my building had the bedbug hysteria that has affected many households in recent years.  Dealing with bedbugs has combined the worst aspects of moving and losing your house to fire or flood.  The Salem News covered the story in my building and it brought out the worst aspect of pest infestations—the moral opprobrium that comes when your betters can look down on you for being “dirty” and “unclean”, even though bedbugs, roaches and mice are blissfully unaware of class distinctions.  

In a building with a shared laundry space, like I have, I’ll never know how I got bedbugs and I just don’t care who or what “gave” them to me.  I just know that pest infestations don’t make me or my neighbors “immoral” or “unclean” or “lazy”, but that was on the minds of many of the Salem News commentariat.

There’s more, too.  Last spring I had quite a screaming match with my ward councilor Mike Sosnowski over a parking proposal at the Jail.

What I learned from that affair is that it doesn’t matter what neighborhood I live in, or what stake I have in anything, if someone more important than me thinks different.  At that meeting, a person from the Northfields neighborhood association asserted that me and my neighbors did not want commercial use at the Jail no matter what.

It doesn’t matter that that Northfields guy probably doesn’t even have a view of the Jail from his house.  And he never cared before about the apartment complex I live in.

As far as I can see, Mike Sosnowski has more or less aided and abetted groups like Northfields.  If you live in cheap rental housing, you will not get representation in Salem.

You will not get it.

Better that you show Mike your mortgage statement—or proof of McIntyre architecture—before coming to him with a problem.

I was at a meeting this past Saturday of the Alliance of Salem Neighborhood Associations.  It was held at the function room of Beverly Cooperative Bank, which is where the Downtown group meets.

I had my own problems with that group, and didn’t want to attend this meeting, except that I made a verbal commitment on recorded video and had to go. 

(I know the camera is on during our Commission meetings.  If I make a gaffe or a curse, then I do.  I don’t try to walk back what I said.  I said it and it’s on tape and that is that.)

Several people in the Alliance complained about being “outsiders”.  I wanted to say to them:  “Where’s Lucy [Corchado, head of  the Point association]?  Where are they?  The Point is a neighborhood, isn’t it?”

Those people have their own advisory board at the highest level of city government.  They have Jason Silva’s [Mayor Driscoll’s chief-of-staff] private number on speed-dial.  I have no doubt that someone like Michael Coleman can have Mike Sosnowski swing into action at 3 AM on a Sunday if he so commands it.  If Teasie Goggin wanted to repeat Mike Bencal’s Al Haig moment (“I’m in control here”, after the attempted assassination of President Reagan in 1981) when he tried to take charge of City Hall when the mayor was away a few years ago, she has more than enough social capital to do so!

They have that advisory commission in addition to the Alliance!  Tell me they are outsiders again?

As it happened, the meeting was a waste of time for me and and my colleagues on the Commission on Disabilities, since it was supposed to pertain to the MBTA parking garage, but was instead an unfocused rambling about pedestrian access and getting traffic usage stats, only to find out the state had already done that but nobody from the Alliance even read the report.  The Commission probably could have used that, but the person presenting that report didn’t bother to tell us where we could find the data from the state website.

(I’d filmed video of the meeting.  It would have been nice of them to tell us when the MBTA part of the meeting would get under way so I wouldn’t have to guess how long the batteries in my camera would last.  Not long enough as it turned out.)

If I can’t be involved in the workings of my own city, the one that I have spent 47 years in, I think, why am I bothering to blog?

I’ve asked myself that question over and over during the past six months.

The only thing keeping me going is the Commission—whose purpose I believe in with all my heart and soul—and Salem Access Television, where I have been applying my IT talents for 11 years.

I’m very proud, in fact, that SATV now has much of its local programming available over the Net.  Public meetings—including the Commission’s—are now available through our Government page.

I worked very hard with Sal Russo and the staff over the past year to make this possible and I am inordinately prideful.  I’ve been delighted to flip the figurative “bird” to a few former board members who thought this was a “fad” or “something for Dave and Sal to spend money on”.  (In fact, video-on-demand has been a roaring success at SATV.)

There are many other thoughts, ideas and initiatives at SATV and the Commission to make fodder for many more years of blog posts, which is why I’m continuing to blog.

But I will never, ever, let myself believe that I have a stake and a say with what happens in Salem.

I don’t.  And I won’t.

Salem City Hall Elevator Dedication

Salem City Hall finally has an elevator!  We saw the elevator under construction when the Commission attended Mayor Driscoll’s proclamation of the 20th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act this past summer.

Here is the ceremony:

And here is a walkthrough of the new elevator. Notice that there are two elevator doors, as you sometimes see in hospitals; one door covers the ground floor from the sidewalk while the other is at the level of the existing ground floor at City Hall.

This is "The Whirlybird", the old chairlift on the front staircase into the Council Chambers:

Beth Rennard, our city solicitor, used this lift every day.

She won’t miss it.

Salem Jail Parking Proposal Apparently Dead

The City Council met tonight to discuss New Boston Venture’s proposal to reconfigure the greenspace triangle at St. Peter, Bridge and Howard Sts for additional restaurant parking.

The proposal is apparently dead.

Rather than give my opinions again, here are my notes.  No doubt the Salem News will report this tomorrow;  there was already a letter in today’s News opposing the proposal.

I couldn’t hear everybody who spoke—nearly everyone from the neighborhood groups showed up, but the important points are here as best as I could hear and write down.

The original proposal brought by New Boston Ventures (NPV) was for 37 parking spaces carved out of the greenspace near the Jail wall.

NPV came back with a compromise proposal of 13 parking spaces and a turnaround that would be on a new access road from Bridge St.

There are two restaurants currently interested in the space.  They have indicated that additional parking is a prerequisite for their interests.

NPV talked a little about the sidewalk that bisects the current greenspace and will intersect the access road.  Some thought was given to a crushed stone sidewalk recycled from the original granite blocks from the Jail.

NPV expressed great appreciation for the effort that the city, the Council, and the SRA have put in to make the Salem Jail project work.  Everyone agrees it has become a beautiful building and NPV is happy with their efforts so far.

The head of the Planning Dept. (Lynn Duncan, IIRC) has been inside the restaurant space.  It is on a second level with a river view.  She believes the parking plan is much improved.

If there is no restaurant, the space will be made into housing, 3 units.

But the City would much prefer the restaurant;  she is concerned that if the Jail becomes all private housing, that will threaten or make non-viable the small Jail museum that is in the current plans.

One member of the committee (couldn’t make out whom) talked bout the spaces lost from Morency Manor use.  [For a long while, while the Jail property was vacant, visitors to Morency Manor were allowed short term parking in the Jail lot.  These were used by VNA’s, relatives, and other visitors who needed to stop by briefly.]

NPV proposed their lot to be used by Morency Manor visitors during the daytime hours (2 hr. parking.)

Councilor O’Keefe:  The access road must be there on Bridge St. due to fire regulations.  That is not negotiable.

Counicilor Pelletier: Are there condos [in the Jail]?

NPV:  No.  Apartments for now but if phase 2 is approved, the new building will be condos.  Because of a complicated arrangment involving tax breaks for historic properties, this was necessary for the project to go through.

Question from the committee regarding National Grid’s transformer—why did that take three months to settle?

Transformer siting--National Grid changed their mind on NBV’s placement of the distribution transformer on site.   National Parks Service rejected this placement, due to the sensitive granite wall around the Jail.  National Grid then wanted to place their vault with other utilities, water, sewer, etc. and NBV thought that was infeasible.  This went on for some time.  The morning of this meeting [tonight],  National Grid agreed to a compromise placement suitable to NBV, NG and NPS.

A committee member had a question:  Is the road considered a private access road on what is public land.

Rules were suspended so that the public comment period would take place.  Nearly half the room took their place to speak [including my colleague Charlie Reardon, and myself] so I didn’t get everyone and couldn’t.

The public comment was unanimous—No parking!  The points came down to three.

1) Green space is very very important to Salemmites.  No one wanted to lose any.  People were very concerned over the original  37-space proposal, and very few people, if any, were mollified by the compromise, although people appreciated that NBV tried to change it.  The quote of the night came from one woman:  With the recent reconstruction of Bridge St., and the Leslie’s Retreat park space along the North River to the south, Salem has its own “Emerald Necklace”, like the famous green space of parks, rivers and walks in Boston writ small.

2) Why does a restaurant need additional spaces when there are already spaces available during the evening hours?  Moreover, many thriving restaurants manage to survive without storefront parking.  One committee member put it:  “Salem doesn’t have a parking problem, it has a walking problem.”

3) If the restaurant can give up 13 spaces during the day to Morency Manor, spaces that it would use for delivery trucks and etc., perhaps it didn’t need the spaces after all.

Mike Sosnowski had the closing words before the vote.  He had been present during the long planning process for the Bypass Road, some 35 years of effort, and the word [a new word to many of us at the time] was mitigation.  That green space was mitigation for the road, amongst many other compromises that needed to be made.

Mike, continuing:  I respect NBV very much for what they have done so far.  But it is not worth losing that green space to keep the restaurant.

NBV:  Offered and requested to withdraw their proposal.

The committee voted to give a negative recommendation to the full Council. 

Salem So Sweet 2010

I wandered about downtown for Salem So Sweet 2010’s ice sculptures.  This the one outside Cornerstone.

But, oddly, my favorite was a new sculpture outside Tavern in the Square:

It’s commercial and not at all whimsical but I like it.  Shrugs.

Last Signs of Winter in Salem, 2009-2010

We’re seeing the end of winter.  And ready to turn the page to spring, no doubt.

Morency Manor Elevator Update, March 2010

The elevator construction in my building continues.  A few days ago, I held the door for a five-man crew wrangling a very large item through the front door.  Later that day, I’m with a neighbor and one of the contractors waiting for the elevator and they get to talking about the work.  That big package I helped get in the building was, as I suspected, the elevator cab.  This has to be assembled on site.  I’ve been trying to find pictures of elevator construction on Bing and Google without much success.

That was the first sign of progress I’d personally seen, though I’ve heard the pounding and construction noises for the past few months.  (My unit is neatly between the old elevator and the new one!)

The elevator shaft was finished in January:

And the permanent view from my window:

According to the contractor (and not an official announcement), the work itself will be done in a few weeks.  A few weeks after that, the elevator will be inspected—there are only two inspectors for the whole state—and presumably open for service after that.  So sometime in mid-April, we’ll be using our new elevator.

After that, the talk is that the old elevator, long prone to breakdowns and stalls, will be replaced.  So the construction noise won’t stop for me.

Salem Depot Design Hits 30 (Percent)

The MBTA held its meeting on the 30% Design Phase of the Salem Depot project last Tuesday night.

I wouldn’t characterize the opinions as “mixed”;  there were a lot of helpful suggestions and not a lot of ranting as one can often hear at other public meetings.  I thought Bill Luster’s comment was very thoughtful,

Bill Luster, a former Salem city planner, reminded MBTA officials to heed a local mantra — "in Salem, design matters." He suggested they put as much brick and granite on the garage as possible.

But for the most part, the particular appearance details are not my dog in the fight.  This is what I thought was important, and what I will send to the MBTA, the mayor’s office and my chairman of the Disabilities Commission:

First, I was gratified and surprised to hear that the T decided on the full-height platform option.  Last I’d heard, a half-full-height, half-ground-level platform was being proposed in the original design documents. 

A full-height platform is the right thing to do for a busy station like ours. 

Second, I am focused on the Bridge St. pedestrian entrance like a hawk.  I use this entrance nearly every day.  I was hoping for more details on the construction of this important vehicle ramp and pedestrian entryway.

I realize some still want a footbridge or a tunnel in that area.  I’ve been in and around Boston’s numerous footbridges, enough to know that one cannot put in such a bridge without changing the local pedestrian environment dramatically.  Many footbridges (the one over Huntington Ave. to Copley Place, for example) further isolate pedestrians and make their immediate area unfriendly.  So I wouldn’t advocate for this—it may well make things worse.

I also remind the T that the waiting area is still an important part of the project that many of the riders will be close to every day, whether they mean to or not.

The current canopies, which are not continuous, should be torn down and replaced with a continuous canopy. 

As well, recall what I’ve said before about electronic signage:  We must see an electronic, easily read and continually updated train display.  I also note that the T has started a pilot project to provide next-bus information.  One hopes that by 2011, it will be expanded to include Salem’s service area.

The MBTA heard our comments, also, about security and safety.  These are ever important, not only for people with disabilities but for all those who use the station at any hour of the day.

Lastly, I’m responding to some at the meeting who don’t want the proposed ramp, who are concerned about “walking further than they have to.”

I can understand being at the top of the steps to a train station and seeing your train leave.  It’s happened before and will again.

However, Salem would not be unique in this.  There are many stations in the T system that require a long walk to the exit, or to another train, depending on the location.  On the Red Line, South Station and Downtown Crossing are notorious mazes, particularly to and from the Silver Line.  On the Blue Line, if your car is parked west of the Wonderland platform, you need to go up and down stairs, quite a few of them, before you can even hit the turnstiles to leave.  So don’t think Salem is put upon in particular.

I absolutely hate the current stairs.  I fell down them once, and while physically long since recovered, have never stopped my hate for them in the least.  There is no way I would tolerate a design that had me go down the existing stairs and across a roadway at ground level before I got to my bus stop.  No.

Some at the meeting, and in the filed comments talked about the “few disabled people” who use and need a ramp compared to the “many”.  This isn’t the most fair comparison.

A station like Salem’s is used by many people, big surprise there.  But it is also used by visitors.  Many visitors with disabilities have told us at the Commission on Disabilities how easily they were able to get around and how much they enjoyed their time in the city.  About 20% of Salem residents have a disability—1 in 5 of us.  We don’t know how many of these are mobility impaired, but we do know it is more than a mere “few”.

Accessibility on the T only works well when all the stations are accessible.  Many disabled people travel to Salem with friends and family.  If a disabled person has problems at Salem, he or she likely won’t come back—and nor will their friends!  In a tourist-centered city like ours, that’s been unacceptable for quite some time.

I’m encouraged by the progress so far and we’re looking forward to the next phase.

Comments are being accepted through March 5th.  The comment deadline is this Friday, March 12th.

Contact Tom Rovero, MBTA Design and Construction, 500 The Arborway, Jamaica Plain, MA 02130

or Karen Despirito, Senior Community Affairs Coordinator, (617)-222-6513

kdespirito@mbta.com

MBTA Meeting on Salem Depot

First, I want to apologize for not blogging much recently.  I’ve had a big computer project at SATV that we just finished.  The Commission hasn’t met since December—our February meeting this past Tuesday was cancelled due to the weather, which was at its worst at 4 PM when we meet.

And I’ve been burned out:  Politics have been very unpleasant recently;  there’s an ugly undertone to civic affairs these days.  And that doesn’t make blogging fun.

The MBTA will hold another public meeting on Salem Depot next Tuesday the 23rd, at the Carlton School.  As promised last fall, this meeting is called at the 30% design point.  The full plans are on the MBTA web site.  Here is the current site plan:

I note that the covered pedestrian walkway that was in the original plans is not seen in this revision.  Pedestrian access from Bridge St. is critical to this project since it will serve the new courthouse complex as well.  I also note the architects went with Option 1 for the busway;  I would have much preferred the busway be closer to Bridge St.  So much for that.

I’ve recommended that the Commission on Disabilities take these points to the meeting:

1. We must have a full-height platform for the whole length of the platform;  the T has favored a half-full-height/half-low platform.
2. The plans show partial canopies over the platforms, much like the existing station.  There should be a full canopy over the entire platform.
3. There must be good pedestrian access from Bridge St.  There is going to be a vehicular entrance ramp where the current stairs are now, and features like the ramp can be pedestrian-hostile.

It’s important, though, to keep this project in perspective.  We’ve needed a garage and added parking at Salem Depot from the day it opened over 20 years ago.  I’ve hated the appearance of the station, the platform at the end of nowhere, and most of all the stairs.

Some people in Salem want the perfect.  John Ronan, the newly-elected Ward 5 councilor, filed some good comments that I quote in part:

First, I’m glad this project is funded and going forward. The station is in true need of additional
parking. Salem is extremely fortunate not only to have a train stop but to have one in the
downtown area walking-distance from many of our shops, offices and attractions.
Often, Salem planning issues get bogged down in search for a fanciful perfect solution. I saw
seeds of this taking root in the statements of a few attendees advocating a mixed use or an air-rights platform in lieu of a garage. Without any commitments or even any prospects for the private development aspect of such mixed uses, they simply aren’t viable. Even if the City agreed (as would be necessary) to couple its lot with the MBTA lot it may never find
a developer willing to build on top of an air rights-platform on conditions favorable to the City. All these components certainly would not come together by the December 31, 2011 deadline.
Therefore, I believe Salem is correctly positioning itself for the future by keeping its crescent
shaped lot separate from the MBTA lot. The garage project should proceed as a garage project.

If the idea of an air-rights project had been proposed in the early 2000’s, I would have supported it.  Unfortunately, projects like that are subject to the vagaries of funding.  We can ask the Columbus Place developers how well that is going. As it is, until the governor gave a commitment to Salem Depot, the project would have been a dream project, 5 or 10 years in the future.  And it always would have been.

Because of the land situation, the MBTA probably won’t get to resolve all of the issues that were brought up at the earlier meeting.  In particular, pedestrian access from North Street is a difficult and ugly problem that I fear won’t get resolved.

This is probably the best we’re going to get.  The three points I outlined are the most important.  If they can be resolved to my satisfaction, I’ll be happy with the result.  As will most Salemmites.

Tom Rovero is the MBTA contact person for this project and he can be emailed at trovero@mbta.com.  

November 2009 Unofficial Minutes of the Salem Commission on Disabilities

[New curb cut outside 10 Federal]

The Salem Commission on Disabilities had its November meeting on the 17th, at 4 PM at Salem Access Television.

Present:  Jack Harris, Chair, David Martel, Charlie Reardon, Co-Chair, David Moisan, David Tracht, Debra Lobsitz and Jean Levesque, Assistant ADA Coordinator.

Old Business:  4 First St.  Jack:  I have been in touch with Tom St. Pierre, who has been reminded repeatedly.  He promises to get in touch with the management company.  If anyone wants to email Tom St. Pierre, please do so. 

David Martel:  We have been trying to resolve this for the past 4 months, before the weather gets bad.

Jean L. & Jack:  A new person has taken over Tom Watkins’ job in the mayor’s office:  Her (first) name is Mary.  Jean hasn’t met her yet.  Tom is still taking charge of the website until Mary has completed training.

Market Basket proposed MBTA stop:

Reminder:  MBTA is now part of MassDOT, the huge agency that now does all transportation in MA.  Andy is trying to find out if the same people are in the same places in the new agency.

I have exciting news:  As poeople know, a letter was sent to the MBTA requesting a reroute through Market Basket.  Jason and the mayor’s office will meet with MBTA officials at the site. 

David Moisan:  I had a conversation with Jack earlier. Leo Jodoin forwarded email from the show [Salem Now].  I just met the one guy who’s more upset over the situation than I am.  I have been wound up plenty over this, but I know how the MBTA works:  To make the change, it has to be done in conjunction with their schedule changes which take place four times a year.  The next change is the Winter schedule that takes place around New Year’s day.  If it doesn’t happen then, it will happen in the Spring schedule.  Only three months but our longest three months, unfortunately.

Jean Levesque:  I have a question about Leo Jodoin and Salem Now.  Have any Commission members been on the show?

David Moisan:  Yes, Andy LaPointe has been on Leo’s show a number of times.  Andy is Leo’s godchild.  I know back when the mayor had a ceremony for me before I joined, that Leo got the video and aired it. 

I can bring it up, but I know he’s slotted until at least March.  December is Christmas, January is John Keenan, February is SATV, and March no idea.  Andy is a regular and often on the show for one reason or another.

Jean L.:  I don’t know about the viewership between us and Leo Jodoin’s show but Leo has a bigger audience, I think.

David Moisan:  I know he does a field show, On The Road with Salem Now, but his camerawoman has had health problems.

Jean L.:  We should have more than one person on [Leo’s show].

David Moisan:  All I can do is talk to him.  We probably won’t all be on.

David Tracht:  My wife is at Market Basket a lot and people are parking in HP spaces [illegally] all the time.

Jack:  Back to the stop, there was a committment by the mayor’s office to try to make this happen.  I want to give them applause for staying on top of this.

Commuter Rail station:   Jack:   I got a call from Lieutenant Linehan, in charge of the north section.  He has invited me and Ken to meet Thursday to review the signage that’s been recently installed on the lot.  He will come down and see how that’s going, and pass out tips on how to avoid being ticketed.

Myself and Charlie went to the meeting on the new train station and were concerned with security:  I asked the lieutenant if he had been invited;  he wasn’t.  It would have been very helpful for him to be invited.

The project is on a fast track and scheduled for 2011.  The next public meeting will be around Christmas.

David Martel:  MassDOT’s garages tend to be cookie cutter projects;  problems in one garage tend to be replicated to other garages.  Examples are the garage near Boston City Hall, and at the Museum of Science, which were designed without clearances.

Jean L.:   Great point.  There should be standard plans at the state house for schools and other public buildings, but instead they design from scratch every time.

David Martel:  We have to stay on top of them.

Jean L.:  That’s why it’s so important to get input from people like you who use the facilities.

David Martel:  This past Halloween, there were 100,000 people in Salem.  A lot of people used the train station.

David Moisan:  I can relate.  I did hear back from the mayor.  She wrote me a standard form letter describing the process, which I won’t repeat, but she included a handwritten note that promised she would work with the architects to integrate the garage into the downtown.  The area was never designed for this:  It was industrial and belonged to the B&M.

I wait for a bus—and I feel closer to the Carlton School than to my house.  There has to be a indoor shelter, it must be facing the tracks—and the bus!

You aren’t going to wait outside in 20 degree weather—especially if you’re Jack and have Emily & Katie with you! 

The busway at Wonderland, for example, is really badly designed and there is no shelter near the buses.  The only shelter is relatively far away so you can’t see your bus.  I don’t want that here.

Jack:  There was a lot of discussion on security.  And a lot of discussion on a full-height platform, that we wanted.  The tracks are on a curve so they wanted a half-height platform, but we made it clear we wanted full.

David Martel:  I can’t understand how that guy drove into the tunnel [a year ago].

Haunted Happenings:

Jack:  Haunted Happenings.  It’s over.  There was a real concerted effort to keep the path of travel open.  There were a few things here and there but it was otherwise smooth.  I went to the closing ceremonies and it was smooth.  Not sure how it was from a disability perspective.  We [Salem] made $250K after expenses so that worked out.

Charlie:  A compliment:  The city workers were very good at cleaning up, during and afterwards.  The next morning you would never know there was an event.

David Martel:  The horses came from Plymouth this year.  People argue with cops but not on horses.

MAAB update:

Jack:  St. Jean’s House:  There will be a fine hearing in December.  What we know is that the two businesses over there are still not compliant.  The second floor is still being occupied by too many people.

David Martel:  Was it a sprinkler issue?

Jack:  It would have been if it had been a “sober house”, but the owner promised to make it a single-family.  He hasn’t done this yet.  Fines will start to be levied if this isn’t done soon.  He’s met with his architect, but nothing done.  The city and the MAAB has been lenient with him thus far.

Market Basket parking lot work:

Jack:  The HP spaces at the Market Basket parking lot have been re-graded and the drainage fixed.  Good work by Market Basket and their contractor.

New Business:

Tavern in the Square

Jack:  We were invited to a special City Council meeting about the sidewalk seating at Tavern in the Square.  I advised the committee that the Tavern’s seating blocks the direct path of travel.  I have seen the area;  it appears to be compliant but we won’t know until the tables are in place.  The city can’t backpedal on this.

David Martel:  Who’s responsible for the property [sidewalk seating area]?  Snow removal?   Is it property in lieu of taxes?

Jean L.:  Salem owns the property.

Jean L.:  Same issue with Rockafellas and snow removal.

David Martel:  What about off hours and off season? 

Charlie:  They’re putting up heat lamps in the area; propane heat lamps.  It could be open all year round.

Jack:  My two contentions were  a) not to block the sidewalk and b) if there is outside seating it has to be compliant, 36” around tables and chairs.  That’s the only things we care about.  But the other part that I said loudly and clearly, had the Commission been brought in on any part of this early on, as we have said, we may not be where we are today.  I think the councilors heard that loud and clear that the Commission was not brought in.

I’m now starting to hear the design review board agendas and the planning board agendas.

David Martel:  I have been looking at the new Riverwalk.  It looks nice.  But was there any review of the project on accessibility before it started?

Jack:  It is accessible.

David Martel:  But was it planned beforehand?  I hadn’t seen its design.

Jack:  Is there a problem?

David Martel:  No, but I wanted to see the design.  I still do.

Jean L.:  The planning board has it.

Jean L.:  I was working for Michaud Bus Lines years ago.  I went to Quebec and there was a riverwalk.  Every hundred feet, there was an emergency phone—and a lifesaver.  It was a safety measure.

David Moisan:  One other comment before we move on.  I hope the guy who commented on the Salem News website is listening to the broadcast.

My comments were along the same lines as Jack:  I’m not so  concerned with what the restaurant is doing, but I am very upset that the SRA had just decided to do this and it was a done deal already.

Someone on the Salem News site accused me of being “reactive” instead of “proactive” and gave me a big list of sidewalk problems.  They weren’t new to us!  We’d been working on these problems.  I’ll say it again:  We’ve gotten blindsided again and again, “oh it’s already a done deal”.   The SRA is very protective of the information they have and I am very upset.  I took it very personally.

David Tracht:  If it was a done deal, why were we asked by the Council?

Jack:  The SRA approved the plans in February, but a few months ago there was a lot of discussion developing on this.  People were wondering what was going on, and then we went in and said, “you can’t block the sidewalk”.  Now, whether they can do anything about that is another question.

I had a comment:  When the city gives out permits for sidewalk seating, there is no followup, the establishments have these permits in perpetuity.  The council is missing an opportunity to look at these permits from time to time to see if there’s a problem.

Jean L.:  The sidewalk at New Derby bothers me.  It is a curb-stepped sidewalk with horses on it.  It’s a hazard.

Jack:  There is a plan in the works to eliminate the step.  I hope this is done before the snow flies.  I will ocntinue to revisit this.

Jean L.:  It’s way out of line.

Jack:  The building inspector wants this done now.

Jean L.:  The Commission has never ever knowingly done anything to hurt business in Salem.

Charlie:  We need to write a letter.  Explain our position in this letter, what works and what doesn’t.

Jack:  The city is, now, well aware, that the steps at New Derby were a mistake.  We’re like the little mosquito that won’t go away.

David Martel:  Or the squeaky wheel.

Bertinis: 

Jack:  As some of you may or may not know, there is construction on their side entrance.  They are renovating the front of the restaurant.  Tom St. Pierre will let us see the plans as soon as he gets them.

No word on the timeframe but it will look new.

Traffic Signals at Congress & Derby:

Jack:  If some of you don’t know, there’ll be a meeting at the Seven Gables settlement house tonight on traffic signals.  A consultant has recommended traffic signals at Congress & Derby.

Most of the wiring for the signals has already been placed in an earlier renovation of the intersection and the money seems to be there.  It does seem like this will happen.

This is an issue we have been dealing with for a long while.

Charlie:  Our city electrician put the conduit down years ago already.  He saved the city $50K.

Jack:  The other part of the support for this is that some of you know, the charter school is in the Shetland Properties, and there is another charter school starting in the same place.  And the Boys and Girls club is there.  And the hotel and the parking garage.

David Moisan:  If the neighborhood let us.  The head of the Derby St. Neighborhood association complained about an earlier traffic signal proposal:  “Why can’t we have a flashing light?”.  There’s much more traffic there nowadays.

There could be intersections, like at the Hawthorne Hotel that could have their signals removed, but others like Derby St., that are busier.

The Salem News will probably have an article in tomorrow’s paper, “Derby St. Controversy Bla Bla Bla”.  Just to warn you.

Charlie:  There is a hotel there frequented by visitors not familiar with the area.

Jean L.:  Did the city get accident figures?

Jack:  I imagine so.

Charlie:  My grandaughter goes to the charter school there.  It’s miserable to drive there.  I get “salutes” every day.

Jack:  Traffic signals, if you push a cross walk button and get the light, you cross.  If there’s no light there, and you cross, you might get hit.  But if you’re hit in a cross walk and have the light, the driver is liable.   So that’s something in favor of the lights.

Winter Island

Jack: Dave Knowlton told me of a new sidewalk at Winter Island, from the Plummer Home to the gates.  He asked me to look at it for access.  It’s a wide sidewalk.  It hasn’t been graded yet and it’s still a little steep.

The only problem I had:  Nice sidewalk but it jumps back into the street.  They need to have a plan to continue the sidewalk into Winter Island itself.

Jean L.:  It ends 50 feet from the main gate?

Jack:  Yes

Jean L.:  People aren’t going too fast at the main gate.

Jack:  On the other hand, the driveway has been repaved and not as bumpy—so people may go faster!

Charlie:  A brick barricade?

Jack:  I was waiting for Dave and watching.  Most people weren’t going only 10 miles an hour.  Not even those with trailers.

Jean L.:  It’s an improvement though.

Jack:  I’m thrilled there’s a section of sidewalk, but they asked for our position and I was not thrilled to have a section go back into the street.

Jack:  Hope they get it before the weather is bad.

David Martel:  But we won’t see much before spring?

Jack:  That’s so;  I don’t go there over the winter.  We’ll see.

David Martel:  Consider it one big curb cut.

Jack:  There was some quesiton on whether this path would happen.  But people can check it out.  A woman from Cape Cod was watching this and asking Dave:  “Is this a new sidewalk?”  Dave said yes.  The woman said “I’ve been waiting for this for a long time!”

National Grid Work:

David Moisan:  One item of new business:  National Grid has been digging a new conduit along Bridge St.  I didn’t think this would pertain to us, but they’re doing more work.  They’re redoing the curb cuts on my block:  One in front of my house, which is inconvenient, but the other is very interesting:  10 Federal.

We have been talking about the curb cut at 10 Federal for a long time.  That is now dug up.  As most of us know, there is a problem with wheelchair users of the parking lot as they can’t get to 10 Federal and we have been working on this.

I have three construction projects in my neighborhood—the Salem Jail, the new elevator in Morency Manor and National Grid.  It wasn’t the Jail—they’re done with sidewalk work for the moment.  It wasn’t my elevator work;  they have no sidewalk work planned.  So it must be National Grid.

Jack:  I’ve been looking at this.  National Grid is on Bridge St. working up to Webb St.  Perhaps the city got them to do this?  Maybe a tradeoff for something.  But it is being done.  The city, so far as we know, is on the hook for the access work at the parking lots.

Charlie:  They are doing the sidewalks.  It’s a big safety problem outside my house [at Williams & Bridge].

Jean L.:  They’re working at Town House Square too.

Jack:  I’ll say it loudly:  We have been wanting our curb cuts to be improved and more compliant.  The city’s doing it!  It’s great.

David Martel:  They should continue to make curb cuts in the same style with concrete.

Jack:  It doesn’t look like brick and I respect historic brickwork, but I much prefer this and that should be the way to go.

H1N1  Update:

Jack:  I can give you an update:  My family’s all had it.  And we’re done with it.  I’ll give you what I’ve discovered.

My youngest daughter had it and was in the hospital for four days.  It’s the flu.

If you’re medically compromised, or you are in certain age brackets we won’t mention around the table, you have to be very careful.   If you’re healthy, you’ll just get the flu.

This is just H1N1, the seasonal virus hasn’t come around yet.  There’s no testing going on.  They won’t test you unless you’re medically compromised;  too many people and too costly.  Doctors are making the diagnosis of H1N1.

And another thing:  They won’t tell you specifically.  My wife  got it and she had to ask, “Was it H1N1?”  They tell her:  “Probably”

David Martel:  My sister, Diane, is working for a company that will do a home test for H1N1.

Debra:  The rapid test has a really bad accuracy rate with a huge number of false positives.

David Martel:  I was given a seasonal vaccine.  It’s somewhat like H1N1.

Jack:  We were exposed to a strain of the swine flu once.  I never got it, but my whole family did.  I found people in my age bracket were exposed to swine flu in childhood so we were immune.

Don’t panic.  If you’re medically compromised or someone in your family is, go to the emergency room.  Get the shot.

My daughter Katie got a shot the day before she got sick so she couldn’t get tested anyway.

Debra:  I participate in a weekly phone conference with the Department of Public Health, so if you want information I can send it.  The interesting thing is that even if you contract H1N1, they still want you to get the vaccine when it becomes available in December.

Jean L.:  There are two kinds of vaccines, I heard?

Debra:  There’s an injected form and an aerosol form;  the aerosol you have to have two doses.

Jack:  Younger age brackets need two shots.  I asked my pediatrician about Katie.  He told me she should get the shot.

Jack:  Keep up with it, but most important thing, wash your hands.  If you get it, stay away from people.  We live in an apartment building with other compromised people.

One question I had:  My kids are transported in a handicapped van.  Are there guidelines for sanitizing or washing the van as they go back and forth to schools?

There is none.

The H1N1 virus only lasts 8 hours so it’s not a problem overnight, but I was concerned about what happened during the day.

There is no program for sanitizing or cleaning for any school busses so far as I know.

David Tracht:  What should people know?

Jack:  I would remind people it’s just like any other flu season.  They should keep in touch with their elderly neighbors or others who are medically compromised.  Common sense, like any other year.  Handwashing.

I’ve never seen so many hand sanitizers lately!  Supermarkets, banks, everywhere!

Debra:  On  the other hand, if you can avoid touching eyes, and ears and nose, those are the places the virus likes to live.

Debra:  Go to http://www.mass.gov/flu

David Martel:  What about antibiotic overuse?

David Moisan:  I buy liquid soap.  I don’t get antbacterial soap because I ‘ve never needed it.  But you cannot find soap without antibacterials anymore!  I’m concerned.

Jack:  If your immune system is healthy, why compromise it with a flu shot?  We may have overly compromised ourselves by getting these shots.  I’m not saying it’s bad, but it could be a problem.

Debra:  The vaccinations are available in the state but are only available to limited people.

Jack:  No other business?  Our next meeting is December 15th.

It’s Halloween Today!

It’s begun!

At this time of day, this is a family event, and the crowd’s reflecting that so far.  I didn’t see the LaRouchites today, which I’m glad for, nor have I seen some of the more edgier people one sees at night.  Then again, I haven’t walked through many areas today such as Salem Common and the “Haunted Village”.

I’m concentrating on the concert and fireworks tonight.  The stage was being set up when I walked by:

I’m going to set up near District Court, crowd permitting.  My personal camera and tripod are much smaller than SATV’s so I won’t be noticed.  I did get appropriate attire:

See you tonight!

Not only ghosts around in Salem

Witches, ghosts and demons aren’t the only inhabitants of Salem today.  These LaRouchites are holding court just two blocks from my house at the Visitor’s Center.  They’ve usually set up at the Post Office a few times a year, without the offensive signs.  Wish I had given them a “helpful gesture” but it’s not in my character.

Halloween Scanner Audio

Once again, I expect a very busy Halloween downtown in the next few nights.  If you can’t be downtown, or if you want to know what you’re getting into, listen to my police scanner feed.  It has Salem, Beverly, Lynn and Peabody PD and FD, MBTA police, NEMLEC (I’m assuming the command truck will be out there again this year.) and the Eastern Route commuter rail.

Direct link if you can't see the player

Have a good time!  I’ll be at the concert and fireworks downtown on Saturday night, filming for YouTube.

Salem Jail Video (replay)

This is an old video of mine, but I like to promote it every now and then.  It’s a shortened version of a 60-minute video I produced on the Salem Jail, shortly before it was sold to developers.

There are other videos from people who’ve broken into the Jail, but I feel mine is the only one with any respect for the building and what it really was.  They didn’t hang witches here.  And it wasn’t a place for “psychic experiments”, either.

I’d love to have the whole video online someday.  For now it airs on SATV occasionally.

Salem Jail Renovation Continues

The Salem Jail renovation is moving along.  The whole interior of the main building is now completely gutted, in what appears to be the busiest week for the project since it started.

More photos on my Salem Jail Renovation Flickr stream.

More Frustrations with HP Parking Enforcement

Last post I mentioned one of the hot buttons of the Salem Commission on Disabilities, sidewalk access.  Recently, Ken Bonacci, a colleague and former member of the Commission, brought up another frustrating situation for us over the years:  Handicapped parking violations at Salem Depot, and elsewhere around the city.

Ken has been very forward in dealing with the situation, more than most people would contemplate.  The MBTA police have directed him to stop:

Lenehan [Lt. Robert Lenehan, MBTA Police] said the T asked Ken Bonacci, a former Disabilities Commission officer, to stop approaching cars that are illegally parked in handicapped spaces and asking drivers to move, in part, out of concern for Bonacci's safety.

The MBTA recently received a two-page letter, apparently written by a commuter, complaining about the enforcement actions. As a result, Lenehan sent an officer to the Salem train station to speak with Bonacci.

The transit police want to make sure the well-intentioned enforcement actions of Bonacci and other volunteers working with the local commission don't result in a confrontation with an angry motorist, the T official said.

The article goes on to explain what the Commission has done:

Disability Commission members were trained several years ago by the Salem police in volunteer enforcement of handicapped parking violations, Harris said. They used to take photos of cars, write down license plate numbers and turn the information over to police, who would then issue parking tickets.

They were also given identification badges, which Bonacci said he places against the driver's window to identify himself before speaking to a motorist or asking a driver to move.

"He was doing exactly what ... the commission was trained to do," Harris said. "He just knocks on a window and politely explains that they're in a handicapped spot and they don't have a placard or plate and need to leave."

As part of the training, Salem police emphasized the need to avoid any kind of confrontations, Harris said.

The Commission has had a long history of frustration with HP parking enforcement and we have experimented with some different approaches, including the one mentioned in the article.

At one point a few years the Salem PD gave us "informational" ticket booklets which were to be forwarded to the Parking Department. Originally, the informational citations were to be a kind of green stamp; if a driver collected several, there would be points on the insurance and a real citation.

When we asked about the disposition of the tickets, we were told they would be thrown away. We gave up on that one.

The Salem PD tried volunteering us to go around with digital cameras, when the technology was newer, to monitor HP parking spaces, but there weren't enough volunteers, nor was there the money to have the PD do it.

Our latest idea, so far, isto get funds to pay a detail to monitor parking, again at key spaces like the train station and downtown. This would relieve us from the situation that Ken was in.

I would not have done what he did in that situation. I use the train station regularly; I don't drive but I can easily walk to the handicapped spaces and see who's in them. I wouldn't have confronted anyone. But Ken is a very forward person. He did this on his own initiative. That's why we respect him.

Ken was a very respected member of the Commission, and we consider him a dear friend. Ken has been my ideal as a commissioner for the 2 years I have held the position. 

With the turmoil surrounding the MBTA, we're not certain how the MBTA police will be able to enforce the spaces until the new station is built. I understand that on weekends the T police is so thinly staffed there is only one officer to serve an area from Boston to New Hampshire.

Nevertheless, we do hope to leave this to the police. We really do. But Ken did not act out of thin air, but out of the many years of frustration that drivers with disabilities have experienced.

Many of whom, by the way, will complain to us.  That’s OK, it’s our job to hear them, but as with our sidewalk issues, we are dependent on the police and the rest of the government to help us out.

No doubt, in the near future, we’ll be meeting with Chief Tucker to get some ideas on dealing with parking scofflaws without being cops ourselves.

Salem Commission on Disabilities hosts City’s five year plan public meeting

At tomorrow’s meeting of the Salem Commission on Disabilities, Jane Guy will be presenting the city’s 5 Year Consolidated Plan.

The meeting starts at 4 PM at Salem Access Television, 285 Derby St.

For anyone interested, we have a copy of the 100% design plan for the Bridge St. Reconstruction Project (from Howard St. to the Salem-Beverly Bridge) and will have it for inspection at 3 PM at the meeting.

Sidewalk Access Flares Up

For a number of years now, the Commission on Disabilities has been frustrated with the obstacles often present on downtown sidewalks. Many restaurants have established outdoor seating; Tavern in the Square is constructing its outdoor seating in the photo above.

Many other businesses have sandwich signs. Many sidewalks, particularly the Essex St. pedestrian mall between Liberty & Washington Sts., are cobblestoned.

These are frustrating obstacles for people with mobility and visual impairments. Last Thursday night at the Council chambers, our frustration finally boiled over.

Jack Harris, Charlie Reardon, Andy LaPointe and myself were there. Only Jack was quoted in the Salem News article, but he said everything that was on the back of all our minds.

As best as I can paraphrase, this is what I said:

To me, it isn't about Tavern in the Square in particular. They have the right to want and try for outdoor seating. I understand and accept the reasoning behind roping off the dining area [to fullfill state liquor laws.]

It's the fact that the SRA did not let us know this was coming down the pike. We at the Commission on Disabilities only found out about it in September, and I posted the blueprint and sidewalk closings diagram on my blog just a few weeks ago.

If only we saw this in July!

We on the Commission would have said our piece and come to an understanding before earth was ever turned on the site.

We knew the Courthouse and Salem Depot projects were coming down the pike, as were the North St. and Bridge St projects. We could engage with their project managers and at least know what was coming.

The SRA? Absolutely nothing from them before the fact.

If this meeting were only about Tavern in the Square, I think we were invited here in bad faith for a matter that we can't advise on until after the fact.

Why did they start building now? Why didn't they line up the permitting over the fall and winter? They could have done that, started construction after the spring thaw and have been done very quickly without any animosity.

By itself, Tavern in the Square’s outdoor seating doesn’t bother me, but when you have it and the multitudes of other restaurants and shopowners that put out chairs and tables and sandwich signs all around Washington, Front and Essex Sts, the totality of this is that even able bodied people won't be able to move around on a moderately busy Saturday, never mind October.

[End of remarks to the Council.]

The News article got a good number of comments; I’m going to address “youasked”. He or she was somewhat critical:

DMoisan....Are you kidding? Picking on one of TWO sidewalks being blocked in one small sectin of Salem when there are entire areas without sidewalks or usable access at all? You of all people should know better.
Just want to get your Commissions mission statement out there? Great, more power to you.
But come on, be a little more proactive instead of reactive grand standing.

How about a sidewalk along Loring Ave around dead mans curve? South campus area, make the state pay for it.

Route 107 Highland Ave....
15-20 years ago when Washington Street Rotary was there it was SO safe and accessible...
Do I need to go on?

The sad part of this is that all of those items he or she listed have been on our agenda recently. I was hoping for some new items in that post that we could work on. We do have to work with other city departments and elected officials (in the case of Loring Ave. where’s Joe O’Keefe again?!) not to mention the state.

And I am all too aware of the problems on Bridge and Washington and have been for fifteen years. At least we have one small victory: the pedestrian signals at WalMart were done over last month, in case that’s what the commenter was referring to.

It’s like saying if we can’t fix all the sidewalks around town, we can’t fix any of them!

And what is this business of being “proactive”? If we don’t find out about things like Tavern in the Square until after everything else is permitted, then we are reactive and what’s the point? We get complaints from constituents about access problems and we are expected to help get these to the right people to be resolved. So we’re reactive. What was the point again?

Unless and until the Planning Department and the SRA gives the Commission, and the public, access (via the city’s web site) to the same exhibits they use to make decisions on outdoor seating or anything else, we’re just going to do this over and over again.

And we’ll be “reactive”. Sorry.

Comments on the Salem Depot Project

These are comments I’ve sent to Thomas Rovero of the MBTA, and the mayor’s office on the proposed Salem Depot garage. There will be another public meeting sometime in December.

From: David Moisan, Salem Commission on Disabilities

To Thomas Rovero, MBTA, Mayor Kim Driscoll, chief-of-staff Jason Silva:

Dear Mr. Rovero, Mrs. Driscoll, Mr. Silva:

I’ve attended the public design meeting on the new Salem Depot garage and have read the report posted on the MBTA web site. I believe it is a good starting point and a very welcome development.

There are, though, some concerns I have with the design. The word that comes most to mind is isolation. There are elements of the design that serve to cut off train and bus riders from downtown.

First, I’ll grant that a good part of the isolation comes from the original design of the traffic rotary on Bridge St., and the original use of the Salem Depot area as a maintenance area, interlocking tower and track junction by the old Boston and Maine railroad. It had been occupied for this purpose by the B&M for many, many years.

At one point in the past, the pedestrian passage to Salem Depot (when it moved to Bridge St.) was fenced off from traffic. But it was still a very dangerous place to walk, and very unfriendly in any event. Not what we want to represent Salem to train travelers.

Any design would have to work hard to overcome these problems.

But some things that were proposed at the meeting just accentuate this isolation.

The existing train platform, and the proposed half-full height platform is one example. Wheelchair or cane users, and on the weekends, all users, must go to the very end of the platform.

From the end of that platform looking north, you can see the Carlton School on Bridge St., a full mile away.

It actually seems closer to the platform than downtown!

I remember when the depot moved to Bridge St., trains stopped much closer to the tunnel portal. A few years later due to ADA requirements, the mini-high was built and trains moved further up north.

I support the ADA. The ADA is not the problem. But I didn’t like and still don’t like going what seems like miles from the Bridge St. entrance to get a train.

I’ve read the report on the train platform. I understand the great difficulties involved in making a high-level curved platform accessible. But I must agree with my chairman on the Commission on Disabilities, Jack Harris, and push as hard as I can for a full height platform that can be reached a short distance from the garage.

My second point is the bus berths. I ride buses from Salem Depot frequently. For I and many other people downtown, Salem Depot is the closest place to get a departing bus, since most of the bus routes skirt downtown when they leave the station and there are no closer stops.

The preferred design alternative has the bus berths on the north side of the station, with the garage between the buses and the Bridge St. entrance.

As with the train platforms, this is almost as far as Carlton School! Perhaps when I need to take the 456 I should just walk up Bridge St. to the school.

I much prefer having the bus berths along one side of the garage, or even two, as it is in one alternative presented in the report.

And they must be sheltered or at least have canopies like the current bus shelters. Some bus routes run at 80 minute or even 90 minute headways so riders will want to use the train’s waiting room; in dead of winter with kids in tow they’ll need to.

On the waiting area, I want to see it on the platform side of the station, in sight of both the train tracks and the bus berths. People will have an eye out for their train or their bus.

There must be digital signage, and automated announcements. I’m aware the T is phasing in a new generation system; Salem must have it. We must be able to sit in the waiting area and hear , and see “The next train to…Newburyport…is now approaching”, similar to rapid transit announcements. Within the lifespan of the garage, there’ll be a similar technology for bus passengers so they’ll know how long until the next 455 comes. The design of the station must allow for these improvements.

My last comment is for the City of Salem.

As all of us know, the Courthouse project, and many other projects, are changing downtown.

The city is starting at a disadvantage; as noted in my opening paragraphs, the area of Bridge and Washington Sts. has never been made for pedestrians. Visitors, jurors and court personnel alike will use that intersection constantly.

The City must do what MassHighway has done for the recent Highland Ave. crossing reconstruction and put modern audible talking pedestrian signals at Bridge and Washington.

There’ll probably never be a footbridge or a tunnel in that area in my lifetime; neither are practical.

The city, and the MBTA will have to work very hard in the coming months to make this version of Salem Depot welcoming to commuters and visitors. They need to make Salem Depot part of Salem’s downtown once again, as it hasn’t been for over 50 years.

The design is a very good start. I’m looking forward to future meetings to make this the best it can be. I’ll probably be one of the first to go down the ramp into the new station when it opens.

Make me proud of it, and proud of my city.

Salem’s Steps of Doom to Disappear?

According to the Salem News, these steps of doom may go away in a few years:  The state is funding the reconstruction of Salem Depot.

I won’t consider this one in the bag until the construction crews show up.  There’s still the meeting tomorrow night, and if it’s anything like the courthouse meeting, we could be at this a while longer.

In the meantime, I’m going to redouble my efforts, with the Commission, to improve pedestrian access on Bridge St. and place talking audible signals at every signaled crossing downtown.