Agenda Text
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Calling on the Mass. Department of Transportation to prioritize and enhance roadway safety improvements on Mystic Avenue and McGrath Highway, and to install sound walls as part of the I-93 viaduct steel rehabilitation project.
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Official Text
WHEREAS, Three pedestrians have been struck and killed in the past two years on Mystic Avenue and McGrath Highway near the intersection with the I-93 ramp; and
WHEREAS, Residents of the area and Somerville transportation activists have begun referring to these roadways as “The Corridor of Death;’ and
WHEREAS, Crash data has shown that this is one of the most dangerous roadway areas in the Commonwealth and elected officials and other leaders in Somerville have been calling on MassDOT to make transformative safety improvements on Mystic Avenue and McGrath Highway for decades; and
WHEREAS, City Councilors, the Somerville state legislative delegation and City officials recognize and appreciate that MassDOT is implementing a “road diet” with protected bike lanes, new sidewalks, new signals and ADA-compliant curb cuts and ramps on part of McGrath Highway, is planning to eventually improve the intersections at Shore Drive, the Kensington Connector, and Blakely Avenue where pedestrians have been killed, and has begun to consider the safety and mobility of pedestrians and bicyclists more seriously than in the past; and
WHEREAS, In December 2020 MassDOT presented, in a public meeting, a project to make significant (but by no means sufficient) safety improvements in the Mystic/McGrath corridor, announcing a community meeting for April 2021 and a project start date of 2022 (which would still be too slow); and
WHEREAS, Subsequent to this public meeting, MassDOT has not yet held that community meeting nor announced a rescheduled date, and has pushed the start date for the Mystic/McGrath project back by a full year to 2023; and
WHEREAS, MassDOT recently informed state legislators and City officials of a new, major, $37 million project to rehabilitate steel in the I-93 viaduct in precisely this same area, and this viaduct project, previously undisclosed, is either 75% or 100% designed and is scheduled to begin in 2022; and
WHEREAS, It appears that the critical life-preserving work of making Mystic Avenue and McGrath Highway safer for pedestrians has been delayed by at least a year due to the I-93 viaduct rehabilitation project, making it appear that MassDOT officials value the life of the steel in the I-93 viaduct more than the lives of pedestrians who must regularly cross Mystic Avenue and McGrath Highway to get to school, work, the supermarket and other destinations; and
WHEREAS, For years, when state legislators and City officials have begged MassDOT to install sound barriers on I-93 to protect East Somerville and Mystic Avenue residents from noise and deadly ultra-fine particle pollution, MassDOT officials said that they could do so only in conjunction with a major I-93 reconstruction project, and that an I-93 construction or repair project could trigger their Noise Abatement program; and
WHEREAS, On the part of MassDOT, despite the fact that the neighborhoods directly impacted by the I-93 viaduct project are formally recognized as Environmental Justice communities, there has been no mention of or apparent interest in, much less commitment to, building sound walls around I-93 in the area of the viaduct steel rehabilitation project, making it appear that MassDOT cares more about the steel than the health and lives of the residents who live in close proximity to 1-93 and who suffer the negative health impacts of ultra-fine particulate pollution and noise from the traffic on I-93; and
WHEREAS, The Somerville state legislative delegation secured numerous local items in the recently-passed Transportation Bond Bill, including $2 million for sound walls and an additional $2 million for pedestrian and safety improvements in the Mystic/McGrath corridor, and MassDOT has the ability to include these funds in their pending Capital Investment Plan, and doing so would help fund rapid road safety improvements along Mystic Avenue and McGrath Highway and sound walls along I-93, and there could potentially be much more funding available from federal grants; NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT
RESOLVED, That the Somerville City Council calls on MassDOT:
To prioritize the Mystic/McGrath safety improvements and to restore the previous start time of 2022, and furthermore, to accelerate and start this year (2021) some of the most critical life-preserving roadway improvements, especially in the three areas where pedestrians have been killed in the past two years - Blakely Avenue, the Kensington Connector, and Mystic Ave/Shore Drive; and
To add sound barriers with pollution mitigation into the I-93 viaduct steel rehabilitation project to protect the health and lives of Somerville residents who live nearby; AND BE IT FURTHER
RESOLVED, That the City Clerk forward this resolution to Jamey Tesler, Acting Secretary of Transportation; Jonathan Gulliver, Highway Administrator; Frank Suszynski, Senior Engineering Project Manager, District 4, MassDOT; Robert P. Antico, Project Manager, I-93 Viaduct Rehabilitation Project, MassDOT; and to Rep. Christine Barber, Rep. Mike Connolly, Rep. Erika Uyterhoeven, and State Senator Patricia Jehlen; and to U.S. Representative Ayanna Pressley; U.S. Senator Ed Markey and U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren.