No New Bus Stop at Hawthorne Square

 

For some time, I and the Commission have been trying to get the MBTA to establish a bus stop inside the parking lot at Market Basket.  

Last fall, we thought we were making progress.

A colleague of mine got a response from Keenan’s office, quoted here:

In a message dated 2/1/2010 10:22:55 A.M. Eastern Standard Time, Lynne Montague writes:

Hi Rich,

I wanted to get back to you with the latest information provided by the MBTA on the Highland Ave Bus Stop.  John Matthew at RMD , Hawthorne Square Mgmt has withdrawn its proposal to build a new bus shelter as the company stated it could no longer justify the expense.  The company further noted that the path for the bus, that the MBTA had agreed to, was objected to by the neighboring shopping plaza.

Mr. Matthew said he would contact the MBTA if he learned anything new or if the management company wanted to make a new proposal.  The city of Salem has instructed RMD, Hawthorne Square Mgmt that the bus stop must be cleared of snow.

I will let you know if there is any additional information on this proposal.

Best,

Lynne

Firstly, I’m uncertain as to what kind of expense is involved.  We never heard any kind of dollar figure;  was this to be an actual physical shelter?  I’d understood this would be just a bus stop in the vicinity of Market Basket.

Since I first drafted this post back in February, I've gotten some more information that puts a little light on this story.  The Commission got a copy of a letter to the Mayor's office from the MBTA, specifically from a senior planner/analyst:

The layout of this shopping center does not support a regular bus service. This facility is designed with a large parking lot, few walking paths, and multiple storefronts that would create conflicts between buses, autos, and pedestrians. With the present layout, there is no appropriate place for passengers to board, exit, or wait for the bus. We would be interested in discussing this situation with the management, owners, and/or tenants of Hawthorne Square to see if there are possibilities for making changes or additions inside the center which might create an appropriate bus waiting area area and safe path for the bus to drive through Hawthorne Square.

The Service Planning group is also concerned with the additional trip time a rerouting would impose on existing customers. We estimate that each customer trip would be lengthened by 4 minutes or mour if routed via the shopping center. Extending selected trips during weekday midday hours or on weekends could minimize the additional passenger-travel time, since there are fewer peak-period commuters who would be negatively affected by such an extension and delays from traffic are less severe.

Snow removal is a serious issue that affects the quality of a bus customer’s trip; ordinances vary by municipality. In general, snow removal on sidewalks or at bus stops is the responsibility of the abutting property owner.

The Route 107 corridor has never been quiet, except perhaps before I was born, but it is true that it has gotten more congested.  In fact, the T has had to run fewer buses with increased headways (80 minutes on weekdays) on the 450 and 456 routes due to heavy traffic on Highland Ave.

Ms. McCoy is also correct in asserting that the Hawthorne Square parking lot is not really laid out for pedestrians--there are no reserved pedestrian paths between stores.

This problem is much more than just one elderly person trying to get to the grocery store from the bus.

It's about how we have emphasized the personal car above everything and arranged our city planning around the car and its needs for parking at peak periods.

The only answer we seem to have is "more development".  While I (personally, not the Commission) cautiously favor the new Wal-Mart proposed on Highland Ave. (and disfavor Lowes), I'm not sure how this will help.

As it is, the Commission has de facto "adopted" Rt. 107, 1A, 114 and all the other entrance corridors in the city where pedestrians and people with disabilities travel. 

MassHighway has control over many of these corridors, so city councilors cannot do a lot.  Jean Pelletier and Jerry Ryan are the nominal councilors over Rt. 107's path;  I have not spoken to Jean but Jerry knows my thinking on this and we have spoken numerous times.

I recently had to contact MassHighway to fix one of the new audible signals (ironically near Market Basket).  After two months it's resolved, but someone needs to go out there to adjust its volume.

A call here, an email there, a tweak.  Until the next issue. 

Now, the talk of my state rep and my mayor is on casinos and pledges to improve 1A and 107, which will certainly serve the proposed resort at Suffolk Downs.

A tweak here, a tweak there.

People won't like this solution, but the community leaders in the region will have to push for the Blue Line to Lynn.  Just stand on the Lynnway near Wal-Mart or on Western Ave. past the bus depot and count how many buses with passengers go by.   It's more than you think.

With due respect to my colleague Rich, who never fails to give me a word against the city on this issue, it's a tough one.

And the Commission seems to be alone in fighting for this.

Tavern in the Square has an open sidewalk—In Cambridge!

Very interesting development in the Tavern in the Square situation:  Apparently, the Tavern’s Cambridge location at Central Square also has a sidewalk running through it—but it’s not closed off, unlike in Salem!

Here it is in Bird’s-eye View:

The outdoor seating can just be seen behind the white van in the center of the frame.  I have been to Central Square a number of times before the restaurant was there and I can say it would be virtually impossible to close off that section of street for the restaurant as there is much, much pedestrian traffic passing that point.

The seating seems to most resemble that of Rockafella’s, which makes me wonder all the more how this restriction in Salem came about.

Without speaking for the Commission, I can still say that this is a very interesting development that we will be pursuing for sure.

Tavern in the Square sidewalk controversy

Update on last summer’s controversy over Tavern in the Square.  The tavern’s outdoor seating has been completed and is now open for diners.

But as mentioned in the Salem News, it’s not necessarily open for pedestrians.  Due to state liquor laws, the sidewalk is closed to public access while the outdoor seating is in use.

The Commission on Disabilities has been very concerned about the blocked sidewalk for some time.  Our co-chairs spoke out last week.

SRA chairman Brennan says, of the detour:

"You might take 20 extra steps before you get beyond it," said Salem Redevelopment Authority Chairman Mike Brennan. "It's not a major impediment. I don't see this as a major problem. We're not asking you to walk a quarter of a mile."

Mr. Brennan, I have colleagues who have to count every step they have to take.  20 extra steps is not a problem for me but it is a problem for many cane users and those whose knees have given out.

But I can speak as a visually impaired person and I believe there is a problem.

Several years ago I nearly lost my sight:  My right eye’s retina tore, followed several months later by my left eye’s retina.  It was nearly two years and five operations before my sight was stable again.

During my recovery I had to perform many daily tasks with 20/100 vision or worse.  Tasks which included taking walks on sidewalks downtown and boarding buses.  You might think I should have just stayed home, but I and many others don’t have servants or even many family members to help.  There are many people walking their way through Salem with bad eyes;  I would not be the first nor the last.

To this day I have little usable vision in my left eye (20/200). 

To illustrate the problems around the Tavern in the Square area I took some photos, at noon and at dusk.  I’ve blurred them to approximate what and how I see out of my “bad” eye.

First, here is Tavern in the Square, from Washington St. walking south:

Here is the same view, through my bad eye:

Now, Tavern in the Square from New Derby St.:

And blurred:

These pictures were snapped around high noon that day.  I came back at dusk a few days later.  When your eyesight deteriorates, perhaps later in life, you may first notice it at dusk, a very challenging time to see, even for those with normal sight.

Tavern in the Square at dusk, Washington St.:

Blurred:

From New Derby St. at dusk:

And blurred:

The sign directing diners was blown down—it was gusty that day.

When your sight is bad enough  that you can only see lights and darks and vague shapes, it’s a very different experience than most are used to.  Many can imagine being sightless—just by closing their eyes—but few realize the problems faced by the visually impaired.

Much was made, during last week’s meeting and the comments in the News, about accommodating “just 4 blind people” who walk through the intersection.  I have no idea if that count is accurate, having been thrown out by a reader on the News page.  But I do know there are many more visually impaired out there.  Probably someone you know.

Here’s one last set of photos:

This is, for lack of a better term, a curb structure put in during Tavern in the Square’s development.  I don’t know what purpose it was originally for.  The Commission has been told this was “a mistake”.  Here it is blurred, and at dusk:

This is the quintessential problem I face as a visually impaired person.  Even though my sight is a good deal better than this, I have a very hard time seeing slight contrasts as represented by this sidewalk structure.

(This was blocked by sawhorses after this picture was taken.)

I occasionally attend seminars in IT as part of my field, and there is a hotel in the theatre district in Boston that I will never go to again because they insist on having steps into and out of the lobby that are black and completely unmarked.  I hate falling.  I have many other examples, of which this is only one.  (Another reason I hate cobblestones.)

I have no position on Prevey’s proposed fees on sidewalk access, and I don’t think the Commission will have a position either (at least until we next meet, if even then.)

I have no animus whatsoever towards Tavern in the Square, either, and I understand the other factors involved.

But I think there is a problem here, and I suspect the Commission will see it that way at next week’s meeting.

The resolution may involve orange barriers (at least, yellow or orange ropes, not necessarily construction barriers.)  Or it may involve redesigning the New Derby intersection, which has been on our wish-list.

But the one thing this is not about, Mr. Brennan, is “20 extra steps”.

Update:  EyesOnStreets has commented on my post..  I don’t agree with everything said there (I’m not a fan of Kunstler and, I can see the back side of the new courthouse from my house and don’t think it’s ugly) but I appreciate the kind words nonetheless.

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. 

Snowy Sidewalk Survey

Commenting on my last post, Rick asks that “they” clear the sidewalks, since he almost got killed walking the dog.

I concur.  Totally.

The problem comes when “they” are defined.  The current Salem ordnance calls for sidewalks to be cleared by the property owner.

In the photo above, Market Basket owns this sidewalk since they own and manage the supermarket and its associated parking lot that also includes Target.  The adjacent strip mall and Shaw’s are owned by someone else.

I give Market Basket credit for digging out a path, though I still had considerable trouble getting on the bus after food shopping this morning.  Last week’s news that Market Basket will work with the MBTA on a bus stop at the store is welcome, but as I had feared all year, it may likely come too late for this winter.

Across the street, the bus shelter has not been plowed:

There are sidewalks that are owned by the city, sidewalks owned by the state (like Salem Depot), and sidewalks owned by all sorts of private homeowners.

Our only recourse now as a city is to beg all the private property owners with public-facing sidewalks (which is nearly everyone) to clear their sidewalks out front.

Property owners, though, can’t only think of their own lots:

This is the Unitarian church at Ash St., next door to my building.

Its lot has been plowed and there’s a pathway, obscured by the snowbank, from the lot up to Ash St. off the image to the left.

What’s missing?

There is a public sidewalk at Bridge St.  It is completely blocked.  I use this path to get to Salem Depot when I am running late (inevitable on a morning like this) walking through my parking lot to get to Bridge St.

I had to walk in the street for half a block until the Federal St. condos, whose sidewalks were cleared out as usual, where I could re-enter the sidewalk and head for the Washington/Bridge intersection to cross to the station as I usually do.

The contractor who cleared out the church’s lot is on the hook for this.

Now multiply this by all the properties you might cross with your dog, whether it’s Federal St., Chestnut St. or Washington Sq.

The only bright spot, if anything, is that I am regularly in contact with Jason Silva (the mayor’s chief of staff) to monitor “my” block, the St. Peter/Church/Brown St. area that covers two downtown parking lots.  That still leaves the two churches (St. Peter’s and St. John’s) and their rectories, 10 Federal, Museum Place, my building (owned by the state) and the Salem Jail.

Not easy and not fun.  Yet we go through this each and every winter, complain about it, and do the same thing next year.

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.

Sidewalk Meeting Set

The City Council Committee of the Whole will review the sidewalk ordinances tomorrow (Thursday, October 15th) at 7 PM, Council chambers.  Several of us of the Commission on Disabilities will be there.

Not coincidentally, Tavern in the Square has started construction of their outdoor seating area.  That would be a done deal.  But the Commission will work to make sure it doesn’t affect sidewalk access elsewhere downtown.

Tavern on the Square Proposed Sidewalk Changes

As discussed in the September Commission meeting, Tavern In The Square wants to have outdoor seating.  To do this and comply with state law, they need to take over the stretch of sidewalk in front of their business on Washington St.

This is the handout we were given at the meeting.  I’ve added the color notations.  The green lines are the paths of travel for pedestrians, wheelchair users and cane users down Washington St. from Front St. to New Derby St.  The red area is the section of sidewalk that will be blocked to the public when the restaurant is open.

As I explained at the meeting, I wouldn’t be concerned if it were the only outdoor seating in downtown. 

It isn’t. 

That stretch of Washington St. is congested with light poles, planters, sandwich signs and numerous other obstacles.  The restaurant on the north end of the block also has outdoor seating, though it’s set off to the side of Front St.

The area at Washington and Front St. is particularly congested, as is the sidewalk in front of Tavern in the Square where it branches off to the crosswalk (the circular area in the lower left of the map.)

Halloween is coming up and it is a worst-case situation for sidewalk passage around downtown.  I’m going to try to imagine it when Tavern in the Square gets its seating.  Up the street, Rockafellas has had outdoor seating for some time, and it’s been a problem on a crowded day, even though they have the widest sidewalk available anywhere downtown, much wider than the space Tavern on the Square has available.

Unofficial Minutes of the Salem Commission on Disabilities, September 2009

The regular meeting of the Salem Commission on Disabilities was held at SATV on September 15th, 2009.  Present:  Jack Harris, chair, David Martell, Debra Lobsitz, Jean Harrison, David Tracht, David Moisan, Jean Levesque, Michael Taylor, Andy LaPointe, Charlie Reardon, co-chair, Jean Levesque, Assistant ADA Coordinator and Mike Sosnowski, City Council Liaision.

SATV Audible Bulletin Board

Jack:  First, I apologize to Dave Gauthier for having him in the agenda as “Ron Gauthier”.  I’ve asked him to come and talk about the audible bulletin board that was on SATV.  I know Andy and Dave Moisan have been talking about this.

Dave Gauthier:  We have three bulletin boards, scrolling announcements that run on each channel 3, 15 and 16.  We used to videotape the announcements on Channel 3, and we had volunteers who would read each announcement to tape.  That tape was run as a program every week.

The problem we had with this is that we did this with older technology.  As we upgraded we found we couldn’t do this anymore.  Andy and I have been trying to come up with a temporary solution.  I’ve been talking with David Moisan, who does the IT work at SATV, about how to resolve this.  Dave and I are talking with the manufacturer of our system, Tightrope Media Systems, to see what they can do.  We’ve reached out to them but haven’t heard anything back yet.

I have no idea how hard it would be to do this;  I’m not a programmer.

Dave Moisan:  I’ve done a preliminary back-of-the-envelope calculation.  Everybody knows that software comes in version numbers, 1, 2, 3.  Windows is at 7.  Mac is at 10.  The highest level of function we need is a bulletin board option that offers a synthesized voice channel of the text information that goes into the system.  There are issues with audio since we broadcast TIC Network and we would have to sort those out.  If I recall, their bulletin board software is 4.8.  It isn’t a simple update that they can give to us in version 4.8.3.  It may be a version 5 or even a 6.  They may even have to put another category of (meta)data in there.

We have enough to do with them in getting our new computer to convert DVD’s into their system, without this.

I had the idea of taking the text data they already provide to get a voice along with the visual announcements.  It’s technically feasible for me to do it.  But it’s probably not smart for me to do this.  It’s not a good project for SATV to undertake right now.

Jack:  SATV was the only station to do this originally in 2000-2001. 

Is there anything the commission or the SATV board can do to contact the software vendor to ask them to support this?

Dave Moisan:   You can contact Tightrope.  I have contacted them on more than one occasion.  I would tell them this is an important area for them to look at.  With time, this could be easier for them to do.  It’s never the final word with this sort of software;  there is always something new we want.

Keep writing.

We have the individual pieces, oftentimes, but getting all these many components to fit together.  No one makes everything and oftentimes, no one makes the one thing you need.

Jack:  My hope is that we can somehow get across to them the importance of such a system.  And two, the feedback they may get knowing that there are people in their market who appreciate these features.

David G.:  You can contact Tightrope.  They’re very responsible.

Jack:  If we can keep the pressure up.  If new technology can come about that would make it possible to do these things, it would be good.

Andy:  Why is this so difficult.  Why don’t we have volunteers?  Why not a blank screen with voiceovers?

David G.:  Andy and I have discussed this.  We try to make our channel serve as many of the audience as possible.  A blank screen with audio would use up our resource.

I have a couple of ideas I’ve brought up to Andy:  Is it possible to use our software to output text announcements for people to read?  Or is it possible to get announcements to TIC Network to read?

Andy:  I’ve talked with Ron Bersani of TIC Network and I can see what they can do to help us.

David G.:  We could take selected announcements and read those.  Announcements that won’t expire for a few weeks.  Perhaps not every week, but every other week.  I think if I can get other staff involved, we might get something going, even if it’s only part-time.

Andy:  How can I help?

Jack:  Here’s my suggestion.  Ron Bersani and TIC would be something to explore.  Then your other idea of announcements every other week.

Andy:  It would be nice to come up with something. Salem has had its audible bulletin board on longer than in many other communities.  It’s not only for the blind, but it also benefits those who are multitasking and not able to pay attention to the screen.

Dave G.:  It will be up to Dave M. and Andy and me to figure out the easiest way to proceed.  I definitely want to speak with Mr. Bersani.  If that doesn’t work out, we’ll work on the other thing.

SATV is supportive of the disability community and of the Commission.  I’ll come back in a month.

Jack:  I have a guest next month;  come back in November.  If you can get some letters from the SATV board and the Mayor’s office to send to Tightrope to support this effort, it would be good.

I’ll leave you four to work out a meeting and I will thank Dave Gauthier for showing up.

Tavern in the Square (Old Business)

Jack:  Several of you have gone on a site visit of Tavern in the Square.  There’s a site plan in your packet.  We have a major problem.

As everyone knows, Tavern in the Square wants to establish outdoor seating outside the restaurant in the grass and the trees, at the corner of Washington and New Derby Sts.

Between that area and the restaurant, there’s a sidewalk that runs parallel to the building along Washington St.  To get their liquor license, they need to be able to have contiguous seating between the restaurant and the seating area, this is a state regulation.

The problem that the Commission runs into, that I have personally run into, is that when they block the sidewalk, you don’t have a direct path of travel.  Under the ADA regulations, there’s not a lot about this.  I have written to the MOD asking them to look at this.

If this were Hamilton or Wenham, Danvers or Peabody, it might not be a big deal but with a world-class city with thousands of tourists from all over the world, to put a barrier and obstacle with outdoor seating is a big deal.  They’re not the only ones who do this;  Rockafellas does, and Puleo’s does.  It’s like a maze!

Jean Levesque:  Are they saying the tables have to be on the sidewalk?

Jack:  To comply with state liquor laws, there has to be contiguous seating.  If you notice on the plans, if that sidewalk is blocked, there is another sidewalk that goes out and around.  My contention is that that route is not a direct path of travel and takes one away from the buildings.

Jean:  It’s not wide.

Jack:  No, it’s not.   Andy might attest to how difficult or challenging it may be to take that route.

Andy:  It might be difficult for those unfamiliar to Salem.

Mike S.:  The City Council wants to invite the Commission and others to speak about the impact that this would take.

Jack:  Personally, I will make clear, I am not against outdoor seating.  It would be an asset, particularly to this city, but this represents a barrier.  We talked about Rockafellas, and Essex St., some years ago.  We need a clear vision where we don’t block the direct path of travel, and that is up Washington St.

We also run the risk, I’ve said a thousand times, of someone coming in and filing a complaint about the path of travel and that could cost the city.

Andy:  We talked about this before:  Crossing Front St., from the bank, would be to go straight, and follow the walkway parallel to the building?

Jack:  You would take a right from Derby to Washington St, go straight and cross Front St.

Andy:  I’m trying to envision this:  The new path, is it ADA compliant? 

Jack:  It is physically ADA compliant;  the sidewalk is wide enough, the slope is right, etc.  The part that is not compliant is that the [alternate path around the bus shelter] is not the direct path of travel.

Andy:  I prefer the direct route.  People from all over the place come to Salem and talk about Salem, if you come to the lunchroom of the Carroll Center.  Someone who is blind and a cane user can run into serious difficulties.  They could get sighted assistance, but lots can happen.

Jack:  Talking about people in motorized chairs, canes, moms with carriages.  [Dave Martel:  emergency personnel]

Jean Harrison:  What about the incline at the corner?

Jack:  They’re taking the curbing out and grading it to level [at the corner.]

As I understand from Councilor Sosnowski, the Commission will be formally asked to attend a meeting about this sometime in the future.  I’ll let people know as soon as I get the invitation.

Jean L.:  As Councilor Sosnowski says, that comes under the jurisdiction of the SRA.   There’ll be 20-22 tables that’ll be serviced from the restaurant when it’s open.  Will the sidewalks be closed?

Jack:  Yes, the sidewalk will be closed to the public per state law.  Issue is that when the sidewalk is blocked, there is not a direct path of travel.

Jean L.:  The sidewalk becomes part of the restaurant when it is in use?

Jack:  Yes.  Mike, does that become technically the property of the restaurant when it’s open?

Mike S.:  That’s never been determined.

Charlie:  Is that sidewalk to belong to the restaurant year round?

Mike S.:  I’m not comfortable with handing them city property to get a liquor license.

Jack:  Not necessarily to defend Tavern in the Square, but they are the only ones to go through the paperwork to do this.  Others have just thrown their tables out on the sidewalk.  I give them credit.

Andy:  We went to some other licensing board meetings with another restaurant and I had trouble walking through there.  It’s still there.  There are quite a few incidents I have made known to the board, but they’re still there.

Jack:  Was there an ordinance on outdoor seating?

Mike S.:  There was a jurisdictional war over this that was not decided.

Jack:  I’ll let everyone know.

David M.:  Brief comment;  I’m not going to get into what Tavern in the Square is doing specifically, but I took pictures at the site.  I came there from the north.  There’s another restaurant on the corner of Front.  There’s a bottleneck there where you can go straight up Washington, or take a right to the bus shelter.  There’s another intersection on the sidewalk further down where they will block off.

I miss the direct path of travel, but there’s a lot of street furniture on that stretch of Washington St.  A lot of people are coming and going from  Front St., and the other bottleneck further down at New Derby.  Tavern in the Square could do everything right, but there’s still a bottleneck.  We know well Front St. is a perennial problem.  They have to fit in to our downtown and that’s the real problem

Salem Willows Bathrooms (Old Business)

Jack:  The bathrooms at the Salem Willows were vandalized.  A portapotty was torched, and an excursion boat was broken into.

Jean S.:  The new bathrooms were a great improvement.

Jack:  Jean Harrison and I have noted the toilet paper holders are too far from the toilets.  We hope this is fixed when the vandalism is fixed.

Market Basket T Stop (old business)

Jack:  Jason and I have been working on having the T stop at Market Basket directly.  We are hopeful this will happen before the first snow

Project Lifesaver

Andy:  We’ve gotten $450 towards Project Lifesaver.  We are going to the Rotary Club to close our funding gap.  Once done, John Jodoin of the Salem Police Dept. will write a letter of intent to the company.  And training will be arranged.  We have money from Dominion and the Trust Board, and we are closer.

Charlie:  What do they need?

Andy:  $1200.  There are more calls I need to make

Four First St.

I talked to Tom St. Pierre about this, and to Jason, and we are keeping on top of the situation

Jean L.:  Was a letter sent to the company?

Jack:  Yes

David Martel:  I have been keeping people in my complex updated.

Salem Common Playground

Jack:  There was a request of $30,000 towards the Salem Common Playground?

Mike S.:  This is not from the city, part of it came from the Salem Common Neighborhood Association.  This was just a formality;  it’s a done deal.

Jack:  I’ve looked at the regulations.  The only regulation regarding accessible playgrounds is path of travel;  you must be able to get to them.  But there’s nothing about the equipment itself.

I’ve talked with Tom St. Pierre about this and I have suggested that 25% of the play area, one or two pieces, should be made accessible to the disabled.

Accessible structures do tend to be safer for children than regular playground structures.  We want to get Parents United to go for it on that basis.

MAAB Bypass Road (old business)

Jack:  You have a packet about the bypass road bike path issue.  The interesting part is, this decision is coming from the counsel at MassHighway and not by the project manager.  Hopefully this will get resolved.

Sober House (old business)

Jack:  The MAAB has taken jurisdiction of this matter and ordered any tenants in the second floor to move out (he wasn’t supposed to have tenants, but advertised on Craigslist.)  The owner now wants to make this into a single family house.  We have to look very closely at the letter of the law.  There are two businesses on the first floor that are not accessible, which the MAAB has also taken jurisdiction on..  I talked to Tom St. Pierre and not heard from him.  There was a fine hearing last month and the owner was given one month to comply.  They won’t give him a break the next time.  The building department is keeping a very close watch.

Lyceum Renovations

They didn’t trigger the 30% rule and they didn’t trigger the $100,000 amount.  The only work was on the first floor and the only change was to rebuild the ramp in the rear of the building.  They asked for a variance for the front door.  I suggested they get a portable ramp for the front door and an automatic door opener.  The variance was accepted.  The Lyceum doesn’t have to follow our recommendations but they were strongly suggested to.  It will open this week and I will check them out myself.  They’ve been very cooperative.

Market Basket Parking Lot HP Spaces

Jack:  The MAAB has been getting complaints about water puddling in the handicapped spaces.  Someone complained to the MAAB and I have been in touch with their real estate person who assures me they will repave and set the pitch so that water trains off.

Formal Interpretation of  CMR 521-22.2

Jack:  Tom St. Pierre asked us to interpret the required width of sidewalks based on the problems we had at Marlborough Road.

This is very timely as I just got the completed project plans for the Bridge St. reconstruction project.

Jack:  The width is 48 inches for compliance.   The absolute minimum width is 36 inches.  This does not include the width of the curbstone itself.

Mike S.:  That’s a very important point.

Rt. 107 Highland Ave. (new business)

Jack:  There are finally audible signals at Wal-Mart. Charlie and Andy can elaborate:

Charlie:  We went down there to check the timing.  One thing we found is the crosswalks are not straight.  One curbstone is offset from the one across the street.

Andy:  That’s ok if the audible beacons are located at the curbstones and they are at a reasonable volume level.  This is Highland Ave.

We had a problem with Ravenna Ave.:  There were a lot of complaints with the audible signals so they turned them down.  That’s a waste of taxpayer money and does no one any good.  Jack, can you write a letter to MassHighway asking that the audible signals be turned up in volume?

Andy:  Most of Highland Ave. is not residential.

Andy:  The ones by Wal-Mart have a tactile strip, and you can get to them, but the locator beacons aren’t loud enough.  The state department has trouble with the levels.  I talked with Sue Cranney (you remember Sue?)  She suggested writing Dave Knowlton.

Jack:  I talked with him this morning.  He suggested talking with Don Giardi about the levels.  The road does belong to the state, but it, like the T station, it’s not clear on exactly who is responsible.

We were going to ask Tom Muxie to come out and check the pole placements and the walk buttons on the poles.  Regulations only say the poles be “reasonably placed”.

Charlie:  Tom’s in a wheelchair so he’ll be able to tell us if he can reach the buttons on the pole.

If I get stuck on Highland Ave., there’s no way in God’s green Earth, I’m going to be able to cross the street with traffic.

Jack:  When you hit the button to cross the street, the law says you have the time and right of way to cross no matter how long it takes.

Andy: There’s a law against robbing banks, too.

Hawthorne Hotel Parking Lot (new business)

Jack:  The hotel is restriping their lot.  A suggestion was made, a great one I thought, that they lay a stripe down marking the sidewalk area.  They did so and I give them a lot of praise.  There was a letter from the community praising them for doing that.

But something not so good:  At their other lot at Essex and Union St. (across the street from the hotel), there isn’t a curb cut at the sidewalk.  There’s a curbstone and a phone pole.  You can’t use the sidewalk unless you go around.  I can’t imagine why they did this.  I alerted Jason to this and like the leech I am I will hang on him until this is fixed.

Talking Books Demonstration (other business)

Andy:  Couple of toys I have.  First thing I have, is two different reading devices.  The first one is from National Library Services, free to the blind and print-handicapped.  These replace the old cassette machines.  These use cartridges.  The cartridges plug in and there are voice prompts.

There are braille symbols on the buttons and buttons for bookmarks, playback, fast forward, speed and volume.   A pause button, a backup (rewind) button,  keep your finger on it and it goes to the next chapter.

It has a very good voice.  Only problem is there are only 50 books, though there are more every time.  National Library Services has a download service for computer users.

The book reader has a slot for a flash card, and a remote controller for people who need alternate controls.

There is a headphone jack as well.  Any questions?

Jack:  They’ve come very quickly.  I talked with Andy about his and signed up on a waiting list and got it right away!

Andy:  This device is free.  They’re phasing out cassettes.

The next device is the Victor Reader.  This is not free. It’s smaller and you may not hear it as well in this demonstration.  It works like a computer;  it connects to your computer with a USB port and you transfer files to it like a flash drive.

You get the books in ZIP files and they’re specially encoded;  you can’t play the files in an MP3 player.  You hit buttons on the keypad—1,4, 6—to get individual folders to play.  [sound of Reader reading a chapter.)

You can buy books from Audible.com to work with this;  pretty much anything.  Some books are read by the author, others not.  You can also set bookmarks and highlights;  you can list bookmarks.

Jack:  Big question.  How much?

Andy:  $325.  This is life changing.  It has headphones.  It has a 1” external speaker which sounds great.  You can download podcasts.  You can download a Braille file and it will be transcribed to voice.

You can hit a key—7—and something to search for and it will search through your text book or Braille book for the terms.

[inaudible]:  How do we get the free reader?

Andy:  Call the Perkins Library, 1-617-924-3434 and get an application to join the library service and get one of these machines.  Just keep in mind that the inventory of books is very low, it’s a new system.

The Victor machine is made by Humanware, a Canadian company.  1-800-722-3393.  This is one of the best investments I ever made!  You can also take customized notes, on say a textbook.  I can literally put a thousand books on there and search them.

Jean L.:  Any charges for the books?

Andy:  National Library Service books are free.  Downloaded books from them are also free and don’t need to be returned.  You can put as many books as you want on an SD card.

Another device to demo:  This is a thing I think is very valuable for the average person:  Sierra Systems KeyRinger.    This is a key locator.  Nothing better.  $20 for a pair.  Push the button, and the other end, attached to my keys, will beep for 30 seconds until I shut it off.

I have a big yard.  I use these on my deck.  It’s saved me hours going on my deck.  It’s fun when there are three or four of these going off all at once.

This is great for any blind person who needs a locator.  One end could go on the fridge, and the other end on your keys, your remote, etc.

$20 and call 1-800-776-4888.

It’s weather resistant;  I’ve had it in the rain.  It’s advertised as being able to be run over by a truck;  someone dropped one in a field in the rain.  They found it and it worked.

Andy:  Questions?

Jack:  Ever take the sailing course again?  No?  We’ll see you taking the sailing course again with Maureen.

Jack:  Next meeting is October 20th.  There will be community meetings on the city’s five year plans.  I have invited Jane Guy to come.

I cannot be there;  there is a statewide transportation conference that I have been invited to, so Charlie will chair the next October meeting.

Charlie:  Anything to do with the RIDE?

Jack:  Yes, this will be part of the meeting.

Mike S.:  What about the tourist trolleys?  Are they accessible?

Jack:  I did witness the Salem Trolley pick up two disabled individuals.  They got on board and hopefully had a good trip.

Thanks very much and see you in October.

Outside Dining and Sidewalk Access

 

Tavern in the Square, the new restaurant that opened on the site of the old Salem News, wants to have outdoor dining at the corner of New Derby & Washington St. near the bus stop. 

This draws our interest at the Commission on Disabilities, since we are concerned about sidewalk access and what we call “path of travel”.

We’ll notice this come October.

I have no position on whether Tavern in the Square should be permitted outside seating, but I’ve been concerned about other outside seating.  Most notably, Rockafellas takes up a good chunk of Washington St., and I have had trouble getting by there in crowds.

Another serious bottleneck in the past has been Cilantro, which at one time had a seating area on Liberty St. (the “Haunted Alley”) which was virtually impassable anytime in October.  (The seating is no longer there.)

The Front Street Coffeehouse has a small seating area;  unfortunately, Front St. has a small sidewalk.

Tavern in the Square was already mentioned at one of our meetings.  Jack Harris heard from one person who claimed their entrance was poorly lit and marked for the visually impaired.  I’ll probably have lunch there sometime to see, or not see, for myself.

No doubt we’ll be bringing this up at the next meeting.

Pedestrians and the new Senior Center

As reported a while ago by both the Salem News and the Gazette, the City Council has approved the Boston & Bridge St. location for the new senior center.

It’s a familiar place:  I lived in this neighborhood, on nearby Varney St, for 9 years from 1973 to 1982, and spent most of that time walking, to the old Crosby’s on Essex St., to downtown Salem, downtown Peabody or to the North Shore Shopping Center via the old Michaud bus (now the 465). 

I knew this neighborhood well.  Except for the empty lot of the former Sylvania, and the Walgreens that replaced Ideal Finishing, the intersection in the photo hasn’t changed a bit.

And that’s the real problem in the neighborhood.

Bridge St., and the one-way Proctor St. directly opposite it, effectively splits Boston St. in two.  There are no pedestrian signals, and only faded crosswalks between the side of Boston St. east of Bridge, and the west end of Boston St. past Dunkin Donuts.

There are only two places in the area to cross Boston St. itself:  Pope St., which you can just see in the photo above at the triple-decker (the old Witches’ Brew), and at Proctor & Grove St.:

Except for having modern (1990’s) pedestrian signals, this too is as it was when I lived here.

There is bus service still:

And a bus stop at the future senior center:

Some seniors think there’s nothing there for them in this neighborhood and it’s dangerous, so why should the center be here?

But, the AOH is here, familiar to many seniors:

And the Moose on Grove St., deep in the heart of Blubber Hollow:

I do know why Boston St. has been the way it is for years:

The Bypass Road.

The road was originally going to proceed parallel to Bridge St. past the B&M yard (now Salem Depot) and go down Harmony Grove Road.

My dear friend Leo Jodoin put his hopes on that, as did many in the neighborhood, including the Gallows Hill Neighborhood Association.

As long as the bypass road was to go down that way, the thinking went at the time, all the traffic will go off Boston St. (as it has gone off Bridge St. with the new road.)  As if by magic, pedestrian traffic never has to be considered!  (Back in the day, the state highway department never thought of pedestrians, either.)

Except for new pedestrian signals at Grove & Pope Sts., the signals at Boston and Bridge St. are virtually unchanged from the late-seventies, the last time signals were put in at that intersection.

If the bypass road is going in, why bother improving the intersection?

But of course it didn’t go in.  Leo intones on his show at every opportunity, “It’s NOT a bypass road!”

But that won’t change things.

He can say that on his show ad infinitum.  It’s his show.

I can’t.  Salem can’t.  Pining over the bypass road will not help the pedestrians on Boston St.  When the senior center comes in, this area will have to change.  It would have had to change anyway;  Sylvania is gone and Flynntan has long been a ruin. 

This is the last major intersection in Salem that’s unimproved.  That there haven’t been plans to redesign it is nothing short of negligence.

I wish Leo would want it changed;  it’s his neighborhood.  But there’s still hope.

A few months ago, I talked with Jerry Ryan about the pedestrian problems on Highland Ave.  He was very willing and able to get involved with the redesign that MassHighway is doing on that street.

Jerry, I know you lost the debate on the senior center.  I know I disagreed with you on that.  And I know I’m not your constituent.  But I know you read my blog.

I will ask you to please do what you can to see that Boston St. is improved for traffic and pedestrian access.  When the senior center and associated development comes in, there will be more pedestrian traffic. 

Help us get talking pedestrian signals like there are on North St.

Last of all, don’t take Boston St. for granted.  Toward the end of my stay in that neighborhood, I saw it go downhill when the factories closed and Flynntan burned.  Over the years we’ve taken that for granted.  The neighborhood looks terrible, but that’s the way it always looks, the way it always is, so don’t change it, goes the feeling.

Don’t do that.

Boston St. needs rebuilding.  It needs restitching at Boston and Bridge.  Your neighborhood, the city and I are counting on it.

Update:  The Salem News praises Bridge St. redevelopment but doesn’t mention Boston St.

Walking in Salem in the Winter

The Salem News followed up on my earlier blog post, The Most Dangerous Bus Stop in Salem;  Tom Dalton’s article, “Worst Bus Stop in Salem?” touched on most of the points I made.  The Mayor’s office is looking at a few things they can do;  one thing they can’t do, according to the MBTA, is put a bus shelter there.  As I’ve suspected, there is no room on that sidewalk.

The solutions available are to reroute the 450 and 456 buses to go through the parking lot to Market Basket, as Market Basket has asked for, or simply to plow the sidewalk. 

My colleagues and I in the Salem Commission on Disabilities all agree that we should not let this drop when the last snow melts this season.  There are numerous other places on Highland Ave. that are problems for pedestrians, such as at Wal-Mart ,and the inbound lane across from CVS on Essex St. and we need to look at them all.

I’m glad, of course, that Tom Dalton put a spotlight on this issue, and the Commission, but I must move on to other problems. 

One glaring problem all winter has been the sidewalk at the one-hour lot outside Museum Place, seen in the photo  above.  Except for a brief period in December when the snow melted, it has been impassable all winter.  St. John’s Church does not clear its sidewalk on the opposite side, and the street itself is very narrow.

It’s no less dangerous than Highland Ave. to a pedestrian in the winter.  And it is the route I take to SATV every day.

Lastly, here is a photo that illustrates what the Commission has to contend with in the winter:

This was taken on Sunday morning outside the Zisson elderly housing complex at the Salem YMCA [and the space belongs to the SHA, not the Y—correction.]  Note the high snowbanks, that would make it difficult for those in a chair van to navigate.

Also note the parked car (I’ve obscured the plate.)  Current HP placards are hung from the rear-view mirror;  I didn’t see one. 

My colleague Dave Martel has been after the Y to shovel its HP spaces;   he’s a reader of my blog, I wonder what he’ll find?

Update:  I’ve heard from Dave;  the city or its plowing contractor at the Y is doing a better job this year.  We may yet get through the rest of this winter without a serious problem.

Sidewalk Help

Following my Broken Sidewalks Report for November 2008, one Federal St. reader wanted help getting the brick sidewalks looked after.

Here is my secret:  Take pictures with a digital camera or cameraphone and send them to Jason Silva, and to your councilor;  in Ward 2, Mike Sosnowski, otherwise see the Salem City Council on salem.com.

Be patient;  neither Jason nor your councilor can fix sidewalks on the spot (we wish!)  The Salem DPW will prioritize and fix.  Unfortunately, the Federal St. neighborhood has had to cope with the lack of maintenance for many years, and with the possible prospect of removing some trees that are overrunning the sidewalk.  It’ll be a big project that can’t be put off for much longer.

But we can still work on the small things one brick at a time.  This is very important as we go into another winter, and to its aftermath in the spring when we will find new potholes and ruts to complain about.

Broken Sidewalks Report for November 2008

Part, I meant all, of our work for the Salem Commission on Disabilities involves sidewalks.  Broken sidewalks are at very best annoying.  At worst, they can hurt.

Outside St. Peter’s Church, St. Peter’s St:

The DPW cone implies that Salem DPW knows about this one already.  Charlie Reardon brought it up at the disability meeting the day before.  [UPDATE:  This is fixed with hot-top.  Presumably it’ll be fixed permanently in the spring.]

100 feet up St. Peter St., in front of St. John’s Rectory:

 

The bump in the sidewalk perhaps caused by the tree root, has dislodged these bricks.

At the Salem District Court parking lot outside Federal St.:

Loose bricks are very dangerous, particularly in the winter.   They can be dislodged by shovels or worse, “eaten” by snowblowers that can hurl them out of their chutes to hit a car or a person.  And in late November, we are on borrowed time for winter.

I’ve sent these pix to Jason Silva.  [Update.  The brickwork outside St. Peter’s Church is in the process of being fixed.]

Salem’s Downtown Now More Accessible

[Sidewalk curb cut outside the Knights of Columbus Hall.  This was scheduled to be repaired around Sept. 20th, due to the steep dropoff and gap between the sidewalk and the street.]

The Salem Gazette writes about an initiative by the city to improve sidewalks for people with disabilities.  I’ve blogged this before, but it’s in the media now.

There’s no denying that Salem’s rippling brick sidewalks and bumpy cobblestone streets are quaint, but how accommodating are they for people with physical handicaps?

Not very, says Salem’s Commission on Disabilities (SCD). At the commission’s request the city has begun constructing several downtown streets to carve out small sidewalk ramps, called curb cuts, that enable people to more easily reach street level.

The majority of the curb cuts are being installed along Essex and Washington streets at about eight different locations including in front of the Salem Public Library. More will be constructed in coming months along Lafayette Street near Salem State College. According to city officials, construction will be complete in time for Halloween to greet incoming tourists.

The Commission has long had mixed feelings about brick sidewalks.  When they’re new, they’re as easy to navigate as concrete sidewalks.  When they’re old, not as much. 

Worst, as usual, are the cobblestones on Essex St. downtown:

Charlie Reardon, 73, is happy to see these changes but say that downtown streets still remain a problem. Walking with a cane, Reardon has trouble navigating the cobblestone areas of the Essex Street pedestrian mall, especially during events when merchants set up tents along the brick sidelines.

“I try to stay to the right or left … but pedestrians often occupy this and it makes it hard to get around,” he says. “And God help the poor soul in a wheelchair. Those cobblestones jar your insides out.”

I’ll spell this out so people can understand.  The downtown you see today is not the one in McIntyre’s day.  It is a simulation.  It was built in 1976 in an downtown revival fad that attempted to revitalize areas by making them pedestrian-only areas.  The cobblestones were there to make it appear historic. 

They’re not authentic.

They’ve caused more problems with pedestrian traffic flow downtown than any other architectural element.  The Commission regularly has to monitor pedestrian flow and wheelchair access during Haunted Happenings, and our work would be much easier without those stones.

Before you post the inevitable comments telling me to move, consider:

“This is a large tourist city,” Andrew LaPointe, a member of the SCD, points out. “There are 50,000 people in the nation who are disabled … A lot of them come to Salem … We are trying to make the city more comfortable for them.”

The ankle not sprained by a cobblestone may be your own.

In other good news, the Witch House is being made accessible.  The entrance and several important passages are being widened for chairs.  It won’t be done in time for this Halloween, but it should be ready by tourist season next spring.

St. Peter’s St.

Robert Moran writes another column on my neighborhood .  He has a comment on the small (unnamed) park outside my building:

In front of the old jail, on the corner, a park was born this month. With wild flowers, shade trees and a couple of benches, it is already a stroll-through for Salemites. It provides excellent vantage to enjoy pigeon games and watch Bridge Street traffic integrate with the new bypass.

To prevent lingering, road builders installed a god-awful pedestrian crossing bell at St. Peter and Bridge. If annoyed park sitters find the bell irritating, they might pity the tormented residents of Morency Manor and Jefferson Apartments. A stone’s throw from their windows, builders installed additional (deci) bells.

It is indeed annoying and frustrating but not deliberate.  I have a long history with that particular pedestrian signal.

Over two years ago, I and the Salem Commission on Disabilities (myself, Jack Harris, Charlie Reardon, Andy LaPointe and the mayor’s chief of staff Jason Silva) met with the bypass road’s project director, Sue Cranney of MassHighway.

We wanted “talking” pedestrian signals, made by Polara Engineering, at St. Peter’s St.  We had wanted these also at Bridge and Washington St. at the train station, but we were told (in 2006) that the signals were already ordered, so we focused our attention on St. Peter’s St., which would not be completed until the end of the project two years later.

Ms. Cranney agreed to our request and told us the extra cost upfront would not be an issue to her budget.  We had every reason to believe that

Fast forward to now.  As soon as I saw the ringing signal—which was not what we asked for—my chairman, Jack, contacted Ms. Cranney.  She told him the signal was in compliance.  This is technically correct.

But the Polara signal has already been used in MassHighway projects in Salem!  You can find these talking signals at Marlborough Rd., Vinnin Square, and most notably at Salem State College’s Central Campus opposite Jefferson Ave.

I have been left to wonder why MassHighway would use the Polara signals in some locations but not others.  None of the locations of these signals are anywhere near hospitals or other “places for the disabled” (which is usually how accommodations take place when someone feels sorry for the disabled).   Marlborough Rd. is a residential area even more so than St. Peter’s St., Vinnin Sq. is a commercial area with few pedestrians.  The Polara signal at Jefferson and Loring services busy Salem State College, but the area was merely a residential DMZ between North and South Campus (Central Campus did not yet exist) when the signal was installed.

MassHighway recently rebuilt the busy Coolidge Corner intersection in Brookline with Polara signals.  Here’s what they look and sound like:

These signals adjust their volume to overcome ambient noise and to be quiet at night.  They wouldn’t disturb people on my corner.

More importantly, they are more vandal-proof than other pedestrian controls and are cheaper to maintain.

MassHighway is trading off their cheap acquisition price for the extra expense that the city will have, once the project is turned over to them.

It is an understatement that I am disappointed in Ms. Cranney.

Many might wonder, why do we need these signals in Salem?  We’re not Brookline.   

Or are we?

Coolidge Corner is a busy place for pedestrians going to and from businesses and the trolley down the middle of Beacon.

Washington St. and Bridge St. is busy with pedestrians.  They go from place to place at the intersection.  They also go to the train station.  Lots of people do.

Since the city and the state have both decided to move forward with the courthouse project, there is and will be much pedestrian traffic, not only at Washington and Bridge but also at North and Federal.

Since the city wants to keep pedestrians moving through downtown Salem, I suggest that Kim Driscoll might make some calls to MassHighway before the project is transferred over. 

Oh, and Robert, people live in the neighborhoods you write about.  Just saying.

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.