Support, skepticism for center bike-crossing plans

Plans to use bicycle tracks to connect the fractured Minuteman Path in Arlington Center got plenty of support last night even as some identified potential flaws that could kill the idea.

Comments followed a presentation of five different plans developed for the Town by Howard Stein-Hudson under a state-administered federal grant program, originally detailed here.

Alewife Sunnyside path entrance is open

Alert Menotonian* Stephanie Marlin-Curiel reports that the Broadway entrance to the northern segment of the Alewife Greenway is now open for business.

The view north from Broadway on the east side of the Alewife Brook. Stephanie Marlin-Curiel photo.

(*Menotomy, from menhaden, which is in turn from the Algonquin word for alewife, was an old name for this part of town.)

Greenway-meets-Minuteman report

Word on the Street’s far-flung foreign bureau has checked in with photos of the boardwalk being built that will connect the Greenway path along the Alewife Brook to the Minuteman Path.

The view south. Douglas Davidoff photo.

Arlington Center improvements

The Town has $290,000 in federal funds from MassDOT to improve the intersection of Mass. Ave. and Route 60 in Arlington Center.

There will be a public hearing on the design ideas at Town Hall on January 10 from 7–9 pm.

Not part of the Mass. Ave. Project but I thought folks would like to know.

Alewife fences

It took workers 3 days to build a low fence between neighbors’ yards and state parkland along the Alewife near my house.

New fence looking north from Cottage Ave.

The fence runs north from Cottage Ave. almost all the way to the Henderson St. Bridge. It overlaps about 20 feet of the ramp that brings the new path slowly up to the road there.

This is the latest work (in my neighborhood) in the project to build paths along the Alewife Brook.

The bollard-plinth-obelisk post

A black metal bollard now graces the Cottage Ave. entrance to the Alewife Greenway.

The Alewife path near my house got a few refinements this week, including a handsome new bollard, three feet tall, to discourage people from driving their cars onto the path along the brook. (Do not laugh, as I have seen people do exactly that, in fruitless search for the Northeast Passage to Somerville.)

Minor milestone on the Alewife

The view south along the path from Henderson Street on October 18. The road slopes up to the left to cross the Alewife brook.

Just when I was wondering if we’d see any more work on the Alewife Greenway in our neighborhood before the end of the year, along comes this impressive granite plinth. The work was done last Tuesday, October 18.

$3M Mass Ave. funding approved

Representative Will Brownsberger reports,

Also approved by the MPO today [September 22] was $3.0 million in 2013 funding for Arlington’s Mass. Ave reconstruction project.

The “MPO” is the Boston Regional Metropolitan Planning Organization,  which coordinates transportaion planning in the area.

Brownsberger’s news comes almost as an afterthought to his report on his blog about the $14.6 million approved at the same meeting to improve roads between Belmont Center and Watertown.

Compared to that, Brownsberger says the Mass. Ave. project

covers a much shorter road segment but resembles the Belmont-Trapelo road project — it is also a reconstruction of an overwide former streetcar line to make it more neighborhood friendly.

Brownsberger represents Belmont, and parts of North Cambridge and East Arlington, on Beacon Hill.

Update: Apparently, there was nearly $5.9M approved for the project at this meeting; see the comments.

MBTA drops most bus-stop consolidations on Mass. Ave.

The MBTA, which last spring proposed to consolidate or eliminate some bus stops on Mass. Ave. to improve service, has revised its proposal, retaining nearly all stops at or near their present locations.

The plan also calls for benches, trash cans, and, possibly, shelters at some locations.

The T will hold a public hearing on its revised plan in the Town Hall Auditorium in Arlington on Tuesday, September 25, from 6:30–8:00 pm. Stop-by-stop details, and a map, are available online.

Yes, we have ramp

The view along the completed ramp looking south (after safety netting was ripped down)

Nearly a year after crews poured the southern anchor of a ramp along the Arlington side of the Alewife Brook, carpenters bridged the last three feet and made a continuous walkway on August 5.

Ramp from the side, with netting.

Last month crews also took some steps to repair the problem-prone path entrance from Cottage Ave.

The ramp, part of the Alewife Greenway project, descends south from Henderson Street just east of where the road crosses the brook into Somerville.

Patch of sidewalk

The Town replaced some 14 squares of sidewalk by the Arlington Diner last week, fixing a longstanding problem:

At the Arlington Diner: Before

After

Landscape-design drawings add detail to the business district

Capitol Square landscaping (from new drawings)

Landscape-design drawings for the East Arlington business district, detailing the possible placement of trees, benches, and other features, were posted at the Town’s web page earlier today.

The drawings appear identical to those presented at the July 20 meeting of the Mass. Ave. Review Committee, which were draft works in progress, not final blueprints.