City Council - Planning, Development, & Transportation Committee Hearing on Dockets #0204, #0588 & #0589

For the record, my name is Sharon Durkan, District 8 City Councilor, and I'm Chair of the Committee on Planning, Development, and Transportation. Today is April 21st. The exact time is 2 p.m. This hearing is being recorded. It is also being livestreamed at boston.gov backslash city-council-tv and broadcast on Xfinity Channel 8, RCN Channel 82, Biles Channel 964. Written comments may be sent to the committee email at CCC.PLANDEV at boston.gov and will be made part of the record and available to all Councillors. Public testimony will be taken at the end of this hearing. Individuals will be called on in the order of which they've signed up and have two minutes to testify. If you are interested in testifying in person, please add your name to the sign-up sheet near the entrance of the chamber. If you are looking to testify virtually, please add your... please email our central staff liaison Shane Pack at shane.pac at boston.gov and your name will be added to the list.

Today's hearing is on docket 0204, order for a hearing to discuss making neighborhood streets safer following the 30-day review of street projects in Boston. This matter was... Sponsored by Benjamin Weber and Enrique Pepén and referred to the committee on January 28, 2026. Docket 0588, order for a hearing to discuss City of Boston transportation philosophy and status of infrastructure projects. This matter was sponsored by Councilors Durkan, Pepén, and Weber and is referred to the committee on March 18, 2026. And Docket 0589, order for a hearing to discuss the status of state and federal funding allocated for transportation projects. This matter was sponsored by Council President Liz Breadon and was referred to the committee on March 18, 2026. Today, I am joined by my colleagues in order of arrival.

Flynn, Murphy, Pepén, Breadon, Weber, Culpepper, Fitzgerald. Good afternoon everyone and thank you for being here. When I introduced my docket to the Council floor, I committed to scheduling this hearing as soon as possible in the midst of budget season because I believe this issue is important and urgent. Residents expect and deserve to feel safe on our streets. Meeting that expectation is a shared responsibility that depends on consistent work and clear coordination across the city. Boston has committed through Vision Zero to eliminate fatal and severe traffic crashes by 2030, and there are a number of important street and safety projects underway to help get us there.

But in recent months there has been concern that too many of these projects have been slowed down or stalled without clear evidence of what's happening or why. Constituents ask me every day for updates. As well as through being the chair of planning, development, and transportation and I haven't always had answers to those questions. Many of these projects are desperately needed to protect all road users and ensure everyone can get around our city safely, especially our most vulnerable. and District 8 where so many residents and visitors navigate by foot every day. This is something I think about consistently. I continue to advocate for a city that works for everyone and makes it easier for people using all modes of transportation, walking, biking, or taking public transit. More and more young people are choosing not to drive. We need to embrace the future and plan accordingly, recognizing that many Boston residents, including myself, do not own a car. The delay of many of these projects has also put state and federal transportation funding at risk.

Unrelatedly, we lost millions of dollars in federal transportation grants, including the Roxbury Resilient Corridors Grant which was yanked by the federal government after we passed it through this committee. Similarly, we've had discussions in this chamber about Blue Hill Ave at a time when we were facing challenges and a challenging budget season, coupled with federal uncertainty and decreasing state funding, We should be doing everything we can to secure every dollar for these critical projects and keep it. I know that the city is taking steps to extend public engagement and community involvement. However, there does remain a lack of clarity on how we're Moving in an overall direction what our transportation philosophy is what our long-term goals are and how these projects are going to be made whole. I filed this hearing order. I'm glad to have combined it with Councilor Breadon and Councilor Weber's dockets to support a broader conversation today.

I hope that we can gain more clarity from City of Boston leadership about the transportation philosophy and decision-making process, the status of key projects, and the path forward to delivering safer and more efficient streets for Boston residents. As City Councillors, we have an important role to partner with the Administration to advance the goal of safety on our streets and sidewalks. Thank you to all the residents and organizations who are here, who are watching this afternoon, and thank you for your continued advocacy on these important issues. I want to thank Interim Chief Nick Gove and Mohammad Mazzuri for joining us today. Nick Gove is the Interim Chief of Streets for the City of Boston, and Muhammad Missouri is the Executive Director for the Office of Neighborhood Services. I'm going to go to opening statements from my colleagues. that are sponsors. So Councilor Liz Breadon, I'm sorry, Council President Liz Breadon, you have the floor.

Thank you Madam Chair and thank you all for being here. Lots of road users in the house to listen to this very important discussion. I filed docket 0589, an order for a hearing to discuss the status of state and federal funding allocated for transportation and streets projects. It came as sort of a wake-up call recently when we lost $327 million cut from the I-90 project because The project was years behind schedule and the money wasn't obligated. I think in this case we're looking citywide at hundreds of millions of dollars that are in jeopardy. If we as a city do not move forward decisively and obligate these funds and show forward direction,

We have many unanswered questions about why the process has stalled and we also I feel that this is a moment in the middle of our budget season and looking forward to what we can and and foreseeably Deliver from Boston. In this moment, it's critically important that we partner with our state and federal partners and that we partner with the MBTA to make sure that we utilize the funds and use them as they were intended. and if we don't use them we're in danger of losing them. So this is an important moment and an important issue for all of us across the city but it's particularly important for my district as well. Thank you Madam Chair.

Thank you, Council President. Next, we'll go to the lead sponsor of the other docket, Councilor Weber. You have the floor in two minutes.

Thank you very much. I'm glad to see some of my colleagues coming out today and for the administration, for everyone who's shown up here in City Hall. I filed a docket on the 30-day review in April 2025, and so it's been a year for us to try to figure out What that review meant and what we were doing about it. And honestly, I feel like we haven't done a good job since that review came out. We need a better community process around street safety improvements and instead what we've had is no process and no improvements. And so I speak for my constituents. in District 6 who want to be able to walk around safely and ride their bikes safely on the streets. And right now, as their city councilor, I don't know what to tell them in terms of how to

How to move this process forward, how to get speed humps on their streets, and how to address areas where there's dangerous conditions. We had Glenn Ingram who died. You know right in front of Forest Hill Station crossing the street on a green light and it's just you know it's I think you know The majority of my constituents want to see improvements go forward, and the answer can't be that we're never going to do anything. So, you know, I'm here. I hope we get some answers. And I just want to thank everyone for coming out today. Thank you.

Thank you. Next, we're going to go to Councilor Pepén, who is the co-sponsor on all of these dockets.

Good afternoon, everyone. Thank you to the advocates, panels, organizers, and community members who are here today. Your voices, your persistence, and your commitment to safer streets are what is going to keep this city moving forward. But I'm not just here as a City Councillor, I'm someone here that stands with you. Before I had the honour of serving on the City Council, I worked for Transportation for Massachusetts, T4MA. In that role, I saw firsthand what's possible when we commit to fold People-Centered Transportation Policy and I also saw what happens when we hesitate. Progress stalls, safety suffers, and communities are left behind. That experience shaped how I show up today to this building. because at the end of the day, transportation is not just about getting from point A to point B, it's about safety, it's about equity, It's about whether a parent feels safe and comfortable letting their child walk to school, whether a senior can cross the street with confidence, whether a cyclist can ride without fear, and whether a public transit rider are treated with dignity they deserve. That's why I've made transportation

It's high priority in my work on the council and I continue to advocate for it every single day. Safer streets don't happen by accident. They happen because we choose them. They happen when we invest in traffic calming measures like speed bumps. They happen when we improve signage and visibility. They happen when we build safer and more accessible crosswalks and sidewalks. And they happen when we have the courage to take on larger projects, redesigning our streets so they work for everyone, not just for cars, but for pedestrians, cyclists, transit riders, and drivers alike. From our school zones to our residential streets to our busiest corridors, every part of the city should reflect that commitment. That is why I'm proud to be a co-sponsor on both dockets that we're going to hear from today. Transportation is probably the topic that I hear from the most. In my district, residents consistently asking me, what's the update on the projects? When are we getting more speed homes? When are streets going to be safer? I'm looking forward to the questions. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you so much and for each of my colleagues that aren't co-sponsors we're just gonna let you have a minute not two minutes because I know we have a lot of public testimony but you'll have a chance to ask more questions when we get to Flynn.

I'll try to be brief as possible. This hearing is important. This is an issue I've worked on for Eight years trying to keep our streets and sidewalks safe, trying to reduce the speed limit, which we did from 25 to 20. I think it should be reduced even further. I think we need to make major infrastructure changes in the city of Boston to provide a safer environment for people, for all people, especially persons with disabilities and our seniors. We need more traffic enforcement as well from the Boston Police enforcing all rules of the road. Boston can't be the Wild West. It has to be a city where people follow the rules, respect the rules, and the rules are enforced consistently. Thank you.

Thank you, Councillor Flynn. Councillor Murphy, you have the floor.

Thank you. So last year it was stated with my former lead sponsors. I was a lead sponsor in April of last year when we filed the hearing order to get answers on the 30-day review. And we know that came After the need for the Safety Surge Initiative and just hearing from residents. Every resident, if you're walking, biking, in a car, on a bus, you deserve to be safe. And we need to know what we're doing here on the city to make sure and what data we've collected. So looking forward to this conversation. making sure that also hearing from the residents and what they want to see and make sure that everyone feels safe. So thank you.

Thanks, Councilor Murphy. Next, we're going to go to Councilor Culpepper.

Thank you, Madam Chairwoman. Thank you to the panelists for being here today. District 7, there are a number of streets in my district that need immediate attention from Columbus Avenue. were repaving and restoration of the Center of Cobblestones was overdue. Concord Square, Northampton Street, following BWS work there. Smaller but important streets like Wellington Street, Claremont Park, Greenwich Park. And these are not large-scale redesign programs. They are basic maintenance and quality of life issues that residents are dealing with every day. And while we talk about planning future projects, We have to address concerns about projects already underway, particularly around Blue Hill Avenue, which is a clear example where, despite the city's stated commitment to community consensus, that Blue Hill Avenue Center Lane

Many residents, and we just had that large community meeting, many of those residents feel that they were not meaningfully heard in the process. Thank you, Councilor Culpepper. Thank you.

Councilor Fitzgerald.

Thank you, Chair. Appreciate it. As a parent of three young kids, my biggest fear is vehicles and the way they're driving lately. Even playing in front of the house, we only let the kids play in the backyard now because of the fear of cars coming down. But I'm also realistic about the role of a car in my family's dependency on trying to get to everything with three young kids as well. Not that one's going to go away. We have to learn how this can coexist in a safer, better model, and I look forward to that conversation. Thank you.

Thanks, Councillor Fitzgerald. Okay, so now we're going to go, I know there's a presentation, so we're going to go to our administration panel, which consists of Chief Gove and Director Missouri, so go ahead.

Good afternoon. Thanks for having us here today. We're going to start off just by talking about the streets cabinet's mission and values. We deliver the essential city services that keep Boston moving, clean, safe, and vibrant. We believe in getting the details right for residents, businesses, and commuters who rely on us in their daily lives. We hold ourselves to direct and thorough engagement through clear, straightforward communication. We're committed to maintaining and improving safe and accessible streets that work for all roadway users. From a visioning perspective, Boston's streets should be safe, efficient, and connected, not chaotic or stressful.

In the first term, we made real progress by moving quickly, testing ideas, learning in real time, and delivering fast, affordable safety improvements. We will build on that progress with a shift to lasting, neighborhood-specific infrastructure. We will move from temporary infrastructure to durable, well-designed and integrated solutions. We'll shift away from a one-size-fits-all mindset that prioritizes speed over specifics. We'll focus on using a range of tools and options to find the win-win for different roadway users. will implement a coordinated rather than siloed approach. Instead of prioritizing new safety infrastructure over state of good repair, We will lead with streets that are due for state of good repair work and evaluate them for safety improvements. We'll deploy better enforcement

focusing on key hotspots to keep roads, bike and bus lanes, and sidewalks unobstructed. This next phase is not about slowing down on progress. It's about getting the design right and avoiding unintended consequences for residents, communities, and local businesses. We'll strive for street designs that feel better, work better, and last longer because they were designed with the experience of the residents, businesses, and commuters who are using them every day. Our priorities will continue to be state of good repair. This includes safe street starts with getting the basics right. Sanitation, street sweeping, filling potholes, resurfacing streets, Fixing street lights, refreshing pavement markings, and clear curbside regulations. We'll continue to implement traffic calming measures.

We'll continue to implement physical design changes to streets to improve Safety for pedestrians, cyclists, and motorists, including horizontal and vertical deflection measures, signs and pavement markings, and education and enforcement. We'll continue to invest in key corridors. will redesign high crash corridors and build neighborhood safety projects to reduce crashes. Seven of these projects we'll discuss later in the deck. The safety surge. Speed Humps. The first phase of this program rapidly constructed speed humps on high priority streets across the city. The next phase will reassess the current criteria for speed hump eligibility to determine if a neighborhood is better served by speed humps versus other traffic calming measures. Only streets deemed eligible will be candidates for speed humps. Safer intersections and signals.

Intersections help connect people From one route to another, but they are also where most crashes occur. We are working to reduce these conflicts between people driving, walking, and cycling at intersections throughout Boston through both infrastructure and Signal Improvements. State of Good Repair, an update on our progress. This administration has resurfaced over 105 miles of roadway. We've filled over 27,000 potholes. We've constructed 18 miles of bike lanes, nearly doubling the existing bike lane network. We've constructed over 6,400 curb ramps and we've installed over 1,400 speed humps citywide. This year, we're looking to resurface another 45 miles of roadway at least. with a goal of constructing over 1,800 ADA compliant ramps.

Through the projects that we'll reference later in the deck, will construct over two and a half miles of new bike lanes along with key network connections. And next month, we'll install over 100 new speed humps as well as return speed humps to roadways that were resurfaced last year. The projects I referenced earlier, there's seven projects here. These are all neighborhood safety and reconstruction projects. A Street and Congress, and Sleeper, which is underway. Cummins Highway, which will be completed this summer. Harrison Avenue, Ink Block, which will get underway in July. Jones Ave, Lower Roxbury, Lost Village, and the Ellis Safe Routes to School, all of these projects will begin construction this year.

From a planning, engagement, and design perspective, we have moved Rutherford Ave. and Sullivan Square, a project that's been in planning for over two decades, is now moving to the 25% design submission. Hyde Park Ave and Columbia Road, those planning efforts will continue this year. We'll continue outreach and stakeholder engagement on Downtown Crossing, Andrew Square, Wood Ave, the Boylston Street project and the Fenway, the Maverick and Rosendale Square transportation action plans, as well as the public gardens crossing project. With that, we welcome any questions that the counselors have. Thank you for having us.

Thank you so much. Our first Thank you. Thank you for your presentation.

I think the streets department, you have a lot of A lot of real estate on your plate. My particular questions are focused on the grants for federal grants specifically. I think it's Not beyond, we have seen grants withdrawn and we just want, I'd love to get a sense of the status of grants where we're at. It's my understanding that it's significantly harder for the feds to claw back money once it's been obligated. How many ongoing major street projects have reached the point where The money has been obligated and it's sort of locked down so that we can use it going forward.

So, Councilor, we can provide a kind of thorough update of all of the state and federal projects that are funded within the city. but I think we can provide that background and I can get into any specifics that you would like but it is a pretty detailed discussion. We're happy to share the projects from a federal perspective that have been either paused or rescinded. Projects that we haven't entered into an agreement yet. If there's specific projects that you'd like me to talk about, I'm happy to do that.

Well, I think one project that lost funding recently was the one in the Fenway where there's $8 million were taken. It was a high crash zone and I don't know what the circumstances were, why it was withdrawn, but we did lose $8 million from that.

It was actually reallocated. It wasn't lost.

I'd love to hear where it was reallocated and why was it?

Sure. Councilor, I believe you're referring to the Boylston Street project and the Fenway, which is a TIP-funded project. We have not lost the funds, but the project has been pushed out to the federal 2031 schedule. There were a number of projects that were shifted around by the MPO this month. That was one that was moved to the out years, but we have not lost the project. We did, in fact, as part of this, move up a project, which is the Cambridge Street Bridge. The time to build that is now that the MAFA Mystic Way project is wrapping up. That's a project we'd like to complete in advance of the Rutherford and Sullivan Square. So we have not lost that funding, and it's just been reallocated to the later years.

Is the Cambridge Street Bridge, is that the Alston Bridge?

No.

It's the other one, there's two Cambridge Street Bridges.

Yes, this is the Cambridge Street Bridge in Charleston.

Yeah, because we lost the funding for the... 327 million the I-90 project early action items was the Cambridge Street Bridge in Alston which is in pretty bad disrepair over a federal highway not our problem not the city's It impacts us, but we weren't party to that. How many funders of transportation infrastructure have we heard from are concerned about progress on these projects, and given the current national climate, are folks, is that a genuine concern, or how many have we heard from? Other partners like MassDOT, MBTA, Federal Transportation Authority,

Any other funders and partners that we work with that want to see this progress? These are infrastructure funds that if we lose them, it may be decades before we get them back.

Sure, I think we are in regular contact with MassDOT and the MBTA on all of the projects that we have in planning and design. I think there has been some well-publicized projects that have lost federal funding, but we continue to focus on the projects that are funded and moving through the process. I think obviously there's concern whenever a project either has funding rescinded or doesn't move ahead in the grant process, but we are working to make sure that the funding that we do have and that is available to us is moving forward.

Is it possible to get a schedule of where we're at with all the different projects?

Sure. We can provide a complete breakdown, project by project, of all the state and federal Projects that are funded for you.

One particularly serious concern I have is with the delay in funding that we're expecting for the Green Line. We have to do all that work in preparation for getting new cars, and the new cars won't work on the old existing track. I was wondering have we heard from the MBTA about any concerns we have about why we're not moving forward in a timely way with any of that work?

Yeah, we have a monthly standing meeting with the MBTA on that project. And we are working with them on both advancing the B and E line projects. They're moving ahead with that. We also have the opportunity to make significant street and neighborhood safety improvements as part of that work. So that's why we're engaged the way we are, but those projects continue to move forward.

Thank you.

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you so much, Madam President. We're going to go to Councilor Weber next. You have six minutes.

Okay, thank you very much. So in terms of The 30-year review sort of seemed like we paused things. We were rapidly putting in the bike infrastructure, speed bumps, safety things, and it seemed like nothing has happened since. I guess number one is what's going to be the process now? How do I talk to my constituents who want to see Something, you know, whether it's already in the planned or they want something new, like what's going to be different after today?

Specific to... Is there any specific projects you want me to... Well, I just...

So, I mean, there are certain projects, you know, Eggleston Square that has been... Planned, essentially, or whatever it is, 60%, or... What do I tell my constituents about Eggleston Square?

Sure. So for that example, that project is nearing, I believe, the design milestone of 70%. Construction of the square is not currently That said there are significant smaller neighborhood safety improvements that are proposed as part of that planning effort and we're looking to move those forward in advance and as part of the White Stadium reconstruction project.

Specifically, bike lanes, speed humps, crosswalks, what gets moved forward and what doesn't?

We're going to be restarting some engagement on that where we're going to talk about what the community feels like should be prioritized as part of those smaller projects that we can pull out to complete as part of some state of good repair work.

Okay, and then in terms of what, you know, I've got a dozen different streets that are being used as cut-throughs. People want speed bumps on their streets, and so, and I think many of those are, Really, you know, they could be made a lot better with speed bumps on those streets. So, you know, what do I tell my constituents? Up until now, we've just been telling people to... Sign a petition, circulate a petition among your neighbors, get everyone on board, and then I'll take that. As of today, I don't know what to do with that petition. So what do I tell my constituents in that situation?

Sure, so as I mentioned, we will be rolling out our spring program of speed hump installations next month. We're happy to share that with you if we haven't already. But as far as streets that are not on that spring program, As I mentioned, we're redesigning this program, and we'll be back with kind of what engagement is going to look like moving forward, what streets are eligible. But in the interim, please obviously share the streets that you believe You know, continue to be a priority.

Yeah, okay. So, I mean, maybe this is for you, Muhammad. I don't know, but... I know we're in, I think there was a press release this morning, last night. I thought the whole 30-day review process was, you know, we need more community process around these things, and it seems like We're again starting with the lack of a community process to announce street changes. And honestly, like, I'll take I'll take some engagement and, you know, imperfect as it is, just get some speed bumps on streets that need it. But it doesn't fill me with a lot of faith in this process that The one thing to take out of 30-day review is we need more community process and that I feel like we're Not getting it, but I don't know if you have anything either of you want to say about that.

I will say that, and I'll let Mohamed take it after. The spring program that we are moving ahead with next month, those are examples. All of those locations, all of those streets, they're receiving speed humps. There's been thorough engagement with the neighborhoods on those projects.

Yeah, I mean, I would say, excuse me, Councilor, we, as you know, we engage all of you throughout the year. We engage residents throughout the year. I mean, the 30 day review, As you said, it's not just about more community process, necessarily, for the sake of process. It's very what we learn from it and what we've learned in conversations with our residents and our, you know, advocates who are here today and counselors, other elected officials and stakeholders is that Boston is a unique city. It's a historic city and every neighborhood has very specific things that They're looking for when we are changing the built environment. And so what we do is we actually just look for making sure that our projects are meeting Thank you. Thank you.

It feels, you know, that it... I apologize that it felt that it took some time since last year, but at the same time, I just want to say that we moved very, very fast. We made rapid, rapid progress as an administration compared to Many years prior, and we are just learning to make sure that we're not just finishing something to finish it, but it's actually done really well and meeting all the needs of the neighborhood.

Yeah, I just have a comment. I won't ask any questions this round. I have another round. I mean, I feel like we've had a year to... Like where everything has been stopped from my perspective. And now is the time to come out with the plan. I feel like what we're getting is still very vague. What I'd like to hear is, we've come up with a plan, a process, and these are the three things you need to do to get speed bumps on your road. to get a bike lane here or to get Hyde Park Ave redesigned or whatever it is. And then we can pick up, it's up to us to pick that up and make our constituents' voices heard. You know, right now, it's like that arena doesn't even exist. And, you know, I thank you for coming here and for presenting that. I think it's really a show of good faith, but it's, you know, I was hoping for something a little more

You know, cooked.

Can I just address that?

Yeah, absolutely.

I mean, I'll just address it briefly and we can maybe come back to it later. But I think, again, like when you have a city like Boston that is, you know, It's compared to, sure, some European cities and others, you know, not as old, but it's a historic city. It's old. The roads are designed for maybe a different time. The streets are designed for a different time. We can't do a one-size-fits-all approach. We're not a grid. It makes things more complicated, for sure. But we also have, again, historic neighborhoods where you've got Residents who've lived there for generations, others who just moved here, all of those different perspectives are unique and important for us, and I understand where you're coming from, It's about having those conversations for us. And it's not sort of like, oh, you hit this threshold, then therefore it triggers this thing. Because I don't think that would necessarily Be fair to that specific neighborhood or to advocates for that matter because we again want to make sure that we're hearing all voices and finding the best solutions that are unique to specific parts of the city.

Thank you, Councillor Weber. So I'm going to take my time now. I feel very mixed about this because the conversation about process is one that is, it's complicated because publicly available crash data over the last four years shows an upward trend in fatalities and a flatline reduction in crashes. That seems to be, to me, the need for growing infrastructure improvements to reduce these numbers, but also it's important that we actually go with the data. So it's not simply about and many more. I don't know if you know that one person has an inkling that on their street they need safety. There are places in my district where people have hasn't been, you know, that immediate sort of salve for, and you know,

So it's like I so appreciate I'm like looking around I so appreciate like the individual residents who want action on like their specific street but I also think that it's important that we look at the data because We've proven that community engagement brings certain voices to the table. People that have time to be here and I know There are a lot of people who took off work to be here, and thank you so much for being here. But there are also people that deeply need their roads to be slowed down that aren't going to have time to be here and aren't going to have time to be in City Hall. So I noticed that the Vision Zero crash data, which is vital information for residents and for agencies in the city, We have up to December 31st online. I just wanted to get a commitment that we could get sort of up to now online because I think that is important data for us all to look at.

Yes, Councilor, yes, we are working through that.

And I did want to ask a question about the budget. How much of the slowdown or, you know, as some have alluded to, like how much of sort of where we're at now with and how we're planning because I hear seeing your slides you're talking about state of good repair you're talking about basic city services you're like We're prioritizing the number one things first. How much of this is and sort of the city's vision for this driven by the budget and how much resources we have upcoming?

Yeah, I mean, the state of good repair priority is part of our mission. I mean, we are funded to complete significant improvements again we have seven seven small projects moderate small to moderate projects that are either in construction or moving into construction this year and you know we potentially could set another record year as far as resurfacing so you know we We feel these are priorities and we think that there are opportunities to be able to do some of these other safety improvements that we're hearing demand for.

And there are a number of asks in my district. I do try to work very closely with the administration on the things that my constituents are asking for. especially speed humps, especially road repaves, especially the basic city services, the brick repairs. Specifically, there have been places where there's been a crash. Last week, this is an important time to be having this hearing because last week, The construction moratorium ended and finally we can get back to work on the streets. I'm just sort of curious. I know there was talk of, you know, we collaborate and we talk to everyone on the council about their speed hunt priorities. I haven't gotten everything that I've asked for. So if... I imagine I'm looking around at all my colleagues. I imagine that they have things that they thought were really important and that their constituents thought were really important.

What is the best way for us to put things on the agenda?

Sure. As I mentioned, we are reworking this program. Previously, the program relied heavily on an algorithm-based approach to identify speed hump locations. One of the reasons we're changing this program is we want to make sure that we are installing speed humps on the streets that need them most. Not every street in the city of Boston is gonna be eligible for speed humps.

Sorry, and I don't wanna, I just am running out of time. Like I remember that when we were talking about speed humps last year with constituents in Beacon Hill, Someone from the streets cabinet said you have to do a zone so you have to do like we have to do if we're gonna do it we have to do everything. Now it seems like we're going we're gonna go street by street and have different types of contracts. Is that correct?

No, we will, so for example, the speed humps that we're installing next month, we'll do that all in probably over a couple weeks' time from an efficiency perspective.

But you're not, you don't have to put speed humps all over a neighborhood in order to, because that was what was happening.

There are cases where that might be the right approach, but we don't think that that is the standard moving forward.

Okay, that's helpful to get on the record. And I know we've talked about this, but there's a mid-block crosswalk needed outside of the Roxbury Crossing T Station, which is on the border of mine and many of Culpepper's district. It's so important that we prioritize transportation safety outside of MBTA stations and obviously there has been two deaths at that location. We need to make sure that that's prioritized. I know on the list of projects that you presented in this, it was not there. I just want to make sure that's on the agenda.

Yes, and that is a smaller project that would be captured under one of our annual programs, not a standalone project.

Okay, and Ricardo Patron will tell you that I have also given a list of crosswalks that need to be repainted in my district. It is incredibly important that outside of schools, outside of churches, outside of places where people are walking, that we have Just like the paint and the snow and the ice and the has just really worn out all of our crosswalks across the city. And so as we're thinking about small scale improvements, I just think we really need to in our neighborhoods Pepen, you have six minutes.

Thank you Madam Chair. And thank you Chief Gove and Mohammed for the presentation. One of the slides that stood out to me was the list of projects that you're going to be looking at. And there are projects that a lot of people in this room have questions about and we want updates. I'm not going to list the projects because the question that I have is more of a general question. And it's that I'm glad to see that they're on the list. But I wanted to ask, are there benchmarks that you're trying to reach? Thank you. Thank you. An answer on this is when it's going to get done. This is where we are right now. You could expect some type of update on, I don't know, August of this year. It's come into the situation where I'm not able to give anything.

So I want to ask you, what is your mechanism of calculating, all right, this is how we're going to reach our goals for each of these projects. Can you kind of break that down for us?

Sure, so all of the projects that we've listed here, we can provide updates as far as status is concerned, right? For the projects that are either in construction or moving into construction, we can provide updates on those. Cummins Highway, as I mentioned, that project is scheduled to be completed this summer. On the planning and design side, A little bit different. Some of those projects are just funded for a planning effort. Some are funded for both the planning and design. They're all in different phases. Some are coming to the end. Some are just, you know, kind of getting started. We can provide an update on all those. We do plan to update the website to provide kind of status updates on where all these projects sit.

That'll be very helpful because what has happened with, and I'm going to keep bringing up the Hyde Park Ave project because that's a project where we've been in the design process for many years. And we've had council meetings and we've had We had an in-person hearing in an evening at a school there, and there's just no update yet. So if we could get something concrete to give to residents of like, hey, after such and such conversations, and many more. where a lot of the frustration arises from where we keep having the meetings and the meetings and designs and the conversations, but we're not seeing that next step yet in the process. And that's the same situation for the speed hump program.

and I know we keep bringing it up and I know that we can't have speed humps in every street, but what I wanna ask you is when you are, one, when are you looking at revamping the program, kicking that back off? Maybe this is more for Muhammad. Who do you Who do we have to go to in the community to see where do we need them the most? Because I have an example, Glendower Road, Cornell, and Beach Street in Rossignol. Those three streets are parallel to each other. They're between the Connelly School, and the Phineas Bates School. Residents there have been asking for street homes on those three streets before I got into office. But all the residents are in agreement that they want them. but there has been no traction on that. So if not the residents, what's the process similar to Councilor Durkan's office? Is it by zones? Is it one-offs? I just want to know exactly how do we get to achieving getting more suite homes?

I mean, you start off by saying this is a Mohammed question, but then you turn it into a Nick actually answer. I want to hear from both of you. Oh, sure. On the, in this case, because I'm familiar with these, we've spoken about them, we know that residents on these streets would like to have speed homes. But I think when it comes to a case like this, then, We then discuss with the streets team, I'll discuss with Chief Gove and his planners, sorry, engineers, and we'll figure out also how would putting in Speed Humps on those streets and how many and all those different things impact, you know, the travel for the rest of the neighborhood and those kinds of things. But, you know, Chief Gove, you want to talk a little bit about that?

Yeah, and I think evaluating, you know, are speed humps the best traffic calming measure for a particular street? Are things like raised crosswalks and bump outs at intersections Are those better treatments for a particular neighborhood, right? So we want to expand the tools that are available to us to figure out what is the best approach for a particular street or set of streets in a neighborhood.

I'm not going to ask a very detailed question, but for the projects that were listed on that list, Were you planning on updating the websites for each of those projects? Yes. And when do you think we could get an update on? Hopefully this week. This week? Yeah. Okay. Thank you. I have more questions, but I'm going to wait until my second round.

Thank you, Councillor Pepén. Okay, now we're gonna hear from Councillor Flynn. Councillor Flynn, you have six minutes.

Thank you. I believe it's critical we focus on efforts on quality of life issues, pedestrian safety, public safety, the nuts and bolts of city government, fixing sidewalks, fixing potholes. I have a hearing coming up on potholes and I have never received as many calls over the last several months as I ever have. Chief, I've worked with you for many years trying to get residential parking in South Boston. We've had this conversation going on for years now. The plan is ready. I know it's ready. You know it's ready. It's just been sitting there on the shelf collecting dust. When are we going to do it? When are we going to finally let residents know that they can get resident parking like other communities have?

Thank you, Councilor. And just for those who may not be familiar, I believe you're referencing the expansion of resident permit parking in South Boston. We are planning to do it as start of the Restart of our RPP expansion, which has been paused since the pandemic. We have not forgotten about that, Project Councilor, and we do look forward to moving it ahead.

And I'll just add, Councillor, to that. I mean, when you're, like Chief Kovacs just said, the mayor's committed to it, we're committed to it. The next phase will be, because obviously something like this would still be disruptive. When you make a massive change, whether it's just even changing one, you know, One Year Street is going to be cleaned on a specific day. We need to make sure that we're having the right process and not just engage, but inform residents so that the transition to this expansion is as is not disruptive to their lives. Thank you.

What is the status of the federal and city agreement to address ADA compliance ramps? I know this has been going on for, what, six, seven years maybe. How much progress have we made? How much more do we have to do? How much have we spent? I believe we're committed to spending, is it $600 million or $500 million? But can you give me a rundown on that, please?

Yes, Councilor, so I think you're referring to the consent decree that the city is under to construct ADA compliant curb ramps. We've constructed 6,448 ramps in this administration. This year we're trying to get to 1,800. We've been at, I think, 16, 17, and 1,800 for this year. That's a significant expansion of work. I think we're on track to spend almost $45 million this year on ramp reconstruction. We view this as part of our state of good repair. We obviously coordinate that work with roadway resurfacing at the same time.

Frankly, this is a project that the city has prioritized, but will continue to take us more than a decade to complete.

No, I understand. Thank you. Weber came to a community meeting with me in Chinatown talking about the budget. Residents kept asking me about Phillips Square, as you know. They want to see some action done on Phillips Square. It's enabled mostly people of color, many seniors, most that don't have ear condition. In the summertime, it can reach 100 degrees in some of those apartments. Phillips Square will be a critical Areas for people to gather with trees, with open space. Is this a priority or is this something that I'm gonna have to continue fighting for? in fighting for and fighting for, or is the administration just going to support the residents of Chinatown, treat them with a little bit of respect?

So this project is moving forward. The community has been very engaged. There's been a lot of work on selection of a design. for the permanent construction. We have the project mostly funded, and it is something we are planning to move forward.

Can I tell them this will happen? We'll stop the construction this summer? We haven't procured the project yet, but we'll be happy to get back to you. No, I know that, but Council Weber heard the whole conversation. Every person asked me, Ed, when are we gonna get this done? And I said, I'm gonna get this done as soon as I can. But I only can say that so long. And I'm gonna tell them I'm gonna get it done this summer. It's gonna stop this summer. I need you to be on board with that. I just can't keep blowing people off and saying we'll get it done, we'll get it done. I can't tell communities of color in my district that it's not going to get done. I want it to get done this summer. And that should be a priority. Are you willing to work with me this summer to get it done? I'll be here all summer. I'll help you with the project. I'll get out there myself.

But I need you, Nick, on board because I just can't keep waiting and delaying this project.

We'll get you an update on the status of the project, Councilor, but again, the project is funded. I believe we have a selected design. We are doing some kind of spruce up of the current plaza in advance of the We will get back to you on a schedule for the

And I would just add, we had a great community process. We were very happy with the design. Members of the community across the neighborhood are very happy with the design because their input is reflected in the final design choice that we had. And I would say... It's not delayed because we're committing to doing it. Thank you.

Thank you, Councillor Flynn. Councillor Murphy?

So three years ago we shifted from the slow streets initiative to the safety surge initiative because then the administration said that this policy would provide a more equitable distribution of traffic safety Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. We announced the city was undergoing a 30-day review of the transit improvements made over the past three years and then in April the memo was acknowledging that the communication and community engagement process could be improved. and now here we are with the well-attended room but knowing myself as an at-large counselor if I'm getting emails calls or just out in all of the neighborhoods across the city I constantly hear this

Residents continue to ask, what does an enhanced, more equitable, more transparent communication process look like? So hoping we can have that answer. I know many of my colleagues have already asked that question. One thing that was brought up, you said speed humps. will go into high priority streets and they have to be deemed eligible. So what is that process and is that on the website to make it clear to residents how your street becomes deemed eligible and then what steps can be

Can you share what it is? So, you know, as I mentioned, you know, the city rapidly constructed over 1,400 speed humps over the last several years. And, you know, we focused on many high priority streets that needed them.

At that time, how did you deem them high priority? Because the residents asked for them, or what made them high priority then, and how would they be differently deemed eligible now?

So there was an analysis done at the time to determine which streets were eligible candidates for speed humps. And then they were prioritized. By need. And there was a map at the time which showed.

But what made you eligible?

Variety of factors. There were a variety of factors and criteria Whether a street was eligible or not, obviously there was a conversation with public safety, what the classification of the roadway was, et cetera.

And now what is the shift to be deemed eligible in the new?

So what we're working on and looking at now is kind of moving away from that algorithm-based approach that we had and figuring out On the streets that will get speed humps, is that the best application? Is a street a better candidate for something like a raised crosswalk or bump outs or some other type of traffic calming measure?

I would just add to that, Councillor, so in addition to some of the for similar factors that we may have used in the past, but that were only, like Chief Koch said, just sort of an agnostic algorithm. We want to include voices of residents, stakeholders, groups who advocate for seniors, You know, people with disabilities, multimodal advocates, obviously elected officials, so that the data is also informed by the lived experience of people in those different neighborhoods.

So what are all of the calming measures that can be used?

Obviously, there's speed humps, there's raised crosswalks, there's bump outs, frankly, reconstruction of streets, changing the directionality, Improved signage, pavement markings, signalized intersections.

Is this shift based on data that came back showing that the first wave and how we...

We believe that the first phase of the program Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. didn't have robust feedback and probably weren't as high priority locations as others. And so we are iterating the program. and making sure that we are investing in placing these assets in the places that need them most.

So when I drive through this several times a day but on Washington Street, Galvin Boulevard, near the Washington Street intersection, there is a blinking crosswalk. Very effective. How many blinking crosswalks do we have around the city? I think they all should be blinking because when you see that cars actually stop on that four-way speeding highway because they're unfortunately I don't feel like we're ever going to get to a place where we pull cars over for going 80 and just see people stranded waiting to get across a four-lane highway but when the light blinks it's effective I have many other places I would say to put them also but how many do we have around the city and is there a Investment to continue spreading those.

I don't have that number offhand, Councilor, but we can get it for you. I think you're referring to the fixed, like permanent blinking lights, not like the speed feedback signs, right?

No, not when they put like a Moving sign that will just tell you your speed. It's an actual blinking fixed installed. I haven't seen others. Are there others around the city? How many are there?

Yeah, we have many and we can get you the number of what they are.

And there's an investment to continue that? Is the data already showing that?

That's another example of an alternate type of traffic calming measure. We use them in school zones across the city. They are effective.

Thank you, Councilor Murphy. Councilor Culpepper?

Thank you, Madam Chair. Chief Groves, good to see you again, and I do appreciate the response that we got during the snowstorms and how quickly and how Rapidly, you and your team moved to respond to those requests from the community. But when it comes to the center bus lane, we get a much different response. and the community has been consistent about raising concerns about the center running bus lane. Yet it remains a central component of the current design. And here's my question, at what point does The 2000 petition signature that has been submitted. Several weeks ago, hundreds of community members gathered at the Reed Auditorium in Grove Hall

At what point does the city begin to hear the community and their opposition to the center running bus lane and give us another design that does not include a center bus and center running bus lane. I mean, I heard you say what the community feels about when you were talking about bump lanes. I heard Mr. Muhammad say that it's about the community process. At what point does it really sink in that the community is saying they don't want us in a bus lane and the city begins to look at other options for that center running bus lane. Thank you, Councilor.

So, you know, Blue Hill Ave. is in desperate need of transit safety and public realm improvements the entire corridor and has for decades. I know you know that. That was my next question. It's been a longstanding priority. The Mayor and Secretary Ang have been meeting frequently on this project to help keep progress moving. We're planning to co-host a community meeting with the MBTA, who is our partner in the project. You know, we have asked the MBTA to check in with the FTA about the flexibility of the grant conditions and we are scheduled to Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. We are trying to balance.

I think everyone agrees that those improvements that my referenced are needed on Blue Hill Ave. And we don't want to lose that opportunity. So we want to try to figure out the best way to move this project forward and deliver on all of those improvements.

So we know the $80 million came down, right? That was a surprise. No one here knew about it in D7 until it hit the newspapers. and we know that that center bus lane with that 80 million dollars there was only 30 percent design and the 30 percent design was only of the center bus lane with no meaningful There was a... Community. The city did a pretty thorough... No, I'm not talking about the city. I'm talking about the MBTA. Oh, I'm sorry. Okay. We'll get to the cities.

And Councilor Culpepper, we did invite the MBTA. They did decline to come today.

Okay. Are we going to do a They're not coming. But we do have enforcement ways to bring them here though. I mean we can't just accept they're not coming There are ways that we can enforce that they come here. And so if we have to move another way, maybe we should talk about it. But let me finish with Chief Groh. Chief Groh, finish your question. I mean, your answer. Sure.

We're continuing this work with the team. We did do a significant amount of engagement. That's documented in a report we completed in 23. The basis of the $80 million grant, right, it's the MBTA's grant, it is based on providing significant transit improvements and, you know, the The T feels the best way to improve transit priority on that corridor is through center running bus lanes.

But at what point does the MBTA begin to hit the community? In other words, how far will we have to go? And you know, in one of the meetings we had, we had members of the community saying that they're willing to protest, willing to lay down in the street. I mean, how far do we have to go to really get them to understand that we're serious about a center bustling and that we want other designs.

Well, I think the community meeting that we referenced is, I think, a good opportunity for that. Hypothetically also, if the project was to move forward and the next step in that would be the MBTA taking the project as currently designed to the MPO and asking them to move that to the long-term project list, If the MPO voted to do that, that would kick off a formal 30-day comment period, which would be a robust...

I came to hear you out so that you can tell us what we should do.

Well, this is a first.

This plan is to kick us out of our own neighborhoods. This plan isn't actually for the people who live here. But I think we can all agree that something has got to be done about Blue Hill Avenue.

We need to get together and make it

And I understand where a lot of you are coming from. You feel like you're going to lose your businesses. You can feel like you're going to lose a lot of things. But there's a lot of positive gains. And I think we need to look at both sides.

I've always encouraged the administration to come up with alternate designs. Because the RFP wasn't based off of a center-run and bus lane. It was about a dedicated bus lane.

So they will tell you one thing, oh, we had a community process, but they don't tell you the details, and it was not fair. It was not transparent. None of this is for us. I just want to say I'm for the bustling.

Thank you. Thank you, Councilor Culpepper. I gave you an extra minute because I was speaking to you.

I didn't get an extra. Can I just ask one question?

No, I did. For the record? No, just there's a lot of public testimony.

Can I just ask one thing with regard to street cleaning?

So we're going to go to Councilor Fitzgerald.

Chair Durkan, can I just address one thing quickly? I can move on.

Yeah, I guess you can respond, and then we're going to go to Councilor Fitzgerald. We have a lot of people waiting to testify, over 40 people.

I can just talk. Okay, go ahead.

Fitzgerald, you have the floor.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Nick Muhammad, thank you for being with us here today. Just to educate all of us, when we talk about the data that we're pouring over, where does that data come from? What data are we using? Specific to what, Councilor? Well, I guess so, right? So explain to me maybe where we put speed humps, what are we looking at, to where we're deciding where to do safety design, reconfigurations, etc., Maybe explain to me which data is helping us guide which process. Sure.

So, you know, for some of the capital and reconstruction projects I mentioned earlier, right, so a Several of those, and frankly, many of our large capital projects, they are based on the data in the high crash network, right? So if a quarter is deemed to have a significant number of crashes, that's a place that we're gonna focus on. We use a very similar set of data for our intersections. We have intersections that are rated from, We have crash data, vehicle speeds, speeds that we capture from speed feedback signs. For bike facilities, we do bike counts. Obviously, our traffic management center provides a bunch of different types of data for all sorts of corridor work.

In addition to that, we also have planning efforts that do, you know, You know, data collection for specific corridors, projects, intersections.

So is it mostly city data collected? I mean, we're using, is it police data?

Is the crash data come from the state, from the city? Great question. It's a combination of all those things. It's federal. State, City, Police, EMS, all of that. Great.

Awesome. Good to know. As it relates to speed humps, we have had some conversations recently. I'm excited about some long overdue speed humps. They were... The number one request in the first term, my first term in office. It's since died down a bit. I don't know if just people said, well, they're just not happening. or if people have sort of changed their mind about whether they would want them on their street specifically. But I still would advocate, there is good, the ones that are coming, I'm happy are coming. and I would still advocate that we look to the councilors who are to just give to five to ten streets a year that when you when you're thinking about what the main thoroughfares are the ones that what are the cut-throughs what are the places that we need especially the district city councilors who are and many others who are in the district each and every day and are very familiar going to those civics. I'll continue to advocate for that. You touched on the residency permit parking program that it has been on pause I believe Councilor Flynn asked to it, but I just want to make sure.

It is going to come back, and do we have a timeline for that?

I will just say one thing and then Chief Kouf can expand on it. I would just say I've heard the word pause a couple of times, whether it's projects or RPP or residential parking permit program. Nothing is on pause. We've spent a lot of time working over the last year since the 30-day report and even during, obviously, to just make sure that our process is the way it needs to be, that the way we think about to achieve our goal for our streets, which is that they're all walkable, drivable, cyclable for all people, for all road users, and they're safe and nice, and that they're also helping our small businesses. That's the goal for the administration, to make sure every neighborhood is pleasant to walk or bike. The reason it may have taken longer than in the past is we had staff turnover and other factors related to that, I would say, that led to what has been slower than the first three years.

But Nick, do you want to say a little bit more about that? That's all right.

I want to make sure I get to my other questions. I do appreciate that answer. Thank you. On a more technical matter, getting in, I think about some of the projects coming. We have the Morrissey Boulevard redesign, which, yes, is a state project. We're looking at the Columbia Road redesign. I would just ask folks to think about all of these Thank you. Thank you. thinking about the timing and sequencing of these projects and how they will affect each other which I know you guys do but I just want to call that one out because that's two main arteries that could undergo some significant redesign potentially around the same time. And I just want to be very cognizant of that. Otherwise, I just want to touch upon two thoughts I have. I still think we need a separate traffic enforcement, whether that lies under BTD or the Boston Police, I don't know.

But I think a lot of what we hear from our constituents is if the police are busy dealing with other issues, and the minor traffic infractions occur, do we have a way that we can still enforce traffic enforcement? Because I know if I was deputized to pull anyone over and give tickets, which I used to be, I could pull over 10 people every time I drive into the city, right? And I think we all see that as we go around. Thinking about that. And then lastly, you guys can touch upon it, but a universal, unique color code around school safety, traffic safety signs. My thought there is... If I live in Hyde Park and I'm driving through Southie, and I typically do not visit Southie, I do not know where the schools are, right? And you can see a school zone sign, but those kind of become... It's a yellow sign, right?

But if we in Boston had a universal, unique color, I'll just say purple because I went to Boston Latin, right? But we'll just say it's a purple color. That way, no matter where I go, I see purple signs. I know, okay, I'm in a school district and I should slow my roll, right? Just an idea. Figured it'd be a good time to throw it out there if you guys have time to react. Thank you, Chair.

Sure, so to the enforcement comment, Councilor, yeah, you know, we work regularly with BPD. This is a place where we have obviously shared responsibility. I think the The way essentially it's divided right now is that BTD can issue a parking violation to any vehicle that is not moving, so a vehicle that is Double Parked, Illegally Parked, etc. We can obviously tow and impound vehicles, but if the vehicle is moving and it becomes a moving violation, that responsibility falls with the police. and so to your point any if there was a creation of you know some type of traffic traffic enforcement you'd want to make sure that that entity can also issue moving violations as you know there is a bunch of Automated enforcement legislation kicking around on this.

And just a quick comment on the big projects in Dorchester, Morrissey, and Columbia, and the impact. I think, to that point, it's why it's so important for us to take the time. And those are state, so it's different, but we're still working with them. For everything that we do, whether it's Blue Hill Lab or anything else, we want to take the time to get it right because, again, it's not just the end result that has an impact. It's, you know, the bigger the projects, the larger, obviously, the impact also of construction that it will have on the neighborhood. And that's why it's so important to make sure the end result is something people feel really, really good about. And it's a win-win because getting there is also not easy. Thank you, guys.

Thank you, Councilor Fitzgerald. We've been joined by Councilor Orrell. You have the floor in six minutes.

Thank you, Chair. Thank you to the panel for being here. When we are installing or coming up with design for major thoroughfares or streets, do we do an economic impact to understand how Do you think that said design will impact the businesses and do we go back to any of the other designs that we have implemented like let's say Columbus Ave to see how That redesign has impacted those businesses or even, you know, property value, taxes, etc.

Sure. So to answer your question, Councilor, we don't, you know, we don't necessarily do like a, Economic Feasibility Study for a specific project or corridor. That said, we do try to capture those needs, particularly around curbside demand. You know, as part of the engagement process for whatever project that is. We do, you know, do post-project kind of evaluation. That is something that, frankly, actually we're working on right now with the T. on Columbus Tram on Phase 1. But to your point, we need to do more post-project implementation across the board, and it's something that we've identified to do more of in the future.

Good to hear. I mean, it will be definitely something just knowing how many businesses are on Blue Hill Ave and how many families have poured their life savings and their time and energy before, you know, We make a decision that can have a real impact on all those businesses. The residential parking program, something that I hear about often in our neighborhood, but it's also something I haven't heard from the administration about on When it's going to be restarted, if it's going to be restarted, can you provide any clarity on the program?

Sure. We did mention this a little bit earlier, but our plan is we have fortunately restored our parking enforcement numbers. Our staff that does that work to historic levels, and we feel that we can restart the expansion of that program. We are planning to do that this year, but I'll let Mohammed add.

No, I mean, just to your point, Councilor, about businesses and other stakeholders who are impacted by any change, even with the residential parking permit, too. It's the same thing. We want to make sure we just get it right when we actually implement it, whether it's adding something that didn't exist or even expanding something where it exists so that people feel That it was a smooth transition, essentially. Because obviously this has existed in different parts of the city for many, many decades, we've had to adjust it. and many more. and making sure we're addressing all the concerns of how people will be impacted and then we'll roll them up. But I wouldn't say they've been paused and needed to be restarted. They're just in the process of being thoroughly vetted.

And then when it comes to just funding, Do you have a total dollar amount of federal funds that have been given back regarding any capital project? Do you have that dollar amount?

We had a quick conversation about this at the start of the hearing. We have not given anything back. There has been some money rescinded, and there has been some federal funds that While the grant hasn't been rescinded, we have not moved forward into a grant agreement, and so those funds are kind of in limbo. Council President Britton asked this question earlier and we do have a very detailed document that shows every project that has state and federal funding and what the status of that is and we're happy to share that.

Yeah, through the chair would love to see that list. Is it common that state and federal funding is paired or can you still receive state funding on an intersection or thoroughfare without receiving federal funds?

That's a great question. We seek outside funding from a variety, obviously, of state and federal grants, and sometimes You know, particularly for larger capital projects, we may try to have to, you know, pool those resources together. But depending upon what type of program we're targeting, no, we may just target one particular grant. So we have intersection grants that We might fund a couple dozen intersection programs. We've got a partnership project with MassDOT at the Ellis Elementary School, right? That's a state-funded grant project.

And quick, sorry, my time is running low. There have been designs that have been scaled back or removed. What has been the reason on already-installed Whether it's bus lanes, bike lanes, temporary designs, what has been the reason for the removal of any past projects?

Sure, great question. This administration has not removed any bike lanes. We have removed some bus lanes. There were three locations. One was a pilot program that was Summer Street. The project unfortunately didn't come with a significant increase in service frequency. Compliance was low and enforcement was very limited. Based on feedback, we decided to end that pilot. That said, in the future, If enforcement or changes to the corridor were made, that is something that maybe could be evaluated. Boylston Street, this was the bus lane that was added as part of the bike lane project from Clarendon to Arlington. The post-implementation evaluation showed the facility wasn't delivering significant transit improvements.

It was contributing to some curbside access and congestion The analysis, I believe, found one minute in time savings per trip during the AM peak, but no improvement during the PM. We chose to remove that as part of that post-project evaluation. And then the last section was last summer, As part of a state of good repair resurfacing project, we removed a short section of bus lane on North Washington Street. You know, frankly, that design had challenges. There was not a plan to carry the bus lane onto the North Washington Street Bridge, so we made a decision to remove that section of the bus lane. Again, it's part of a future project.

We're in design on Rutherford Ave. That could be evaluated in the future, but at the time we made the decision to remove that section.

But we did keep and expand inbound. That's correct. Into the city and then going through up.

Right. We did. We kept the inbound side, expanded it as part of some increased service delivery of the tea plants as part of their... O'Rell.

Thank you, Councilor O'Rell. Our plan was to take some testimony out of order, and then we're going to go to a second round. I do want to just I think it's really important for those that are here while I think no bike lanes have been removed there has been protective infrastructure that's been removed so I think that is an important Thank you. Thank you. I think that's a point of tension, particularly with my office, because we do have a lot of people in our district that travel multimodally. I am going to let these advocates speak to that experience, but I think it's important that that answer also be read into the record.

So we're going to go to Tristan Thomas, Transit is Essential, Tiffany Congel, the Boston Cyclist Union, Benjamin Siegel, Boston, Better Streets Coalition. This is the order. Elijah Evans, Bike Not Bombs, and Brandon Kearney, Walk Mass. And you're each going to have two minutes. So let me know when you want to start. And just make sure you say your name and what organization you're with.

All right, I'm ready. Good afternoon, everyone. My name is Tristan Thomas. I work as Director of Policy and Law for Alternatives for Community and Environment, also known as ACE. ACE is a member-based nonprofit that for over 30 years has served Boston's black and brown communities. Every month, we host the Transit Riders Union, where residents in Boston demand equitable public transportation. ACE is also a proud member of the Transit is Essential Coalition, a diverse coalition of more than 60 environmental justice, mobility justice, and business organizations working to ensure that the MBTA and public transportation are safe, robustly funded, and affordable. I testify today on behalf of ACE and Transit as Essential to demand transparency and accountability for significant projects affecting our neighborhoods. As we've heard, last year in February of 2025, a 30-day review was initiated. In April of 2025, a memo was put out.

Yet here we are in April of 2026, and we still have not received meaningful updates or timelines for these critical projects. So I'm here to ask the simple and urgent question, why the delay? While we wait, people are dying. Just last month, someone was killed in a car crash in our streets. That is the real cost of inaction. We're not just losing lives, we're losing federal funding or reallocating federal funding. Whether that's $8 million in Fenway, $20 million in Roxbury, my neighborhood, or the threats around the Columbus and Blue Hill Ave projects. We're not here to assign blame. We're here to demand accountability. So we have three demands. Articulate a concrete plan and timeline for advancing projects that have federal funding at risk. We need concrete dates and milestones that we can measure against. Establish clear metrics for evaluating these projects, specifically metrics around safety, reliability, and accessibility of bus service.

And these need to be transparent to everyone so we can understand how decisions are made so that it's not arbitrary or, worse, political. Finally, we need to have explanations for why planners were told to cancel meetings with the MBTA on Columbus Ave. And I'll just like to end and say we cannot wait for another 30-day review. We need transparency and accountability now, so look forward to those dates. and those commitments. Thank you.

Thank you.

Good morning, Councilor Durkan, or afternoon, I should say at this point. Boston's neighborhoods have been promised safer streets, accessible transit, and a city that moves for everyone, not just those who can afford a car. Our reality is a pattern of stalled projects, withheld updates, and communities that are left in the dark. Every day of inaction is a day that federal and state dollars slip through our fingers or get transferred to another project. It's a day a cyclist is endangered, a day a disabled resident is stranded, We are calling on the city to stop treating transparency as optional and start treating mobility justice as the urgent obligation that it is. We know what the transportation policy looks like. We see the proof in cities across the country and places right here in Boston. Protected bike lanes save lives. Bus priority moves thousands of people efficiently.

Accessible infrastructure opens up the city to everyone. We have the knowledge and we have the funding. Now we need the will and follow through. On behalf of the people, Boston Cyclists Union is here to ask. for accountability, and strongly urge the city to do the work to rebuild trust with our communities and start a collaborative path forward Do we want a city that works for everyone? Boston is overdue on that promise. The pause on Boston's transportation projects is a regional crisis with a price tag. Safe streets can't wait. and funding allocated for streets and infrastructure does not wait. When projects stall, dollars are forfeited, opportunities are lost, and the communities who need safe streets, most are left behind the longest. Boston's neighbors, advocates, and riders deserve more than promises.

Residents deserve a city that shows up, follows through, and builds the infrastructure that makes mobility justice possible for all of us.

Thank you. Benjamin Siegel, Boston Better Streets Coalition.

Not there? Okay.

We're going in this order, but Elijah Evans, are you here?

Good afternoon, councillors and community. My name is Elijah Evans, and I serve as the CEO of Bikes Not Bombs, and I live in Jamaica Plain. At Bikes Not Bombs, we work to dismantle mobility apartheid By ensuring every Bostonian has access to dignified and safe transportation. To understand the scope of this crisis, you must understand the disparity. The per capita income in our communities, in our core communities like Roxbury is $21,000, Mattapan $28,000 is far below the city's average of $44,000. This is why residents disproportionately rely on public and micromobility infrastructure that we're fighting for. We're deeply concerned with the lack of accountability and the continued pause on essential transportation infrastructure projects. When I was in college riding my bike from Grove Hall to UMass Boston, the lack of dedicated lanes on streets like Columbia Road made the trip terrifying.

A constant high stakes game of avoidance. That stress and danger is what we're fighting to eliminate for all residents. The consequences of this pause are measured in crashes, not quarterly reports. For instance, the Hyde Park Avenue corridor, a high crash area, saw over 30 car accidents and nearly 10 pedestrian incidents in 2025 alone. The Blue Hill Avenue redesign, which serves a high concentration of Black and Brown residents, is a perfect example of a project that must be unpaused immediately. This isn't just painting lines, it's about providing safe and protected infrastructure alongside the planned center running bus lane, which I support, Bike Stop Bomb supports, ensuring all commuters can commute without fear. Our advocacy isn't just top-down.

Our youth apprentices who serve as leaders today and represent the future of our city are already leading change by testifying and co-creating solutions for safer streets in their own neighborhoods. Councilors, we ask for two things. First, provide an immediate transparency and a path forward on all PAWS projects. Commit to prioritizing investments in protected micro mobility infrastructure. This action will support local businesses, improve public health, and finally build the safe and interconnected Boston our residents deserve. Thank you.

Thank you. Next, we're going to hear from Brendan Kearney, Rock Mass. And then we're going to go to, sorry, just to give you a heads up, Reggie Ramos will be after that.

Great. My name is Brennan Carney. I'm Executive Director of WOC Massachusetts, statewide pedestrian advocacy organization founded in 1990 as WOC Boston. Thanks for holding this hearing today. Since 2015, Vision Zero and the overarching Go Boston 2030 efforts have been major guideposts for policy priorities related to safety and mobility in the City of Boston. The 30-day review pause threw a bit of a wrench in those. Staffing changes, challenging funding environment, and rising costs beyond all of our control have added a lot of uncertainty. Go Boston 2030 was once a long-range plan of projects. 2030 now shows up in the five-year budgets. There's a need for a reset and recommitment to safety and mobility priorities for the years ahead. Let the talented staff on the seventh floor do the work to plan safer streets. You've heard and will hear about many projects. I just want to speak to the importance of speed humps. They were first piloted through neighborhood slow streets starting in 2018 in order to demonstrate if they can slow down excessive speeders.

The pilot was a success, a rousing success, and learnings from neighborhood slow streets were incorporated into wider traffic calming programs as the safety surge in fall 2023 Speed Humps were now going to be a tool that Planning and Public Works could use beyond the zones for traffic calming. I proudly stood alongside the Mayor, City Councilors, and PTD staff when the safety surge was announced. There was a goal of 500 speed humps per year. Streets blog reported more than 600 were added in 2024, but just a handful last year. It really is disheartening to see this safety work stalled, since Boston really has been a leader on this. There's a ripple effect we've seen in other communities across Massachusetts since 2015, following Boston's lead to implement their own Vision Zero and traffic calming efforts. A safer Boston means a safer Massachusetts. Injury crashes involving pedestrians rose again last year in Boston to 571, with at least eight people losing their lives. With vehicles on our streets larger than ever before, we need a recommitment to that Vision Zero as a priority in Boston.

I'm hopeful Speed Hump Program can get back to what it was meant to be, a way to take advantage of Public Works' normal road resurfacing efforts as a chance to add 24-7 traffic calming, since otherwise speeders will go even faster on newly paved streets. Thanks for your time.

Thank you. Reggie?

Good afternoon, everybody. My name is Reggie Ramos. I am the executive director of transportation for Massachusetts. I want to thank this council for holding this hearing. This is extremely important to the residents of Boston, as well as the advocates who are showing up today. I had a prepared comment, but I'm going off script, just because I want to speak plainly, because platitudes and reprains like, we are committed to doing this, and we will give you an update, will no longer do. What it has done is make clear that there is no comprehensive transportation plan in place. One of the things that I heard today was nothing is on pause. That is, I have never heard anything more inaccurate and disingenuous than that. Let's take, for example, the Boylston Fenway project. While we can say that it had been funding for that, the eight million had been funded for fiscal year, 31, this is $8 million we could have used today.

But because Boston did not, because the city of Boston did not submit a 25% design to mask DOT, that money is punted five years from now. In transportation, as I'm sure the panel knows, and this August body knows, there is such a thing as we call transportation cost overruns. A project that cost five million today will not cost us five million five years hence. I just want to reiterate what we want to ask to this committee. I sincerely ask this committee to ask the administration to come back. There are milestones that are hinged on us, availing of federal funds that we need. They need to come back with updates. We have been chasing the city for updates and what we get are platitudes like we are committed to doing it. There is nothing that's been paused. Come on, let's get real.

16 projects have been passed, and we need the city to get on a move on them today.

Thank you, Reggie. Bazaak Alkan? Joey Zed... Sorry, Zeldin, and Alex Alex.

Hello, good afternoon, everyone. My name is Bashak Al Khan. I live with my twin eight-year-olds in Roslindale. Let me start by saying this. I cannot afford to be here right now. It's a work day and my kids are on spring break. Yet I am here because I fear that my voice, our voices are not being heard. I'm one of many parents who can't be here today. We have chosen Boston's transit-rich neighbors to raise our kids. Many of us can't afford a car on top of our rent or our mortgage. The sad thing is these so-called walkable neighborhoods aren't really safe for pedestrians. We have to play Frogger across one-way speed tunnels, Wide-laned car sewers and car-centric intersections on a daily basis to walk or bike to school in our neighborhoods. I know that I might be speaking to the quiet here. You all know that this isn't right. I believe that you and your staff know what needs to be done because we've discussed these solutions at your planning workshops and you wrote them down in your plans.

What kills us is that you won't take action. In my five years in Roslindale, I have seen speeding cars crash and turn over on residential sidewalks. I've seen them crash into our beloved village monument and even take a building facade down in Roslindale Village. When, and it's only a matter of time when, another pedestrian gets hurt, please know that we will not only blame those speeding drivers, we will also blame the city staff who designed these streets for speed, and the city leadership who refuse to spend our tax money to redesign them for the safety of those who walk, who bike and take transit. We can't have both speed and safety because speed kills. If I'm hit by a car traveling at 20 miles per hour, My chance of survival is 80%. At 40 miles per hour, the chance of me dying is 80%. So we demand action now.

It is time that the City of Boston puts its money where its mouth is and build a great city that it claims to be, starting with its public streets. Thank you.

Thank you so much. Joey Zeldin?

Good morning, everybody, or good afternoon, I should say. My name is Joey Zeldin, and I'm a resident of Brighton. I'm currently a grad student at Boston University, and right after this, I'll actually be giving my final presentation regarding Cleveland Circle and Reservoir State Good luck. What's that? Good luck. literally giving recommendations to demonstrate what transportation planners do in order to incorporate multimodal improvements. None of these improvements that I'm going to recommend today could actually feasibly happen because of all of the holdups happening with the projects and the delays in the budget. The more urgent matter at hand right now is that if transportation projects and funding are not utilized and handled appropriately, our communities cannot thrive.

I've only lived in Boston for about five months now, and one of the most prominent observations that I have made is that a lot of the sidewalks and bike lanes in our communities are in urgent disrepair. In fact, along the traffic circle consisting of Nonantum Road, Soldiers Field Road, and North Beacon Street that I walk along regularly, I've noticed that many of the sidewalks would be horrible conditions for those with vision impairments or other impairments to walk on. And I myself am able-bodied, and so I think about them when I'm saying this. There are also signals that aren't there. And even more so, I was disappointed to learn about the $8 million that was let go to waste because right now in this political climate, Wasting $8 million in federal funding is not something we can just simply take lightly. This federal administration is currently hostile towards urban governments, and by wasting that money,

that will now most likely have to come from the city of Boston or some other source of funding. And like the executive director whose name I can't remember unfortunately had said, that funding will now increase. and that takes away from other projects. So thank you so much for having me and please let's get this done.

Thank you so much. Next we'll hear from Alex Alex.

My name is Alex. I first testified before the city council at the October 6 Hyde Park hearing where the city government was collecting community input on the decision to restart six years of outreach and planning updates. I highlighted the contradiction of Councilor Durkan's warning that we had limited funds with the exorbitant costs of maintaining car infrastructure and the city throwing away years of plans and labor. I shared with the council and the city government how I document the dysfunction of Boston Road, publish to social media, as well as take damaged traffic devices to City Hall. I gave the council a policy sheet on street design. I'm going to reiterate some of those points right now. Raised crosswalks to sidewalk level, acting as speed bumps, addressing curb flooding, and mismatched curb cuts and sidewalks. As an added benefit, drivers are conditioned to respect non-raised crosswalks and not block intersections. Create a bounty program for traffic violations and a fining scheme that doubles per subsequent infraction. Community service for those who cannot pay. These fines and bounties can go into a fund for infrastructure and safety updates.

do randomized traffic enforcement pushes coordinated between BPD and BTD and state agencies, create a traffic enforcement unit on bikes to generate revenue and cut costs, as I have demonstrated for a full year now how effective the model is, Fitzgerald told me it was a tough ask to expect an overburdened police force to enforce traffic laws. I think the statement is unreasonable when cars double park five feet away from cops who do nothing, or when the city can send 12 cops to confront me for bringing litter to City Hall. The city should create a rapid bus and EMS network along with micro mobility network to separate functional transit from cars. School buses can use these networks and along with a bike to school program for BPS, these policies can slash the nearly 200 million busing budget. I have just posted a video on Instagram documenting how buses are backed up and congested along major busways, especially in communities like Dorchester and Roxbury, where the lack of action from the city holds neighborhoods hostage. School kids are skipped by packed buses, pedestrians with the light are menaced by drivers, seniors have to walk into the road because cars are in the bus stops, and buses on the same route wind up right behind each other.

Rather than fully completing the Boylston Street bus lane as the Green Line sees repeated shutdowns such as those happening this week, this administration got rid of it in favor of parking. I see double parking on both sides of Boylston Street with no enforcement as police loiter nearby and buses weave through traffic. Again, this footage is visible on the video I just posted and tagged the council in. Finally, the city must pursue congestion pricing. I was in the State House yesterday raising the idea to various legislators using the mounds of garbage on the side of 93 to show a car wash of attacks are welcoming on multiple fronts.

Thank you. Okay, John Saylor. And I am trying to get through this first page because we now have five pages of public testimony. So I just, we're going to try to just do a couple more of these and then we're going to go to second round. So John Saylor, Colleen Mahoney, and Monica Alarez. Okay, go ahead.

Hello, everyone. My name is John Saylor. I'm a Jamaica Plain resident in Councilor Weber's district. I live on Boynton Street, which is a street that sees a lot of fast traffic, is in desperate need of speed humps. It has a playground on it. Like other commenters, I'm taking time out of work to be here. For my own benefit, for my 11-month-old son, for other people who can't be here, to express a lot of surprise about the news about the 30-day review plan, I think This is maybe an unprecedented situation for an administration to win a landslide election like this and immediately adopt the policies of their opponent. It was, frankly, quite surprising.

I think it's very important for the council to press the city on the reason, the rationale underlying this changed approach. As Director Gove said, the speed hump program had, and I'm paraphrasing you, but had no instances of misplaced speed bumps Their review did not find any instance where a speed bump was incorrectly placed. The worst they could say is that certain streets got speed bumps before other streets that had higher priorities. And the absence of any Empirical data to support the change is kind of surprising to me. And I think the council should press the city on that. Thank you very much.

Thank you so much. Colleen Mahoney? Colin, sorry.

It's OK. My name is Colin Mahoney. I'm a resident of Jackson Square. As a Boston resident, I feel lucky to have access to the robust public transit and bike share networks we have. Because of these options, I choose not to have a car, saving hundreds of dollars a month I can instead spend in my community. That's why I've been disheartened by the inaction of the administration, the removal of several bus lanes last year, and reporting from Streets Blog Massachusetts that city officials have been ordered to stop communicating with the MBTA on certain projects without direct approval from above. Perhaps most frustratingly is the apparent halting of the Blue Hill Avenue project. I visit the Mattapan Health Center for health visits and have been appalled at the conditions for transit and pedestrians. Coming from where I live near Columbus Ave, where bus infrastructure creates safety islands for pedestrians and creates a visual signal to cars to slow down, it's a complete 180. Blue Hill Ave is a six-lane, wide-open road that's designed like a highway Where drivers are reckless, pedestrian infrastructure is virtually unusable, and the air quality is poor from idling vehicles.

Buses get stuck in traffic, slowing them down not just for the tens of thousands of people who use them in Mattapan and Dorchester, but for those who use the same routes further down the line in Roxbury, Jamaica Plain, Roslindale, Fenway, and Mission Hill. This prompts more people to look to a car to get around the city, which compounds the problem. The four mile trip from my home to Mattapan Square is nearly 45 minutes. That's nearly an hour and a half to go round trip to a restaurant in Mattapan. I don't have a car to make that 15 minute drive and I would feel for my life on a bike with the current configuration. Streets Blog Massachusetts also recently reported on an internal city poll that showed plurality support for this project across every neighborhood in the city. It's also important to note that in a city PowerPoint on the Go Boston 2030 project, the city reported that 34% of people travel by transit and biking and walking makes up another 16% for half of our city.

Knowing this, instead of returning millions of dollars in grants to the Trump administration, Mayor Wu should focus on investing in our communities, resume the Blue Hill Ave project, restart regular communication with the MBTA, and continue advocating for transit and bike priority projects across the city.

Thank you. Monica Olaris, and then we're going to go to Cade Crockford. Is Monica here? Okay, I guess we'll just go to Cade Crockford.

Thanks, Chair. Good afternoon, everybody. My name is Kate. I live in Dorchester. I want to make a number of points. Number one, Safe streets are a public safety issue and we all know that the BPD is not going to enforce the traffic laws of this city so let's stop joking and kidding ourselves and frankly it is honestly preferable that they don't We don't want cops pulling more people over and engaging in more unnecessary interactions with members of the public. We need to redesign the streets of our city, okay? That is why we're all here. That is the only thing that is going to solve these problems. Number two, safe streets are a racial and economic justice issue. I don't have to explain more. We've heard from ACE. We're going to hear from other members of the community. We've heard from Bikes Not Bombs. I live in Dorchester right off Blue Hill Ave. I ride the 28 bus every single day. Councilor Culpepper, you are my counselor. And I have heard counselors say, nobody rides the bus. Lots of people ride the bus. I ride the bus every day.

That is how I get to work. That is how many, many people get to work. It is how Working class, people of color in this city get to work. I am always the only white person on the bus, just to be crystal clear about who rides the bus in this city. And I also want to talk about the future. We've heard a lot about, you know, oh, people in the neighborhood oppose the Blue Hill Ave project. That is not true. People are split. It is a genuine disagreement in our community about that project. You know who supports it though? Young people, the future of this city and the future of this country. So, you know, we've heard young people today I want to make two more points. One, we don't have to go to Europe to experience safe streets. We can build them right here, and we must. I support the Blue Hill Ave project. If we give $150 million back to the Trump administration, it will be a stain that will not be erased from any of the decision makers in the city who are involved.

And my final point is, People complain about traffic. If you drive, you are traffic. The only way that we are going to reduce traffic in this city is to get people out of their cars. Period.

Thank you. Kat Raddisk, sorry, and Cole Lewis, and then Mahal Aslam, and then we're gonna go back to counselors.

I don't know if I can follow that. Hi, my name is Gary LaMouque. I'm executive director of the Massachusetts Bicycle Coalition. We're a statewide organization, but I'm an Alston resident, and I've lived in the city of Boston since 2003. So I've been around since before we had bike lanes. I remember when we had a mayor who in 2009, after the implementation of the first bike lane, said the car is no longer king. Mayor Menino stood there and said that to the populace. It was not popular. Nobody really was pushing for that bike lane who were our constituents. It went through a college campus who were non-voters, but yet we had leadership from the top who said we must have a progressive city if we're going to move forward. Because he saw, as we all do, the existential problems that we see in terms of congestion and greenhouse gas emissions that is choking our city and keeping us from moving forward. So we are looking for leadership.

I have also seen the city sign on Division Zero to push forward with complete streets, to move ahead in some of the most progressive policies that have been taken up across the country, and now we are seeing an administration slip back on all of those. What we are hearing today, and I really appreciate the work from BTD and DPW, but what we are hearing today is bits and pieces of projects, not vision. What we are seeking is an actual process of how can we contribute to the forward-thinking nature of what are we going to do in this administration. We have a mandate of four more years which should let us go into the future. Transportation hits housing. Transportation hits climate. Transportation hits affordability. You all know this. It's not about a pothole. It's not about a bike lane. It is about a vision of where we're going to take the city. So, quick recommendations that I may have. I believe that the council can help here, but this administration should call for an advisory board that helps your team do its work. out in the community. This is what Mayor Menino was able to do under the bike czar with Nicole Friedman, and we moved amazingly fast and forward in that progress.

I also think that we need to influence the systemic structure of City Hall with this advisory board, and it should include more than just bikers, obviously, everybody who depends on the transportation system. And I do believe that we need to have the accountability of not just transportation goals, but how transportation hits our climate goals, how it hits our safety goals, how it hits our mode shift goals, how it hits our housing goals. So this is not just a transportation hearing, This is a how are we going to be a progressive city hearing. So I appreciate the City Council for holding it here. Thank you, Councilor. Thank you, Chair. And I appreciate the work.

Kat Radicek. And then we're going to go to Cole Lewis and then Maha Islam.

Good afternoon and thank you for the opportunity to speak. My name is Katerina Torres-Radicek. I'm a JP resident and I'm speaking on behalf of Shared Spaces, a coalition of Community advocates and organizations including the Boston Center for Independent Living, the Riders Transportation Access Group, Transportation for Massachusetts, Walk Mass, Boston Cyclists Union, and Mass Bike. Our work focuses on improving safety and accessibility in shared public spaces, especially for people with disabilities. In November we organized a site visit along Hyde Park Avenue with residents, city staff, and Councilors Pepén and Worrell to better understand real-world conditions on the ground. What we saw was deeply concerning. Traffic speeds regularly exceeded the posted 30 miles per hour, with some vehicles traveling over 40. The road's wide, multi-lane design encourages speeding and dangerous behaviors, including what's known as a double threat, when one car stops for a pedestrian, but another car speeds past, putting that person at serious risk. Crossings are incomplete or unsafe.

Sidewalks and curb ramps lack basic accessibility features like detectable warning strips. At key intersections, parked cars block visibility, forcing pedestrians to step into traffic just to see oncoming vehicles. There are no accessible pedestrian signals at several crossings. For cyclists, there are no bike lanes, pushing people onto sidewalks and creating conflicts with pedestrians. Bus stops are also inaccessible, sometimes requiring multiple crossings just to reach them safely. We also attempted a follow-up visit to Hyde Park Avenue after a snowstorm with a wheelchair user and a deafblind participant. They could not attend because the sidewalks were not cleared. This is the reality many residents face. This corridor does not work for pedestrians, cyclists, transit riders, or drivers. This project is currently paused and under evaluation, alongside three others, and four more have already been removed from the capital plan. Meanwhile, Hyde Park Ave is not unique.

Across the city, people with disabilities, pedestrians, cyclists, and transit riders are navigating streets where they feel and are unsafe every day. While long-term redesign is essential, we cannot afford to wait. Immediate low-cost interventions, especially those that reduce speeds, can save lives right now. I urge you to move Hyde Park Ave and other projects forward, prioritize safety, and work with us to deliver tangible improvements. Thank you. I also have printed copies of our Hyde Park Ave site visit for everyone.

Yeah, if you want to leave them right there, we can get them to everyone.

Okay, great. Thank you.

Okay, Cole Lewis. Maha Islam and I'm sorry if I get more crazy about cutting people off it's because we have a list of like three more three more pages so I just want to make sure I'm consistent. Go ahead.

Thank you to the Council for the opportunity to present public comments today. My name is Cole Lewis. I'm here representing Transit Matters. We're a nonprofit that advocates for better public transportation and mobility for Boston area residents. I'm here today to express concern over the City of Boston's inaction on 16 streets projects currently on the City's capital plan, projects that if completed would have a massive impact on Bostonians' safety and mobility. It's been encouraging to see progress on the Rutherford Ave redesign and Fort Point safety improvements in the last few months, and we'd like to commend the City for the work on those plans while calling on the City Hall to push forward other projects across Boston. Across these PAWS projects, there's been a notable lack of transparency from BTD. Residents have been completely in the dark about where projects in their neighborhood have gone. We're here to ask that the Streets Cabinet give real updates on these stall plans. Projects like Phase 2 of the Columbus Ave Tremont Street redesign, which was supposed to go to bid for a contractor in the next few months, have been completely on pause with no explanation.

It wasn't until last month that Chief Gove addressed it, calling for major design changes in a letter to the MBTA. Um, On many of these projects, Boston has been granted large sums of federal funds to make bus riders' commutes more reliable and make the city's streets safer. Holding up these projects puts their funding at risk, money which the city may not get back for decades. For example, transportation action plans in both Roslindale and Maverick Square are funded by federal American Rescue Plan dollars that expired this year, but the city has yet to put out a real plan for community engagement to make these projects happen. Lastly, the lack of consensus has continually been used to explain delays in these projects. Community engagement is extremely important on these projects. But especially when it comes to projects like this, but it cannot be used as a reason to pause projects indefinitely or to lose funding. Engaging residents and asking for their feedback just to disappear and not take that feedback loses trust.

We need a concrete plan about when community engagement will resume on Columbus Ave, Hyde Park Ave, Roslindale and Maverick Square, Blue Hill Ave, and Boylston Street, just to name a few.

Thank you. Maha Aslam.

Hi. Thank you, Madam Chair. My name is Maha. I represent Liverpool Streets Alliance. A lot has been said, so I'm not going to go over all the things amazingly people have said. What I'm going to focus on is, I know, thank you, Chief Goh, for your vision. Those slides were really helpful. And I know we have talked a lot about data and vision. And I think talking about that, let's talk about Vision Zero website. Currently, it only has data till December 2025. We're talking about data and we're talking about vision. We should get a more recent update on that. High crash network data is 2021 and high crash intersection is 2017. So when we're talking about vision, we're talking about data, these are some basic things that need to be updated. And we're excited to see, like, you know, as we got a press release today, There's movement around projects and vision, so these are some of the basic things that we need to update and then move on to those

Bigger visions of how to get stuff done. And previously we had Go Boston 2030. So I think one of our ask is like, when are we getting Go Boston 2030 division? When are we getting an update on Vision Zero action plan? Both of these things will inform a lot of the BTD's budget and priorities and goals. especially moving forward next week in the budget conversation. So I think clarity on that would be amazing. One other thing that I wanna talk about is community process. The 30-day review process, a lot of people have talked about it. One of the things that the report mentioned was not the ineffectiveness of the program, but a lack of community engagement. so I guess one of our questions is in the last year what has BTD done to improve and strengthen that community engagement process and it's great to know that the mayor has publicly committed to that process so we are looking forward to

Thank you, Maha.

Okay, so we're going to go back now to counselor questions. We're only going to give four minutes because there's a lot more testimony. But if you'd like to waive your time, I'm sure many in the crowd would still appreciate that. Breadon, you are first.

Thank you to all the folks who have been here to testify and those who are waiting. A question about just general philosophy. I know Go Boston 2030 is still being used. Is it still being used to proactively dictate street projects and decisions, or are we in the process of reviewing that? It was, you know, a lot of us, I remember when it came out first, we were very engaged at the community level and are we still using it and where do we go next?

Yeah, thank you, Councilor. Yes, many of the projects that we are moving into construction this year are based on the 2030, Boston 2030 vision. We continue to use that. There has been work done to do an update to that document. That is something we look forward to doing some engagement on this year and update that as we previously committed to it.

I was wondering, you know, in terms of your next steps, in terms of revisioning, revising the Goal 2030, is that... Review, is that anticipated to be ready this year and what does it look like going forward? I know there's road users that micro mobility devices that maybe we weren't thinking about 10 years ago, 15 years ago, but what does it look like in terms of priorities?

Yes, we are looking to update the document this year. And to your point, yes, there's been a lot of changes since the original document. Thank you. Thank you. The expansion of food delivery during the pandemic, which continues, there's been a lot of changes. Frankly, the traffic pattern, not just in the city, but across the Commonwealth, has changed and has remained changed since the pandemic. So there's been a lot of things that we do need to update as part of that work. And again, we've done a lot of work We have some more to do and we want to do some engagement on what that update looks like this year.

So and just back to the Vision Zero, I know the goal is to have zero fatalities and Is the BTD committed to implementing that and making sure we can try and continue to try and reach those goals of zero fatalities?

Yes, we are still committed to efficient zero, yes.

And in what way are we operationalizing that commitment in terms of how we do things?

Sure. So there's, you know, we have an entire Safe Routes to School program. that built out on a lot of that, prioritizing school zones. We have, you know, Every year we do updates to signage, pavement markings, etc. That team does work like on the Ellison Elementary School project that's moving into construction. That team does a lot of work. They've been part of the design for Fenway because that's part of the high crash network. So those... That team has input on all of our projects.

One of the big takeaways from the 30-day review was project communications and community engagement were inadequate. We're wondering just how the city has changed their engagement policy, and maybe you can speak to that, but how have we adjusted our engagement policy to ensure that we're Thank you, Councillor.

and obviously it depends on the scale, but for instance, I'll take Rutherford Ave as an example, because it's something we launched recently. We're very excited about it and it's transformative. It will just transform that corridor to make it walkable and just multimodal. The engagement there is to work with the community to actually develop the engagement process. That's one thing we learned, is that instead of just us figuring out what that is, is to engage Councilor. Different stakeholders, members of the neighborhood who really, you know, who represent different sort of perspectives told us, well, we think, you know, we'd love to, in that example, move very fast. We don't want 10 meetings. We want, you know, These kinds of things. Here's the information we'd like to see. Here's the level of information that we want to engage on and be involved in. And I think we've had three or two very good community meetings so far. that have been very productive, and we have a few more coming up.

Thank you. My time's up. Thank you so much.

Thank you, Council President. Councilor Weber, you have the floor.

Okay. Thank you very much. I think we sent Nick a memo in December with a bunch of streets where we had talked to people like Wachusett and Moraine. Allendale, Boynton, Myrtle, Rockwood, Castleton. And so I think some of those will be getting speed bumps this spring. What do we tell folks? Do we have to continue to advocate for those streets in terms of the process? What do we do with, you know, we've received feedback from constituents, you know, going back months. Do we have to present new data to you, or how can we be helpful?

Just to answer part of your question, Councilor, Wachusett, on the list for the spring, I think you may have referenced some of these. Moraine. Yeah, Wachusett, Archdale. Elvin and Brookway are all on the spring program.

Yeah. Well, in terms of like, what do we do going forward? And then I guess, you know, how is ONS involved? You know, we have feedback from constituents how to present it to you, like how can we present that to you in an effective manner. Or will you be telling us that at some point down the road?

Again, I think, you know, we're We're in the process of making some changes to this program, and we will be back, right, and we'll have more information on what that looks like. I think in the interim, Please continue to provide us the places that you know have strong support from the community. And I think if there are If there are places or streets in there that we know we don't think are the right fit, I think we can probably communicate that pretty quickly, but also, with that communicate what might be better treatments for those streets. So I think while we're working through this new process, we can help parse through Those types of requests.

And you can continue to pass along, obviously, all that information, as you know. Our goal, obviously, is to give you Like Chief Gove said, an answer as quickly as possible about, okay, yeah, we want to look at this and we think we might move forward, but we just need to look at the right design. or it could just be we don't think this is appropriate for Speed Homes.

Okay, yeah, I mean, I hope it'll be a conversation back and forth rather than I mean, I think it's the last year and you were not the chief this whole year and you're not in the position you're in now?

He's the director. He's still not the chief.

Okay, sorry. I apologize, Director. Chief Franklin Hodge was there.

Sorry, I thought you were talking about Muhammad. I'm confused.

Sorry.

Anyway, I expect all my time to be refunded to me. So anyway, I think it should be a conversation. And obviously, you have a lot of input and ultimately decide where things are going. But we can advocate. So I'm going to go down a list. You mentioned Eggleston Square. and Pieces, is a bike lane a part of that discussion at this point in Eggleston Square?

In the square specifically?

I don't know. No, I think School Street going up to, that's been a topic of discussion.

The School Street bike lane is part of the 75% design. That is not something we're looking to move forward at this time.

Okay. and then JP Center South. If you just give me like 30 more seconds, Chair.

I already paused it actually, but I will, yeah, go ahead.

Okay, thank you. JP Center South, are we moving forward with that or is that in... Limbo.

That one we'll have to get back to you on. Okay.

Hyde Park Avenue, we talked about, you know, there's option one, option two. Are we going with I mean, I prefer option two, you know, but it reduces it to three lanes, makes room for bike lanes and stuff like that. But what's the status? I just, you know, let's get this all out. What's the status from your point of view, Director?

So obviously, we have done a bunch of safety improvements on Hyde Park Ave over the last couple of years. These are smaller interventions, but we have done work there. We've done some state of good repair and resurfacing. We've experimented with some cast of blaze islands at crossings. As part of the larger multimodal corridor planning effort, as part of some future resurfacing, we'd like to look. and see if there are elements of that planning that, you know, safety elements that we could implement as part of that state of good repair work.

And Councilor Weber, if there's... Sorry, if there's any questions you want us to send, we will.

Yeah, I just wanted to flag, no more questions for me, just McBride and Jamaica Plain, I know we've talked about it, I'd like that to move forward. Especially for English High, they have trouble with drop-offs on McBride and there should be a bike lane there. We had a walkthrough with BTD on LaGrange in West Roxbury, and there's definitely some issues there. We can talk about that further.

And we are planning to participate in the walk this weekend on Hyde Park Ave.

Okay. Okay. Thank you.

Thank you, Chair. Thank you so much. I almost called you the Chair. Thank you so much. You are the chair of the budget process. So, Councilor Pepén, you have four minutes.

Thank you, Madam Chair. I wanted to ask some budget-related questions, if that's okay. So I know that in the multi-neighborhood section, there's $13 million for safety search, $6.2 million for pavement markings, and $35.8 million for street safety improvement designs. Those are great numbers and investments. What I wanted to know is how do you decide where and how that money is allocated? What's the process for deciding, all right, we're going to use such and such amount of money in this area and then Can you break that down for me?

Sure. So a large portion of that money is Thank you. Thank you. Neighborhood or a business district, right? So for example, there's a priority crosswalk request, but there's no ramp. So we've got to reconstruct that to put in a crosswalk. Maybe we're doing something around a school zone. Those are the types of small interventions. And again, this is data-driven. It comes from community feedback. We're always looking. Areas in the, you know, whether we've had a crash or a known place in the high crash network, you know, we're always looking to see what pieces that we can move forward.

So that's, so like... Your engagement around that is what's brought to your attention from community concerns, electeds, Groups as well that represent those communities.

Correct. Okay. Well, both, right? We identify stuff. We bring stuff to the community. Stuff comes obviously from counselors, stakeholders, et cetera.

Yeah, we proactively, obviously, have staff who also identify these things. That's great.

ONS is a big contributor to that. OK. And that was going to be my next question. Is ONS the only type of community engagement that BTD does or does BTD have its own community engagement team?

We don't have our own community Community Engagement Team, per se. We certainly have folks in our comms team who do that type of work, but all of our planners and project managers, right? That is an essential function of their job, right? And frankly, no one knows their particular program or project better. So yes, they drive a lot of those individual project engagements.

But what we are working on, Councilor, is having a process that's the same across the board so that we've got principles in place for, you know, whether it's streets or planning or, you know, awareness that are, you know, that have the same principles so that it Every project's community engagement has at least certain core values that are always met that are part of it and that feel the same for residents and other stakeholders.

And I do want to give credit where credit is due. Your team, the BTD team has had staff members come out to my district. I was literally on Walworth Street at a street light with Al Valar at 7.30 in the morning after the election. And he just was there and he We saw changes implemented, and so I do have to give credit where credit is due. So shout out to your team for engaging when we do reach out. I know my time is limited, but I want to emphasize a few Specific intersections in my district that I really want to be paid attention to, and then a plug for something else. High Park Avenue, Cummins Highway. Very dangerous. High Park Avenue, River Street. There's a lot of congestion there that could be changed by the timing of lighting there. And that is in the middle of a proposed squares and streets area. And folks are very concerned about how development can potentially affect that. I don't want that to be an issue of why we won't pass passing streets in the future. So I'm just keeping ahead of that.

And then last second plug, safe routes to school. I really want to prioritize that. I represent a district that has many, many elementary and middle schools in residential areas. and I'm gonna plug in the GRU school. They recently reached out where they really want to see improved transportation infrastructure improvements and many more. We've already had a couple of four-year-olds get killed in my district, so I want to make sure that there's not another one. Thank you, guys.

Thank you, Councillor Pfenn. So I'm going to go now. I know that I didn't give you guys a chance to respond to separators, bollards, and the removal of protective infrastructure. And I just want to give you the chance to respond to that point.

Sure, so as part of our Better Buffer program that we rolled out last year, we're going to start moving away from temporary infrastructure like like FlexPosts. And one of the places that we're going to focus on again is taking advantage of resurfacing projects to complete that work. So for example, We're doing some resurfacing downtown and in the Wharf District here in advance of the summer events. Congress Street has had temporary infrastructure for many years. We plan to put cast in place Thank you. Thank you.

You know, we are, cast in place has arisen, you know, to be something that is almost on par from an affordability standpoint to flex posts. is much more resilient and can actually be constructed with

I know that's something that some folks in my district have pushed for. I do want to ask about the Dartmouth Street bike lane because if cast and concrete is the priority, if that's the priority, Are we going to plan to finish the rest of that? Cast Concrete, Bike Lane.

Sure. Dartmouth Street, we just resurfaced. We needed to get in there to do some work before the marathon. There's been, as you know, Which it looks beautiful.

Thank you for resurfacing it.

Yeah, unfortunately, yeah, there was some... Well, anyway, there's some continued utility work that needs to happen there. So this resurfacing was truly temporary. And, you know, we... What will go back in short term for at least the summer will be what was there before, but it will go in paint until we can

And it's just important that I get this on the record. I ran during a time when there was a Berkeley Street bike lane proposed, and we heard I was literally someone spit. and so forth. I was on my feet at one of those meetings. It was a very tense situation. The city then said okay, It was important for the city that there be a connection to the Esplanade and that connection from the south end to the back bay. That was like a core priority of the city. I worked in deep community with community members to get everyone on board. And so I put my own political future on the line in some ways. And I know that's a little dramatic.

But I've been willing to do that hard work because I believe that safety is really important to my and many more. I also want to thank my community and very important to my constituents and very important to the 12 colleges and universities that touch my district as well. Kids to school here. They're using blue bikes. They're getting around multimodally. And I feel like, I mean, I know I'm only 35 and I only have a cat and I have no husband, but I feel like these are my kids in some way. I just need to put it on the record that I am in support of finishing that. And I know that it takes political will and courage to continue to have the same position on every issue. Thank you so much.

and I am not for doing the easy thing ever because I think that as a city councilor, we have to step forward and make those difficult decisions. Like I was charged with leading and I think that also as the chair of this committee we're charged with having really nuanced conversations about all these things and that's why I'm bringing up the crash data that's why I'm bringing up and I just want to respond to some of the conversation about process here as well Community process is always flawed because certain people are empowered to come to the conversation. and certain people are not. That's a government issue, that's a civic participation issue that we have not found a way to get to the root of. But what I find is that when people that are supportive of things come to meetings, we believe them less.

and that is a real problem and I think that's something that we have to solve at the city because we have had hearings on issues that are spicy and when we get people to come and we motivate them it just feels like There's sometimes this cognitive dissonance of people showing up. And just because they don't have the same position as the 12 people that you talked to last, They're just a little bit not thought of as legitimate. And that is not a problem that either of you can solve. It's something that we as a city have to work together to solve. So I know I've gone over. I'm so sorry. So I'm going to go to Councilor Culpepper and then Councilor Orrell.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Chief Grove, let me get to these questions quick so I can get them in before I get cut off. I want to ask you about specific streets in my district that need attention. You don't have to try and answer them now unless you have one. You can provide it back to me when you get back and do your research. Columbus Avenue repaving and cobblestone restoration. Concord Square, repaving following 2025 work, North Hampton Street, post-BWSC emergency work, Mass Ave and the South End, Wellington Street, Claremont Park, and Greenwich Park.

And so you don't need to try and answer, you may not have them, but when you get a chance, So I can get back to my constituents. We were at a meeting last night. I told them I would ask you these questions today so I can give them an update on what to expect.

We will get back to you with those, Councilor. I will tell you that Columbus we are doing work on, and we do want to get back out and engage the community on that. Okay.

Thank you, Chief. The other thing, you mentioned that there was a next-level MBTA review. There's not a change in the design, that 30%. What's that next level you mentioned?

Sure, so, you know, what we have proposed with the MBTA is a joint public meeting, but let's... And when is that? That has been scheduled, but it's something that we would like to propose separate from the MPO temp process. But what I had referenced earlier was hypothetically... What's the MPO... The Massachusetts Planning Organization. They have to approve it. Yes, so they manage the TIP process, the federal funds for the Commonwealth.

The other thing that I wanted to ask you was regard to the Boston Transportation Department and their traffic enforcement. Now you know along Blue Hill Avenue there's double parking much of the time, sometimes triple parking some of the times. I saw the Boston Transportation Department between Mass Ave and Hemingway one evening. So I sat there one night. I just took pictures. At 8.49 on a Friday night, they were out giving tickets between Hemingway and Mass Ave on Burleson Street, the BTD. How can we get that same kind of enforcement on Blue Hill Avenue? Even during the day, what do we have to do?

Sure, so we do do enforcement citywide. Our enforcement teams, we cover Six days a week, and we'll be entering our third year with a Sunday enforcement pilot. And we even have an overnight team. So we do enforcement across the city year-round. We have done targeted enforcement efforts in conjunction with BPD on Blue Hill Ave to address some of the double parking issues that you've mentioned. and, you know, we will continue to support that regular effort.

And so let me just... look it would be helpful as soon as possible especially on Friday evenings and on the weekends because that's when it becomes really difficult to travel down Blue Hill Avenue. And I just say, look, the same thing you do between Mass Ave and Hemingway on Boyson Street, do that on Blue Hill Avenue. because I think that will make a big difference in the traffic flow down Blue Hill Avenue and without a sending bus lane for the buses to get down Blue Hill Avenue. Thank you, Chief Grove, and Muhammad, thank you for all that you do. Thank you, Councilor.

Thank you, Councilor Culpepper. And who knows? I mean, that might have been during a Red Sox game. They do pay for additional details. Okay, okay, okay. Just making sure. Raul, you have four minutes.

Thank you, Chair. A few questions around Blue Hill Ave. And I do agree with Councilor Culpepper. Just having a dedicated schedule to Dorchester, District 4, District 7. It's something that I've advocated for in the past because oftentimes when we put up these signs, we want to make sure that we aren't enforcing those signs that are on the street. Do we have any data on transit riders along Buha Lab? Like where is their final destination? Do we have any data around that?

Yeah, we have some, I think, fairly robust data on that, Councilor, and we're happy to share that. A lot of it comes directly from the MBTA, but we're happy to share that.

Yeah, we'd love to see that. And then do we have an hourly breakdown by day of the week of bus, private vehicle, volume on Blue Lab?

I'll have to check the specific breakdown. Short answer is I don't know, but we'll see what... What traffic study, what data we do have for vehicle volumes of the various types on Blue Hill Ave. And we can provide what analysis was done as part of the current planning and design.

All right, and then hopefully part of that data for volume, hourly breakdown by day of the week and hour of travel speeds for buses and private vehicles on Blue Hill Ave.

Yeah, we'll include that.

All right. And then do we have a curb analysis for Blue Hill Ave?

We have done a lot of curbside planning as part of the stakeholder engagement for the project. As we were talking with Councilor Culpepper about enforcement a couple minutes ago, we know the hot spots where we need more short-term turnover for parking. for short-term pick-up and drop-off. And I think we have thought about that as part of a future project there. We think changes to those curbside regulations that encourage that turnover would help move some of those vehicles through there in a better fashion.

Just want to just acknowledge the work that the community has done around the Fairmont Indigo Line. I believe it's one of the only communities that has expanded rail and new stations in the city of Boston to increase transit justice and really fight for it in a major way. So this is something that The community has done and I just want everyone to acknowledge the work the community not only has done but continues to do because I believe this is going to be one of the only rails that will be electrified and in the near future. And I say that to also ask, how does rail, The Fairmont Indigo Line play into speed and moving people to a final destination in your view.

Sure. So, you know, as you know, Councilor, the city has and will continue to support the electrification of the Fairmont line. You know, we believe that, you know, that provides significant Thank you. Thank you. You know public transit opportunities to sections of the city that have never had that type of reliable Transit or set in speed so we are we are committed to working with the team on on

and this is a last point I want to make and it'll be very quick when we talk about you know community engagement whether it's Rachel Justice. I think an important part is to make sure that we're not only affirming the voices of those in that community, whether they have You know, pave the way for the future or are the future because that is an important part of that process. of Racial Justice. And oftentimes, I just want to end on this, is that our community feels harmed because of past projects that have always been told to us this is a good thing, and yet it always never felt as such. So I just want, you know, when we're making any decisions, that we are taking that into consideration as well. Thank you.

Thank you, Councilor Worrell. So I'm going to, if you have any closing statements, if not, you both are free to go and we're going to hear from the rest. I do, if I could get a commitment, though, that you'll watch the rest of this hearing.

I'll stay as long as I can stay. I just need to take a quick break and I'll come back.

Okay, okay.

Yeah, same, I can break and come back.

Okay, perfect, okay. So I'm going to go to public testimony. Each person, again, has two minutes. Mimi Ramos is first, then Sam Fiston, Izzy Essman, Hayden Seeger. Okay, well, whoever's next that I just said. Sam Fiston? Okay. Izzy Essman, Hayden Seeger, and Matt Lawler. That's the order.

Hello, it's Sam Finston. I live in Alston. I'm not here representing a specific group. I just walk around the neighborhood. I walk around the city a lot. Walking is my main form of transportation, and I'm not taking the T. and I have a lot of near misses. There are a lot of cars, as people have talked about, that go right through red lights, stop signs. and I hate that it's just dangerous. There are restaurants that are near me that I don't go to because I don't want to cross an intersection called Union Square where a lot of iconic businesses and a community center are. So last fall, I put up these signs that say, hey, Austin, Brighton, do you hate crossing the street? Tell me about it. And I put them at intersections that are in key locations in the city that I thought were very dangerous that my friends have told me They feel in danger and where I have to wait for a very long time to cross the street. I mentioned Union Square.

You can wait for four traffic signals to get from one corner of it to the opposite corner just because either One lane, or sorry, one street has two non-synced signals or one signal does not give you enough time to cross the entire street. And when cars want to save a few seconds, they can just speed through a light. But when pedestrians do it, they put themselves in grave danger. I do that a lot trying to get on the Greek Street Green Line platform. So anyway, I have a packet with 14 pages of responses. It's about 150 of my neighbors who said, here is a place I walk regularly and I feel in danger or in great inconvenience. And I think a lot of the blowback against safe street changes are about parking or shaving a few seconds off of a car's. Like, you know, trip. But it adds so much more time. You miss that bus.

You run across to get to the Green Line platform because you see the train is coming. But on Commonwealth Avenue, that is... you know six lanes of traffic car traffic and two lanes of you know train traffic. Thank you.

If you want to leave that right there and then I'll make it I'll we'll scan it and we'll make it part of the public record. Thank you. Izzy Essman, Hayden Seeger, Matt Lawler, Anora Murray, Bea Bruno. If you guys could make a line just so, because we got to keep this. Gotta keep it moving. And Brendan Kearney, I think we already heard from you, okay. Okay, Hayden, I guess you're the first one. Okay, go ahead.

Actually, hey, I'm Hayden. I'm gonna give my time to Mike.

Okay, Mike's gonna get four minutes, okay. I don't need four minutes. Go ahead, Mike.

Hi, my name is Mike DiMaio, and I'm a president in the South End. My wife and I navigate the streets of Boston first and foremost on foot, as well as on transit and on bike. I want to see our city become a place where people can navigate all neighborhoods in ways that are both sustainable and safe. The city's abrupt changes in streets policy over the past 14 months, however, have taken us further from that hope. For example, I would love for our street to have speed humps. It's a quiet side street with many families, but cars occasionally speed through it to access the main road at the other end. The city's identified my street as one that would benefit from speed humps on its website. But the speed hump program stalled last year, and I'm hearing today that it will be much more restricted going forward. The city's website says to reach out to my neighborhood liaison to get speed humps, which I've done, but I've seen no movement.

The best explanation I've received from city officials for stalling the speedhump program is they don't want to slow cars down through residential streets, even though driving slowly is the best way to keep people safe, particularly where kids are running around. I've heard today that there will be certain speed humps that will advance, but no criteria were provided as to how the city will select streets, and the process I heard remains opaque. To Councilor Durkan's point, not having defined criteria results in an ad hoc process that favors certain voices over others. Regarding bike lanes, the city's studies have shown that barriers between bike lanes and car lanes make the streets safer for everyone, whether you're in a car, on foot, or on bike. But over the past year, rather than working to make the streets safer for all road users, the most visible changes to bike lanes in the city is the city's removal of bike lane separators across many bike lanes, letting cars park in the lane, and forcing bikers to appear in front of cars, endangering everyone. The primary explanation the city has given for its change in policy is that it wants to seek more community input.

But these changes to make our city less safe have happened without giving anyone a chance to say anything at all. We've heard for over a year of an interest in cast-in-place, which would be really great, but thus far we've seen flex posts removed almost everywhere and cast-in-place implemented almost nowhere. I hope the city gets back to work on finishing what it promised on speed humps and separated protected bike lanes. Thank you for your time, and thank you to the council for holding this morning hearing.

Thank you so much, Mike, and thank you for your support on parking minimums as well. Okay, we are going to, well, or lack of support for parking minimums, I should say. Matt Lawler.

So thanks very much. My name is Matt Lawler. I submitted a letter on behalf of Walker Brosendale, of which I'm a co-founder, to the committee earlier today. I'm not going to rehash the points in that letter or comments that were made by others earlier. I generally support everything that folks who have shown up here and supported unpausing the situation have said. So I just want to focus on three points. First is the numbers of new bike lanes and speed humps that were cited here today are too low by a factor of at least 10. If my math isn't wrong, I've been around doing this long enough, I think that's going to be lower than any year of the Walsh administration. Certainly for a number of new lanes, like the new lanes of bike lanes. Those are words I never thought I would say about the Wu administration, that it is doing worse than the Walsh administration. I can't believe that's where we are. Second, the argument that uses our narrow old streets to deny safety to vulnerable street users needs to be retired today.

For good, our narrow old streets largely predate motor vehicles. Especially downtown, if there's a space crunch, the unwanted party goers are the motor vehicles, not the people on foot, or on bikes, or on buses. the streets were actually designed for them in the first instance and finally I just want to pick up on the exchange with respect to Beach and Glendower streets in Roslindale because we heard all the residents on those streets want speed humps. That is not surprising at all. But somehow, that is still not good enough. because, right, I don't know either. I don't know why that's not okay, why they're not going to get speed humps, but somehow they won't, and that is a problem. So I hope that we get there someday soon. Thank you.

Thank you so much, Matt. Okay, Anora Murray. I'm sorry if I'm saying that wrong. Bia Bruno, Aaron Greiner, Levy Chen. That's the list.

Go ahead. Good afternoon, Chair Durkan and the members of the committee who decided to stick around. My name is Andrew Murray. I'm a Roslindale resident. I'm on the board of Walk Up with Matt, and I founded Roslinds for more Roslinds. I'm here as someone who walks, bikes, and relies on transit every day. For many of us, our safety on Boston streets do not feel like a priority. We have known problem areas like High Park Avenue and Blue Hill Avenue where people are being actively harmed by speeders and reckless driving. What's really frustrating about this isn't just the danger, it's the complete lack of communication and urgency. Projects are announced, engagement takes place, and then they go quiet for months, even years. with little clarity beyond a stated need for more engagement or consensus. How much more engagement can the city expect from residents if the hours that we've already put into the engagement process aren't sufficient?

And how does consensus, what does consensus mean when it's between people that are asking to move safely and with dignity through their communities and those who are asking to maintain dangerous conditions? We have rules that are supposed to protect people, but they are not enforced. Cars park in crosswalks, bus lanes, bike lanes with little consequence. It sends a clear message about whose safety is negotiable. When infrastructure is installed, too often it feels like a half measure. Paint is not protection. Materials that drivers can run over, like the new Zeklas, do not keep people safe and actually actively invite people to park over them. My question is, what's the city's transportation philosophy? We say Vision Zero is still the goal, so why aren't we actively implementing changes to ensure that traffic deaths and serious injuries are unacceptable? If it's not Vision Zero, residents deserve clarity on what level of serious injury and death is considered acceptable.

Finally, when we talk about the community, and I wish the councilors were still here, especially on corridors like Blue Hill Avenue, that has to include the tens of thousands of bus riders on those corridors, along with the pedestrians and cyclists who move through them Not just those concerned about parking. We can have safe streets, strong businesses, and reliable transit, but only if we prioritize human life. Thank you.

Thank you, Andrew, and sorry for getting your name wrong. Urbia, Bruno. Okay, got it. Aaron Greiner, Levy Chen, Yad Boy, okay, go ahead.

Hi, my name's Levi. I'm an Alston resident. I'm a BU junior, and I'm one of two co-presidents of the Urbanism Club at BU, which some of you may know. We are a student group focused on urban advocacy and education. and recently our club released a petition, the This Street Sucks campaign, to voice our concerns that our campus' Main Street, com ave, well, sucks. Our petition urges Mayor Wu to unpause the BUE's protected bike lane project, which has been collecting dust somewhere in the planning department for years, while cyclists like myself risk their lives just trying to commute to work or school down Comm Ave, where speeding and cars blocking the bike lanes are a daily occurrence. I have printed some of our many testimonies for you all to read today. Our petition currently sits at well over 160 signatures from all sorts of people. These are BU students and faculty, non-BU community members, pedestrians and cyclists, because 160 plus people have recognized that safe streets are an immediate necessity. We want these streets and we need them. Yet Mayor Wu's silence surrounding building safe streets for us signals a cold indifference towards our safety.

As young people, we rely a lot more on cycling, walking, and taking public transportation to get in and around the city as do many of the city's residents who do not own cars. When I interned here at City Hall last summer, I actually biked to out-of-office events in JP and Mission Hill because the Southwest Corridor provided a safe path for cyclists. But in coming to today's hearing, I took the T because I didn't want to risk my neck on Cambridge Street or Kenmore Square. As Mayor Wu has been stalling on improvements to cycling, walking, and public transportation, it puts city residents in more danger than is necessary because we know that these plans for safe streets exist. We know that we have the funds to build them. We know we have the manpower to construct it. and yet nothing is being done. We're risking losing the funding and more importantly, we're risking losing people's lives. Though Mayor Wu's spring construction schedule released this morning is a step in the right direction, multiple projects like the East Campus Protective Bike Lanes are still stalled. I believe that a band-aid fix of repavements over a deeper issue of lack of transparency won't last forever.

So thank you, Councilors Weber, Pepén, Durkan, and Breadon for holding this hearing, and I hope that the city can restart these safe street projects as soon as we can. Thank you.

Thank you, Levi. I'll be at your club soon. I love being there.

We have one more meeting.

So, okay, next we're going to hear from Seth. Oh, yeah, if you leave it there, we'll get it to everyone. Seth, good boy.

Good afternoon, council and administration. My name is Seth Gadbois. I'm a transportation attorney at Conservation Law Foundation. Thank you so much for making the space for this hearing today. on multiple critical transportation matters, including docket 0588 discussing transportation philosophy. The city of Boston has set several commendable and the City of Toronto. The City of Toronto has established transportation goals across multiple plans. However, recent City actions and budget proposals Additionally, these goals are also too high level for measuring progress. A climate plan goal to reduce car dependency is good. Zero fatalities on roadways is critical and has a 2030 date, but Goals are not short-term, tangible metrics. Number of bike lane miles added, number of daylighted intersections and road diets, Number of zones dedicated to deliveries. All the things that make walking, rolling, and transit safer and more reliable.

Every day, inadequate infrastructure and chaotic traffic operations degrade our streets and compound to dramatically undermine climate, safety and health goals. We need clear, metric-based links between We need clear, metric-based links that tie plans to budgets covering infrastructure and traffic operations solutions. Without metric-based links between goals and spending, we have philosophy without action or action without direction. Leading to empty promises or costly inconsistent decisions. We need a master plan that commits funding to measurable year-by-year outcomes for clear community-driven strategies. To the administration, please be bold with your budget and be progressive with your power. To the council, please

Legislate where gaps need to be filled or corrected and look to other major metropolitan cities for policies that produce tangible outcomes to all in government. Please use us, advocates and residents, as resources and partners. We can make major change together and sooner than we think. Thank you for your time.

Thank you. Next, we're going to hear from Traven Longsford, Matthias Iris Vermeule, Zachary Yarrow, Esther from Dorchester, and Daniel Krollwetch. So that's the list. Go ahead.

Hi, my name is Trevin, not Trevon. Sorry. Thanks, parents, for giving me that name. I am a resident of Jamaica Plain. Thank you, Ben Weber, for organizing this. I ride my bike everywhere. I ride my bike to Brighton to get to work. I ride it to get to groceries. I ride it to get to friends' houses. Everywhere. It's important to me. It's important to my safety. Weber, you asked about the Center South Streets Transportation Action Plan. It was just reported by Streets Blog Mass that zero dollars is allocated to it in fiscal year 2027. So if that's not a pause, what is a pause? The street that I go to to shop, to eat, to drink, To go to the doctor, to live on is not getting the investment that it so desperately needs. I feel unsafe on this street.

The 39 bus is stuck in traffic every single day. And we're not going to do anything about it? People are using this street as a way to get around Jamaica Way, not have to be on Washington Street, the corridors that can actually serve traffic. And so they're cutting through my neighborhood and affecting my livelihood and the livelihoods of all of my neighbors, just so that they can get through to make it plain. Center and South Streets should be the high streets of Jamaica Plain. It's where everything happens. It's where we gather at the Monument. It's where we go to the Lorin Greenough House, where we watch movies on the lawn. This is a street for people and the city doesn't seem to be putting The amount of effort and funding towards it that it truly does deserve. And so I implore the city to actually do something about it.

We need safe streets. Safe streets cannot wait. Thank you.

Thank you so much. Next, Matthias, then Esther, sorry, then Zachary Yarrow, then Esther, then Daniel Krulwich. Go ahead.

All right, hi, my name is Matthias Iris Remillard. I currently live in Somerville because living on Hyde Park Ave in Councilor Worrell's District, was so deeply unpleasant and dangerous that I left Boston because Somerville's actually doing something about making streets nice and livable on a quarter of the budget that Boston is, so it's a better place to live. and I'll beg you to forgive my strident tone, but I've just had too many empty promises given in. So many meetings like this. And I've experienced too much traffic violence trying to get around Boston on my bike, which is my primary mode of transportation. I am angry and I am tired of risking my life to travel from point A to point B because the city administration deems my non-car owning life unimportant and Inconvenient. I voted for Michelle Wu twice and I was happy to. I assisted with the campaigns. I promoted her to all my friends because she was progressive.

She wanted people to be able to get around safely on bikes, and that's something I'm really about. And now I feel profoundly foolish and angry that I voted for Mayor Wu in the last election. I might as well have voted for Josh Kraft because she's implementing his anti-bike lane agenda now anyway. So a year of paused bike lane projects and silence is unacceptable. The mayor's 11th hour memo this morning about good repair projects making no mention of bikes anywhere is also not acceptable. I'm left struggling to figure out what Mayor Wu actually cares about. because it's not the campaign promises she made, and it's not the progressive value she claimed to have, and it's not improving Boston and bettering quality of life for residents. It doesn't appear to be about funding, because she's frittering away federal dollars with inaction, and it really doesn't even seem to be about the lives of her constituents, because she's letting people die on her streets while she does nothing. So what will get her to care about us?

So I'm angrily begging for the city to fix Hyde Park Ave for one, for concrete milestones on complete streets projects, for actionable and tangible goals and a high quality Thank you.

Zachary?

Hi. I last took time off work to speak here when the city failed at equitable snow removal, and I hope we could keep things headed in the right direction after that. Instead, we saw more bike lane protection removed and not replaced. We saw 311 continue to mark streets as all clear where drivers were parked in unprotected bike lanes. So basically, instead of permitting them to park in bike lanes instead of shoveling out spaces. Now they can just park. just because they don't want to find legal safe parking. I like that I can walk, that I can take transit, and that I can bike to so many destinations in the Boston area. But where Cambridge and Somerville move swiftly with safety improvements, where people have been killed, Mayor Wu has frozen safety projects following pedestrian and cyclist deaths in places like Cambridge Street in Alston and High Park Avenue in JP. And just last week, we heard a student was struck near a Boston school in an area that

The original safety surge announcement said was going to get speed bumps before that project got paused for over a year. This hasn't been an issue of the work just being focused elsewhere in the city, the work of building these infrastructure improvements has stopped everywhere. It seems as though the city has joined Josh Craft's campaign to get me off my feet, off my bike, off the bus, and into my car if I want to get around much of Boston. So I'm joining my fellow vulnerable road users in calling for restarting all the pause projects. The city has a lot of trust to rebuild since a 30-day pause turned into over 400 days. That means especially ones like Hyde Park Ave that residents turned out time and again to overwhelmingly support. When was the last time you saw a city meeting where residents were unanimous on anything? but they were unanimous on their support for that. Projects like Columbus have phase two that the MBTA has said is ready to start when the city is going to let them.

And if you're gonna offer us Bump outs and raised crossings instead of ski bumps or Zicla zippers and cast in place curbs instead of flex posts. I am all for that, but give us timelines and then deliver. Thank you.

Thank you. Esther? From Dorchester? Okay. Daniel Krulowicz? Okay. Sarah Freeman? Harry Dorrer? Steven Suritsky? Leitch, and Yu. Those are the people that are next.

Hi, everyone. I'm Sarah Freeman from JP. Like Matt Lawler said, I did submit some written comments, so I'll try not to repeat. I appreciate what everyone has said before me. In fact, if you add up the thousands of hours people in this room have dedicated toward trying to get safer streets. It's pretty heartbreaking that we're here asking why a 30 day pause leaves us in limbo. A year later, we have a communication problem and I trust that we will be hearing updates on all the projects.

that were paused on how to get a speed hump, restarting dialogue that has broken, sadly. Replace staff that we read in the Globe has left the Transportation Department. How do we turn this into a positive? I'm affiliated with a lot of groups that are here, so I don't wanna take the time to go through them all, but I think we can learn from other cities If we can't talk to each other and reach consensus, projects get done.

And we shouldn't have a few loud voices kill a project or look at an empty bike lane and say no one bikes. Look at the Paul Dudley White Path on the Esplanade or look at Southwest Corridor. When you build a good one, people use it. Is that my time?

Yeah, it is. No, it's okay, Sarah.

We'll hear from you again, I know. No, anyone who wants to talk to me, Councilor Weber knows how to find me.

Harry Dorer? Steven Syritsky, and then Lai Chunyu. Okay, go ahead.

Thank you, Madam Chair. My name's Harry Dorr. I'm an ordinary citizen living in Olsen. I own an electric bike, and I'm a frequent rider of the Green Line, the 66, and the 57. I moved to Boston very recently and I chose to live in this city because of its historic walkability, robust transit, and actively expanding bike network. I saw how the Wu administration pushed to rapidly expand the bike network and support improvements to transit during her first term. and in a primary campaign where the mayor's largest opponent ran against safe streets, I, along with tens and thousands of other Bostonians, voted for them. In light of all that, I'm very disappointed to hear reporting about this administration's pivot to pausing projects and removing bus lanes and safety infrastructure. I'm particularly disappointed to learn just today that the mayor's proposed fiscal year 27 budget zeroes out funding for safety improvements to Comm Ave, west of Packard's Corner, which would go right by my street and make my commute to work by bike

Many times safer. This represents a major breach of the mayor's campaign promises. While these projects languish, federal funds are at risk of being lost, cars continue to pollute and isolate our communities, and people are getting injured and dying on unsafe roads and unsafe intersections. This is not what I voted for. I thank this committee for calling this oversight hearing, and I call upon the mayor and her administration to hear our concerns and get this city building safe streets again. I yield my time. Thank you.

Thank you, Harry. Stephen Suritsky?

Hi, thanks for having me today. My name is Steven Cerisky. I'm a physicist living in JP. I'm working in Cambridge. My family and I, which includes our one and a half year old daughter, get around Boston primarily by walking, public transit, and bicycle. The Safe Street projects have been essential for our lives here. I live in Forest Hill Street, and when we moved here, our park-adjacent residential street had traffic constantly exceeding 50 miles an hour. The prospect of taking our dog out or strolling with our baby came with constant risk. The installation of speed bumps as part of the surge was transformative. It's crucial to why we can enjoy walking in our neighborhood with our family today. It's unfortunate that Mayor Wu has all but ceased this program, deciding along with the people here that saving tractions of a second for reckless drivers is of more value than the safety of our children and parents like me being able to enjoy their neighborhoods with their babies. Mr. Gove, you mentioned moving away from algorithmic decisions.

This has seemed to have no effect on the mayor's collaboration with Google to AI optimize intersections for higher throughput, which is still being advertised on the Boston website. When the mayor started this review last year, it was advertised as being about neighborhood consensus. Yet major infrastructure rollbacks were made without a single meeting. BTD claimed they want to hear from constituents, but anyone who tried to make their voice heard to BTD only ever received a form letter back from Muhammad. physically going to BDD and trying to communicate there resulted in the same. Expert staff at BTD were reportedly victims of the same fate, boxed out of doing their own jobs as the mayor took control to delay projects across the city. Again, this happened without a single meeting, so what exactly is meant by consensus here? Mr. Gove, you mentioned all the work that was done under your predecessor. The notable word there is predecessor. Your job implied in recent news reporting was making the people who carried out those projects so miserable that they quit. You touted your plan to install more speed bumps this year. If I heard right, I think the number was 100.

That would amount to two per square mile of Boston, and as the other commenter mentioned, one of the lowest rates in recent memory. Similarly, with crazed crosswalks and bump outs, this seems to have become almost a running joke. I hear it all the time. We never see them in Boston. Your testimony today confirmed what we were all worried about. We really are seeing BTD gutted and losing our safe streets. Thank you.

So Leichen Yu, and then we're going to go to Giovanni Zuniga, Uzoma Alici, I think Elijah Evans isn't here anymore. Patricia O'Connors, Matthias, who I think we might have already heard from. Okay, that's the list, if you guys could get in line. Go ahead.

Thank you, Madam Chair. Good afternoon. My name is Lin-Shen Yu, and I am an Alston Brighton resident and a member of the Alston Brighton Health Collaborative. Alston Brighton is the second biggest neighborhood in Boston and is continuing to grow and thus depends on transit and infrastructure projects to support the people living in the neighborhood, traveling through, as well as future residents. This was already understood when the Austin-Breton mobility plan was finalized and adopted in 2021 by the planning department. and I stand here in 2026 with only a few of the recommendations acted upon and many of the visions seemingly shoved in the filing cabinet. Did the planners, residents, and community organizations spend nearly three years to gather opinions,

Devise proposals and envision what the community wants, only to now hear that we need to gather more community feedback to get it right. It's even more disheartening to hear that Boston might lose potentially millions of funding towards these projects. The Transportation and Mobility Committee of the ABHC conducted a survey regarding mobility in the Brighton Center last year when the city had proposed to install a dedicated bus lane for the 57 bus, one of the routes with the highest riderships in the city, yet slowest buses in the city. Our survey found that majority of the people frequenting Brighton Center had desires for safer crosswalks, increased bus services, and micro-mobility options. The same thing five years ago with none of the changes.

I urge the city administration to no longer sit on the years and dollars spent on studying our neighborhood and act to make our streets safer and healthier. We know what great transportation can do for our city. Thank you.

Thank you so much. OK, I read a bunch of names. Oh, perfect. You're here. OK. So we'll go to you. And then if you are waiting to testify, if you could just stand up and get in line, that would be awesome. Yep, yeah.

Okay, thank you. Trish, just so I was pressed for time and I failed to mention Washington Street and West Roxbury to Mr. Gove. It is listed in my memo, just so you know. Oh, okay. I support what Trish Connors has said.

Okay, go ahead. Thank you, Councilor Durkan. So I brought 17 copies per the city's website. They suggested bringing copies for all the city councils. Yeah, if you leave them right here, we'll make sure. Over here? Yes. Okay, great. Okay, may it please the City Council, my name is Patricia Connors and I'm a 72-year-old avid cyclist. I live in West Roxbury and I'm a member of the West Rox Bikes Steering Committee. Cyclists, pedestrians, and I dare say most motor vehicle drivers greatly appreciate the city's reconstruction of Center Street in 2023. This redesign stretching from the Holy Name Rotary to LaGrange Street Reduce travel lanes to one in each direction, added a center turn lane, and installed bike lanes. By most accounts, this reconstruction has achieved its objectives of enhancing safety, Reducing serious crashes and improving traffic flow.

However, additional upgrades are needed to complete the work that the city has done to date. Presently, motorists often park at the curb illegally at the beginning of Center Street blocks along the bike lane, particularly those close to take-out enterprises. thereby preventing cyclists from entering the bike lane at these sections of the bike lane and forcing them either to get off their bikes to walk around the motor vehicle or to quote, take the lane on the street. Street infrastructure improvements to stop this motor vehicle obstruction should consider including the positioning of large planters alongside the entrance to the bike lane at the beginning of each block, thus providing a quote, green barrier to illegal and obstructive parking.

Of note, Executive Director Lindsey Chase of West Roxbury Main Streets strongly supports The placement of planters on Center Street and that they soften landscapes, I'm sorry, soften hardscapes Introduce color and foster a welcoming, well-cared-for atmosphere. In addition to increasing street beautification... Thank you. Oh, okay.

Sorry, no, thank you so much. And we'll make sure this becomes part of the public record. Okay, thank you.

Hi, I'm Kate Wieneke. I'm a community organizer in Alston, Brighton. I've lived there for over three years now. I regularly walk down Comm Ave to catch the beeline and I see the trash all around me. I hop over large pools of water at the bottom of broken curb cuts. I cycle in the road next to bike lanes full of potholes or gravel. I walk on sidewalks in the dark unable to tell if the slight shadow is a pile of leaves or a hole. The infrastructure around me reminds me that I am not welcome. The lights on these roads are for cars. That puddle as I cross the street reminds me to be careful. I'm entering a space not meant for me. The trash says no one cares, you, like your neighborhood, don't matter. Today I want to push back against this status quo. I agree with much of what the great speakers before me have been saying. Speed kills.

Speed forces people to make bad decisions, to run into the trolley lines, to block our access to public transit. We need to slow down drivers on CommAv. We don't want or need a highway in our neighborhood. Enforcement of the speed limit is never going to be enough. We need infrastructure to make drivers slow down to that speed limit so that we can cross to get to the train, to get to the laundromat, whatever we might need to do to go see our friends. Ultimately, I want to resume all of these paused projects, build relationships in the community, and I want safety-focused engineers and leaders who work with the community to implement safe streets projects. When residents walk or roll down the sidewalk or bike lane and across the street, we should feel safe and know that our lives are valued as much as the convenience of the people in cars. Thanks.

Thank you. Elliot Weiner.

Hi, my name is Eli, and I live in Roslindale. I want everyone to drop the idea that we need more community engagement when it comes to street safety. I'm a parent, I have a full-time job, and I don't really have time to engage with you. And even if I did, why do I need to engage with you in order to explain that our streets should be safe, that I shouldn't have to be scared of my son being killed while I'm walking him to preschool or biking with him to the grocery store? Do I need to engage with the city to make the case for clean drinking water? That when I turn on the kitchen sink, drinkable water should come out? The city makes that happen without me having to attend a meeting about it. When I go around my neighborhood with my family, I want us to not die. That's public safety. If the community isn't okay with what it takes to guarantee that, I don't really care, and you shouldn't either. You made a commitment to zero traffic deaths. Vision Zero. The ways to accomplish that are not a mystery.

Cities around the world, near and far, have already done a better job at it than we have. Copy them. Use your power to make it happen as soon as possible. Thank you.

Thank you, Eli. Scott Kilgoyne? Kilgoyne. Kilgoyne, sorry.

No worries. Hi. I'm Scott Kilcoyne. I have heard that the city is looking for consensus. We have consensus. The city has consensus. They know exactly. suppressed a survey last year that showed bike lanes and safe streets projects are extremely popular. and that most of the resistance is just from people not understanding what's happening, not because they don't like it. The city has, Mayor Wu has U-turned on the Safe Street projects She has hidden and suppressed this survey. She's hidden and suppressed exactly what happened with that 30-day review on who actually got involved in that consensus. Because to me and to everyone else around, It sure seems like the consensus is one billionaire choosing that we can't have safe streets anymore because he did not like having a bike lane in front of his mansion downtown. That is not consensus.

The consensus shows safe streets are popular and need to happen. The consensus is that we don't want to die on the street. The consensus is that the other billionaire that ran on Bike lanes are terrible? Run out of town. So he doesn't even live here anymore. The consensus is that bike lanes are good and we want them. And we want you guys to stop pausing and stop lying to us. You said there was no pause. Then we have the counselor ask a specific project. You said it was 75% and you're not working on it anymore. That is a pause or a cancellation, which you also said nothing's been canceled. You keep saying that there are no removal of bike lanes. You removed the facility. If we can't use the bike lane because there's no more flex posts and now cars are parked in it, that is a removal. Don't lie to us. We know the experience. Thank you.

Thank you, Scott. Okay, so we are moving to online. If you are here in person and you'd like to publicly testify, speak now or forever hold your peace. Okay, one last person, or more people, okay. If you are testifying, please get in line. Okay, thank you.

Hi, my name's Daniel from Jamaica Plain. Been a Boston resident for eight years. I'm a driver, I'm a cyclist, I'm a pedestrian. I think most of us in this room are some combination of those three things. I think it's clear that drivers take the space we give them and space given to drivers takes away from everyone else. And if you take space away from me as a driver, that gives me space as a cyclist, right? I think that's important and I think that what everyone has said today is important and I am frustrated just like everyone else and if I have to go out and get a shovel I don't want to do that, but I feel like that's the direction we're headed. I don't want to be LA. I don't have to paint sidewalks for myself. I want safe streets. Thank you.

Are you Daniel Krolwich?

No.

Okay, could you please sign in? Okay. Yeah, thank you. Okay, perfect. You're next. And if you haven't signed in yet, please sign in. Thank you.

Hello, my name is Daniel Tucker. I'm a Dorchester resident. I received a state e-bike voucher last August. And I started bike commuting to Cambridge. And quite frankly, it changed my life. And just yesterday, I learned how much it's changed my health. I had a heart attack 12 years ago. My cardiac function is better than it's ever been because I ride my bike virtually everywhere now. As the previous speaker said, I own a car. I bike, I take the T, I choose to bike for my health and this is an important thing to me because I want to live longer. I also don't want to die in traffic, right? The process described by the commissioner is no process. I'm a manager. A process involves steps. A process involves an outline of what to do and how things work.

And I've not heard that. Why can't I see this massive spreadsheet that the Commissioner mentioned? I'd like to see that. Is it available to the general public? What are the milestones? What are the goalposts? The same thing, a lot of talk about speed humps. They're great. I appreciate the commissioner's statement that it's not always the right answer. Bump outs, raised crosswalks, Brilliant solutions in places, but what are the criteria for that? How do I, as a citizen, advocate for a specific thing other than through the electeds? It should be obvious to me, and as the previous speaker also said, the examples are out there Other world-class cities have done it. Paris has done a phenomenal job in the past few years. The work is there. The planners know. Mohammed, you know what can and should be done.

and we're not doing it and this 30-day pause that has turned to 14 months is nonsense so thank you my time is up I appreciate the council's calling this hearing and the presence of Thank you.

And if you haven't signed in yet, just make sure you sign in. And then we are now moving to online testimony. So we have moved on from public testimony indoors. Eric Herro, you are next, and you have two minutes. Then we're going to go with Molly Phelps on line, Allegra Cohen, Kelly McGrath, Kathy McCabe, Louis Gruner, Ben Crowther, Richard Murphy, and that's the order we're going in. And I had a goal to get us out here by 530 and I think we just might do it, so.

I'm ready.

Yes, go ahead.

Hi, my name is Eric Herrod. I'm a resident of Jamaica Plain. Thanks, Councillor Durkan, for holding this hearing. It's actually such an important issue and I'm really glad to have the opportunity to speak on it. You know, I just have to offer one piece of advice to the mayor since she's obviously decided to cede the entire campaign issue of street safety in favor of I don't know, something that's the opposite of what almost everybody who supported or ran on and instead suggest that I don't actually think in her what appears to be inevitable campaign for the governor's office or statewide office or whatever. Getting projects done, even if they may be controversial ones, I think ultimately it's the answer to what gets you elected. So I just want to say that I don't...

I don't think that this approach of sidelining things and not really having any answer to what's going to happen to our streets, not dealing with the street safety issue whatsoever It's not a winning approach, no matter what you're doing. That's all I'm going to say. I want to echo all the other comments that came before me. Some excellent things have been said, and I can't top them, so that's all.

Thank you, Eric. Next we're going to go to Allegra Cohen. You have two minutes.

Thank you. Thanks for the opportunity to speak. I'm Allegra Cohen. I live in Jamaica Plain. And I worry every day that my husband is going to get hit by a car. He's been cut off. He has been yelled at. He's been physically threatened by drivers on his bike. Someone literally put their car in park once and got out of the car to chase him. There's one crosswalk that we consistently almost die at together every single time we go through it. And okay, that's really awful, but the point I want to make is that it's super valuable data that nobody is asking for us. So residents are experts in how to survive in Boston. You should be asking us about it all the time. There are automated tools now like conversational surveys that can talk to residents at scale outside of the public hearing process. And so there's really no excuse not to get real-time data from residents.

What's more, we should be able to see those data, see the agreements and the disagreements, and hold the city accountable for how it responds to those data. And this is well within the power of a good IT team. I know that the city has folks in that department who are working on this kind of thing. So if you're not using technology to paint a clearer and more transparent picture of transit safety, then you haven't really redesigned your process in any kind of meaningful way. So that's all I have to say. Thank you so much for your time.

Thank you, Allegra. Kelly McGrath and then Kathy McCade.

Good afternoon and thank you for the opportunity to speak. My name is Kelly McGrath and I'm the Executive Director of Brighton Main Streets. And I am here representing the small business community. specifically along the Western Ave corridor, North Beacon Street and other small business districts. Since late 2024, approximately 150 parking spaces were removed from this corridor without a comprehensive mitigation plan. Over the past year, our businesses have done everything asked of them. They organized, they met with city staff, They participated in walkthroughs and provided detailed feedback and solutions. And yet, nearly a year later, they're still waiting for action. In that time, businesses have reported a 20 to 25% We've already lost one business, a Black-owned woman business, the House of Arts and Crafts.

Others are now paying thousands of dollars for private parking just to stay open. They're also facing serious safety concerns. Parents are dropping off children in bike lanes, deliveries and ride share pickups are happening in unsafe conditions, and buses cannot properly pull over. This is not a theoretical issue. This is happening every single day. We want to be very clear that we are not opposed to bike infrastructure or any other safety infrastructure for our neighbours. We're asking for equitable infrastructure and one that works for small businesses, residents, families, seniors, and people with disabilities. We know this is possible. There are sections of Western Ave near the LabWorks building where bike lanes and parking coexist successfully. The model works and it proves that balance is achievable. So today we're asking for action. Restore limited parking where feasible.

Look to reopen and restore residential parking analysis based on the real residents that live in those side streets. Create Designated Loading and Drop-Off Zones, Address, okay, thank you.

Thank you so much. Okay, Kathy McCabe, you have two minutes.

Hi, thank you. I'm Kathy McCabe, and I'm president of Longfellow Area and Neighborhood Association. And I'd like to highlight three projects, transportation projects. that are in need of advancement towards implementation. One is the signals and sidewalk project for South Walter and Robert streets by Fallon Field in our neighborhood. We understood this project was at 95% design, ready to go out for bid in fall of 2025, but it did not. The signals are old and in need of replacement. Sidewalks are in poor condition. The South Robert intersection has a dangerous feature, the right turn lane. From Robert onto South is via a slip lane that is not controlled by the signal. Instead, there's a stop sign where driver noncompliance has been observed to be only 60 to 70%.

And this is a slip lane that one needs to cross to even press the pedestrian button so they can cross the street. We need to fix this intersection and get the streets and signals project moving. The second project is Walter Street, South Street, sidewalks and crosswalks. Lana has been advocating for these improvements for over a decade for sidewalk improvements from Buzzy Brook and Walter to Fallon Field South Street. We organized a charrette. We've had community engagement. And Natcharette was over a decade ago with neighborhood residents. Residents wanted slower speeds, safer walking and bicycling conditions. and the ability to safely cross Walter Street as well as safely walking along Walter Street. Sidewalks are uneven, prone to puddling and icing. They are largely non-ADA compliant.

A person using a walker, wheelchair, or pushing a stroller cannot safely travel on the sidewalks. They're bumpy with trip hackers, including utility caps, heaved asphalt, and curved sidewalks. Sidewalks are poorly lit, making it difficult to navigate trip hazards in the dusk and evening. So we need to look for improvement. Lana wants concrete sidewalks that are ADA compliant. and I also want to point out Weld and Center Street. We've submitted written comments. We've done community engagement. We've been waiting for those improvements for over four years and we don't know what's happening. Thank you. Thank you very much and we look forward to working with you.

Okay, Lucas is next and then Ben Crowther.

Thank you, Councillors, for the opportunity to speak. I want to start by saying I'm extremely disappointed in the stalling of projects, despite the city's own data showing that they're successful and popular. However, I did want to comment on a few other things. I was glad to hear today that the Streets Cabinet is looking to follow global best practices and coordinate safety work with repair. We need more of this as the default. As an example, there's a new apartment project in JP that's going to include the reconstruction of Rockville Circle. But there's been no indication that any significant safety improvements will be made despite the street being extremely wide, a dead end, and opening out onto busy Washington Street. It's also good to hear that the cabinet is trying to consider what the best traffic calming measures are for a neighbourhood, but the current process needs to improve. In my experience working with residents of the Stoney Brook neighborhood, the city has been acting as if speed humps are adequate to address issues with rat running during rush hour, which residents know is not true. I'd also like to urge you to consider flush streets and shared streets. Many parts of my neighborhood and JP are perfect candidates for this.

They have very narrow sidewalks that are not ADA compliant and are either partially or completely obstructed by telephone poles, trees, and driveway ramps. Most of these streets also have very low traffic volumes and people typically walk in the street anyway. With that being said, if things continue as they have been in the last year, I just don't trust the city to actually follow through on these things. Hearing the claim today that no projects have been paused does not give me the impression that the streets cabinet is being allowed to work in good faith. I know that the talented staff at BTD have been told to stop working on certain safety projects. Barriers have been removed from bike lanes, notably on Mass Ave, with no public process or explanation. The Beacon Street bike lanes never finished construction at the Arlington Street intersection. There have been no updates on the public garden crossings, Center South Action Plan, the State Street redesign, Columbus Ab Bus Lanes, the extension, Huntington Ave Accessibility Project, Charles Street South, and many other projects for at least a year. The only update some of these projects have seen has been having their funding cut or eliminated by the Mayor's latest budget proposal.

Mayor Wu has been completely inconsistent with her policy recently on street safety and at this point I have no idea what she actually believes or what her motivations are. We need real actions and not words to regain public trust on this stuff at this point. Just look across the river to see what kind of policy leads to real results. Thank you.

Ben Crowther, you're next and you're last.

Hello, everyone. I'm Ben Crowther. I'm a resident on the Roslindale-West Roxbury line along Center Street. I'm also a member of the Longfellow Area Neighborhood Association Board. We've cheered the steps that the city have taken. to improve safe streets under Mayor Wu's first term, and we really need more action now. Like others have said, I also feel betrayed by voting for Mayor Wu. The lack of meaningful progress since March of 2025 on safe streets is incredibly problematic, especially without any clear explanation for the lack of updates. I'll speak about the experience in our neighborhood where there remains to be so much more to be done to improve pedestrian, bicyclist, and driver safety. And it seems like this is emblematic of problems elsewhere across the city. at the intersection of Walworth and South Street next to Fallon Field. BTD installed a no right turn on red sign after we asked. That's an agreement with their adopted guidance in 2023.

About a month after they installed it, they took it down without an explanation. There's children that cross to the park constantly. A pedestrian and cyclist have both been hit during 2024. We sent a letter in December 2025 with a request for an explanation. No response. That one's a quick fix. We've worked with BTD on plans for safety improvements to the nearby Hewlett South Walter Roberts intersection. Pedestrians hit there in 2023. This was approved by the PIC by all these improvements and signal upgrades in March 2025. We've asked BTD for an update on project timing and status. No answer. So at the end of the day, not investing in safe streets, it's costing lives and it's costing Boston residents money. When I moved here from LaGrange Street and West Roxbury a little over a mile away, my car insurance rates doubled because of the number of crashes in our neighborhoods.

So something urgently needs to be done to make all city streets safer for drivers, pedestrians, and bicyclists, and the mayor's office and BTD need to resume their leadership role.

Thank you so much. So we are going to adjourn this hearing. All of these dockets will remain in committee. I want to thank all the public testimony. We had over 47 people testify. I don't know. We had at least 47 people testify, and I think that's a huge testament to how much people care about this work. And so this hearing on dockets 02, 04, 05, 88, and 05, 89 is adjourned.