Cedar Street CLOSED at Community Path intersection, all week, June 15-19

[ron_newman]

this e-mail (and presumably robo-call) went to some people, but not to me. Someone re-sent it to the STEP (pro-Green Line lobby) e-mail list, so I'm posting it here too.

I don't know if pedestrian and bicycle access through and across this area will be maintained during the closure. I've asked some folks, and if I get an answer I'll edit it into this post.

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Hello, this is Jackie Rossetti from the City of Somerville with
important information regarding road closures in your neighborhood.

In order to construct a raised crosswalk on Cedar St. at the
intersection with the newly expanded Community Path, the section of
Cedar St. at the Community Path will be closed to all traffic from
Mon., June 15, through approximately Fri., June 19. Work will be
conducted between the hours of 7 a.m. and 7 p.m.; however, this
section of Cedar St. will remain closed at all times during this time
period to allow the structure to properly set. Please follow posted
detour signs.

The newest section of the Community Path between Cedar St. and Lowell
St. is expected to open in July.

If you have any questions or concerns, please call 311 (617-666-3311).

Comments

[http://users.livejournal.com/_meej_/]

Not defending the installation results, or the shifting - both of which are definitely problems - but those granite "lines" are flush curbing, installed so that there's a rigid edge to hold the line of the pavers in place.

Asphalt is a soft and somewhat fluid material, in hotter weather - without some sort of rigid edge, pressure on the pavers (ie, truck tires) will slowly push the pavers apart from each other and cause all sorts of problems. Curbing, in theory, fills that role pretty well, as it's locked in concrete under the street surface. And in the long term, granite holds up much longer than concrete curb, especially with plowing.

That said, it's gotta be well installed. When there's a lip sticking up by a bit that a plow catches, or improper base material that moves around either with loading or with frost-heaving, or other problems, then the curb starts to be its own problem... But it's still better than a rutted, separating, messy crosswalk of uneven pavers all the way across, for both pedestrians and bikers.

- Your friendly local Landscape Architect and Bike Commuter.