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To the Editors,

Without fanfare last week, a small but significant improvement was made to the East Somerville T-station. A new ramp was installed that allows Brickbottom residents and workers to enter and exit the station by a “back door” – eliminating a long walk to the Washington/Joy Street corner and double-back hike up the Community Path ramp.

This convenient “back door” ramp runs through the paved area, which fronts the intersection of Poplar and Joy Streets. It skirts the side of the Joy Street Studios building, turns behind and then passes through the fences onto the Community Path, leading into the T-station. The ramp is located on privately owned land but is mostly within the space of an MBTA easement, which has always been used by T and Commuter Rail employees and vehicles but has not been a public easement before.

The ramp has been simply designed with scaffolding poles and an acrylic-type flooring. It is intended to be temporary and has no finish elements or landscaping, except for a bit of grass behind the 86 Joy Street building. It is functional and highly useful for the small number of residents and lab employees who rely on the T.

Significance in the planning process

The desirability and need for this “back door” has been discussed and recorded in all the infrastructure and neighborhood plans, since the original “visions” of GLX expansion and Brickbottom re-development. In the recent draft neighborhood plans, the idea has been elaborated with fantasy pictures of happy pedestrians and cyclists, moving past public art and sidewalk cafes.

Just last summer, the Mayor made application to the state MassWORKS grant program, asking for funding for a $39 million pedestrian bridge for this location. It was shown as an over-the-rails bridge, connecting Brickbottom with Inner Belt and drawing T-riders and bikers from both sides into the station and Community Path. The present new ramp only serves the Brickbottom side.

Last November the City Council and Planning Board received an application for re-zoning the Inner Belt side, to permit a large increase in building sale and density. This would justify and help cross-subsidize the $39 million public investment. The Board and Council Land Use Committee held a hearing in January and then put the rezoning application on hold.

In this context of city planning process, the accomplishment of a practical, no-frills public improvement should be recognized as a welcome and significant action. It happened routinely, without the fol-de-rol of visionary plans, Somer-voice surveys, neighborhood meetings, etc. It got done relatively cheaply, quickly and simply. It undoubtedly required revision of the easement between the MBTA and the private owner as well as routine MBTA budgeting and project authorization. Probably no city permits or sign-off were needed but OSPCD and the Mayor’s office undoubtedly were involved.

Congratulations and thanks to our friends at OSPCD and city hall, to our neighbors the Chestnut/Joy Street landowners, and to the efficient guys and women at the MBTA.

Bill Valletta
Brickbottom resident (urban planner)