Since September with their wages going down at about 25% to 75% it will certainly be more of hardship on them this year. And with Holiday weekend adding a bit more of a loss that will certainly hurt more also.
Those of us who love our small businesses here are hoping and praying for city hall to see the light and return our beloved Winter Hill back to the businesses and taxpayers of Winter Hill.
No one I know wants to take a pay cut and neither do these small businesses for which it is hard enough to get by as it is. And with another set of Holidays around the corner it will certainly be a bigger hardship for them this year. Plus I don’t have a count on how many may have been laid off due to this.
I hope our politicians can look into their hearts and right this mistake they have admitted to. Maybe later on using some common sense once the city has restored our roadways back to normal usage we can get actual usable data to design Winter Hill to work for everyone and try not to repeat this mistake. It is the only fair and right thing to do.
Those of us in the real world have to fix our mistakes. The least our city can do is to do the same thing. It is only right. This has dragged on far too long as it is. Now is the time to be the better person and do the right thing. You will be a better person for it. It will also be a great present for our small business people and the elderly and disabled of Winter Hill for the holiday season.
There is a meeting at city hall on December 8th at 6PM and I hope those of us who see the need to fix this problem and will take the time out to voice your opinion or constructive ideas. And remember; only about 2% of their businesses are from people biking, most from people driving. Because the road is so messed up people are not coming here to shop now.
In L.A.’s Playa De Rey neighborhood, roads jammed as soon as the diet was imposed in July of this year. In four subsequent months of road dieting, the neighborhood saw 52 accidents, compared to the past average of 11.6 accidents per year. Businesses reported sales off by as much as 40 per cent. Sound familiar? It’s a tiny piece of road, why would you even do this here? Get off the computers and get out and look and listen to the problem. Listen and talk to the taxpayers. We are not stupid. My mother always had a saying, “think before you act”. Not that I always did that but these decision can have huge consequences.
Give Winter Hill back to us for Thanksgiving.
It gets better. Since backups are at various times now and just not always traffic time the cars are in there lane and the fire truck comes up in the red lane but here is an oil truck making a delivery and the cars don’t move because they can’t go on the red lane.so the fire truck can only sit there beeping their horn. The oil truck has no choice but to have made the delivery and it takes time to stop and get the hose back in so he can move. I imagine the same could happen with an ambulance. I see a lawsuit awaiting one day. The red lane is used more now than before at least when I am looking for deliveries and cars are on it parking. Don’t know if ride share, deliveries or what. Twice I saw elderly being left off. There is no room for this insanity. Who cares how many cars they are counting. Return the city to normal and then get their act together, I don’t think anyone in city hall has any expertise on this kind of road design. I also think this design actually had to go down just to see it’s faults and the good parts. But I am no expert. I only know what I see with my own eyes and what I hear by talking to the people. Which the city should have been doing more of than than just doing those stupid computer stats. Eyes and ears would be better off being used.
Arthur that’s the Mayor’s writers putting the spin on another bad move made by his administration. There are signs along Broadway in Magoun Square heading toward Trum Field that suggest supporting local small businesses. They are right where they took out about ten parking spaces to accommodate the new bike and bus pattern.
It is unlikely you will see a change in the street design because the city and the Mayor will look like fools. They will ride this out hoping that people will forget and move on.
You would hope that the City Councilors step up to the plate and argue for some common sense in returning the street the way it was originally.
Wait and see approach to having the Green line up and running the determine how to adjust some areas to accommodate the needs of the users.
The affect all of construction and roadway changes have had on traffic is unbelievable. Every street crossing through Somerville is so congested that it is creating a safety hazard. With the holidays arriving it will be worse. Its scary watching Police and Fire vehicles trying to get through the backups on the cross and side streets.
We can only hope that someone will realize the negative impact this is causing and begin to make some changes. Broadway just before Main St has a traffic counter installed so they will be giving us some stats but like anything else they will put the spin on it.
The businesses should apply for a tax rebate on their loss of income and value to their property. That will get someone’s attention.
I hate to say another newspapers name here but if you really need a good laugh you should read this at the Somerville Times.
Awesomeness awaits at Somerville’s small businesses this holiday season.