What follows is a rough transcript of the Mayoral Forum. I have tried to be accurate. If there is a question of accuracy, please visit NewTV's online video of the event here. I have edited out introductory comments by Lois Levin and intermediary comments by Srdjan Nedeljkovic, which may be available elsewhere shortly.
1. Public transportation
What would be your priorities for improving - and providing incentives for - public transportation within the city and the region, and in what time frame would you expect to implement your goals?
Balser: We have a transportation crisis in Newton and the Commonwealth. I'm working hard with advocates of transportation to save and restore our transit system. More locally in Newton our options depend not just on the state; I would encourage our own local transportation. We had an experiment with Nexus some years ago; I think we could revisit the idea of our own bus system in Newton. It would take some creativity and learning from past mistakes. The increase in traffic and people driving alone in cars means we need to revisit that issue. We could also work with businesses and universities about transit, and increase bicycle and pedestrian access.
Coletti: One of the things we'll have to do almost immediately, tehre are 5 intercity bus routes, and additionally the Watertown-Dedham route. With cuts in the budget and the MBTA deficit, it's gonna be important that we continue to maintain these bus routes. It's also important that the entrance in West newton is kept open without a toll to keep traffic coming onto the turnpike before it gets to Newton so we don't clog Newton's streets. We need to keep permitting companies and BC for transit, and working with the taxi industry. I helped engineer the RIDE program. That as a core is an important system. We have to demand that the state doesn't remove the bus services. I hope to expand the availability of parking.
Parker: Public transportationis about choices. We invest billions of dollars supporting automobile transit. The 20th century was the automobile century. The 19th century was the train century. What will the 21st century be? Fortunately, that is in our hands. Will historians look back on this century as the bike century, the public transportation century, or the congestion, traffic, and pollution century? We are at the Nexus, to borrow a term, of that decision making process. By working with our planners and other cities and towns, we can coordinate public transportation, so we can, as Srdjan Nedeljkovic has proposed, extend the green line down Needham Street to Needham Center. We can build more bike lanes and bike racks at T stations, we can extend the bus from Watertown to Newton into village centers in a coordinated way, and we can bring back a local bus service. We can actually have transportation meet the needs of people in the city, rather than someone sitting down with a map and plotting bus routes that don't meet anybody's needs. We can and we will take on these challenges, and build a transit system that makes us all want to make the choice not to turn on the car every day. That can start right here in Newton with your cooperation.
Warren: I'm an avid cyclist. I know about the roads here as a driver and as a cyclist. We need to focus on reducing the number of cars on the road. That's going to mean good solid pedestrian walkways and bike lanes where possible, as well as preserving and extending public transportation. The second thing is road management. We're going to have cars regardless of what we do, and that means investing in the kind of maintenance we haven't been investing in in so long. Our roads are in deplorable condition. We have to set up a trust fund for that. We also have to look at traffic calming. We have to look at ways we can connect our neighborhoods and villages together, and that means not building streets with dead ends, but connecting them to other streets so that traffic flows better here in the city. Holistically we have to look at all this together, and not seperately. The city and the Mayor has to be proactive, not reactive. What are the incentives to get people walking to our village centers? What kind of businesses do they want, what kind of stores do they want? We have to look at this holistically, not so much as separate pieces.
Follow up: What would your administration do to interact with and influence state and regional agencies to ensure that Newton's transportation concerns are addressed and implemented?
Balser: I would be very active on the MBTA board, I'd be active with out legislative delegation. With the regionalization before the legislature, we are moving towards a committee to study all forms of regionalization to make it easier: our transportation system relies a lot on those connections. But it would be a mistake to rely too much on state and region; we need to be proactive locally about alternative transportation and getting people out of cars here in Newton.
Coletti: There was a time years back when Newton withheld money from the county because we didn’t like the shape of county government. We pay over $4 million a year to the MBTA. We have to make sure we have a strong position on the advisory boards where we hold a strong position. We need to cooperate with Brookline and surrounding towns to build a coalition strong enough to pressure the MBTA. Even the outlying western suburbs: we need to make it clear that the D line on a Red Sox game day is as much a benefit for them as it is for the City of Newton. We need to build a coalition and make sure we're heard at the state house.
Parker: The Mayor of Newton actually sits on the MAPC. That seat goes with the position. That's a very influential position in regional planning. I would aggressively seek out relationships with leaders of surrounding communities, because transit does not end a the boundaries of a community. We have a problem on Needham Street. We also need to think of all alternatives, such as working with Needham to seek a grant to get $5-15 million to work on regional transit between Newton and Needham, that could help get the green line extension. People could get from Newton Center to Needham and points on Needham Street without getting in their cars.
Warren: We need to be realistic about state money. There are a lot of Mayors and leaders pursuing State money. Needham St. is a priority. We need to make sure we have a complete plan, so we can be at the table, at the state level and the federal level. We ought to be working with surrounding communities continuously. One thing that cities and towns had when they applied for state and federal money was a realistic town plan. They knew what their needs were, and they knew how the money would benefit the state. We need a realistic neighborhood plan that follows smart growth principles and gets input from the community.
2. Development
The city spent considerable time and money to develop a Comprehensive Plan that included specific guidelines for Transportation, such as limiting street widening, and recommended establishing a Transportation Advisory Committee. When would you implement this recommendation, and what role would it play in your administration?
Coletti: much of what's in the comprehensive plan has been part of the linkage of what's happened in the past. For instance, when Newton-Wellesley Hospital expanded, they were responsible for providing bus transportation from Newton Corner up to the hospital. On Needham Street, as developers apply for special permits, people would have the responsibility of paying into either and alternate transportation fund that would fund, for instance something like the Nexus Bus, which unfortunately didn't work before. We can't make that into the kind of system that would go to each person's house. Following the Comprehensive Plan, every developer that comes into the planning department will have a series of steps that they're going to have to take in order to explain to the aldermen how they intend to meet the requirements, that will be a stepping-stone to having the developer come before the board of aldermen. That will happen immediately. Riverside and Needham St. are great opportunities to develop additional business while possibly not interfering with the transportation there, and that's one of the first places where the next administration will have an opportunity to implement points of the Comprehensive Plan.
Parker: We can't have a conversation about the Comprehensive Plan without acknowledging the tremendous work of dozens of Newton residents, led by Phil Herr. Alderman George Mansfield helped me develop a lot of the points in the Comprehensive Plan into my Blueprint Newton's Future, which promises to implement those recommendations, and gives specific timetables. I believe the specific timetable for appointing that committee is immediately upon taking office. It's all there in our Blueprint for Newton's future, which is on our website. It's a living document, and I would like to hear feedback, and many people here in the room tonight helped put that together, and thank you. The question is do we have the will to implement these ideas? I look out the window with Benjamin, my two year old and I, and count cars, trucks, and bicycles. My vision for Newton is that several years from now, when he's older, I'd like to count more bicycles than cars.
Warren: I too want to acknowledge the work put into the comprehensive plan. More important, is how and when we put this plan into action. Why do we need another committee? What we haven't done is put people together at the executive level and develop a vision for how the villages will look. For instance, one of the principles in the plan is to have transportation nodes at all our villages. last time I looked, there was no green line extension on Needham Street. We need to implement the brilliant smart planning principles in the plan. Another issue: the narrowing of streets. We have to be able to do that.
Balser: One of my first actions as a mayor will be to appoint a Transportation Advisory Committee. There are two top concerns in Newton that people have: Schools and Traffic. While the schools have a coherent structure for people to consider issues, transportation does not. Transportation experts are spread across differfent departments. The idea of the Transportation Advisory Committee is to draw on the tremendous talent, intelligence and committment of people in Newton to form just that, an Advisory Committee. I daresay there are people in this room that are high on that list to be appointed to that committee if I become Mayor. People's biggest concern when I first ran for Alderman was traffic. I thought they were all going to talk about the schools. So I asked to be put on the traffic committee. The first step to solving transportation problems would be to bring together the wisdom of people in the citizenry to come together to address issues of traffic calming, development, and a local transportation system.
Followup: How would you promote design guidelines and zoning changes to steer developers towards bike, pedestrian & transit-friendly development?
Coletti: If you want to understand the answer to that question, you have to take a look at Needham Street. The first study on Needham Street was in 1984, which talked about closing curb cuts, opening rear-access, it has been an enormous undertaking. 2 Mayors said we'll solve the problem on Needham Street. It's taken more than just the Mayor's word to do that, to meet with the owners of those properties to convince them to help come up with a plan that's beneficial to everyone. As we've moved buildings back in order to create pedestrian areas on the street, with each special permit, we've been able to make progress, but we're not there. I will have a planning that will make these things happen.
Parker: There are some very simple things we can do. Right now, our entire zoning ordinance is structured around parking. The irony is that all of Newton's villages were in place before the advent of cars, so we have minimum parking requirements, but we don’t have minimum bike rack requirements. We have no maximum parking requirements. We make the assumption of the more cars the better. We need to clarify zoning laws, overhaul them, not just make piecemeal changes, which are confusing. Every amendment we make, makes it harder to read and understand. We should ask ourselves what our values and priorities are as a community, and let's build our zoning laws around those priorities. If others agrees with me that public transportation, bicycle access, and pedestrian access should be priorities, then we'll make a zoning ordinance that encourages those forms of transit.
Warren: Everyone think about this. Everyone here lives in a different village in Newton What would it take for you to walk or bike to your village center, and why? I think it's about what's in our village centers. What businesses draw people there? What are we developing in our village centers. That's where we need to start with zoning ordinances. These are not abstract concepts. Let's not get lost talking about zoning ordinances, and things that are abstract that don't rely on the basic question of limiting the number of cars on the street, adding bike lanes where possible, pedestrian walkways where possible; it's got to be done in conjunction with development.
Balser: The focus is on zoning and what you can do with developers, but what we really need is a culture shift, and I suppose one expression of that would be the elected officials working on redesigning our zoning code. I had dinner the other day with neighbors on our block. Every one of them told me their children don't walk to school on the same block where 20 years ago my children did walk to school every day. I was shocked. Nothing has really changed, except that now there's a crossing guard which I fought for 20 years ago. As far as the zoning, I think you could do it right now within the code. The Transportation Advisory Committee could advise Aldermen on stipulations and special permits that could make developments more bicycle and pedestrian friendly. That's very easy to do right now. But I think as a community, we need a culture shift about getting out of cars, stop driving our kids.
Coletti: Twenty years ago, when Rodney Barker was an Aldermen we tried to rewrite zoning ordinances, and they've served us well, but the zoning committee and ordinances are controlled by the Board of Aldermen, and obviously the Mayor's going to have to convince the Aldermen to make these kind of changes. A month ago, in the Boston Globe the City of Newton came in first place because of its accessibility, and its ability to get from here to there. This is a community that continues to use vehicles. To sit up here and say that we're going to change the mindset of 83,000 people is very difficult to do. We can try, and we can try to convince our young people, but Newton is known for its ability to get around, and most of it by vehicle.
Parker: I want to add one observation. I do believe that the 83,000 people here do want to be able to bike and walk. But when they want to bike to the Newton Highlands T station, and there's a sign on the MBTA fence that says "no bikes" and there's no bike rack, its very difficult. Alderman Mansfield and I did manage to get the MBTA to remove the sign. And Alderman Danberg is working on getting another bike rack at the Newton Center T. If you want children to walk to school, you've got to make it safe for them. The crosswalk from Newton Highlands across Beacon that a lot of children and parents use to get to Mason Rice was removed by the Public Works Department last fall. Now we're fighting to get that back in. You can't have a set of goals and aspirations, and then make it difficult for people. If we want people to walk, let's clear the sidewalks, let's not pile snow at the corners. I think Newton residents will be delighted to live in a bicycle and pedestrian friendly city once again
3. Bicycles and Pedestrians
What bicycle and pedestrian accommodations would you promote, in what time frame and sequence; and would you support a "complete streets" approach that includes bike lanes?
Parker: I believe we need to do three different types of bike lanes: first of all, we have to acknowledge that bikes are a legal means of transport on every street, but we have to make it safer. You can do it with signage, with lanes. We have to take it on a street by street basis. The second level of bicycle accomodation is scenic bike routes, essentially parallel to our major arterials, and I know that the BPTF has looked at maps of the city and come up with recommendations for those kinds of routes as well. And the third thing is purely scenic routes, such as a path the entire length of the Charles as it goes through Newton, so you can bike along the river all the way around Newton. We also need more bike racks, and there's a Newton Serves project doing an inventory of Newton's bike racks on Sunday, more details on the Newton Serves website. There is more detail on these plans on our website.
Warren: I do want to acknowledge Bike Newton for their efforts on Comm. Ave. They've been working with the Board of Aldermen to put bike lanes in, as well as pedestrian walkway. We have to be realistic about when and where bike lanes are appropriate. In my first six months, I'd work closely with the Transportation Councile and city engineers to identify appropriate sites for lanes. We aren't going to be able to do it on every street. It would be part of the maintenance trust fund. That would connect to an overall plan for how we want all of our villages to look. We can't do one piece here and one piece there, we have to look at it as a whole.
Balser: It's tremendously important to encourage biking, and certainly for young people so they can get around safer instead of being driven. I worked with BPTF to get a bond authorization to fund a study on bike lane recommendations on Hammond Pond Parkway. We need adequate bike racks at every school so our kids can say, "Mom, I'd rather ride my bike to school. You don't need to give me a ride, because there's a bike rack there and I can lock my bike. " Right now we don't have adequate numbers of bike racks at each of our schools. And T stops. Whenever possible, lanes and accomodations have to be added. It's true that to start from scratch would be tremendously expensive. I think the last thing a mayoral candidate will do tonight is promise a huge investment of funds, given the fiscal challenges the city faces. But when a road is going to be reconstructed, or during development, bike accomodation should be on the top of the list, either for a private developer as mitigation or for the city as part of its renovation and maintenance, it could add lanes and signage. That's a top priority.
Coletti: There are two halves to this. The first half deals with children. Since Charlie Feeley died, there has been no appointment of a bike safety officer. There should be bicycle safety zones around all of the schools and the playgrounds including, if we have to, to use the facilities at the high schools to be able to learn to ride bicycles, even if it's on the track. Secondly, Kenny was right, the signage is very important for elderly riders, or riders younger than myself, who want to ride to work. We made Chestnut Street into a bicycle friendly road. It's one of the tightest in Newton to stripe for driving while you try to protect the safety zone for riders. Most riders that I see riding to work, take either Walnut Street, Chestnut St., or Commonwealth Ave. which is a great area especially because of the carriage lane. And then most importantly, we do have a bicycle lane all around, we have made a pathway that connects. I think we have to do like the city and the state has done with evacuation routes, to teach people how to get out of the area in the event of a disaster, that what we have to do is create these routes for bicycles and explain to the recreational riders where it is safe, so we can provide a pathway for them, and instruct people on the safest way to traverse these routes. I think we need to take care of the children, and also the older people who ride to work.
Follow-up: What would you do to increase the number of children walking and biking to school?
Parker: 1, I would instruct our public works department where to put in crosswalks on the walk to school routes. 2, we need to clear city sidewalks, and enforce the law about putting snow on city sidewalks. This has been a big problem, independent contractors plowing street snow onto sidewalks at corners. Also, Scott Lennon, who has organized a snow subcommittee, has heard from people all over the city that they'd like to walk to school or work, but get forced into the street by these huge piles of snow at the corners. It's currently against the law in Newton to put snow on the sidewalks, so when someone plows their driveway and puts these huge walls of snow in the way of the sidewalk, we should enforce the law and give them a polite warning the first time, but after that, we should ticket for that. I don't believe there has been ticketing for that. The other thing we need to do is maintain our sidewalks and streets. Potholes are bad for the environment, bad for the budget, and very unsafe. There's a massive pothole in the middle of Newton Highlands. I'm surprised a bicyclist hasn't been killed.
Warren: Well, I think the city absolutely needs a uniform policyon snow removal. I also think the walking bus is a great idea, but we need to make sure our streets and sidewalks are safe. The snow being pushed up against curbs and corners and sidewalks that aren't plowed. I encourage the mayor and the board to come up with a uniform policy on snow removal before next winter to address that issue. I think we have to address that issue as a community and as a city.
Balser: I had a great time this year joining the Walking School Bus going to Mason Rice. If people don't know about it, it uses the image of a school bus, you start at one point, the parents and children, and you pick up more as you go along until you go to school. When I said earlier there needs to be a culture shift, I didn't meant to imply that would be imposed from the top. It's a grassroots thing, and it's already happening. Walking School Bus is a grassroots effort to change the culture. As a mayor, one thing I would do is join a different school's walking school bus every week, and set a model. As we walk together and run into obstacles, we could have a discussion about each problem. Somerville has a 48-hour performance standard for pothole repair. As a mayor I would support those grassroots efforts to change the culture, to value walking and being outdoors.
Coletti: I'd like to talk about three things I would try to do. I don't know if everyone remembers, but when we all went to school there was a safety patrol for the kids. I know I took that job very seriously, we used to wear a white band and it was our job to make sure the little kids were all brought safely from wherever they were coming to school, but the safety patrol [did] a great job as well as the parents. Another real problem we have, and it really manifested itself this year, is the state's inability to clear the walking ways along the MBTA areas and Route 9, for instance. We had so many complaints asking why the city doesn't plow the routes to the MBTA stations. In the case of Route 9 and state highways, we're not responsible for that.. The third thing, since we spent over 3.6 million dollars for snow removal this year, and when you stop to think about that, we need to start putting more money into clearing the sidewalks throughout the city in order to make walking safer.
Parker: Ruth posed the question of how we change the culture, and I do believe it's possible to lead by example. In a Parker administration, you will have a mayor who walks or bikes to work. I walked here tonight, and I will walk or bike to work when I'm Mayor of Newton.
Warren: I'll walk to work, too, I live on Beaumont Ave. In a Warren administration, I'll walk to work.
Coletti: I live on bus route 59, and for half a buck I can get here, so I will take the bus.
Balser: My bus was taken away by the MBTA! I used to take that bus, and I will work to restore that bus line to the south side of the city.
4. Traffic
How would your administration ensure that "traffic calming" measures and other roadway engineering interventions are the most appropriate and best available approaches?
Warren: Well there are two approaches I would take. One is purely from our citizenry. For the last few months I've been knocking on doors. Every single day I'm out there talking to people. And you hear their opinions about their streets, certain traffic calming measures they want done. In some cases they've gotten responses, in some cases they haven't, we've got to talk to people living with these problems. I want to install a 311 system, and adopt what Somerville does, where you can call or email into city hall and describe the problem you have on your street. You'll not only get a response, but the data is entered, and the mayor can actually use that data to make decisions around traffic calming and what's happening at the ground level in our community in a systemic fashion. I'd start there. The second thing we need to do is working with the traffic council, get input from the community and look at problems from a holistic point of view and what we want our villages to look like. And why do we need traffic calming on different streets. It needs to be done holistically in all our villages. I want to make sure we're getting input and we're using our transportation council in a smart way and we're implementing the suggestions that make sense for us to have safe streets and streets where walkability makes sense and bikeability works and its connected within a long-term plan for each of our 13 villages.
Balser: Traffic calming was a top priority for me while I was an aldermen. I think my former colleagues remember, when I chaired the public safety and transportation committee. I served on the Board of Aldermen from 1988 to 1995, and during those years I became famous for my stop signs. I understand that the science of traffic calming has advanced since then; and there are some more interesting and effective strategies. That was my goal. You'll remember this, Paul, Dick McGrath used to say to me "Why would anyone ever want to be on the Public Safety and Transportation Committee? There are these problems that are impossible to solve. One neighborhood comes up," he would say, "and they come up with a solution that just pours it into the next neighborhood." And I used to say to him that I like being on the Safety and Transportation Committee because I like bringing people together to solve problems. In those years it was a rather radical move to install 4-way stop signs that I was able to get the board to install. I go around the city and point to stop signs that I refer to as my stop signs. The idea of implementing traffic calming measures, working with neighborhoods to find solutions… some of the solutions now, building out the road and narrowing it, are expensive unless you do it at the same time a new development is going in anyway as mitigation or when a street is being reconstructed. I think having an orientation towards these measures is very important.
Coletti: As my colleague said I was lucky enough to serve for 17 years on the committee. I'm back on. I missed it too much. I see Amy [Sangiolo] out there and she knows what Hancock Street was like over the last four months on the Public Safety Committee. We had a situation where we needed to consider the possibility of considering making streets one way around the Williams School, and to the dismay of the neighbors because it was a difficult road to fit a car on, let alone have parking. One of the things we've done over the years, and sometimes I don't always agree with, is trials, where the Aldermen have the authority to institute a 60-day trials, and unfortunately sometimes you see them around way after the 60 day trial has expired. And you see that on Lowell Ave., and you see that over on Concord St. in Newton Lower Falls. The point is, and I don't know how I'm going to do this, because I'm taking the bus, the Mayor has to go out every day, and has to be around the city. So it looks like I'm going to have to get a bike. And see what is going on. The Mayor does do a fairly good job walking up and down Commonwealth Avenue, but there's more to Newton than just Comm. Ave. And these trials are important, the traffic council, which some of us supported, and the four way stop signs, we did call Ruth "Four Way Ruth," back then, and especially on Chestnut Street, and the roundabout at Brown Middle School, these are things we've done, and the narrowing of Fuller St. down by BraeBurn Country Club, they're tools in our toolbag, but the Mayor has got to be out every day looking at these streets and making sure that by narrowing them down that we don't jeopardize the safety of the bicyclists and the other users of the streets that are using the streets along with the drivers. It's a vigilance that someone has to take very seriously, it's an emotional commitment.
Parker: What do we mean when we say traffic calming. Does it mean the traffic is angry? It means the traffic is going too fast. I believe that in just about every neighborhood of Newton, there's a lot of streets where there is speeding. There are a lot of frustrated drivers in a rush to get where they're going. There's a couple things we can do. First of all, we can improve our intersections, the timing of our lights, using sensors under the roads, so that by going slow you can actually get somewhere sooner, because the lights are timed properly With traffic calming, when you talk about . installing chicanes, and narrow roadways, or some other obstacle, it's fundamentally about choices. Do you want to put a raised crosswalk in, and make it easier and safer for people crossing the street? AT the expense of annoying the people who have to driver over it, as you go ka-thunk, ka-thunk. It's about priorities. Right now, this country is deeply enmeshed in what I would call its car culture phase. The automobile is almost worshiped, and it's at the center of traffic engineering science, so if you ask a traffic engineer, the word "improve" a street means "widen" a street. By state standards, if you want to improve a street with state funds, they basically want to make every arterial into a highway, which would be less safe for bicycles, pedestrians, and frankly, vehicles. So I think we need to talk about what priorities are important to us. The traffic engineers can tell us what particular bumps or lumps or turns or geometry of an intersection can be best. I don't think needs to be our job or my job as Mayor, or even the Board of Aldermen's job. I think that's up to the professionals, but we need to give them the direction. When you bike, walk, or drive into Newton, should be a sign at entrances to Newton: "Newton is a Bicycle and Pedestrian-Friendly City. Be prepared to stop for cyclists and pedestrians," that's the culture that we need to have here.
Follow-up: How would you address the design of two areas in Newton that are a frequent cause of traffic complaints: Needham Street and the Newton Corner rotary?
Warren: Newton Corner – and in fact I was just talking about this with some folks before the forum. It's referred to, this area with two bridges, as you know, as the "Circle of Death," and that's because of the dangerous nature of the two bridges and the way the traffic flows around. I know there are different alternatives on the table, one of which is looking at the way we have the lanes designed. We're going to have to work with Mass Highway, and sit down with them to make that area more safe. The Mayor has got to step up to the plate and look at what the alternatives, what the choices are, and we've got to do it right away. It's a dangerous area that motorists and cyclists all have to deal with. As Mayor I would work aggressively with Mass Highway to see how we can redesign bridges in that area to make it safer.
Balser: If I were the Mayor I would I would turn to my newly appointed Transportation Advisory Committee, and ask them, "What should I do about the Circle of Death in Newton Corner, and what should I do on Needham Street." I don't actually think the Mayor has to know everything herself. I'm not a civil engineer, but I know how to draw on talented, creative, and interesting people and draw that out of the community. There is a redesign of Needham Street already that the design review committee has approved. The reason I know that is that I went to the legislature and persuaded them to put money into the Transprotation Bond bill to fund it for $17 million, and I recently met with Secretary Aloisi to urge him to put it on the top priority list for the governor. If your question suggests that people are dissatisfied with that design and want to revisit it, that makes sense, but I think that's why the Comprehensive Plan in its wisdom suggested the formation of a Transportation Advisory Group, to advise the Mayor and the city on those questions.
Coletti: First, I think we need to do a significant amount of speed zoning where the traffic on Washington Street makes that first turn, and also to put separators in order to keep the vehicles that go around by the YMCA, on that side of the road, from cutting across and cutting off the other people. Then another thing we have to do is enforce all the people in the wrong lane over by the entrance to the Mass Turnpike and they're forever cutting people off because they don't want to go on the turnpike, they really want to go down Washington Street, so we have to fix that area, and we have to really enforce, and give tickets to people who break the law, and that is that there's a sign that says you must take a left if you're in that lane. It's an area where there's a tremendous amount of accidents. The speed zoning, and separation by installing a curved barrier to keep people in their own lane, will keep people from having accidents at the Circle of Death. Most importantly on Needham Street, I think we need to keep Needham Street as a three lane roadway with a middle lane that allows for turns for businesses, we've got to put in four lanes, two lanes each way, over the bridge, with cantilevered sidewalks, and keep Needham Street narrow, because that's how it remains safe, by restricting the speed of traffic.
Parker: In terms of the Circle of Death, I don't know what the answer is, but I do know that it makes no sense to send people over three bridges to get across the pike. Needham Street has been waiting for state approval for a long time. There is a disconnect somewhere. There are 6 bridges that have been categorized as structurally unsound, and Newton has yet to apply for funds to repair them.
Balser: We've partnered with Needham to get reconstruction money for Needham Street. Aloisi is very supportive.
Coletti: Yes, plans for Needham Street are before the state, but they were rejected because of the Charles River Bridge. The other holdup is burying electric wires. That will cost 12 million. We have to get that money from developers.
Parker: Bridges and culverts are categorized differently for state funding. The state doesn't prioritize culverts. The culvert near Newton North on Walnut collapsed 50 years ago. I hope we don't have to experience another collapse before we fund repairs.
Not asked: (Ran out of time):
5. Parking
How would you address the sometimes-conflicting concerns of business-owners, residents and developers regarding parking while improving pedestrian experience?
Follow-up: What steps will your administration take to modernize parking requirements in Newton, and specifically to encourage non-auto transport?
AUDIENCE QUESTIONS:
Will you pledge to insure that development at Riverside will have access only from route 128?
Balser: A special permit will be negotiated between the Aldermen and the developer. This is a funny question for a Mayor.
Coletti: Once IBM wanted to move its world headquarters to the Newton Golf Course.
Grove Street is too small for excess traffic.
Parker: I met with the developer. Grove Street could not handle the traffic. There are a lot of technical concerns.
Warren: The mayor's role as the chief executive of the city is to bring people together to solve problems—the developer, the feds, the state, and residents.
What is your view of the rail-trail project in Newton Lower Falls?
Coletti: I see this as similar to Lexington's bike path. I'm looking forward to the upcoming forum in Lower Falls.
Parker: I talked to people in Lower Falls, and to Amy Sangiolo, who has funded a study for possibilities of other scenic routes. I would prefer her alternate routes to one that goes through people's backyards.
Warren: In Newton, we get into an "all or nothing" mentality. This trail could be intrusive, but it could also improve walkability. We need to sit down with everyone involved and come up with a viable solution.
Balser. I've followed this controversy closely. One side is excited about the prospects of a trail, one side is upset. Right now, the matter is before the court. The court will decide wehther the state owns the land. Then we'll move ahead with discussions. I would like to speak with the neighborhood, but I am also committed to trails and walking.
Would you support limiting traffic at schools? Would you support lowering the citywide speed limit to 20 or 25 and changing intersection setbacks?
Parker: I believe we should start with a carrot—if walking is safer, people will walk.
Warren: Why do parents feel the need to drive to school? We need to look at times, traffic patterns at schools, and use data as an incentive. I want to talk to parents about their perceptions of whether streets are safe.
Balser: First of all, I think we need to commend Safe Routes to School on their work trying to get more students walking. I support a lower unposted speed limit. City Hall has been sloppy about forwarding requests to the state.
Coletti: The City made some speed limit changes without state approval, and those had to change back to 30. I support walking, and having the state designate the entire city as "thickly settled."
How can you incorporate both bike lanes and a policy of narrowing streets?
Warren: It's all about location.
Balser: These goals are consistent. We narrow driving lanes by widening shoulder lanes. The Comprehensive Plan calls for consistent 12 foot travel lanes. Many are wider.
Coletti: Bicyclists have a responsibility. Don’t ride tandem on Chestnut St. and roll through red lights. Most of the roads where bicyclists bike to work can be made safe by striping, but only if they follow the rules.
As opposed to what Ruth said, the majority of the residents of Lower Falls are opposed to the path, as the Newton bike folks can attest to when they came to our meeting. I would say the majority of residents who were at that meeting are staunchly opposed to the path. As Ken brought up, there are alternatives that Amy has gone through, so I guess my question for you is, if you have a path that is so opposed, then Why haven't alternatives been looked at before that, as opposed to railroading a bridge through an accelerated bridge program, and a rail-trail that the neighborhood doesn't want, and one of the things that Setti brought up was talking to the neighbors, as opposed to the folks from outside of the neighborhood. So, alternatives like going along the Charles River, and also by putting in bike lanes on Grove Street, and eliminating the highway access from Grove Street, you eliminate the traffic problem, and you also eliminate the pedestrian problem.
Balser: My understanding is that this was an initiative of the state, originally. It wasn't an initiative from the city, was my understanding. There was money through DCR.
Questioner: I believe the initiative came from Bike Newton to convert the rail trail.
Balser: I didn't think that was the case.
Questioner: I'm sorry, but Bike Newton hasn't been very transparent.
Lois Levin: Bike Newton has not played an instrumental role in that. We support it. This question was already answered, and I think we need to move on. This is not a meeting about that issue. This is a very controversial issue, and it should be discussed, and there are forums in which it is being discussed.
Questioner: This is about transportation.
Levin: Yes, it is.
Balser: I think it's alright, we can answer this. I think it's an important conversation to have. I was under the impression that the state had funds and that this was an old… and that it wasn't really a city initiative. I don't know, that was my impression. But right now, it's somewhat of a moot point, because it's tied up in the courts. I commend the people in the community for looking for alternatives. I understand that Alderman Sangiolo is looking for alternatives, and if there are wonderful alternatives, that would be great. In addition to listening to the neighbors, and anyone who knows me knows I do that a lot, we can listen to the rest of Newton as well. Our parks do belong to all of us, just as our streets do. There's always a conflict: does the person on the street own that parking space, and do we put resident-restricted parking, or does that parking space belong to everyone in the city who wants to park there, and it's a complicated question with sensitivities on both sides. If we can work together and make the neighbors and everyone else in Newton happy, that would be great. Let's work together and see if we can do that.
Coletti: I remember when the M.D.C. wanted to have that 15 foot right of way all along the Charles all the way to Upper Falls. The neighbors on California Street, many of them, were adamantly opposed. Some had claimed the land. That was a different situation. The MDC had the rights to it, and they won in court and ultimately the walkway was put in. Now I think everyone realizes its not like the trail in Boston, it's little used, but it's a nice trail to have access. What I'm not sure about is who exactly owns the land and has the rights to the land where those tracks are near Concord Street. And if it's not the MDC, then the most important thing is that bridge, which is no different from the bridge that crosses the Charles near Chestnut Street in Newton Upper Falls, should be removed, because they have no protection, no fencing, and the bottom is open in places. A young person could fall through, there's no safety. So the fact that this is being brought up is a great opportunity to work with the neighbors to come up with something that's going to be beneficial to everyone, and you're going to have to take that bridge down, because right now, someone's going to get hurt and there will be lawsuits and deaths, and other issues that we'll have to deal with. So I'm interested to clarify who owns that land and to find out if that land will have to be trespassed, that area in the back there, so I'm interested to work with people in Lower Falls to find out exactly how they feel.
Parker: As I indicated earlier, I've already begun to reach out to people in the neighborhood, and I know opinions are mixed; it does seem like the majority of people in the neighborhood want a scenic bike and walking path, they just want it to be rational, to make the most sense for the neighborhood and for the cyclists and pedestrians. It should be scenic, it should go from the place you want to go from to the place you want to go to. And fundamentally, I think we want to make sure in this day and age that it's cost effective. There are limited state bridge funds, and if we need to repair three bridges to make this one path, then so be it, but if we can do it without using all three of those bridges and we can free up some of those funds for repairing other structurally unsound bridges in our city that connect our city to other communities, that are actively being used by drivers, cyclists, and pedestrians daily, and I'm talking in the thousands, then let's make our people safe as our first priority, and then do the recreational piece hopefully at the same time, but let's put safety first.
Warren: We're seeing a vacuum of leadership. Why are we doing this in reverse? Why weren't neighbors consulted first?
Sometimes you have to choose, and you can't get people to agree. Some policies will fall on one side or another: bicycle and pedestrian vs. cars. Two questions: Would you pledge not to seek a waiver of the Paulsen Bill? Would your planning department be willing to restrict car access to developments?
Coletti: I would minimize the impact of developments by using satellite lots. There is some land near the Pike where we may have air rights to develop parking near exit 14. We would work with developers to minimize traffic, like on Needham St. We need to survey who bikes, walks, etc.
Parker: The fundamental issue is the present obstacle to bikes, pedestrians and transit is that we have a parking minimum. What we need is a parking maximum and a bike rack minimum.
Warren: Need to read the Paulsen Bill as a document for smart growth. Newton Center was a lost opportunity. We wait for developers. We need to be proactive and pursue the kind of developers that fit our needs.
Balser: I hear your question as a call for leadership: are you prepared to have some group mad at you? At the end of the day, some people will be mad at me. I resist making pledges. I did work with the BPTF to protect Paulsen on Walnut St.
Discuss the Mayoral Transportation Forum