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Ward 5 Alderman Mark Niedergang
(The opinions and views expressed in the commentaries and letters to the Editor of The Somerville Times belong solely to the authors and do not reflect the views or opinions of The Somerville Times, its staff or publishers.)
By Mark Niedergang, Ward 5 City Councilor
Statement from Ward 5 Resistat meeting held on October 10, 2019 (edited on October 15)
I want to say a little bit about my views on the Winter Hill Broadway bus and bike lanes, since that is a subject that we Councilors have received hundreds of emails about, roughly evenly split between pro and con. I have asked the Administration to respond to the concerns we have heard about the new roadway on Broadway at tonight’s meeting and they will do so. I have asked them to hold a community meeting and to implement some changes.
Because I am your directly-elected Ward Councilor, and I believe in accountability, I want to briefly tell you what my position is on the bus and bike lanes on Broadway.
However, you should know that we City Councilors do not have the power to change anything on Broadway, that power belongs only to the Mayor and the Administration.
I have strongly supported all along narrowing Broadway to slow traffic and make it a safer street, especially for pedestrians, because over the years many pedestrians have been hit by motor vehicles while crossing Broadway. In fact, an elderly woman was just hit on Broadway and Norwood and sent to the hospital over the summer.
I continue to support the bus and the bike lanes that have been put in place. However, I do believe some mistakes have been made in the implementation. Many residents have pointed out that with three bridges closed due to GLX work and Union Square all dug up, and with the school year starting in early September, this was not the right time to make a drastic change in traffic patterns on Broadway. In addition, there are some traffic signalization changes that need to be made to facilitate the flow of traffic and some more street painting to make the rules of the road with the new bus lanes clearer. (Note: Brad Rawson, Director of Mobility for the City, stated at the Ward 5 Resistat meeting that the signalization changes would be made on Wednesday, October 16th.) Those changes should have been made at the same time the bus lanes were put in, and now should be made as soon as possible.
In addition, as Ward 4 Councilor Jesse Clingan has pointed out, there should have been a public notification and education campaign before the new bus/bike lanes were put in place explaining what the rules of the road are and how drivers should deal with the new infrastructure.
I continue to support making our streets safer and more accessible and better for bus riders who are using public transportation, pedestrians, bicyclists, and when possible for drivers, in that order. I want to reiterate that these are my priorities, although I want streets that are safer, better and easier for all users.
We face a crisis in terms of pedestrian safety on our streets, with three pedestrians killed in Somerville this year, and many injured. And we face the crisis of climate change, which affects the future of our planet and the world that our children and grandchildren will live in. The whole world, and most especially us Americans, need to make dramatic changes in how we use fossil fuels. And that means City policies need to incentivize walking, biking and public transportation, and City policies must get rid of the many incentives that exist now for ownership and usage of private motor vehicles in Somerville. I understand that many people need their cars to get to work, take children and elderly relatives around, or because they are disabled. I want those people to be able to get where they have to go quickly and easily, and to find parking near their homes. I believe we can accomplish this, but there will have to be a lot of changes made to do so. We need to make more room on our streets for people who really need to use cars by getting those who don’t really need them to find other ways to get around.
Since I am running unopposed in the November 5 election, I will probably be re-elected. I decided over the summer to make improving traffic and parking in Somerville my #1 priority for the rest of this year and the next two years. These are tremendously difficult and contentious issues, not exactly fun or easy to deal with. But I believe they are the top concern of my constituents in Ward 5. And pedestrians are literally dying on our streets; we need to do something about that! I believe we have the opportunity in the next two years to make some major changes in traffic and parking that will benefit all residents. I look forward to continuing to hear from residents about their concerns and to working with the Administration and Ward 5 residents to make our streets safer and work better.
Now I am going to turn it over to the Administration for the Ward 5 Resistat presentation, which will start with the issue of Winter Hill and Broadway.
Thank you.
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Clearly does not understand the needs of the people. So much of this is untrue. Another situation where the city comes in to help and really screws it up. Sadly I am not in ward 5 or I would run and get him out of there. I would at least do what the people want.
I hope the residents of the Winter Hill neighborhoods and all that use Broadway to get to work and school are ready for the ****show that is coming once the snow starts to fly. Yet another slap in the face of the working-class people of Somerville.
PLEASE
While I agree with many of the points that Mr. Niedergang has brought up, I respectfully say that removing incentives for cars would not be an answer.
What we need are incentives for car owners to keep their cars off the streets whenever possible. Many people have homes with driveways, but choose to use them for other purposes. Perhaps tax incentives for keeping their cars in their driveways (which I do) would go a long way to free up a lot of space that could be used to alleviate at least some of the problems.
Of course, then the City would not make the money they happily make from parking and visitor permits. So, is it really in their interest to get cars off the streets? I wonder. Maybe they’d simply start getting that fee in other ways, such as bicycle permits and licenses. Don’t ever think the City will do anything that is not in their interest.
I cannot imagine living without a car, for the freedom and convenience it offers. Like it or not, you cannot say that a bike or a bus is preferable to getting in a car whenever you want, and going anywhere you want to go, on your own terms.
Within a city, it’s fine to walk or bike, but it’s not realistic to say that cars are not a better alternative for everything else. I’ve even seen cars on the highway with bikes strapped to them, for those who want to cycle out in a more natural setting. Cars will never go away. People should not be penalized for wanting or owning them.
I do agree that the construction timing here leaves much to be desired. You simply cannot tear up an entire city and expect things to go smoothly. There should have been a system in place to tackle one area at a time. Was there really such an emergency going on in the city that we needed to take on all the “repairs” at once?
The Mayor allowed for all these repairs to happen at the same time (coincidentally in an election year?), and then says we need to address the traffic issues that he caused in the first place.
Of course, it’s an old city, and yes, we do need to repair many things. But even a homeowner would be crazy to tear up their entire house at once for a renovation. Much easier to live in one room while other rooms are done, and move around as need be until it’s all done.
The High School is being rebuilt, the McGrath Highway overpass project is going on, the GLX is being done, the Ball Square bridge is being done, and probably other things as well. Was there some kind of time limit to get these all major projects done? Who planned this situation? Was it even planned? It certainly doesn’t seem that way. Nobody seems to have come up with any kind of plan in place for how all this was going to work out before they decided to do it. Sounds similar to the government we currently have in Washington.
Too many balls in the air, and they’re all getting dropped. Not good. And the sad thing is that we’re all paying the price for this in terms of safety and transportation. What needs to be done first is reduce the amount of construction obstacles going on, to allow traffic to pass more smoothly. Then we can have a better opportunity to tackle the other issues ahead, because much of the problem will have already been solved.
Good time for Courtney to do a write in for election. Pickings are good now.
Can someone call her and ask her??????
What, on Earth, are the incentives given to car owners? I’m missing something.
Thanks for the nod to those of us who drive, but be honest, please. Your goal is to get rid of cars. As outlined above, what will you do without excise, parking Tix, permits, etc. Will dpw get things done on bikes? What will we do without our precious beer when cars/trucks are squeezed out? Ironic that you’re so transparent, but not the way you think
So sorry to hear some people feel that Mr. Neidergang doesn’t understand the needs of the people. I wonder why they voted for him? And I wonder why he’s running uncontested? I guess maybe he really does understand the needs of his community.
I have had people asking me to run for ward 5. I do not live in ward 5. So the people got back to me and will contribute money to whoever runs against Niedergang. If anyone is interested I can pass your information along to them. I can be reached at restorebroadway@gmail.com
Mark is as good as it gets. And I mean that in the best way possible. No public servant can fulfill everybody’s wish lists, they can only achieve what is possible. Mark does OK. When the the bridge and street closures were imminent a year or so ago he was all over it, trying to mitigate the problems in some ways, appealing to the state (which had actual control over the situation), etc. This and many other things he’s done to fulfill his duties as Councilor. Be realistic, and be careful what you wish for.
Running for political office is stressful, time-consuming & expensive making it out of reach for modern day villen. Perfect for a trust fund baby like neidergang. Switching broadway to fit matchbox cars was approved by the traffic committee—chaired by niedergang. So much for no backroom deals and secret missions.
I encourage all ward 5 residents to write in courtney o’keefe on nov. 5