A dormant West Roxbury group that fought a proposal to add bike lanes to part of Centre Street in West Roxbury has sprung back to life, convinced that now that the pandemic is ending, City Hall and a sinister cabal of bicyclists will once again attempt to impose their will on the neighborhood.
The West Roxbury Safety Association has printed up 500 lawn signs opposing the proposal - and hopes to print up another 1,500 - to convince politicians running in the fall elections it's serious about keeping bike lanes off the neighborhood's main commercial strip, one of its leaders, Stephen Morris, told the West Roxbury Civic and Improvement Association tonight.
Morris said mayoral candidates Jon Santiago, John Barros and Annissa Essaibi-George have already pledged to block any bike lanes on Centre Street.
Although BTD has said nothing publicly about a proposed "road diet" to slow traffic on Centre Street following an angry community meeting at the Irish Social Club in November, 2019, Morris said new bike lanes along Cummins Highway and American Legion Highway in Mattapan and Roslindale show that "Downtown" still has its spoked eye on West Roxbury along with bicyclists eager to pedal all over, he said.
The city originally proposed reconfiguring Centre Street between Spring Street and the Holy Name Rotary to make it safer for pedestrians by reducing the number of motor-vehicle lanes from four to three, adding new turn lanes and pedestrian islands and installing bike lanes after Marilyn Wentworth of West Roxbury died at Centre and Hastings, thrown into the air by a motorist who said she never saw Wentworth due to solar glare on Feb. 5, 2019.
Morris, whose group said the bike lanes would actually make Centre Street more dangerous, called for the resumption of the war against the bike lanes now, warning that otherwise, "we're going to wake up one day and somebody is going to be on Centre Street putting up those white pylons." He pointed to growing social-media chatter by bicycle and pedestrian groups.
The meeting was held in person, in the parking lot of St. George's Church on Washington Street. Morris called on residents living along that thoroughfare to support his group, saying that they could be next in the city's bid to expand bike lanes.
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Comments
Cancel Culture?
By Jim Coen
Wed, 05/12/2021 - 11:16am
The Ward 20 Republican Committee uses cancel culture to stop what is seen as a way to make Centre Street in West Roxbury safer.
This is sadly a thing
By eeka
Wed, 05/12/2021 - 1:14pm
I previously commuted by bike all over the eastern/central part of the state.
People in the more heavily Republican communities and/or with such stickers on their vehicles like to rev their engines when passing me and/or scream slurs out the window.
Shouldn't they appreciate biking, since they claim to like hard work and ruggedness or whatever?
The 2021 GOP stands for three things:
By MC Slim JB
Wed, 05/12/2021 - 2:09pm
"We love how Benito Cheeto gives us permission to air our bigotries against anyone that ain't exactly like us" (white, Christian, straight, sub-literate); "Own the libs" (even when it's economically or otherwise self-sabotaging); and, um... nothing else. Two things.
A slight problem with your reporting
By Waquiot
Wed, 05/12/2021 - 9:12am
St. George's Church is on Emmonsdale Rd. St. John Chrysostom is on Washington Street.
They may be wrong, but their efforts, to say the least, will mean there will be community input. BTD doesn't always do that, and that does include bike lanes.
...hasn't there already been a ton of community input here?
By fungwah
Wed, 05/12/2021 - 9:55am
Adam's story links to two different community discussions about this. How much more community input is needed here?
BTD held one meeting - favored by wide margin
By Bill B
Wed, 05/12/2021 - 10:22am
In June 2019 BTD held a meeting to review the proposal for a 4:3 lane conversion. When public comment opened up, over 30 people spoke in favor of the proposal and 5 spoke against.
One of those against was perennially losing candidate, Marty Keough. Marty childishly took hold of the microphone before the meeting hosts asked speakers to queue up. He then tried to railroad the meeting by claiming to speak for the assembled group of over 200 people, saying “everyone here is against this”.
For the next hour a steady stream of people went to the mic and calmly, rationally, stated support, citing personal anecdotes and statements by experts.
Well, yes, they officially held one meeting
By adamg
Wed, 05/12/2021 - 10:27am
But they announced they were putting the whole thing on hold at the second meeting, at the Irish Social Club. True, they didn't call that one, but they were there. And true, people were being questioned at the door if they supported bike lanes and were, at best, given angry stares if they stupidly said yes, and, sure, the one or two people who stood up to support them were booed, as was Matt O'Malley, who was accused of being a socialist once he got past Forest Hills, and people angrily yelled about "our roads" and stuff, but it's not like BTD wasn't there.
Correct on all points
By Bill B
Wed, 05/12/2021 - 11:39am
To your point, BTD representatives and some electeds were kind to attend, and doing their job to listen. As you noted it was in no way a city of Boston forum to gauge community sentiment. Just a whine-fest produced by and for these people. A few of my neighbors went, just to take it in. But there was no reason for people favoring the BTD plan to show up in numbers.
About Steve Morris...
By dvg
Wed, 05/12/2021 - 9:13am
I copied and pasted below the (long) comment I posted the last time I saw the name "Steve Morris" appear on this column. It's never a good omen and unfortunately it is still relevant; slumlord Steve Morris is still fully dedicated to make our streets as unsafe as he can all over the City -not just in West Roxbury.
Related story:
https://www.universalhub.com/2019/citizen-complain...
Holly cow, as I was casually reading this comment, I felt like the name Steve Morris of West Roxbury sounded familiar, and it just flashed in my little brain!
I am 99% sure that it's the same Steve Morris who owns of one of the worst, if not THE worst problem properties in Fields Corner (Dorchester). For that troubled part of the neighborhood, this is no small feat. That’s the kind of property that every cop in the district knows because that’s where people regularly get arrested on drug and gun charges, the trash is often spilling all over the place, snow doesn’t get shoveled etc. I actually walked past it this evening and unsurprisingly it was the one property on that street where the trash barrels were left on the sidewalk three days after pick up. On warm days, that's the kind of gang-banger hangout that make people cross the street to walk on the other side. The heavy steel bars at the windows are also a nice touch.
According to a longtime neighbor, he is a trust fund baby who inherited that property from a relative a while ago and quickly managed to turn it into the scourge of the neighborhood.
Its (very partial) record is easily searchable by entering the 73 Charles St address in this page's search box:
https://data.boston.gov/dataset/public-works-viola......
Story connected to that address that made it to the news (the police is there often, but the outcome rarely gets published).
https://www3.bostonglobe.com/metro/2018/01/20/dorc...
You’ve got to admire this dude’s dedication in making our streets unsafe all over the City in any way that he can. I'd suggest creating an award after him; "The Steve Morris Unsafe Street Award".
Do they hate money? Their neighbors?
By Kaz
Wed, 05/12/2021 - 9:18am
Let's say there's a group of people clamoring for bike lanes in your area. You're not a cyclist, so you're instantly opposed.
But do you ever step back and wonder who these people are clamoring for the lanes in the first place?
They're not trans-continental cycling nomads looking to get from Bangor to Atlanta by way of West Roxbury. They're either your neighbors looking to get to around in a way that doesn't fill your streets with cars or they're other people in the area looking to come to West Roxbury to shop, eat, play, and generally spend money at your local businesses.
None of the reasons someone would find to put a bike lane in your area are bad. If you are foreseeing yourself sitting in traffic next to a semi-empty bike lane "that you could have been driving in to avoid this traffic", then you're part of the problem.
ummm excuse you, this is west
By anon
Wed, 05/12/2021 - 9:33am
ummm excuse you, this is west roxbury. if those so-called "neighbors" aren't living in homes their grandparents bought when they moved here to get away from bussing, they're actually just TRANSPLANTS and OUTSIDERS and don't understand or appreciate the wonderful lifestyle and culture of west roxbury :) also this neighborhood doesn't want COMMUNIST LEFTIST money from BICYCLING MILLENIAL SNOWFLAKES ok. go back to JP and eat avocado toast, L-O-L
Given that they tried to get
By Miss M
Wed, 05/12/2021 - 9:56am
Given that they tried to get people fired from their jobs from supporting the road diet in 2019, they definitely, definitely hate their neighbors.
They also seem to think anyone wanting to travel into West Roxbury on a bike is an anarcho-communist coming to pillage Centre St.'s banks and pizza places.
The only remaining question...
By lbb
Wed, 05/12/2021 - 12:34pm
Why would anyone want to live in such a parochial, crabby, againsty, cranky neighborhood?
I would not want to. It is
By redheadedjen
Wed, 05/12/2021 - 12:50pm
I would not want to. It is easier to get downtown from Quincy or JP than West Rox.
This is unfortunately true
By anon
Wed, 05/12/2021 - 1:24pm
And it's another reason why the exclusion of bus riders from this road-diet conversation is problematic, bike lanes or not.
Green space, quiet
By anon
Wed, 05/12/2021 - 1:58pm
Green space, quiet neighborhoods, availability of single family homes, and the knowledge that time will silence these people eventually.
Well
By Miss M
Wed, 05/12/2021 - 2:03pm
I found a lovely home for a decent (for Boston) price there a decade ago, and unfortunately the realtor didn't inform me that a portion of the neighborhood were lunatics. Weird.
Also there's the fact that "parochial, crabby, againsty, and cranky" describes literally every neighborhood in the entire state of Massachusetts.
The real answer:
By fungwah
Wed, 05/12/2021 - 10:00am
A lot of these discussions make a lot more sense when you finally realize: they just don't care about anyone but themselves.
What amazes me
By Kaz
Wed, 05/12/2021 - 10:11am
What's really amazing to me is how simple-minded and/or short-sighted you have to be to think fighting the bike lanes benefits themselves.
Sure, there's the much more intangible benefits of fewer cars means better air quality and less noise pollution. I could see how people might not truly appreciate those benefits because "well, I lived an extra 2-3 years of my life because there were fewer cars on my road due to all the people using bikes or taking different routes around my area" isn't something someone foresees saying on their deathbed.
But turning an entire lane into a bike/bus lane in Allston should be a great example of immediate benefit to drivers as well as everyone else. I don't get stuck in traffic there as often any more. There are many fewer double parkers in front of all the restaurants. Those that there are don't linger as long as when they were blocking a travel lane (because you stick out like a sore thumb now for BTD and/or BPD to deal with you). Through traffic isn't expecting to have two lanes to use, so people aren't stuck behind turning vehicles or bikes or buses. And the days when I'm using my bike to commute downtown or pick up food at one of the restaurants, I don't get stuck in traffic at all!
Again, not a good comparison
By anon
Wed, 05/12/2021 - 11:25am
There are no bus lanes being proposed here. In fact, the narrowing of the street would prevent bus lanes from being built in the future without tearing up everything again.
It's difficult to see any benefit to bus riders in this proposal.
Christ, what an asshole
By Scratchie
Wed, 05/12/2021 - 9:30am
Translation: We car drivers don't watch where we're going.
This is a common sentiment
By eeka
Wed, 05/12/2021 - 1:18pm
I've had many legitimately kind and accepting folks tell me how worried they are about hitting cyclists and how you can't see them on right turns and when opening your door.
Yes, you very much can if you do these two things correctly. (Turn your head to check over your shoulder on all turns and lane changes, and open your car doors using the Dutch reach.) It's just so accepted in American car culture that you drive however and wherever tf you want.
Turning your head doesn't do
By anon
Wed, 05/12/2021 - 4:11pm
Turning your head doesn't do much if sight lines to the bike lane are protected by a row of parked cars.
Centre St.
By Thomas Sullivan
Wed, 05/12/2021 - 10:38am
Centre Street’s “shopping/ retail” life or desperate lack there of is a depressing disgrace.
It’s a pain in the neck to drive & it’s not any better to walk. Change is coming. Like it or not. Thank God.
Centre Street Business
By nona
Wed, 05/12/2021 - 11:05am
I used to live walking distance to Centre St and we used to love walking down to get haircuts, or grab something to eat, or do any number of errands. We now have moved to the suburbs and still like to come back and support those businesses that sponsored our kids' little league teams, and school fundraisers. If the businesses feel that the bike lanes will hurt their ability to stay in business or be successful, then I support them in their fight against the bike lanes.
I do agree that if it makes parking more difficult or there is more traffic, then I'm less likely to go out of my way to frequent those places.
If the businesses feel that
By ZachAndTired
Wed, 05/12/2021 - 11:26am
If the businesses feel that the bike lanes will hurt their ability to stay in business or be successful, then they're misinformed and should listen to the civil engineers who did the traffic study and actually know what they're talking about with this stuff. It's not going to make parking more difficult. IIRC, the proposed road diet only called for the elimination of 12 parking spots along the entire stretch from Spring Street to the rotary. That's a mile long stretch and there is never a shortage of open spots in the current configuration.
"more traffic"
By anon
Wed, 05/12/2021 - 11:30am
What causes traffic are automobiles, not bikes. If you drive a car and complain about "traffic", you are literally part of the problem you're complaining about.
Bike lanes and pedestrian infrastructure do not "cause traffic", but cars do. In fact they make it that much easier for residents to do exactly what you say, have a walk to Centre street to visit a restaurant or make a quick bike stop to pick something up at a local shop.
What you seem to be saying is that your need to drive from the burbs is more important than the ability of actual west rox residents to easily access local businesses by foot or bike.
Businesses aren't surviving
By nona
Wed, 05/12/2021 - 12:17pm
Businesses aren't surviving on the patronage of people walking or riding their bikes, plus there already is a walking lane its called the sidewalk. What I am saying is I don't need to drive to West Roxbury for haircuts and meals, but I like to to support the businesses. If that becomes more difficult to do so, my desire to do that will decrease, thus, hurting the businesses. I don't think its necessary to spend money to accommodate the 25 people who would like to ride their bikes.
And what you are saying is that because you moved to West Roxbury, you should be able to change it because you think your views are more important than those folks who have been tied to the community for decades.
And what you are saying is
By ZachAndTired
Wed, 05/12/2021 - 12:34pm
What you're saying is that you think your views are more important than the people who actually live here (unlike yourself). Go kick rocks.
How big do you feel your impact is?
By lbb
Wed, 05/12/2021 - 12:38pm
Obviously they're not, if the infrastructure is hostile and dangerous to both cyclists and pedestrians. But could they be?
Already addressed under "needing to cross the street".
That's nice, but tell me this: just how much clout do you think your economic contribution to the neighborhood merits? Are you, and other sentimental suburbanites like you, what makes the difference for these businesses?
Assuming your lowball number of 25 is correct, that's still 24 more than you.
...but who have left for the suburbs. Their views should count double, right?
And there it is...
By HenryAlan (not ...
Wed, 05/12/2021 - 12:55pm
This is what it always comes down to in these discussions. Change averse xenophobia.
I'd bet $1000
By Parkwayne
Thu, 05/13/2021 - 11:49am
That 'Nona' has a blue lives matter flag flying on their suburban home.
I like to support the businesses as well
By Manny
Wed, 05/12/2021 - 1:10pm
I hate driving on Centre St as it is a cluster**** of as*hole drivers speeding and swerving around cars trying to make a left hand turn. 6 Lanes of Centre St are dedicated to cars (two for parking,4 for driving). That is excessive.I take my life into my hands every time I cross the street at the Holy Name Rotary and then across Centre St by the 7-11. I have had to jump out of the way of cars speeding off the rotary on to Centre St and blast through the cross walk on numerous occasions, once as a fine upstanding BPD officer watched and when I confronted him said "you made it across, you're all set". I for one will not be supporting any Mayoral candidate who comes out against this.
And what you are saying is
By anon
Wed, 05/12/2021 - 2:05pm
BINGO! I just got a bingo here.
Centre street sucks to get to, in either cars or bikes. I live right off centre and I'd rather drive down to Dedham to run errands than fight car traffic on Centre or take my life in my hands walking. Slowing the road and making it possible to bike/walk, or park at one end and walk around the area, would make it less hostile to people WHO ACTUALLY LIVE HERE. But hell, somebody's trying to build apartments to hand those businesses dozens more customers at their door and old school westie curmudgeons don't like that, either.
The good news is the way it's going, all those businesses are closing anyway, so soon there won't be any use for the street except speeding on through on your way back to your suburban paradise.
At 11 am, when my bus is the
By anon
Wed, 05/12/2021 - 3:54pm
At 11 am, when my bus is the only vehicle on the road, and it takes significantly longer than it used to along a certain stretch due to the traffic light phases for bikes that no bikes make use of, I think it's safe to say the bike infrastructure is causing the delay rather than me.
That's a cop out. Why do a
By anon
Wed, 05/12/2021 - 2:24pm
That's a cop out. Why do a handful of businesses (whom I no longer give my $ to) get to decide what happens with public parking spaces? Also interesting that most were very quiet about being against the road diet. It says a lot that they felt losing 16 tax-payer owned parking spaces would hurt their businesses - their business must not be so great.
Why is socialism ok for these people? Here is an idea...let those businesses buy the 16 parking spaces at market rate and then use that $ for the road diet.
westroxburysafetyassociation.com
By anon
Wed, 05/12/2021 - 11:07am
Has anyone seen westroxburysafetyassociation.com
Pretty clever use of national roadway death data against this so-called "safety committee".
Never change WR!
By MassMikMouse
Wed, 05/12/2021 - 12:56pm
There are times I miss living in WR… this would not be one of those times…
Boston politics are so broken
By cden4
Wed, 05/12/2021 - 2:09pm
Boston politics are so broken when a few noisy nonsensical crackpots manage to gum up roadway safety improvements where there is clear evidence of danger with the current configuration and clear proven techniques for making the roadway safer. I'm so tired of having continually express my support over and over again for sensible solutions because of a bunch of loudmouths who are simply opposed to anything changing.
Bike lanes
By anon
Wed, 05/12/2021 - 5:18pm
are for outdoor dining seating.
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