By Judy Locchi Jacobs
I attended the Ward 2 Resistat Meeting at the Somerville Police Station last night. I asked the mayor in front of 50+ residents if he will be in attendance and speak at the meeting.
He said he didn’t know if he could make it. I looked up meetings scheduled at the same time next Wednesday. They’re having a meeting on McGrath construction at the SHS auditorium which is rare they hold any meeting at this location.
But I persisted in getting him to talk about the boulevard. I said many residents will be effected by loss of parking spaces.
Of course, someone wearing a bike helmet happened to be sitting in front of me and interrupted in their typical nasty tone.
He shouted back , “Bikes need lanes,too!”
Of course he had to mention to everyone in the room he is on the bike committee. No surprise there. He wore his helmet throughout the meeting so everyone would know he’s a member of the radical militant cyclist cabal.
Then the mayor added that he witnessed a cyclist knock down a pedestrian on the sidewalk and his officers are responding to cyclists breaking the laws on the road, ie, running red lights, riding on sidewalks and other violations.
I had to have the last word and expose the cyclists on their comments about Doherty’s Funeral Home. So I said the cyclists were disrespecting Doherty’s and the cyclist smirked thinking that was funny, like they scored some points on trashing Doherty’s.
The mayor said they are working with Doherty’s- whatever that means.
By the diagrams presented and information provided on the transformation of Union Square, I’d say unless something changes, Ward 2 is in for a world of pain. It’s going to mirror Kendall Square, which will hurt the working class trying to hang on there. Also one resident complained about there not being an elevator at Prospect Street GLX station. In my opinion, they will do everything to dissuade residents 40+ in age to live here.
An all bike city with a focus on creating a playground for 18-35 year olds is not inclusive.
It’s gentrified and homogenous. They’re also proposing scientific labs which means colleges will be vested.
Please try to attend the meeting at the Neighborhood School next Wednesday, May 22 at 6:00 pm, to discuss the proposed bike lane on Powderhouse Boulevard.
We anticipate a large number of radicalized cyclists pushing their agenda and need more voices to encourage the city administration to reconsider their proposal for a bike lane. Families need parking, so do tenants who must rely on their cars for work.
You went to a ward 2 Resistat meeting to rant about something in ward 6/7? You’re a peach – they must have LOVED you. And at the meeting you asked the mayor if he would be at the meeting? Was this some kind of zen question? And apparently the mayor wasn’t sure if he was at the meeting? Was he on drugs?
In any event, I actually agree with you about the bike lanes, albeit from a saner perspective. I’ve driven / ridden cars and bikes for years in & around Somerville, and we really don’t need these silly stand-alone bike lanes – especially when it means getting rid of parking spaces and / or putting parked cars inches from traffic. This isn’t holland, folks – deal with it. Learn to ride defensively. Adding bike lanes isn’t gonna get more people biking and solve climate change – it’s just gonna make traffic worse for the vast majority of road users who drive and need to park. The painted lanes are ok – if there’s actually space for one. They do nudge the cars over a little.
By the way, anybody who wears a bike helmet to meeting is a straight up asshole, so good on you for giving him grief.
I love this. The people of Somerville need to stand up to these bike scrums. They dont need any lanes they can ride on the streets and sidewalks like we’ve done here for 100 years. Such a pathetic excuse for humans. Never needed bike lanes before but ohhhhhh bikes need lanes too. No we need more car lanes and parking spots for the 70,000 other resident who dont drive bikes to their jobs in cambridge. Something needs to be done!!!!