itamarst

itamarst t1_jddtttg wrote

Prioritizing other modes of transportation doesn't mean the city isn't thinking about this.

There's a page where you can make suggestions, with links to existing stations: https://www.cambridgema.gov/Departments/communitydevelopment/evchargingstations

(The suggestion map is https://cambridgegis.maps.arcgis.com/apps/CrowdsourcePolling/index.html?appid=153271b7f5ee474fb8a619c31d12d5b3, I believe the purple stations are existing municipal charging spaces you can use.)

Personally I get groceries with a bike trailer, which means I never have any problems parking at Market Basket.

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itamarst t1_jddl57z wrote

The city has a decades-long policy (written into law) to reduce single-occupancy vehicle usage. As such, all thing being equal city staff tend to prioritize pushing alternatives to cars, like buses and bike infrastructure.

That being said, there will be some public charging stations added soon, somewhere, based on the last participatory budgeting round. And the city might be adding others, in addition.

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itamarst t1_jbj2f84 wrote

The city is not doing construction: no curb changes, no pouring concrete. Only paint or flexposts. If moving a sidewalk requires construction they won't do it as part of the project.

Within those constraints, they are trying to make the street safer for cyclists and pedestrians. I think the project is very nice. Many others do. You may disagree, or think there are ways to improve; if so the solution is to share suggestions with the city, not complain on reddit.

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itamarst t1_jbhksqr wrote

If moving the crosswalk would involve additional construction (e.g. for ramps for people with disabilities) that's out of scope for these projects, since they typically aren't doing construction.

There is one of those streets that will be reconstructed soon, I forget which, though.

In general, if it doesn't involve construction the city will adjust things even after project installation if people make a good enough argument, so email tpt@cambridgema.gov with any suggestions (that's the Traffic, Parking, & Transportation department email). They do read all their email.

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itamarst t1_jbbsgrz wrote

In theory the MassAve4 construction might include some improvements to Porter Square too; how much is up to the city, but faster buses are a priority they didn't address in original project and my impression is they want to revisit that. And so maybe that might involve partial reconstruction ala the rest of MassAve4, or not, we'll learn more this year probably.

Separately, if the experiment with concrete barriers goes well on Brattle St, hopefully those will get rolled out across the city.

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itamarst t1_j9h2au5 wrote

Seems difficult to convince college students to change how they do things, especially since there's a new batch every year (and they have extra-high risk tolerance). Similarly, near the high school you will get lots of high school students biking the wrong way on Trowbridge.

EDIT: But, the city has put up signage in some places directing people to particular streets, so you can ask them for that, might help.

Another alternative is to talk to the city about putting up a contraflow bike lane on Shepard if it's a desire line.

Either way: https://seeclickfix.com or email tpt@cambridgema.gov (Traffic department).

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itamarst OP t1_j8pvgyy wrote

It's a long process, and the text can get amended along the way, starting from step 3:

  1. Neighborhood Committee will have a meeting in March hopefully.
  2. Housing Committee will continue its meeting in March (8th?).
  3. Then it gets sent to ... council which sends to Ordinance Committee? Or maybe ordinance committee directly.
  4. Then there's Ordinance Committee.
  5. Then it goes to Council again. If it passes there, there's two week delay, followed by:
  6. Final vote in Council.

The Neighborhood Committee meeting is next opportunity for spoken public comment but you can email the council at any time: council@cambridgema.gov

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itamarst OP t1_j8pv5sg wrote

My (possibly incorrect) understanding is the grants from the City actually come from the Affordable Housing Trust, not the City budget (https://www.cambridgema.gov/cdd/housing/housingtrust). In general my impression is that these are one-off grants, to pay for purchase and construction, and after that the buildings are operated and maintained from rent. Not an expert in how this works though.

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itamarst t1_j5u31jd wrote

They also roost together on trees here in Cambridge. Seen a bunch of turkeys on a tree across from Baldwin playground on Oxford St. last winter, and one turkey _very_ high up on a tree near Graham & Parks more recently.

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