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For the most recent information on the following public meetings and others that may have been scheduled after TRANSReport went to press, go to www.bostonmpo.org or call (617) 973-7119. A photo ID is required to access most meeting sites.
The Boston Region Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) gave the go-ahead last month for staff to begin the development of a new long-range transportation plan for the region. Although the MPO adopted an amendment to its last plan (Journey to 2030) in November 2009, the last full Transportation Plan was approved in June 2007. The new Transportation Plan will establish a vision for the region through the year 2035, and will lay out policies and multimodal strategies the MPO can use to help make the vision a reality. This framework will address the regional priorities of: system preservation, mobility, safety, security, environmental justice, climate change, livability, healthy-transportation initiatives, and operations and management.
The Plan is the underpinning of the Transportation Improvement Program (TIP), or expressed another way, the TIP implements the Plan. Like the TIP, the Plan is financially constrained to available and projected sources of revenue. It complies with all applicable environmental requirements for air quality conformity and greenhouse gases. The MPO will invite particpation from many agencies, organizations, interest groups, and members of the public at large.
There will be a variety of opportunities for public involvement. In addition to utilizing its previous outreach mechanisms for getting input from the public during document development, (such as Transreport, public workshops, the MPO’s website and listserve), the MPO will be also begin using social media such as Twitter, both for keeping the public informed as the document is developed and for getting input from members of the public as the Plan is being developed.
Stay tuned to Transreport and www.bostonmpo.org for more details on Plan-related activities. The MPO expects to adopt the 20112035 long-range transportation plan in April 2011.
The Boston Region MPO is considering an amendment to its Public Participation Program. This amendment would permit a shortened public comment period (15 days rather than the normal 30 days) on proposed MPO actions that are warranted by extraordinary circumstances. It would also allow the MPO to waive the public comment period in an emergency situation.
The 45-day public comment period for the proposed amendment ends Thursday, March 25, at 5:00 PM. Written comments will be accepted at 10 Park Plaza, Suite 2150, Boston, MA 02116-3968, or at publicinformation@ctps.org. Public comments will also be accepted at the MPO’s meeting on Thursday, April 1, at 10:00 AM, when the MPO is expected to take action on the proposed amendment.
To download the MPO’s Public Participation Program and the proposed amendment,
go to www.bostonmpo.org.
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Boston Region MPO Action Items
The Boston Region Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) approved the recommendation
of its Transportation Planning and Programming Committee to adopt Amendment
3 of the federal fiscal years (FFYs) 20102013 Transportation Improvement
Program on February 4 (see article above). Also in February, the Committee
voted to circulate a proposed amendment to the Boston Region MPO’s Public
Participation Program (see article above) and approved four work programs
that implement projects included in the FFY 2010 Unified Planning Work Program:
• Development of the Boston Region MPO Congestion Management Program
• Development of the Long-Range Transportation Plan of the Boston Region
MPO
• Emergency Evacuation and Hazard Mitigation Mapping
• MBTA Bus Service Data Collection VII
Regional Transportation Advisory Council Update
The Advisory Council’s February meeting was canceled because
of inclement weather. The March meeting, will feature a forum about bicycle
and pedestrian planning in the Boston metropolitan region. The Advisory Council’s
Freight Committee is also scheduled to meet on March 10. On its agenda are
a presentation about the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s SmartWay
Transport Partnership and a discussion about the development of the next regional
transportation plan. See the box above for information about the forum. Also
see the calendar
page for meeting details.
Access Advisory Committee to the MBTA (AACT) Update
AACT members opened their February meeting with a moment of silence for Daniel
MacInnis, retired founder and chief executive officer of Veterans Transportation
Services. Mr. MacInnis worked with the MBTA’s Office for Transportation Access
for more than 20 years, delivering RIDE service to MBTA paratranst customers.
Expressions of sympathy may be made in Mr. MacInnis’s memory to the Newton Boys and Girls Club, 675 Watertown Street, Newton, MA 02460.
Bicycle and Pedestrian Forum sponsored by the Regional Transportation Advisory Council.
The Advisory Council of the Boston Region Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) invites you to attend a forum to be held at their March meeting. Planners from the Metropolitan Area Planning Council and the Boston Region MPO, advocates from WalkBoston and MassBike, and municipal officials from Boston and Cambridge will discuss recent accomplishments and ongoing work to improve conditions in the region for bicyclists and pedestrians.
Wednesday, March 10 3:004:30 PM
State Transportation Building
10 Park Plaza, Conference Room 4
Boston, Massachusetts.
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MBTA customers have a trial tool available for getting up-to-the-minute information for trip-making on five key bus routes. T-Tracker, the MBTA’s pilot Web-based tool, uses GPS technology to provide real-time information on locations and predicted arrival times for bus Routes 39 (which serves Jamaica Plain, the Longwood Medical Area, and the Back Bay); and 111,114, 116, and 117 (which together serve Haymarket Station, East Boston, Chelsea, and Revere). At the end of the pilot program, the Massachusetts Department of Transportation and the MBTA will look at ways to make real-time information available for more of its bus routes.
To use T-Tracker, go to www.mbta.com and
click on T-Tracker.
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Construction is set to begin this spring on the Charles River/Alewife Connector in Watertown. The Connector will be a multiuse path in Watertown along an abandoned railroad corridor, from School Street to the intersection of Arlington Street at Nichols Avenue, Coolidge Hill Road, and Crawford Street. It also includes a spur that will connect the new path to Arsenal Street across from the Watertown Mall parking lot. The project will further integrate the bicycle/pedestrian network in the Boston area. The $847,000 project will include the removal of existing railroad ties, followed by construction of a 10-foot- wide asphalt path with grass shoulders, over a distance of approximately two-thirds of a mile.
Additional improvements are planned in the area near the project. The Massachusetts
Department of Transpor-tation recently announced the approval of a $1.4 million
project near the eastern limit of the new path. This project calls for resurfacing
the intersections of Spring and Summer streets, and Mount Auburn and Summer
streets, and installing traffic sensing devices and disability accessible sidewalks.
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The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), in coordination with the Partnership for Sustainable Communities, is calling for letters of interest from communities that would like to incorporate smart growth into their development plans.
A team of experts from EPA, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, and the U.S. Department of Transportation will conduct multiday site visits to three or four selected communities over a 12-month period.
Entities eligible to submit an application are: tribal, local, regional, and state governments, and nonprofit organizations that have a demonstrated partnership with a governmental entity.
A few examples of areas in which communities may benefit from this program are:
•Addressing climate change
•Removing local barriers to implementing “green” design projects
•Developing transportation solutions for rural communities and places
without transit service
Additional examples of possible proposal topics are listed at http://epa.gov/smart growth/2010_0128_rfli.html. Other topics are encouraged, provided they demonstrate cutting-edge challenges and the possibility of replicable solutions.
Letters of interest must be submitted Kevin Nelson, at nelson.kevin@epa.gov, by Friday, April 9, at 3:00 PM.
For questions about the program, contact Mr. Nelson via e-mail or at (202)
566-2835. For more information and application materials, visit http://epa.gov/smartgrowth/
2010_0128_rfli.html.
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In Febru-ary, the MPO approved a final amendment related to programming funds provided under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act in its federal fiscal years 20102013 Transportation Improvement Program (TIP). Amendment 3 adds three projects:
. Floating slab work from Harvard to Alewife on the MBTA’s Red Line for $4.3 million
. Resurfacing and related work on Route 114 in Peabody and Danvers for $3.3 million
. Accessibility enhancements at Wedgemere commuter rail station in Medford for $2.0 million
The amendment also deleted the previously programmed Blossom Street Ferry Terminal in Lynn.
For a complete list of projects included in the FFY 20132013 TIP and the amendments to date, go to www.bostonmpo.org and click on the TIP button. .
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Warmer weather and more hours of sunlight call to us to spend more time outdoors. Why wait until the weekend to enjoy it? Build walking into your daily commute. If it is too far for you to walk to work, consider getting off the bus or train at an earlier stop or parking further away from your destination.
Walking a mile (about 20 minutes) produces no emissions; driving a mile in a car that gets 21.5 mpg creates 1.1 pounds of carbon emissions, not to mention other particulates.
