On Monday, March 1, 2010, the City of Somerville Office of Strategic Planning and Community Development (OSPCD) will hold a community meeting to present and get feedback on several options to improve Union Square. The public meeting, which will take place at the Dr. Albert F. Argenziano School from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., will provide an important opportunity for Somerville residents to voice their opinions on how to enhance Union Square's character as an urban village and Somerville's emerging central business district.

The meeting follows two similar, highly successful gatherings held in July and October of 2009. The meeting this March represents a significant milestone in the Union Square Roadway and Streetscape Improvement Study and Design Project. During late 2008 and early 2009, the project's working group, convened with the help of the City and Union Square Main Streets, explored numerous options for improvements to the Square-assessing their practicability as well as their effectiveness in transforming the Square into a thriving and inviting hub. The working group's "short list" of options to enhance pedestrian amenities, ease traffic flow for both automobiles and bicycles, make transit more accessible, and improve loading conditions for local businesses was originally presented to the public in July 2009. These options were refined over the next several months, based on community feedback, and brought back to the public in October of 2009. Based on the comments received by the project team in October, the City of Somerville is now ready to announce the locally preferred alternative.

Assisting the City and the working group is a diverse team of consultants led by Howard/Stein-Hudson Associates (HSH), with over 21 years of experience in transportation planning, traffic engineering, civil engineering, and public involvement. Design Consultants Inc. is providing engineering, planning, and surveying services; Von Grossmann & Company is providing master planning, design, and implementation; and Heimarck and Foglia is contributing landscape architecture expertise. All members of the project team have prior experience working in Somerville.

Both the City of Somerville and the project team are committed to public involvement in the planning process, believing that effective planning is done with the community and not just for it.

The Project Team welcomes all members of the community to attend the meeting, comment on the options, ask questions, and be involved.

Questions, concerns, or requests for information on the meeting or the options can be directed to:

Rob May, Director of Economic Development, Somerville OSPCD,

(617) 625-6600 ext. 2500

or

Nathaniel Cabral-Curtis, Transportation Planner and Public Involvement Specialist,

Howard/Stein-Hudson Associates, (617) 482-7080 ext. 236.