According to Mr. Lambert, the City of
Somerville's Infrastructure dates back to the turn of the 20th century,
making it well past due for some strategic improvements. Somerville
Avenue is an example of an area that was assessed and fixed through
this style of improvements. Its drainage system was not only
undersized, but also completely outdated because of its construction in
the late 1800's. Factor in the low part of city in which it lies, and
thus the problem arose, causing major flooding. This problem was solved
in 2008 by the Somerville Avenue reconstruction project, which replaced
the old drainage system with a new 66' storm drainage system including
culvert.

The Inner Belt District is currently a faulty area in
terms of flooding. According to Mr. Craig and Mr. Lambert, the MBTA's
rail infrastructure has blocked drainage into Miller's River. This was
apparently a foreseen issue back when the construction was beginning;
the MBTA promised to implement a system and treatment facility to
prevent any problems. The now proposed solution is to seek a commitment
from the state to make necessary improvements that are estimated to
reach up to $30 million.

This drainage issue brings multiple
problems with it, flooding being the obvious and immediate one. One of
the others is the health of the rivers and bodies of water around
problem areas. The current 'combined sewage' system that carries
sanitary and domestic wastewater, industrial wastewater and storm water
drains into the river in the event of wet weather. This jeopardizes the
cleanliness of the water, polluting it with all forms of waste.

Other
infrastructure issues that were addressed include the city's water
usage, and the decline of 'Green Factors.' The city plans to encourage
residents to cut down on their water usage, as well as assess ways of
making the city greener on the whole. One of the actions taken during
this 'Trend Phase' was to take an inventory of the trees in
Somerville's boundaries. The inventory showed a little more than 11,000
trees, 75% of which are in good condition, and valued at just under $16
million overall. Somerville is currently the most 'concreted' city per
square mile in Massachusetts, a statistic that the Office of Strategic
Planning and Community Development intends to eradicate.

In
respect to transportation in Somerville, Mr. Craig and Mr. Lambert
found many trends on aspects like vehicular traffic, the commute to
work, buses and rail services, bicyclists and more. Oddly enough, in
2000 Somerville commuters used public transit for close to one third of
all commuting trips, trailing only Boston and Brookline in rider ship.
This statistic could be seen as unlikely, considering that there is
only one rail service stop (Davis Square – Red Line) and fairly shoddy
bus service. Still, this shows the opportunity to cut down on single
drivers with the implementation of more public transit abilities.

One
startling statistic found is that Middlesex County has seen an increase
of about 7 million vehicles between 1993 and 2001. Also, it was found
that there are fewer miles of roadway per registered vehicle length, as
well as more registered vehicles per square mile of land in Somerville
than any of the surrounding areas. This causes problems in parking, and
in transit.

Those in attendance at this meeting addressed the
fact that driving is made entirely more convenient than mass transit.
This, of course, leads to residents resorting to driving, rather than
using the greener form of transportation. Projects like the Green Line
Extension, and the new Orange Line station construction at Assembly
Square will be imperative to making the city a greener and more
efficient space in respect to commuting.

The goal of these info
sessions, according to Mr. Craig, is to act as a primary phase that
will provide a fact-based foundation for the beginnings of projects to
improve the City of Somerville. The next phase will be one of
'Visioning,' where the Office of Strategic Planning and Community
Development will turn to big scale community forums that will be
composed of both the public and an elected committee. The hope is to
produce and solidify plans and objectives by mid next year, and present
them to the Board of Aldermen by early 2011.

For any more
information on this meeting, as well as the many more to come, visit
the City of Somerville's website or call 311. The hope of these info
sessions is to raise public interest, and get the community involved in
the improvement projects. The more public voice and opinion present,
the better the chances are for an improved Somerville.