Remove all bicycles from Memorial Day parade route by 9 am Sunday!

[ron_newman]

If your bicycle is locked to a bike rack, street sign, or parking meter anywhere along the Memorial Day parade route, you must remove it by 9 am Sunday. Otherwise the city DPW will remove and impound it (presumably at the DPW yard on Franey Road).

The parade starts at 1 pm Sunday at Somerville High School, runs down Highland Avenue to Davis Square, then Holland Street to Teele Square, then west on Broadway to the Veterans' Cemetery next to the former Johnnie's Foodmaster.

Here is Jackie Rossetti's full robo-call and e-mail about the parade:

Hello, this is Jackie Rossetti from the City of Somerville with information about street closures and parking restrictions related to the City’s Memorial Day Parade on Sunday, May 26th. The annual parade will step off from the City Hall Concourse at 1 p.m., continuing onto Highland Ave., Holland St., and Broadway in Teele Square, finishing at the Veterans’ Memorial Cemetery.

The following streets will be closed from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.:
• Highland Ave. from Walnut St. to School St.;
• Prescott and Putnam Streets, and Vinal Ave. from Summer St. to Highland Ave.;
• School and Walnut Streets from Medford St. to Highland Ave.;
• College Ave. from Morrison Ave. to Davis Square; and
• North St. from Powder House Blvd. to Broadway.

There will be no parking on the following streets from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday :

• Highland Ave., from Walnut St. to Davis Square;
• Holland St., from Davis Square to Teele Square;
• Broadway, from Holland St. to Route 16.

Please also note:
• There will be no parking on Highland Ave from School Street to Sycamore street beginning at 7am due to morning ceremonies.
• Bicycles locked to sign poles or bike racks along the route must be moved by 9 a.m. Sunday. Any bicycles remaining along the route will be removed and taken to DPW, for public safety reasons.
• MBTA bus routes 88 and 90 will not be in service from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
• As usual for official holidays, there will be no trash pickup or street sweeping on Monday and all trash pickup schedules will be pushed to one day later for the full week. Parking meters will also not be in effect on Monday.

If you have any other questions, please call 311. Thank you.

Comments

[ringrose.livejournal.com]

If they have to cut your lock, the heat may damage the frame.

[ukelele.livejournal.com]

FTFY:

[ukelele.livejournal.com]

(original photo by Tucker on Flickr (http://www.flickr.com/photos/10228267@N06/844099515/) is CC BY-NC-SA, yo. Thanks, Creative Commons!)

[perspicuity.livejournal.com]

has anyone won a lawsuit against the city for this?

incredibly stupid rule.


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[squirrelitude]

Why does it bother you?

[perspicuity.livejournal.com]

that the city can presume to move upon private property and change what otherwise are "the rule" on a whim.

in particular, most of cambervillebostonville is guilty of ex-post-recto marking streets closed, and removal and towing of vehicles.

back in the day, messing with someone's horse was a death sentence. boston city esp takes that rather blithely, towing vehicles with *NO* notice. bothers me a lot. then they fine you, charge you, and make you PAY to get your property back.

yes, it bothers me.

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[thespian.livejournal.com]

they robocalled me about it last Wednesday. that's no notice?

[thespian.livejournal.com]

there is a certain point at which the 'generic you' which is 'someone who lives in a community' is responsible for making an effort to actually know what's going on in the community. The city of Somerville hardly makes this hard to do - 311 is excellently staffed around here, the robocalls are informative and no so frequent that people start ignoring them, the website is pretty well done for a local government site, they post all the robocalls to facebook and links to twitter, and have a fairly good social media presence that results in info being shared (like this!), and there were notices posted along the route on Thursday (though I do not know what condition they were in after the rain, to be sure).

If the local government makes the info available in several ways, and 'generic you' are still ignorant of it (and claiming 'no notice' is interesting, since you posted that several days before the event, and obviously *having* the information) at what point can we determine that 'generic you' just wants to complain about not being told? What's that threshold?

[sparr0.livejournal.com]

Hypothetical me is in Florida, with my bike chained to a public bike rack on Highland, and no way to get back to unchain it before the parade. I was ignorant of this information when I left the bike there. That I know it NOW is immaterial. They can't paint a handicapped spot under a car that's already parked, and they can't make a zone no-bikes when bikes are already there, without plenty of notice, as prescribed by law.

[ron_newman]

My robo-call and e-mail was not until Friday. Shortly after I received them, I made this LJ post. I don't recall seeing "remove bicycles" in earlier publicity about this year's parade.

[thespian.livejournal.com]

my robocall was at 6:33 on Wednesday, according to my phone log, but it doesn't surprise me that things get staggered (and possibly because my street will have no exit for 5 hours today, I got an earlier call? no idea).

[sparr0.livejournal.com]

Redacted. I can't find the law I was looking for.

[ron_newman]

srsly?

[perspicuity.livejournal.com]

yes. seriously.

let me put it this way?

can you justify this?

#

[thetathx1138.livejournal.com]

Sure!

1) You're not supposed to have bikes bolted to many of these features for extended periods of time anyway.

2) It will get in the way of both parade officials and parade-goers.

3) Large groups of people makes for fairly ideal cover for stealing bicycles.

4) It is not some oppressive hardship to take your bike indoors for five hours.

[joelbikesalot.livejournal.com]

1) Bikes will be removed even if they are parked legally. If a bike is locked up illegally it should be removed.

2) Have you been to this parade? Space is not an issue. How many bikes are locked along the parade route any way?

3) I was not aware of this. They are not doing this to prevent bicycle theft.

4) I don't think this is oppressive but it is highly unusual. I think it stems from a bizarre premise that Bicycles are somehow unsightly to look at.

I think the big problem with this is how do you get this info to people who lock there bikes on the parade route?
I would feel slightly better about it (although I would think it a big waste of time and money) if they posted "no bike parking" signs on legal bike parking spots along the route.

[thetathx1138.livejournal.com]

Any crime is easier when nobody is looking at you.

To be totally honest, I suspect this is largely a cover for the city to remove crusty-ass old bikes that have been bolted to street signs for forever. Everywhere I've lived in Somerville there's some bike locked to some sign that just sits there, rusting.

[ron_newman]

There's already a law that allows the city to remove a bike that has been locked in the same place for 15 days or more, or that is obviously derelict and unrideable. I've reported a few such obviously abandoned bikes over the years.

[boblothrope.livejournal.com]

The vast majority of parades in the Boston area and around the country don't have a no-parked-bikes rule. There's really no reason for it.

1) They didn't announce this 15 days ahead, which is how long you can lock your bike in Somerville.
2) Bikes don't get in anyone's way.
3) Even if we assume there's an increased risk of bike theft during a parade (which isn't actually the case -- who would saw through a lock during a parade?), that's no reason for the city to steal *all* the bikes.
4) The issue is not the length of the ban. It would be just as bad if it lasted only five minutes. The issue is the hassle and expense of having your lock cut and bike removed if you didn't hear about this, or are away and can't move your bike in time.

[sparr0.livejournal.com]

I'm waiting to hear about someone losing a thousand dollar frame or an expensive lock (maybe a TiGr) to this.

[chenoameg.livejournal.com]

Anyone know if there's a plan to cancel in case of rain?

[ron_newman]

I don't. That would be a good question for 311. (And if you call and get an answer, please post it here.)

[ceo]

Parade is rain or shine.

[closetalker11.livejournal.com]

I'm marching in the parade. They're going rain or shine, unless the weather becomes "dangerous." Right now, the bulk of the rain should end in the morning, so hopefully we'll be OK :).

[ron_newman]

I'll look for you if you tell us what part of the parade you are marching in.