News
Suit brewing on Mass. Ave.
by St. John Barned-Smith
MySouthEnd.com Contributor
Wednesday Jan 21, 2009
Sometimes, following the letter of the law isn’t enough. That’s the sentiment of Kenneth Kruckemeyer, Cindy Walling, and Dennis Heaphy, South End residents suing the City of Boston and the state highway department over the proposed reconstruction of Massachusetts Avenue. They believe that the city and state have not done enough to accommodate pedestrian and bicycle traffic in their proposed design.
To make his point, Kenneth Kruckemeyer spreads a series of photographs and drawings out in front of him.
A few of the plans and photos come from as distant a land as South America, the others just a couple blocks away at Columbus Avenue. But all the pictures show spacious sidewalks that are 11 to 15 feet wide and lined with trees that make room for buses, cyclists, and pedestrians.
According to Kruckemeyer, a former commissioner for the Massachusetts Department of Public Works, the proposed redesign of Mass. Ave. lacks all of these features, while potentially endangering residents and negatively impacting the South End for the benefit of suburban commuters.
"Massachusetts Avenue is a main boulevard, not an expressway. It shouldn’t look like the Southeast Expressway or Melnea Cass Boulevard," said Andrew Fischer, who along with Glen Berkowitz represents Walling, Kruckemeyer, and Heaphy.
Berkowitz and Fischer are suing the city and state for violating Massachusetts’ Pedestrian Bicycle Accommodation Law. The law mandates that new construction "make all reasonable provisions for the accommodation of bicycle and pedestrian traffic in the planning, design, and construction, reconstruction or maintenance of any project undertaken by the [MA Highway] department."
Fischer, who is also a resident of the South End, argued that since the city created its design for the street more than ten years ago, the current plan does not reflect the reality of traffic flow along Mass. Ave.
According to Fischer, the Big Dig draws much of the former traffic away from Mass. Ave., which "undermines any suggestion that we can’t accommodate the [current] cars."
The city’s proposed design would narrow sidewalks by a foot, while also installing trees in many areas, which would cut sidewalk widths to around three to four feet in some areas, said Kruckemeyer, who added that the move "says we don’t care about pedestrians on this vital street."
Also of concern is the lack of a designated bike lane for the street. While Boston Transportation Director Tom Tinlin has argued in the past that a wide, 14-foot right lane would accommodate cyclists, Kruckemeyer argues that wide lanes encourage faster driving.
A dedicated bike lane "would provide a great deal more safety," he said.
According to Kruckemeyer, a wide lane without additional markings "means a lot more people will get killed when they get hit by a car going 30 miles per hour" because wide lanes unconsciously encourage faster driving.
Safety for other street users is also a major issue for the plaintiffs. Dennis Heaphy commutes in a wheelchair from his home on Mass. Ave. to Boston Medical Center, and already has problems traversing Mass. Ave.
"It makes sense on a main thoroughfare like Mass. Ave. to have wider sidewalks," he said.
Heaphy also felt that other factors, like snow accumulation, would make traveling on the redesigned avenue "impossible."
Cindy Walling echoed Heaphy’s concerns.
"It’s already difficult [to traverse] at the current condition, but with tree pits, it will be impossible to walk safely," she said, adding it would be especially difficult in winter or on trash day.
Both are concerned about the wider right hand lane.
"To have wheelchair users and elderly citizens within inches of cars going 30 miles per hour is unconscionable," said Heaphy.
The slated removal of many of the traffic islands along the street also worries Heaphy.
"To expect us to cross a major road like that without an island - it’s unethical," he said. "I feel like a third class citizen living on Mass. Ave."
For Walling, the model for Mass. Ave. sits just a few blocks away. As the mother of a seven-year-old and a five-year-old, Walling believes a wider sidewalk would help lessen her safety concerns.
"It would be nice to walk down Mass. Ave. as safely as you can down Columbus [on wider sidewalks]," she said.
According to city legal officials, the city is ready to defend the case should it go to trial. Currently, the city is arguing that Kruckemeyer, Heaphy, and Lawling do not have "legal standing" to sue the city.
Bill Sinnott, Corporation Counsel for the City of Boston, believes that governmental organizations have the legal right to sue under the current law, but "the individual does not."
Bruckemeyer, Lawling, and Heaphy believe they do.
"Our goal is not to undermine the city of the Commonwealth," said Heaphy, who added that under the current circumstances, "[the plaintiffs] felt cornered as a community."
This may be the only chance they have. According to Charlie Denison, the advocacy director for Livable Streets Alliance, most Massachusetts streets are redesigned about every thirty years.
"We’re at a key opportunity that we can’t afford to miss," said Denison. "We need to design the street for everyone, so it serves the needs of today and tomorrow, and if we don’t do it right now, we won’t have a chance for quite a while."
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