My staff and I had the opportunity to take a walking tour of Lower Broadway in East Somerville with Carrie Dancy of East Somerville Main Streets and Dorie Clark of Clark Communications. Dorie gave us a detailed description of the specific challenges the area faces in terms of pedestrian access, pollution, and safety concerns.
Lower Broadway and the Interstate 93 bridge serve as the gateway for East Somerville from Sullivan Square in Charlestown. Although the Sullivan Station bus terminal and Orange Line stop are both located in Charlestown, they are primarily used by residents of East Somerville. Besides being loud and unfriendly to pedestrians, the walkway under the bridge is also poorly lit and littered with trash.
Under Interstate 93: the ominous, neglected gateway to East Somerville.
Because of the split ownership of the land--between Somerville, Charlestown (which is technically part of Boston), the MBTA, private property, and Mass Highway--there has been neglect in coordinating and enforcing necessary repairs, redesigns, and regular maintenance. The area has become dangerous for pedestrians and impassable for the physically disabled, particularly in winter when ice and snow block access to the sidewalks.
Dorie Clark provided a diagram of the unusual ownership lines around Sullivan Sq.
I also had a chance to talk with a diverse array of local businesses about their concerns, including the managers of Boulter Plywood Corp, Taco Loco, Fusion Microtech, Vinny's Restaurant, the Boston Spine Clinic, and Awards Unlimited. Every time I'm on Lower Broadway, I'm surprised by how many different types of businesses and services there are over just a few blocks--sometimes even within the same store. It's a mixed-use area with plenty of great food and one-of-a-kind specialty stores.
Along with a general discussion of business visibility, there were also concerns raised about the traffic and business impact of a proposal from the city to widen the sidewalks and reduce parts of Broadway to one lane. Although it may improve pedestrian access and reduce dangerous traffic speeds, some businesses felt the proposal could hurt customer parking and truck deliveries. Final plans for the proposal are expected to be released by the city in July.
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