Grounding McGrath Highway meeting Thurs 5.31

[somervillesnow.livejournal.com]

Apologies not Davis Square, but important to Somerville's future in general.  It looks like we need a large turnout Thursday 5.31 to tell the state/MASS DOT to convert the elevated portions of McGrath Highway to an at grade boulevard.  Currently they want to spend $10 million in repairs to extend it's life.  This is absurd, as no one wants this ugly piece of concrete in our city.  The money should be spent to deelevate it, rather than wasted.  If it is spent to extend it's life, you can bet it will not be deelevated for a *long* time.  

See STEP website for meeting details and more insight on the issue: http://www.somervillestep.org/2012/05/mccarthy_overpa.html

Comments

[somervillesnow.livejournal.com]

MASSDDOT: We want to and are committed to take it down but that will be a minimum of an 8 year process dues to all the government review processes it has to go through at various agencies. So we need to make these emergency repairs now, which will take 24 months, cost 11 million + and are designed to extend the life 10-15 years.

Testimony:
*The structural integrity of the bridge cannot be restored without much more significant cost of replacing columns (something that is part of the plan)
*It is safer to take it down now.
*The environmental review process can be avoided for various technical reasons that Ellin Reisner spoke of after having read the law
*The cost per metric of safety rec'd is extremely high and ineffective (sorry I can't really summarize the engineer's testimony)
*The cost is very likely to spiral as disturbing concrete in one area will disturb the concrete adjacent
*Just take it down now and create a temporary road until the permanent one can be designed
*Post a lower weight limit so some repairs can be avoided
*For the love of god, we don't want this injustice monstosity, take it down now! was communicated vigorously by the packed standing room only room, both in testimony and spontaneous crowd yells and chants.

The comments appeared to fall on deaf ears, they kept ignoring the compelling testimony and parroting the same speaking point in a non answer. The people were nice, but they were just there to repeat their boss' decision. My only hope is that they actually heard some of the technical testimony and will go back to their bosses, that someone in Somerville has the ear of someone with power in state government, or that the Globe or Herald will do an expose on this giant waste of taxpayer money.

Also not their fault (thought as Ellin testified they could get around some of it), but I'm frustrated that we have a society where it takes 8 years to build an at grade road due to government bureaucracy.

On the encouraging side, the testimony and the presence of the large number of citizens was very effective in communicating our feelings and Livable Streets did an excellent job of organizing some of that. I recall the 2004 green line meeting where we similarly protested the delays-we didn't get an answer at that meeting, but soon after we got some commitment and changed minds in the Romney administration. Hopefully the same will happen here.