Michigander in Mass

From: "Nancy Hammett"
Subject: Help us clean up the Mystic - this Saturday!

Our annual fall Coast Sweep cleanup - postponed due to Katrina - is rescheduled for this Sat., Oct. 1st from 9:30 am to noon We will meet at the Winter Hill Yacht Club, behind Assembly Sq. in Somerville. Please join us to help spruce up the parks along the Mystic River shoreline. We will provide gloves, equipment, and light refreshments. You bring your enthusiasm and energy.

The long range forecast is for beautiful weather on Saturday - and what better way to enjoy the outdoors than a community cleanup project! Just in case the forecast is wrong, our rain date is Sunday Oct. 2nd from noon to 3:30 pm. Call and check the voice message at 781-316-3438 if you are unsure about the plans.

Thanks to the City of Somerville (our co-sponsor) and to the Department of Conservation and Recreation and MA Coastal Zone Management for their support.

See below for directions. Call or email the Mystic River Watershed Association if you have questions (781-316-3438 or contact@mysticriver.org).

Thanks!

Nancy



Directions:

From Foley St. in Somerville:

Take Foley St. straight (with KMart and construction for the Christmas Tree Shops on your left and the movie theater on your right) and then curve to the left, past Central Steel. The Winter Hill Yacht Club will be right in front of you, hidden behind Central Steel.

To get to Foley Street:
Foley Street is a major entrance to Assembly Sq. Mall in Somerville. Turn onto Middlesex Ave. from Mystic Avenue (Route 38) headed northwest, or from McGrath Hwy/Fellwsay West (Rte 28) just south of Wellington Bridge (at the turn for the courthouse). Foley Street goes off of Middlesex Ave at the light.

By public transportation:

Take the 90 MBTA bus from Davis Sq. (red line), Wellington Station or Sullivan Square (both on the orange line) - get off at Assembly Sq. Mall.

Or take the 92 MBTA bus from Charlestown or from Sullivan Sq. (orange line) to Assembly Sq. Mall.

Or take the 95 MBTA bus from West Medford, Medford Sq. or Sullivan Sq. (orange line) to the corner of Mystic Ave. and Middlesex Ave.

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Those looking for a close-up view of the Orange Line T-stop location and the transit that currently goes through the Assembly Square area of Somerville might want to add a little exercise for a very good local cause this weekend - the annual Mystic River clean-up led by MyRWA. The only donation required is a little time and energy. See forwarded message below. Yard 21 behind Good Time Billiards and Central Steel is the proposed Orange Line T-stop location.

This is a letter to the editor that Lynn sent to area newspapers and listservs:

On behalf of the Friends of the Community Path, I wish to publicly thank
Senators Edward Kennedy and John Kerry, and Representative Michael Capuano
for the hard work and success in getting the federal transportation
spending bill [H.R.3 "The Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient
Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users" (SAFETEA-LU)] signed into
law on August 10. The Massachusetts transportation projects supported are
all vitally important, and we are excited about the roughly $40 million of
this multi-year funding allotted for creation and extension of bicycle and
recreational paths around the Commonwealth. The Friends of the Community
Path are delighted that $900,000 has been earmarked for Community Path
extension in Somerville.

The proposed 2=-mile path Community Path extension, from Cedar Street in
Somerville to the Charles River, has great regional significance in that
it will link about 40 miles of continuous path via the Minuteman and
Charles River paths through Bedford, Lexington, Arlington, Cambridge, and
Somerville to Boston, Watertown, and Waltham.

The City of Somerville is negotiating access to the MBTA right-of-way
along the rail corridor, and path design for the next half-mile
"Cedar-to-Central" Streets segment is already in progress. With this
$900,000, the Friends of the Community Path are optimistic that
construction from Cedar-to-Central will begin in 2006.

Through good planning, it is not just possible but beneficial and
essential to comfortably accommodate the rest of the Community Path
extension and the Green Line in the same right of way. We have a vision
of a Community Path, between Central and Medford Streets in Somerville,
akin to Boston's Southwest Corridor along the Orange Line, a design that
creates new open space and parks where there were none - an enormously
needed paradigm in Somerville.

The Community Path is the centerpiece of an "Active Living by Design"
grant awarded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to the City of
Somerville in partnership with Groundwork Somerville. These grants aim to
integrate regular physical activity into our daily routines, in order to
reap health benefits such as promoting psychological well-being,
maintaining healthy weight, and reducing the risk of developing
cardiovascular disease, obesity, diabetes, arthritis, and certain forms of
cancer.

The linkage of this Community Path to others and to metro and commuter
train lines will yield enormous benefit to Massachusetts, as residents and
tourists alike are enticed by scenic, healthy, and fun traveling options.
A network of paths will serve as recreational oases, transportation
corridors, and boons to businesses.

The Friends of the Community Path applaud our congressmen for earmarking
new federal transportation funds for Somerville's Community Path extension
and other state bicycle and recreational projects. We look forward to
furthering our common goals on the Community Path project and beyond.

Sincerely,
Joel Bennett
Lynn Weissman
Friends of the Community Path
Somerville, Massachusetts
www.pathfriends.org

Good discussion on Ward 5 politics and Somerville development.

Been quiet lately in Somerville, so my attention turns to other areas nearby. Here's what's new in South Boston.

Big Dig officials significantly overestimated the amount of money that could be raised by selling off the project's Kneeland Street headquarters, creating a hole in their financing plan for the megaproject's final stages, officials disclosed yesterday.

The error has forced project officials to withdraw $67 million from a state transportation fund, money that would otherwise pay for smaller highway and transit projects around Massachusetts.

Full story here. What does this mean for Somerville?

Also, more bad news.

Is $1M enough to clean up Downtown Crossing? Maybe not...