Public Utilities and Public Works Committee - Regular Meeting

Hello, everyone. My name is Naima Saeed. She her pronouns, word five counselor, and your traffic and parking chair. I would like to call to order today at meeting of traffic and parking committee. Today, traffic and parking committee meeting of the city council.

First, they will read the legal notice that allows us to have this meeting on Zoom. Pursuant to chapter two of the act of 2023, this meeting of the city council committee will be conducted via remote participation. We will post an audio video recording, transcript, or other comprehensive record of these proceedings as soon as possible after the meeting on the City Of Samaritu website on local cable access government channels. Clerk, could you please call the roll to establish a quorum?

This is roll call. Consular Wilson? Present. Consular Burnley?

Present.

Consular Syed?

Present.

Madam chair, all members are present. We have a quorum.

And let's begin with approval of the minutes from the previous meeting.

On approval of the minutes, councilor Wilson.

Yes.

Councilor Burnley.

Aye.

Councilor Syed?

Yes.

Madam chair, all members have voted to approve those minutes.

And so we're going to take some items out of order. We will start with item five, then item eight, then item 16, and then we will take item seven, eleven, and 15. I will be reading these items. We'll start with item five on the agenda. 25 dash 0479.

That the chief of police increased traffic enforcement at the intersection of Broadway and Metro Street. We have deputy Alright. We have deputy Donovan to speak to this item.

Good evening, madam madam chair. And through and through the chair, James Donovan on behalf of the Summer Police Department this evening. I I appreciate you taking these items out of order and getting me in and out quick. I'll be forever in your your debt. As far as is Medford in in Broadway, more than happy to increase enforcement there. I spoke to my traffic sergeant on the way out tonight. We both had the one question. I believe the matter was put into discussion by yourself is what were you looking for as as far as enforcement? Is there a certain issue with the enforcement there? I go through there every morning, and it's usually pretty pretty well run.

Was there certain a certain speeding? Was it lack of adherence to the stop signs? Was it was it the left hand turns? What what what was it in particular if there was anything?

Yes. Thank you for the question. So I met with the small businesses there recently, and what brought to my attention is that the speed, that's always been an issue. But the other thing is running red lights, turning left. I think there's just, like, a lot going on in that intersection, that this is the behavior that they have noticed. So these are some of the things to look for.

Okay, ma'am, madam, chair. No problem. I just wanted to clarify this thing in particular. We'll have someone to go up there. And as always, I believe our methodology is we go up there with the traps unit. They monitor it for a few days, see what the problems are, confirm the problems. Sometimes the problems, you know, exist on a small level when only one constituent is finding it to be a a big thing. So we'll up there. We'll do our our our monitoring, and we'll do some enforcement. Absolutely.

Yep. And, again, there's, like, the there's a really long red light there. There is the CVS parking lot. It's municipal parking lot. So I think it's all these things together, that are creating this situation right now on, especially the running, red lights. Councilor Wilson.

Yeah. Thanks, chair. Through you to deputy Diamond, I I I wanna add another thing to that list. I'm I'm noticing cars parked. So it's where Dexter comes in.

It's at Dexter and Broadway in front of the sign the sign place there. There's a it's the same car that's been parking in the intersection there, pretty consistently. I know it's a if it's a parking thing, it might be one for director, given that it's in an intersection, I just wanna name that as as an issue. And then I guess the other thing I'm seeing is is confusion, for the vehicles exiting the CVS parking lot, and and trying to make a left or, I guess, it should be a left onto Medford Street. They they seem to be confused and think that they're going straight out of there and that they have the right of way over vehicles turning right out of Dexter, and it seems like I every time I go through there, I see some confusion over that.

So just naming that as as another thing that could use some enforcement.

Yeah. Yeah. Through through the chief council, Wilson. I I I agree. There's a lot going on it, and I think there's a lot construction there right now that there's they're doing the there's a big water service being done in a Trump field all the way up up the hill Broadway. So that's that further complicates it and and test fuels patients as well. There's also the matter of when you're coming out of the parking lot. If the vehicle doesn't pull far enough up to set off the light because they're there's a the the idea I feel it's a magnetic or, you know, directive also, we may be able to explain it better than I do. Well, Brad could explain it better than I do, but there is a there's a there's a method there's a mechanism there that sets the light off. If you don't pull further, far enough up in front of the CVS, you could sit there for a while to get frustrated.

I think they run the red light sometimes. I've learned from my experience. So we'll definitely put some effort into into the enforcement there. And before we stick traffic and parking, we want to do the section. I'll have my guys look at it first.

Thank you, deputy Donovan. Any other questions regarding this item?

I have my hand raised here.

Yes. Yes. Conservatory only.

Thank you. Through you, I'm glad chief deputy chief Donovan mentioned that particular issue because, as you know, that also came up during this that business meeting, the issue of the signaling when you come out of the CBS parking lot in particular, which that has caused some consternation amongst the local businesses. But as long as we're have putting out our litany list of enforcement issues in this general area, I'll also note that we come down Broadway on the other side of Magoon Square. There's often a lot of bike trap the bike lane is often blocked by vehicles that are stopping there for, you know, some amount of minutes to do. Who knows what?

I don't know. On the other side of Magoon Square, as director Renfred knows, the safety stakes have been implemented near the CBS, so that's not nearly as much of an issue there anymore. But and there's no bike lane there yet. But on the other side, we can certainly use some more enforcement of that because as someone who goes to that intersection all the time, that's a Lagoon Square resident. I'm often seeing people have to move around vehicles in a pretty active traffic pattern. Just wanted to name that as well.

Would share counsel Burling. We we I'll add that to my list.

K. I see no further questions from the committee, we can mark this item as complete. Item eight on the agenda 25 dash zero four seven one sent for discussion by councilor McLaughlin and councilor Wilson that the chief of police prioritize Autist Street for traffic enforcement during school drop off and pickup times. Through the chair. Donovan. Mhmm.

Yes. Through the chair. I I I spoke again, spoke with sergeant McCary before leaving the office today, and we have we did enforcement back at the beginning of school year because there was a lot of traffic down the road associated drop off and pick up time on Otis Street. One of the problems we identified was that the parents weren't pulling over or was spending too much time in the parking lane there causing some traffic issues, and that's that's we worked with the school department. I know the school department had some of their staff out there encouraging parents that be a little quicker on the drop off, pull over, and not just pull over the middle of the street and do it. But just, you know, through the chair of council Wilson, was there anything in particular, again, you know, just like McGrath Method Street, Broadway that you noted that you'd like us to address?

Yeah. Through the chair to to deputy Diamond. I know that the parking in front of driveways was mentioned as a particular issue there. That was the time when people were pulling out of their driveways, and I think it's led to some confrontations. And and definitely, that's what put this on councilor McLaughlin's radar initially, I believe.

Through the chair, to council Wilson, I'll make a point to reach out to the school department and see if they can't put out a notification to the parents as well. But, again, we live in congested city in Summerville, and that school is is overwhelmed. So, you know, I think there's a little patience on everyone's side to get through the day. But we can do some encouragement down there. Absolutely.

Alright. Any further questions from the committee? K. I see none. We can mark item eight as complete, and we'll move to item 16.

The last item on the agenda, twenty five dash zero zero three eight. Just gonna have it on my screen. Sent for discussion by councilor Strezzo, the the chief of police. I would just say that the director, of parking and director of mobility have already shared their, unanswered questions from the committee, on this item. So we kept it in committee so that we can hear from the police.

I'm gonna read it again that the chief of police, the director of parking, and director of mobility discussed the previous and ongoing strategy for implement implementation on public education of drivers violating the no left turn sign here at the Summerville High School exit on Highland Ave and Vinyl Ave.

Yeah. Madam chair, I went by there on the way home today just to verify that there was a sign there. I I'm not on the street very often anymore, and they're they're they're left no left turn sign is there. We will have officers up there doing some peer periodic enforcement education. I may have to lean on my my my compatriots, both mobility and traffic and parking. The sign placement, when I was up there, it seemed a little difficult when you pull out of the driveway. It's blocked by a sign a little bit, and the sign's kinda beat up. So we will do some enforcement education, but we may have to we may have to discuss it. My my I said my compatriot's we we should maybe maybe place a sign maybe somewhere else. We'll get a new some some new signage because there could be some visibility issues at that time as well. But that's something we can take up outside of the committee.

Thank you. Deputy Donovan, any questions from the committee on this item? I'm just trying to I think I'm misremembering this, but is there a cross guard now there in that intersection?

There no. I'm sure there is a crossing guard there. We just we just we just added a new crossing guard. It's my knowledge that person has been placed there. So I maybe even last week or two, that person is now there. So that may assist us with the the traffic issue there as well, which I think will will be a huge help. But a little education goes a long way as well.

Yeah. We definitely need all these. Yeah. Like, education. I think last time we discussed partnering with this just reminding the school staff to send reminders to parents. I know they do that at the beginning of the school year, but do that throughout the school year. Yeah. But great. That is a second crossing guard there. Okay.

So I guess that's the new information there. We'll mark item 16 as complete, and then we'll move thank you, deputy Donovan, for being here tonight with us. I think that was your last item. We'll move to item seven on the agenda sent for twenty five dash zero four seven two Sent for discussion by councilor McLaughlin, the the director of parking update the Ward 1 City councilor on the recently installed signs prohibiting parking during snow emergencies on Autist Street.

Good evening, counselor. Thank you. My name is Suzanne from the parking department. So those signs have been there in place for two years now since the became, a school again. All schools in the drop off and pickup areas do have no parking during snow emergency signage, and that's throughout the whole school district. So we haven't installed any new signs there for snow emergency. We did install a new sign not to block a driveway because there was a driveway there is a driveway down there that was frequently being blocked. And we felt like we were giving a lot of tickets for that, so we added signage just to make it more clear for folks so that they would not get a ticket. So that should be all set.

Okay. Great. Thank you, director. Do you have any questions on this item, councilor Buroni?

Thank you. Do the chair. I think if I'm remembering correctly, when this item came up, there was a bit of confusion from the councilor from Ward 1 around, I guess, why we have no, you know, no dropout, no parking during snow emergencies in these school areas. And I do remember there were a few counselors, counselor Davis being one, maybe counselor Lincoln as well, who who spoke up on the history there and the the difficulties that if you allow snare parking during snow emergencies and then the the vehicles get trapped in there, it becomes much more difficult for the schools to actually open up moving forward. So it's a good opportunity for some of that institutional history to be relayed again, but just wanted to get the kind of background for why why I remember this item coming up.

Thank you, councilor Bradley. Any other comments, questions from the committee? Alright. We'll mark item seven as complete. We'll move to item 11 on the agenda. 25 dash zero three six two, central discussion. Oh, okay. So this item is officers communication. Yes. Directive parking responding to item 25Dash0084 regarding the citywide parking and curb use study.

We had a great presentation from director and director during our meeting. Are there any questions from the committee? City councilor Wilson. Sandra, is that?

Yeah. Thanks, chair. Three to director Renfred. Really appreciate that presentation, before the full council. As I recall that night, you mentioned that, one of the recommendations from the the consultants who did that, report around, revising the, parking permit fee structure seem to be off the table for now.

I have a lot of constituents who come to me and say, we should be charging more for parking, and I have constituents who say, you're not gonna charge more for parking, are you? Could you talk a little, just about the decision making, and the the thinking behind not pursuing that particular recommendation, from the from the consultants or director Hawson, through the chair, whoever whoever wants to answer that one. I didn't mean to just pigeonhole a direct her in for it with that one.

No. That's fine. Through the chair. So what we're really doing, counselor, is we're really trying to change people's behavior rather than just throwing more money, more cost to people. We've increased a lot of bike lanes. We've increased a lot of clear corners, and all of that, of course, eliminates more parking. Right? So the more parking we eliminate, it just seems counterproductive to add another fee to our constituents that have getting less. I think it would just anger people rather than trying to hit people in their pocket. Let's see if we can change behavior by, you know, making it a little bit more difficult to park.

Yes. But people, I think, are learning too that, do I really need that vehicle? If I'm gonna let it sit there all week, do do we really need two cars in this house? Should we just use our driveway and tandem park? Maybe it'll be easier.

We'll get a closer space. So that's what we're seeing now is that, we're getting a lot more illegal parking complaints, especially for over forty eight hours, and we are actively pursuing those when we get those complaints. We go out and we virtually chalk a vehicle, and then we will ticket the vehicle after forty eight hours if it hasn't moved. Especially during construction season, which is now upon us once again, that's a very dangerous habit to be in of leaving a vehicle for over forty eight hours because that street could be posted for construction. We also are going we're starting up street cleaning again April 1.

So all of that plays into it. There's just a lot more demand on parking. And to increase the fee, I think that as personally, I mean, I'm I wouldn't feel good about that. You know, you're you're gonna charge more for less. But, again, that fee increase would not depend on the parking department. That would be a fee that would be increased at the administrative level. It wouldn't be a decision made by parking department.

It's through the sorry. Before I ask a follow-up, I'll hold off in case director Rawson wants to

Director Rawson?

Sure. The, idea I wanted to add can probably hold, maybe I can, actually ask the counselor to do his follow-up. But there's another important thing I just wanna identify from our study work, our task force work as well when you're ready.

Alright. Sure. Then I I did have a follow-up if if that's okay.

Yeah.

I guess, you know, through you to either director Ross or director Infrid. That that answer is you know, it sheds some light on. I understand that we're looking at this as the, the supply has shrunk on the you know, if we're talking supply demand, as we look at this as sort of behavioral economics. So if we shrunk supply, we're anticipating that then leading to some behavioral changes in terms of people being less likely to park it, you know, for convenience on the street. You know, the the idea of the revisiting the the resident permit parking fee came from, you know, on the behavior economic side, looking to reduce the demand, right, by by charging more.

The the idea that, you know, $40 a year, cup of coffee a month. A lot of folks feel that, that that parking is is underpriced in the city given, you know, given what you're getting for that, the ability to put your your store your private property anywhere in the city, you know, for up to forty eight hours as as we always point out. So I guess it it's, it's interesting to hear that we're seeing some reduced, I I guess we'll say behavioral changes from a reduction in supply here. And I guess it's I'll say it's it's worth following that. So, yeah, thanks. I I appreciate that. Good discussion here.

Sure. I just have a a quick question about that. When was the last time we increased the fee? So currently, it's $40. I'm just curious.

To the chair, I would have to check that. It's been several years. I don't know the exact date on that.

Okay. Director Rawson.

Chair, thanks very much. One important thing I'd just like to add to director Riffert's summary is that our curb use study and plan and all of the community process and all of the steering committee or focus group kind of work that went into it identified that the recommendations could be phased across different time scales of implementation ranging from one year to five years or beyond. And one of the important inputs to that phasing discussion was directly related to the very first recommendation of the study, which was capacity building in the parking department and in many other city agencies. I think it's really important for counselors, constituents, department heads, advocates to remember that it's not just the parking department. It is our IT department.

It's our city clerk's office, our treasury department. There are so many parts of this complex organization, that would be involved in making administrative changes like that. So that's one piece of the puzzle, Chair. The other thing I just wanted to call attention to coming from that discussion was the real and important discussion about equity and pricing. There were specific recommendations that talked about larger vehicles that perhaps take up more curb space or perhaps, run less efficiently, or perhaps produce more wear and tear on our roads.

And yet, what are the administrative procedures to understand? Does somebody drive a big heavy truck for legitimate work purposes versus convenience purposes, making sure that we are planning effectively and clearly if prices were ever to change, plenty of people in this community would have really important and legitimate needs for, reduced pricing. Do we have the administrative and IT side of the house lined up to evaluate that? Suzanne's department does not have the ability to do income certifications right now. So I I just think it's really important for counselors, for constituents to really think about all of that footwork as we imagine any policy changes of the ones that you're asking about this evening. Thank you.

Chair, can I ask can I make one final point in response to to is it okay? Yeah. Three to direct resident. Thank you for for bringing up the income verification. That was a really important component of any changes to the resident parking fee structure. So that that's a really good, explanation for why we're not looking at that right now. Thanks.

Councilor Burnley.

Thank you to the chair. Personally, I'll say I heard many reasons. I don't wanna just peg the lack of changes to that one reason, of course. Not that I pegged anything to anything. But I, you know, I was actually I had this question and wasn't gonna bring it up until director Austin spoke, and now I feel like the can is open.

As was mentioned on one of the slides, slide five, you know, some of these strategies are dependent on investments on staffing and technology. And we just heard about the staffing a lot of the staffing side of that, I feel like. But I'm curious from the perspective of director Rawson and Renfred, what what additional technological investments the city should be making on the back end in order to have the capacity or the capability, actually, to to implement some of these things.

Yeah.

Through the chair. So that would depend on the ticket and permit processing company that we have. It would require that we change the fee structure in our system and also be able to verify income if we were to do it based on in you know, if we were to raise the price of the parking permit and reduce it for some and raise it for others, then we would have to be able to verify that income and somehow quantify it in the system. So we have online permits. We have in person permits. So all of that would have to go into the system. Now, the system does not have the capacity to do that.

Yeah. Follow-up through the chair. Do we have any sense of, you know, the cost of an overhaul like that might look like or if we'd have to switch vendors?

Through the chair. I do not know exactly. I that I could not answer that question, but we are always looking for new technology, and that's something that we could put in an RFP. I don't know what the cost would be to do something like that or or exactly how it would even be done, to be honest with you. How we would verify the income? We'd have to sit down and strategize that. What will be the what will be the verification for that? It also could permit processing time. Yes.

Oh, thank you. But, I mean, more broadly than just the income verification element as well. I mean, for example, with the online passes, I've heard from residents, how come if I get my parking pass this time of year if, you know, there's only so much time left before they turn over, why can't I just get it, like, for a straight a full calendar year or for a, like, a a full year in total? And I if I remember correctly, part of that reason is, you know, what what it would take from the city to actually track all those different passes on a technological basis. Like, if someone were to move out, for example, it's the city doesn't always know when who has the passes if they're still here or not, for example.

Through the chair. That's correct. When people move out, we don't know that they no longer live here. As far as when the pass is renewed, we have eight zones in the city, and it's set up that way for renewal purposes. We do begin renewals to, three months prior to the renewal. So if your pass, for instance, your passes in Area A at January, those go on sale November 1. So there is actually three they can get them up to fifteen months in advance. But we do have there's different renewal areas. If somebody was to move from Area A to area or from Area G to Area A or vice versa, we would give them a bridge pass. So if if one of the pass expired, we'll give them a pass for that same year.

If they moved in if they lived in Area A, moved to Area G, for instance, and Area G was not ready for renewal, but their pass is now expired in Area A, We would give them a bridge pass that would allow we'd give them a pass for G that would end hypothetically in 2025. And so then in in July, they would have to renew their permit going forward for that address. So we do work with individuals all the time to try to make it as easy as possible, especially when folks move from one section of the city to the other section of the city. But as far as when people move out, counselor, we have no idea when somebody moves.

Certainly. And through the chair, I I guess that was just kind of my point. And, like, there I can imagine a system in which we through online means, we have a better an easier way of tracking that, but I'm not sure that we have that technology in place or, frankly, if it exists yet. But just wanna note that as a potential technological investment down the road.

Thank you, councilor Brumley. Councilor Wilson.

Yeah. Thanks, Cher. Yeah. I wanna thank councilor Brumley for bringing up one of the questions we see most posted on the, r Somerville Reddit about, someone who's just moved in wanting to know why do I have to pay for, you know, full year parking pass for two months? Why do we have to renew it?

So we should just record this and and figure out how some bot can just, you know, link to that that clip of the recording for those folks. Question, every time we talk about the you know, anything means tested, anything anything involving income verification, I just can't help but wonder, you know, with all the different departments out there that are doing some sort of sliding scale fee or or income verification, how helpful it would be to have that done, you know, centrally within the city where you each department's not responsible for doing that themselves. You know, it it I just off the top of my head, you know, traffic and parking does that. You know, the veteran services, housing, you know, we do all these different, different services where we we ask people to verify their income. And, you know, I've heard from residents, like, why do I have to do it over and over and over again?

I guess, through the chair of director, you talk about what that might obviously, there are things you have to solve for with that, you know, with your system, but what am I mean having income verification done centrally in one's you know, sort of one stop shopping, in the city for across departments?

Thank you for the question, mister chair. So we do not do income verification right now, council Wilson. So I don't know what that would look like. I don't know how that information would be shared. I mean, that would be a discussion that we could have into departmentally, but I I could not answer that question at this point.

Alright. Thanks, chair.

Yeah. Thank you, director. Any other questions regarding the study, the presentation before placing you on file?

Actually, sorry. Can I I I gotta follow-up on this? So, you know, the director did say that there's no income verification. How does the process through you to the director, how does the process work then with folks in accessible units, looking for, say, the a waiver, you know, in a in a unit that is marked, you know, as we've heard, you know, doesn't exist in the computers, you know, is not able to to get just a standard resident parking permit that needs a waiver for a hardship. How does that process work then, for someone in in one of those affordable units?

Through the chair. So, counselor, they pay for the permit just like everyone else does. The waiver is signed off by the different departments, whether it be the ADA or the housing department, and that waiver is completed and brought to our department. And then we give them the permit, and we we save that waiver in our system.

Through the chair. Alright. I appreciate that. Thanks. Thanks for humoring all these questions here about, small small, details within the department and how y'all are handling that. Appreciate it.

K. Thank you, counselors, for all these questions. There are no further questions regarding the study. We'll play we'll place this item on file, And we'll move to item number 15. 25Dash0139 sent for discussion by councilor McLaughlin that the director of parking place no idling signs on Washington Street behind the Copper Hill Complex to discourage a large trucks idling by the senior homes.

Through the chair, those signs have been placed. Those are in place now.

Oh, great, Laila. I love when we just get things done. Awesome. Thank you, director. Okay. We'll mark item 15 as complete. And I believe this is director. It's last item on the agenda for tonight. Thank you for answering our questions. And, again, thank you, director director Rossen, for doing the presentation to the full council.

That was extremely helpful, and I received many emails from constituents. Also, you know, just appreciating the transparency and that you shared that with them. Alright. We will follow now the order of the agenda. So moving to item number two, twenty five dash zero five eleven, central discussion by councilor that the director of mobility install speed humps on Elmwood Street. Director Rossen.

Chair, thanks for the order. This is gonna be a common answer on several of the agenda items tonight, so do please forgive me twenty minutes from now. It feels a little repetitive. Mobility will add Elmwood to our evaluation list for traffic calming. We welcome this type of feedback through council orders, through 311, through emails and transportation at Summerville MA dot gov, through our street outreach, our community meetings, our open houses like the one we had a week or two ago at the Kennedy School.

But we do think it's important to set folks' expectations that the next step for any of those intake points is for to, staff to collect data on speeds and volumes. As the committee knows, we have a long list of streets that are being evaluated. We have more demand than resources in terms of deploying traffic calming treatments. So we're very happy to add Elmwood. We typically plan six to twelve months out for our speed and volume data collection.

I think it is reasonable, and I'm happy to update the ward councilor that 2025 data collection is probably feasible. And then Elmwood will be evaluated against many peer streets all over Somerville. So I'll try to make the next time I give a version of that answer a little shorter. Just just wanted to paint that broader picture. So, again, thanks for the order. Happy to add this to our working list.

Thank you, director, councilor Wilson.

Yeah. Thanks, chair. As as, councilor mentioned when she introduced this order at the at the regular meeting, It it come up from basically, people are very good when when traffic calming goes on one street. They're very resourceful about finding an alternative route. And three, to the director, I'm curious what kind of proactive reevaluation of of traffic flows happens after traffic calming goes in on one street to see what effect that's having on the surrounding streets.

You know, kinda like water. Right? It's gonna find a way. And I I'm just curious, you know, just from a a policy standpoint, what you all do, you know, on the heels of, you know, these everyone gets very excited when traffic calming goes in, and I'm curious what the follow-up looks like on that.

Chair, for you, thanks for the question, counselor. And and all three of you have been through enough years of our planning, design, implementation, and evaluation to know that we really work hard to try to measure the positive or negative impacts of our street design changes. That does not mean we achieve a 100% post project evaluation. I wanna be clear about that. However, every year, mobility, engineering, parking, and other departments do go out and collect data, And that that use case that you're describing, counselor, is a common one.

Long ago, when we started this journey, to traffic calming and to to really treating things on the main line of dangerous streets like Broadway and Winter Hill, like Holland Street and Ward 6 And 7. One of the things that we heard from constituents is we would like the city to do a better job of anticipating those exact spillover effects. So can we collect baseline data ahead of time? And then can we devise traffic calming treatments on streets that are likely to absorb extra cut through traffic as a result? We've gotten better over time, counselor, and yet there's always more to be done.

So several streets around Holland were evaluated. Elmwood was not among them. We have not been able to achieve a universal side streets data collection before or after projects, but, clearly, that's the best case that we would aspire to. I will note that any dollar we spend on traffic data collection is a dollar that we could be spending on design development. So, again, resources are finite.

Staff time is finite. We do try to strike a good balance here and continuing to articulate and publish our standards is one thing that I think we can commit ourselves to doing. So I appreciate the spirit of the question. And as you all know, standard operating procedures for mobility, engineering, and parking are on the web these days in a way that they were not five or six years ago, and we're really proud of that. So I'm happy to capture this use case and and add this to the list of public education materials so folks can understand how we are doing our due diligence. I hope that's a hand helpful answer, Chair.

Thank you, director. We'll mark this item as complete. We'll move to item three on the agenda, 25 dash zero four nine, zero four nine zero. Sent for discussion by councilor Syed that the director of engineering provide an update on the construction of the Lowell Street crosswalk by facing the Magoon Square Green Line, station. Director director?

Thank you. Yes. This is Mhmm. Thank you, chair. This is director, director of the engineering division.

We have, just this past month, been able to engage in a consultant to work on both the Lowell Street crossing and the School Street crossing. These are I actually, I see School Street's not on your list, but it's, we have a common consultant working on both of those two locations, both Lowell Street right at the Magoon Square Station and School Street, right across from the Gilman Square Station. The reason why we've coupled those together is because both crossings have a real key complete streets component to it. A lot of pedestrians, cyclists crossing at those locations. But also critical and distinct for these two locations is that they're both at and arguably, both are on MassDOT bridges.

And so anything that we do at these locations require coordination with the state to make sure that they're being designed and executed correctly. So we have, hired a consultant specifically because they have both in house complete streets pedestrian oriented design practice and also a bridge design practice so that both of those two halves of their company can work together and and be thinking of the whole piece. And right now, we are just in the data collection standpoint. We've been able to, procure all of the design drawings from the two bridges, and they are working working on data collection for traffic monitoring and and also at those two locations. And we're looking forward to sometime later this spring, early summer to be looking at potential design options.

Once we go through that process, we will look to see which ones we feel are most likely to be acceptable to Masstad and have some meetings with them in hopes to narrow down a final solution.

Thank you. Thank you, director. I'm realizing that this is a very it's it's a very exciting update, but we're not there yet. Saying this this because since the beginning of my term, as you know, we have been working I've been reaching out about this and trying to get a sense of when we will be when we start the work on this. But thank you for explaining that it is a lot more complicated because these are mass DOT, areas, and there's a lot of, coordination that needs to happen before finalizing a design.

But I I do think that my constituents will be happy just to know that, you know, we the work is getting started on this. Councilor Burnley, I see your hands up.

Yes, chair. Through you. I was initially gonna ask about what the the timeline looks like here for deliverables, but I'm glad that the director front loaded that because, you know, obviously, we wanna know when we can expect answers. And I'll just note about the the particular complications on Lowell Street. It's a it's a street I'm on often because it is the closest t stop to me.

I I remember walking with the director literally years ago and him saying, hey. You cross the street. How do you cross the street? Because it is a complicated answer both for the pedestrians and the the vehicles that have to with going down a Vernon, essentially, almost come to a full stop just in order to make that turn safely, particularly if there's any any type of person bicycle or vehicle on the other side. So I just I just wanna know I think, frankly, the Lowell Street is far more complicated to deal with than the the School Street.

But I will also say that on School Street, if we can get a consultant and mascot to just tell us it's okay to to move that that entrance to that part of the extended community path. If we can get that as as a straightaway and somehow, that I think that that will ultimately prevent plenty many injuries in the long term. So I look forward to getting the advice that we all know we should have.

Thank you, counselor Burnley. I think we have heard, from many constituents about just the urgency of, doing something about, yeah, the crosswalk on School Street. I guess my question, to a director possibly is, are these two projects on the same timeline? Or if the school's design gets approved, can it move forward? Or are they

Chair, we're we are working through both of them on the same timeline. They are not linked in any other way than it's the same consultant working on both. And I say it that way because if at any point, one project has the ability to move forward and the other doesn't, we're not going to stop both of them. They neither of them depend on the other to be executed.

Okay. Great. And you've mentioned the early spring, but then there'll be designs that you can share with MassDOT. And in the scenario where a design gets chosen, it's great. What happens after that just so our constituents, have a sense of how long this will take?

Sure. So I would if everything were to be absolutely perfect and there's no issues anywhere along the way. So this is like like rose colored scenario. If we get over the summer and we have a a a conceptual design that Masstad says, absolutely do it, first meeting, out the door, shaking hands, theoretically, we could get that into the f y twenty six contract and be potentially constructing it '26. The likelihood of that happening, I put it less than 10%.

The more likely scenario is that somewhere along the way, there is there is a reviewer or regulator at MasDOT that doesn't particularly like the design or is worried about a component of it, and there has to be a handful of back and forth just to put a little bit of we've tried this before with the school street crossing, and it took us about three months of going back and forth, and we still never came to a solution. So I find it highly unlikely that that's that that we'll have a quick outcome, in which case, 2027 is probably the most realistic outcome for construction.

Yeah. Thank you for that explanation, director. And please also let us know at what point we should include we should involve our state delegation if things are just taking longer and longer because both these crosswalk on these streets are, I think, urgent. We all know that. So, yeah, please keep us posted. I think it's gonna take all of us to move this forward.

We will keep you updated through the process.

Thank you, director. Any further questions from colleagues? Right. I see no hand raised. We will mark this item as complete.

We'll move to the next item on the agenda. Item number 425Dash0480 about sent for discussion by councilor Syed that the director of engineering, the director of mobility shortened the cycle time of the traffic light at the intersection of Metro Street and Lowell Street. So back to this location, the Magoon Square location. There's a few items tonight all related to the location. As I said, I met with the small businesses, and actually, councilor Burnley was there as well.

So, yeah, I am sure you're aware of this, Director Bossoway?

So thank you, chair. This has been another set of intersections that our senior traffic engineer, Jessica Bello, has been working on pretty diligently in collaboration with the mobility division to, to simplify and improve the signaling at this location. I think what is critical to understand is that the Lowell Medford Intersection interacts very closely to the Medford Broadway Intersection. And having those two signalized intersections coordinated well is essential for good traffic flow in that area. And and that's and when I say traffic flow, I mean, sure, for motorists, but also for cyclists and pedestrians, when we have strained motor vehicle traffic and backups, that does negatively impact pedestrian behavior.

So earlier this actually, earlier last year, we were able to, reconstruct the signal box, not and just swap out controllers so that we could interconnect those two signals together so that they were coordinated and traffic could flow more freely through them. What that requires is that the cycle length, the time from green to green on the same direction, is the same for both. And so and so the Broadway at Medford, because it's more complicated intersection, needs a full a hundred and twenty seconds or two minutes cycle. And so to coordinate them, the Lowell Medford intersection must also be a one hundred and twenty second or two minute cycle length. So if if Medford and Lowell was all by its lonesome, yes, we could reduce the cycle length effectively and improve improve the turnover for pedestrians and for motorists, but that would negatively impact the coordination and thus would create more backup and and friction at that intersection.

So from a from an overall perspective, it is best to have them coordinated and matched to the same time link.

Okay. I had no idea about all this coordination. But my question there is where would the backup be?

Because So

from the, you know, the light at the intersection of Medford and Broadway to that light, the intersection of Medford and Lowell, that's usually where the backup is. So if they're not coordinated, what's the scenario?

So if they are not coordinated, the typical result is that you would get backups going back Medford and back Lowell Street. But you also get more gridlock potential right at the intersection because things don't clear. You send you end up sending more vehicles through, and it backs up the signal. So so on one hand, you could get more backups there, but the real challenge is that when you shorten those the cycle length to not be in sync with the with the Broadway intersection, you will end up putting more vehicles in between Broadway and Lowell Street on a on a particular cycle. And thus, potentially actually, often, because I witnessed this, you would get a point where you would have a green light for an extended period of time with LOL, and it would go red before there was enough room for them to exit.

And so having the signals coordinated minimizes that situation. Because I don't know if anybody remembers, we would have people running the low red light because just as they got a red light, the queue was opening up, and that would happen signal after signal. And so we would get a number of motorists run that light because they weren't otherwise getting out.

Okay. I see. Do we have other intersections like this coordination of lights in other places? Like, is this place just, like, challenging because of the the length? Or

Yeah. So there are a handful of other intersections like this. It's it's most places where you have two signalized intersections within three or four hundred feet of each other. And so this is one of those locations. I'm

just trying

to think of another one. Davis Square isn't so much like that. Sometimes we so we've have some coordination going on in Union Square for that reason. The the intersection at in Wilson Square, sometimes like that. There's a handful around them. Honestly, I don't have them memorized offhand. I'm kind of going off the cuff here.

Yeah. I think the takeaway is just this is not uncommon. Yeah.

This is Yeah.

Thank you. Thank you, director director Austin.

Sure. Thanks. And as always, I appreciate this discussion. It's very helpful for us to answer your questions and then to take back, you know, some of the things that we take for granted as subject matter experts so that we can continue to improve our communication to constituents. And I think, counselors have seen that mobility and engineering have really been working to create new, like, user friendly diagrams that really explain signal timing and phasing, and it's better than it's ever been.

Our Elm Beacon Connector project featured this type of communication technique very strongly in recent months. You can find all that online. And one of the takeaways for me is thinking about scaling that communication tool up. But I just wanted to add one piece of the puzzle at Magoon, on this order chair. The cycle lengths are determined by the longest pedestrian crosswalk.

We typically use a calculation speed of approximately three feet per second, which assumes an able-bodied adult, but not necessarily like a sprinter, right, an average person walking. And we all know Broadway in Magoon Square. It's exceptionally wide. The pedestrian has to cross approximately 80 or 90 feet of asphalt to get from one side of the street to the other. So you start doing the math, and you realize that that's, like, a forty second allocation of time on that signal cycle to get pedestrians safely across that big intersection of Broadway.

So then if you're still gonna handle all other approaches with different amounts of time, you can very quickly see how you get to a two minute cycle length at a big messy intersection like that, and you can see the domino effect of a smaller intersection like Medford and Lowell. And so, Chair, the point that I'm leading to is that in order for us to have short cycle lengths, which are typically more efficient and safe and dignified for pedestrians as well as for motor vehicle operators, for bus riders, we need narrow streets. We need short crosswalks, and it's part of the reason that this city has been working for many, many years to eliminate surplus lanes. They're not safe. Right?

Two lane approaches and, clearances for Broadway At Lagoon create safety issues because people are crossing more than one lane of traffic, but it also expands the signal timing length. So, again, these are complex puzzles, and I just think it's all it's important for folks to understand, that there are many hidden reasons why they can get frustrated as a pedestrian, as a bike rider, as a bus rider, as a driver, trying to get through a big signal like Lagoon, and it's part of the reason that we're very, very focused on lane reductions wherever possible.

Thank you, director. Thank you for this explanation. I think just being able to share this I know this is a long discussion that we're having, but what I'm going to do is actually share this with constituents and with the small businesses because just like myself, you know, they don't realize all these different layers, and I really appreciate that you're taking the time to explain that and that you're working on addressing these issues. We know there's, like, a whole plan for that area in the next five years. So, eventually, yeah, we will get to we will get to this.

But the it sounds like right now, it's the safest way of crossing. And, yeah, because there's the coordination, there's not much we can do. Okay. Are there any questions from the my colleague? I see I don't see any hand raised.

We'll mark this item as complete, and we'll move to actually, it's already seven, if my colleagues don't mind, we'll take item nine since so director can speak to that, and then we will go back to the order of the agenda. Item nine on the agenda, order 25 dash zero four six one, sent for discussion by councilor Bartlett, the director of engineering and the director of mobility, install a traffic signal light at the end of Woods Ave and a White Brook Parkway. Director, also wait.

Yeah. Thank you, chair. I I think the big overarching answer here, and it's the big overarching answer here is that this is not a city street, and the city doesn't have jurisdiction over Ill Wife Brooke Parkway and which is a DCR managed street. That is and I and I know and director Rawson can probably fill us in on a little bit, but I know there has been discussions over the years about different solutions that can be provided to L. White Brook Parkway.

This is not an uncommon question. In fact, I think this has come up as an order once or twice in the past five to ten, maybe even longer. But the the the real issue here is that the city doesn't have the jurisdiction to do anything, and this is something that needs to be taken directly to the state, DCR, and potentially to the delegation. The you know, as far as a technical perspective, technically, it's doable, but it I we've looked at it over the years. We don't see any red flags that scream out it would be impossible or willfully unwise to do that at this location or some comparable location nearby.

But for the state to pull together the resources to do that, I think I think that that is more challenging.

Thank you, director.

Yeah. Director Chair, I may just add one more piece in case constituents are tuning into this and feeling frustration, please know that we feel it as well. Several of our staff, including me, live in this neighborhood and experience these crossings. My kid swims at the pool. I play soccer at the stadium. I I I live this pain too. We are really empathetic. We are working with our state agency partners to try to get them to prioritize safety up and down Route 16 Corridor. And the good news, Chair, is that we've had great success in part because of the council's advocacy, in part because of our state delegation, and in part because of our grassroots organizers and abutters. So we're moving the needle.

We're doing more than most communities are able to do in partnership with the DCR, and credit to them for giving us a chance to do things like we have done at the Powderhouse Boulevard Intersection, where we have invested our own money in design work, community engagement work, and construction work to fundamentally improve safety and access at that location. Our next priority that we are working on, in part using funding secured by senator Jaylen and representative Barber is focused on the Broadway signalized intersection. So that work is proceeding as we speak. We are not in an active workflow on the Woods Avenue location. We have found that, you know, securing funding through earmarks and other grants tends to be an important first step.

So, again, we're in constant communication with state delegation, and we do anticipate working together on this particular location because, like our residents, we see people hopping the the timber rails. We see kiddos leaving the stadium and going to the convenience store. We know that this is a high stress location. So I just wanted to provide that greater context that that from the city standpoint, we are not simply washing our hands and saying this is a state agency problem. Instead, we are rolling up our sleeves, bringing resources and ideas to the table across the two miles of DCR jurisdiction in Summerville. So more to follow even if that's not an immediately satisfying answers to folks who are living this on Woods, on Gordon, on Fairfax, etcetera.

Thank you. Thank you, director. Thank you, director. It sounds like you're have been working on this. It's just a lot more complicated.

Are there any questions regarding this item from colleagues? If your market is complete. Okay. Asking questions, we'll mark this item as complete. And we yeah. I think, director, is your last item there. Thank you for joining us tonight. And we will now go back to the order of the agenda. We'll take item number seven, I believe. Yes. Because we're done with five. Where is it? Number six. Yeah. Actually, that would be number 6.

We'll take number either number 625-0478. Sent for discussion by councilor Saita, the commissioner of public works, install two safety bollards on the sidewalk at the intersection of Metro Street and Broadway. So this is another order regarding location. Director Rauson, could you speak to this item? I know it's it says DPW commissioner. But

Yeah. Chair, thank you for this order. I appreciate your advocacy on many Magoon Square items today. I'm glad that it seems like Brian has not signed off quite yet. So bollards are a design treatment that gets handled in a few different ways.

Occasionally, our in house DPW teams can perform in house or contract labor and install in a relatively nimble fashion, but it's much more common, that engineering, mobility, sometimes parking, sometimes DPW, will evaluate sites together and that in order to perform an installation, we will actually work on a bigger contract that involves reconstructing a a curb ramp, reconstruct a portion or an entire section of sidewalk, and we'll include treatments like bollards. You will all travel in our East Summerville neighborhood, so you can see the cross street corridor near the Capuano School in your mind's eye. We rebuilt, the corner of Gilman Street and Oliver Street, which is a neighbor way connection to the Capuano School recently as a raised table intersection and built a bunch of bollards as part of that project. So there's one example of project delivery. Chair, I I would find it helpful to make sure that I understand which corner of Lagoon you are referring to.

One on the on the kind of the sharp corner with the big steep hill between

Yes.

Medford and Broadway has a historic granite bollard that has been there for a long, long time. Is that the corner that you are most specifically concerned about this order?

Yes. So the existing one got knocked down by a truck. It was, like, almost a year ago at this point. And with the existing concrete one, a truck still ended up on the sidewalk while taking the left on Broadway. No.

No. Taking the right on Broadway. So right now, I think it's even more there's, like, more concern from the community there because there is absolutely nothing, that was not replaced after that incident, and it's been almost a year ago. And, clearly, I think that, incident is showing us that one is not enough. We probably need multiple, as you have mentioned.

That's, like, a steep hill there, and that's right like, if you're crossing, Medford. Yeah. That and you're going onto Broadway as a pedestrian. That's the way to get there. So it's a very busy sidewalk, and I am very concerned that right now we have absolutely nothing there.

And my question is why was it the the bullets there was not replaced? Is there a plan for the area that or was that forgotten? I'm just trying to get a sense of where things are at first.

Sure. I'm not sure if engineering and mobility will have a good answer for you tonight, so I apologize. But the outcome might be that Brian and I need to huddle with Jill and or others at DPW to understand is there an active workflow? And if not, you know, how can we work to develop one here? Would we replace any of the prior materials in kind, or would we use the the steel products that we are using in other locations around the city? If so, what is the siting, detail, and who are the contractors or or in house labor who could do that work? Ryan, do you have any thoughts that you might, like to add to the chair?

Yeah. I don't have any specific information. I I do know that DPW is aware of of this, but we haven't had in-depth conversations on appropriate solutions, and what the long term vision is. And, yeah. And I'm not we don't have any other specific answers to this.

Okay. Alright. Well well, I really appreciate that we're having this conversation. I think next steps, they will reach out to commissioner Lathan. But I think what I would like to flag is if the plan is just to replace what got knocked down by the truck to please, you know, have a deeper conversation about that is not safe enough because the truck knocked it down and ended up on the sidewalk.

And I believe there's a picture of this that actually councilor Wilson, you shared with me, if you can find it, that really shows the it's like, if it's a large vehicle, if it's a truck, we are going to need a better design for that area. So, yeah, thank you for this discussion. And

Chair, may may I I offer one additional item for your follow-up with commissioner Lathen and for all of us? This section of Broadway is on the city's five year street and sidewalk reconstruction plan, which you can find online. Some incredible work that Brian's team did, again, in terms of transparency, and giving folks answers to questions that they always ask us. So, we don't have any specifics at this time, but this might inform a two part strategy. Part one could be the bare minimum to provide the original protection intended, and then step two could be what I alluded to a minute ago about shortening crossing distances, where, obviously, as we rebuild Broadway from end to end consistent with our five year plan, widening sidewalks, providing better bus, pedestrian, and bicycle facilities will will be part of the conversations and the design we develop, and that could involve more choices about how to make sure cars and trucks don't end up on sidewalks.

I'm really glad the ballers were there, and I understand the urgency to try to get at least a temporary solution back in place while we move towards that five year street and sidewalk reconstruction.

Yeah. Thank you. I like the short term and long term vision for this. Alright. I will do that. If there are no questions from my colleagues, we'll mark this item as complete, and we'll move to item number seven of the agenda. 25 dash 0472. Sent for discussion by councilor McLaughlin, the director of parking. Okay. Actually, we have already discussed this item. Right. We're Never mind.

We're on item 10.

So 10. Yes. Item ten twenty five dash zero three nine four. Sent for discussion by councilor Wilson that the director of mobility and director of engineering discussed with this council the effectiveness of speed cushions as a traffic calming measure and potential applications on key fire department response routes. Directors?

Chair, thank you to you and to councilor Wilson and to the committee for sponsoring this conversation. I'm a little disappointed because I think I lost my counterpart, director of engineering postulate. And as the committee knows, traffic calming that is built with asphalt is done in partnership between mobility and engineering. So there may be multiple conversations that we want to have on this topic. I think I can offer the beginning of a discussion and have happy to answer questions as best I can.

So speed cushions, as folks are probably familiar, can be imagined as a speed hump that has cutouts running along the direction of travel. Speed cushions can be intended to solve many, many problems. One of those problems can be allowing vehicles with larger wheel bases, like trash haulers, fire trucks, ambulances to place one or both of their wheels on those cutouts and not actually encounter the vertical deflection of a speed hump or another traffic calling treatment. So speed cushions are used all around the country. The NACTO guide specifically identifies them as an important part of a toolbox to achieve some of the same goals as speed humps do.

However, Somerville has not used any yet. We have been discussing them. We have been considering the pros and cons associated with deploying them, and improving emergency response times could potentially be one of the benefits of trialing that type of treatment instead of our standard speed humps. I think the committee will remember we've had a previous discussion where Mobility had described how when we are planning speed humps, our standard process includes reviewing locations with fire command staff, making sure that we understand the relative importance of different streets in the response network. We have worked over many years now to improve the distinction in heights between speed humps.

So comparing the the monster ones on Lowell Street versus the smaller ones on Central Street, I think is an example that we touched on previously with you all, and that was in response to direct feedback from Fire about the importance of Central Street relative to Lowell. So we are always happy to coordinate that type of planning with fire and ask, do they see benefits from trialing that kind of treatment? However, I do wanna add one kind of caveat to these discussions, and then then, chair, I'll pause and answer any questions. One of the things that we have observed as staff and we have heard from constituents is that when a traffic calming treatment like a speed hump does not go all the way or very close to the curb, Motorists have incentives to weave their cars and place their own wheels in the flatter areas. I observed this on Medford Street behind the high school just last week, and I was shaking my fist at the motorist.

So really being thoughtful about, you know, how we plan for these things, how we size them, and are we creating more are we are we solving more safety problems than we create? That that's gonna be the objective here as we explore this type of treatment. So why don't I pause there, chair? Thank you.

Yes. Councilor Wilson.

Thanks, chair. Through you to director Rossin. Really appreciate that update. I'd I'd mentioned these in passing before, I know, in some previous traffic and parking meetings in in years past, but really glad that we get to have a a thorough discussion about this specific application here. I've I've experienced these firsthand.

They have them down in Providence, and it's interesting to, you know, as a driver to try to see if you can game them and see if you can, do what what director Rossin just just described in terms of, you know, coming through at an angle, moving over. You know, how can you minimize the impact on your vehicle? I've yet to to figure out how to do that. It definitely you definitely requires a wider wheelbase to fully evade the speed hump. I guess my biggest question would be and and, you know, through the chair director, Ross, I don't know if you've if you've thought about this, if it's been part of the consideration, but I wonder if they create additional difficulties for snow plows just given it's tougher you know, the blade is not gonna you know, you can lift the blade a little and go over the current ones we have, but it's gonna leave some snow behind in those gaps.

So I guess that's that's another consideration I wanted to name. But, yeah, given you know, this this order came from a discussion that we'd had recently in this committee about Lowell Street. I believe it's some speed humps on there, and its its status as a is an important emergency response where it had come up as a complication to doing traffic calming there. So just wanted to put that in. Happy to hear from director Rawson. But, yeah, that's the sort of background and and the question I had on it.

Jared, through you, I appreciate that additional use case, counselor. So DPW teams, whether it's for routine parks and landscape style maintenance or snow operations, is another part of our standard checklists and year to year planning in terms of traffic calming, like raised crosswalks or speed humps. That is actually not a use case that we've explored yet, so I'm adding that to the list, and I really appreciate that. We have good staff level contacts with the city of Providence. We are all part of the NACTO network, and we do share ideas and best practices.

And I've actually been in touch with counterparts there many times over the years. So I appreciate that case study and referral, and we could query Providence and many others who have deployed these types of, treatments. And we would definitely emphasize northern cities that deal with more snow ops rather than the Southern or West Coast ones.

Sure. The director read my thoughts about getting in touch with with, Providence, anyone else up here who also gets snow and has to deal with that, to hear about their experiences with that. So, yeah. I mean, I'm I'm you know? Well, I'm gonna be quiet now and let others jump in if they have any questions. But, yeah, this is a good discuss

Yeah. Thank you, counselor. Counselor Brumley.

Thank you to the chair. I just wanted to thank my colleague at large for bringing this forward. I always love new ideas, seeing what we can do. I did I guess I did have a question, actually, to the director. Just briefly, could you explain how, the city would trial something like this out?

Chair, through you. Thanks for the question, counselor. So I think the quick explanation would be that we would identify candidate streets that we wanted to pursue traffic calling on, and we would probably choose relatively lower volume streets, counselor, relatively less important in the emergency response kind of network, relatively flat as opposed to relatively steep. Those are three specific criteria that we would want to control for with the trial, And those are questions that we ask with regular speed humps. So folks may remember that Vinyl Avenue near the growing center in Nunziotto Park was a steeper downhill street that we wanted to kinda trial using speed humps to make sure that they were working on steeper sections of streets.

And part of the reason that we chose vinyl was that it was, you know, a little wider, a little lower volume than some of the other North South rangeways in the city. So, again, your your trials, I think you select cases that are not your most difficult, with not the most conflating variables in order to try to isolate things. And if you mess up, the consequences of failure are easy to correct. Right? So we might choose to deploy only one or two instead of five or six. You know, there there's another example, there's quantities, rather than having a blanket approach and and doing a street like Powderhuff Boulevard with seven speed hubs right away. I hope I hope that answers a little bit of your question, counselor.

Right. I see a thumbs up. Thank you, director. Any other questions from my colleagues? K. I see none. We'll mark this item as complete. We'll move to item number 12 on the agenda, 25 dash zero three five two. Sent for discussion by councilor Wynn Camping that the director of mobility design measures to improve pedestrian safety at Summit Street and Porter Street. Director Rossen.

Thank you, chair. So this answer will probably feel a little bit like Ariel Wood Avenue Speedhump's question a few moments ago. Mobility is happy to add this intersection, summer reporter, to our evaluation list. Designing treatments is a substantial investment of staff time, and we are fully booked for this year. And in many cases, we are planning work for next year as well with our limited staff resources, our limited consultant budgets.

I'm not saying that a location like this would immediately get shuffled off to 2027. Far from it. But we will add it to a list. We will evaluate whether there are quick build solutions that could be available. Are there network changes to Summer Street as an East West arterial, to Porter as an important North South connection, that we would allow to kinda, like, bundle in and look at this intersection in those contexts rather than as a one off? So, again, I'm happy to have the team take a look and gonna understand the level of effort that would be required to develop different solutions and then the timeline and how that would fit with the rest of our committed work at this time and can update the word counselor as well as this committee.

Thank you, director. Any questions from colleagues? We'll we'll mark this item as complete. We'll move to the next item, 13 on the agenda. Jack Ross on for thirteen and fourteen, if it's the similar answer, do you wanna take them together? Or Is it At

your at your discretion, chair. Yes. Both can be easily added to our evaluation list. We can commit to making sure that we are looking at them. We cannot commit to any outcomes or timelines on decision making. But as always, we we we welcome these kinds of orders.

Okay. I'm just gonna read them together, because I have a feeling it's going to be a similar answer because they're very similar. Item 13 of the agenda 25 dash zero three five one sent for discussion by councilor Wynn Campin that the director of mobility design measures to improve pedestrian safety at the intersection of Columbus Ave and Prospect Hill Parkway. And item number 14, ID number 25Dash0231 sent for discussion by councilor Brunette and Neuvelt that the director of mobility prioritized North Street for speed humps and other traffic calming measures.

Yeah. Thank thank you, chair. And and, again, happy to update the committee and the ward counselors for both orders about our intake process, about our evaluation process, about the time that would be necessary, and our gratitude for submitting these orders and our commitment to follow-up with them in the context of the 250 other similar requests that are that are on our inbox.

Okay. Thank you, director. I think this brings us to the end of the agenda. Just double checking with the clerk.

That is correct. Okay.

Alright. Great. We will mark items 14 thirteen and fourteen on the agenda as complete if there are no questions from colleagues. Alright. That brings us to the end of the agenda. Councilor Burnley will move to adjourn. Clerk, can you call the roll?

Unagirman, councilor Wilson? Yes, please. Councilor Burnley?

Aye, please.

And councilor Syed?

Yes.

Madam chair, all members have voted to adjourn, and we are adjourned.

Thank you. Thank you, director Austin. Thanks, everyone. Have a good evening.