am I watching things on television that are different from what’s happening?

@jfh01.bsky.social The cast in place concrete is the right way to go. The only people I could imagine are in favor of the zebra bumps are delivery drivers and wrist surgeons. I’ve crashed once before hitting the base of a flex post with no post, these are far less visible.

Boston’s new “Better Buffers” initiative plans to replace flexposts with cast-in-place curbs. Somerville has started using pre-cast curbs recently. I assume pre-cast is cheaper/quicker to implement and just as protective as cast-in-place. www.boston.gov/departments/...

When they founded this country some 250 years ago, one of the core ideas was that it shouldn’t be this hard to figure out why someone was deprived of their liberty (or where they are being held) by the government.

The Community Path Safety Improvements project to implement both near-term quick-build improvements and longer-term design options along the path, at key intersections and at the two Green Line station entrances on the path. 🧵

“We need leadership who will tell us the trade-offs … We need an administration who will own delays and slipped deadlines for what they are rather than letting the council take the heat while adjusting the goalposts.” medium.com/@fdmts/our-c...

For #somerville #somerpoli City Council At-Large candidate Holly Simione suggests stopping building new protected bike lanes and thinks cyclists should pay a fee to register their bikes.

This is great, can @mayorwu.boston.gov stop backsliding on street safety and put back the bike and bus lanes that have been removed during the campaign now? Maybe also prioritizing safety on Hyde Park Ave redesign before someone else is killed? mass.streetsblog.org/2025/08/14/w...

Here is a brief history of why I am so frustrated with the lack of progress on a Highland Ave redesign. (If you enjoy municipal rants, this post is for you.) youtu.be/lP0zGdQSXIk?...

Here's the schedule from 2021. We are now all the way off the right hand side of this chart. This is for the goddamn community process, not the paving or the painting or anything else. 44/?

@somervilleinfr1.bsky.social I’m very happy that Gilman is getting much of its 2023 bike lane back on Medford St, as well as pre-cast concrete upgrades to School. The CPX detour lanes reduced speeding and made ped crossing of Mdfd/School feel much safer due to the reduced crossing distance.

Looking at the map of spotted lanternfly in MA feels like there are marauders at the gates. I’m hoping the next administration can dedicate some significant resources to invasive species management. Plants like Black Swallow Wort are so pervasive and many don’t know/care they have it.

Wu Won’t Fix Hyde Park Ave. Safety Hazards in Upcoming Paving Project - mass.streetsblog.org/2025/08/14/w...

SASS put out a questionnaire to our candidates to see where they stood on safe streets. I wanted to add my own personal commentary. These views are mine alone, not SASS. I like a candidate who evolves their views based on data and learning. I'll start with mayor: docs.google.com/spreadsheets... 1/

It’s remarkable seeing @mayorkatjana.bsky.social remember Gilman Sq exists every two years. So much enthusiasm for “Somerville’s High Line” when she is the one who mothballed the plan for 4 years and told the neighborhood council last month that her staff has more important priorities than Gilman.

The question phrasing seems to be heavily biased towards the admins desired outcome. Trum Field is a bad location for a school and it has nothing to do with the loss of field space and everything to do with the fact that half the catchment area is Medford.

This bus/bike lane happened because in 2009 the #mapoli state transportation secretary (me) lead the effort. Why has state/MBTA leadership on this disappeared?

I agree, it’s really terrible when the focus in our major cities is on winning the hearts of reactionary suburbanites instead of livability for city residents.

Luce volunteers out here doing a better job standing up for our neighbors than the police ever could.

The @cityofsomerville.bsky.social's Spring Hill sewer replacement project provides a great example of how "green infrastructure" can improve safety *and* reduce water pollution *and* do it all while looking fabulous: mass.streetsblog.org/2025/07/30/e...

Somerville looking pretty bad on this map where multifamily is defined as 4+ units, not much better than surrounding suburbs. We need to do much more than legalized triple deckers. @willieburnleyjr.bsky.social @jake4somerville.bsky.social www.bostonglobe.com/2025/07/17/b...

When do you plan to remove this lane without notice? Helpful to know as I face increasingly unsafe streets on my way to work due to your backtracking.

Drivers are flocking to their newly-available extra lane on North Washington Street this afternoon – read all about it here: mass.streetsblog.org/2025/07/08/a...

Who needs Jonathan Kraft with a Wu administration like this? Why make street safety upgrades when we can upgrade street danger instead?

@jake4somerville.bsky.social can you help undecided voters understand how you will stand up for your constituents against a hostile federal administration when you refuse to take even the smallest stand against an ineffectual one term mayor? I was undecided before this meeting but this vote helps

Healey: “I think we need to evaluate what’s going on, and I want to see the numbers. I just want to see what’s happening in terms of any potential outmigration.” So she hasn’t looked at the numbers that show the tax is a success and the only thing that is staving off cuts after her tax cut?

Interesting discussion of the bad School St CPX crossing: www.reddit.com/r/Somerville...

“The Harvard researcher Dr Sarah Fortune was only 2 years away from creating a vaccine that could have saved the 1.25 million people killed each year by tuberculosis. But last month, she received a letter telling her that the $60 million grant funding her research was being halted by Trump.”

New MassDOT budget proposal reveals new timeline for proposed Somerville-Everett bike and pedestrian bridge, with completion delayed 'til early 2030s – #mapoli mass.streetsblog.org/2025/06/03/n...

There is no ethical consumption under capitalism, and yet we all have to live here ... somehow.

This would be a fantastic policy if implemented (and enforced)

In Massachusetts our clean energy climate plan is being implemented by the #mapoli MBTA removing these zero emissions trolley buses, dragging its feet on rail electrification & incentivizing auto trips by slow walking the Red Blue Connector.

Model accuracy has fall to some of the lowest levels of the year so far. Could be the pattern, but RAOB data missing because of Fed cuts is likely also a culprit.

The governor’s choice to refuse to discuss tolling the Cape Cod Bridges fits into this narrative - #mapoli is wholly unprepared to deal w/the realities of the infrastructure funding moment. We need to be more self sufficient. State Senate sending taxpayer $ to Kraft doesn’t help either.

Happy Earth Day and thank you to the Mystic River Watershed Association for their free tree program helping to expand our urban tree canopy! mysticriver.org/trees

Detroit is not pulling out their bollards, parking protected bike lanes, and floating bus stops. Neither should Boston and Cambridge. (It's actually Ferndale at 9 Mile and Woodward, but who's counting)

At what point is it okay to protest @mayorwu.boston.gov over this irresponsible political gamble with street safety? The national political environment does not excuse these actions. People will be injured and killed due to her backtracking on street safety.

www.reddit.com/r/Somerville... Does @somervillepd.bsky.social need a special overtime grant to remove protest posters? I’m not sure how they have time for telephone pole enforcement but not traffic enforcement… @willieburnleyjr.bsky.social @jake4somerville.bsky.social

I don’t see why MassDOT needs to retain median green space for a potential left turn bus lane. If that was needed and if it couldn’t just take away a travel lane, having the green space on the side would be no different. They’re adding a lane to green space either way.

Hm. They're keeping the frontage roads, because otherwise driveways have to go directly onto the boulevard - chopping up any green space. Apparently the center medians are necessary for pedestrian protection. Protection from what? Oh yeah, from too many cars in too many lanes. 16/?

Appears the “reformed”, “targeted”, and “very necessary” cyclist “education” is back, pulling a cyclist over at a T intersection where it is not possible to run the light. Would like to hear more about this @jake4somerville.bsky.social @willieburnleyjr.bsky.social www.reddit.com/r/Somerville...

This proposal at 33 Mystic in Somerville is a great example of why we need point access block reform, so much space consumed in this 8 unit building for the two staircases. @mikeconnollyma.bsky.social s3.amazonaws.com/somervillema...

CONFIRMED: @boston.gov Is Removing Protective Barriers From Its New Bikeways - mass.streetsblog.org/2025/03/05/b...

Did not appear to be functioning for the last storm, I’m curious what the Mayor’s office says about it. I should’ve taken more pictures but this was every curb cut on both School and Broadway. @benforward3.bsky.social @jake4somerville.bsky.social @willieburnleyjr.bsky.social

I repeat - our director of Parking made the cover of Parking Today. bsky.app/profile/parq... 47/?

Trump’s culture war attack on New York’s congestion pricing initiative sounds a lot like Posh Kraft’s attack on safe street infrastructure in Boston.

@mikeconnollyma.bsky.social How quickly can we (MassDot) spend that $43 million on McGrath so we don’t lose the funding? Can we employ emergency measures to get the project contracted? mass.streetsblog.org/2025/02/17/u... cc @willieburnleyjr.bsky.social @jake4somerville.bsky.social

I'm quite familiar with the council's limitations. Turning down small grants like this one is one of its exceptionally few concrete powers. If this sort of education / enforcement was desirable / effective / and/or a priority, SPD could schedule shifts anytime. They don't.

Any Somerville mayoral candidates interested in following our neighbor’s leadership here? @willieburnleyjr.bsky.social @jake4somerville.bsky.social 👀

I asked @jake4somerville.bsky.social this a few weeks ago because it’s not clear to me from the new law, do we keep the revenue from the safety sticks? Or does that go to the MassDOT general fund like the bus mounted cameras? If we keep the revenue we should have them at every bus stop.