Hey, there! Log in / Register
More parks along the VFW Parkway? Road could get special commission to look at improvements
By adamg on Fri, 04/24/2015 - 9:45am
Legislators from Boston and Dedham are proposing a VFW Master Plan Commission to look at ways to improve the VFW Parkway from Centre Street in West Roxbury to the Dedham line and Providence Highway in Dedham between the Boston line and the Washington Street rotary.
State Sen. Mike Rush (D-West Roxbury) and state Reps. Ed Coppinger (D-West Roxbury) and Paul McMurtry (D-Dedham) want the commission to conduct:
(1) An evaluation of the pedestrian, public transit, and automobile network including traffic patterns, signage, and signaling; (2) an analysis of existing federal, state and local funding sources, including grants and loans; (3) an evaluation of both private and publicly owned land that may be used for active and passive recreational use; (4) potential beautification and aesthetic improvements to the parkway.
The commission would include the three legislators, US Rep. Steve Lynch, City Councilor Matt O'Malley, business owners along the road, the chairman of the Dedham board of selectmen, public-works officials from both communities, a MassDOT representative, three Boston residents and two Dedham residents.
Neighborhoods:
Free tagging:
Ad:
Support Universal Hub
Help keep Universal Hub going. If you like what we're up to and want to help out, please consider a (completely non-deductible) contribution.
Comments
Can we please take care of
Can we please take care of the Emerald Necklace and other our badly neglected urban parks in the most densely settled neighborhoods before lavishing money on new ones in the most suburban parts of the city?
I don't think they're talking about major public spending there
One of the ideas is to see if the business owners along the road could pitch in with improvements to their land or land along their property, for example, the median that runs down the road - or the land right along the Charles behind several parcels, at least, according to somebody from the West Roxbury Business and Professional Association we talked to at the hotel meeting last night.
It's kind of an interesting, sort of forgotten stretch of road (quick: Where's the town line between Dedham and Boston?) that actually has quite a lot of businesses along it.
I know, I know!
Because I pass the sign every time I leave Pet Supplies Plus....
One of my favorite pieces of legislation is due to Waves
Passed a few years ago, lets police in one community respond to a crime/emergency just over the border in another - with full authority as a police officer, as opposed to just a citizen who happens to be a cop (there's a difference).
Then Councilor Rob Consalvo thought it up and cited Waves specifically as his reason for proposing it - what if a Boston cop were at the car wash and he saw a crime being committed just over the line on what was then a vacant lot (now home to that new self-storage place with the mutant-sized fake windows)?
Please tell me it's called
Please tell me it's called the W.A.V.E.S. Law: "What a Valiant Effort, Sir!"
"How can they spend money on
"How can they spend money on 'X' when there are hungry children?"
I know those
Evil people from Westie who pay prop taxes should have no development.
They're commie I tell you.
All right, pal, what's going on?
Three, count 'em, THREE posts in a row on West Roxbury!!!
Serendipity, pure serendipity
Went to a meeting on the hotel, where, at the end, somebody asked the guy if he would be willing to work with the new commission, which I hadn't heard of, then we walked outside and right into that brilliant sunset. Three stories for the price of one!
Multitasking
You're multitasking...
This is great news
Nothing has been done to the area in the 30 years i'v live there. Except inmates raking leaves.
Is Mike Rush still beating
Is Mike Rush still beating that dead horse about bringing Havey Beach back? He's talked about it for probably a decade yet never come close to actually getting it done.
Not sure about swimming, but...
Having canoe rental at Havey Beach would actually be great - there's already a building there and everything. We've canoed there from the place in Newton, but it's a haul especially if you have younger canoers. A Havey Beach put-in would allow you to get to Millennium Park, etc. very easily.
Excellent idea
;-)
VFW Corridor Path for West Roxbury
Put a walking and bike path in the median strip and create something like the Southwest Corridor Path for West Roxbury and Dedham. Since the bike lanes disappear at most intersections to make way for turn lanes they are kind of useless. It would also be good to put some traffic calming in, cars speed down there even though there are lots of residences along it. Families should be able to walk and bike around their neighborhood, and this could connect to the Arboretum.
Signals
Love that idea in theory. But being in the median brings its own challenges with traffic on either side. They'd need signals at every intersection, since you couldn't walk/bike on a green light with traffic turning through every intersection.
But it sounds like something the BCU should investigate. Just hope they can finish the Arborway cycletrack first.
It's not just intersections
The VFW has 6-7 U-Turn point with no signals plus a rotary . Also the medium at the beginning near Centre St. is on a slop.
https://www.google.com/maps/@42.295837,-71.138307,3a,75y,271.19h,84.38t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1s3KovqlfnF_5wFvIlUOKi9A!2e0
Traffic Calming
Traffic Calming is a great idea. People treat it like a highway. It's interesting how few people enjoy it when people speed past their house, but then treat all the other roads like a raceway when driving in other neighborhoods.
Not during the spring summer.
There's a speed trap almost evey other day.
That being said bikes and bikers should want nothing to do with that street, growing up of the VFW I've seen at least 5 people killed in front of my house. Including a motorcyclist who decapitated himself anfter hitting a gaurdrail and smacking a few trees. The fool was going about 100+