Life in the Ville by Jimmy Del Ponte

Is it my imagination or are they trying to squeeze all traffic from Somerville? Disappearing meters etc. here’s what Somerville says:

“Notice how the curbs on the unnecessary islands and bottlenecks they’re installing are extra high and extra sharp? They WANT you to get a flat. They want you to stop driving!”

“Funny you should mention that I got a flat just the other day! The roads are narrow at some street corners and I made a turn, thought I had cleared the curb but POOF there goes my tire!!! It was so bad It couldn’t be repaired!!!”

“Here’s what’s going to happen. People will move out and take their cars with them. Gradually the city will see the fees for parking permits, excise tax, etc., will disappear. Then what? I’m more concerned with them pretending Memorial Day doesn’t exist, and removing all of the monuments and memorials.”

“I would like to know if the mayor rides a bike. Most bikes don’t follow rules and can be very rude to drivers swearing and cursing. I would be scared to drive a bike. Lifelong resident. What a shame.”

“Actually, it is a small % of car drivers, bike riders and pedestrians that break the rules, but unfortunately the city is listening to the people who want to break the rules instead of the people who follow them.”

“I’m not even there. I was just up for 13 days for the Christmas holidays. Residents need to look and ask engineers if emergency response times were proactively looked at during these designs in the event of a serious need to transport by ground. I don’t think so and bikers may get hurt.”

“Walter King, you hit a chord regarding emergency response times … I’ve wondered how ambulances can expedite a patient bouncing over high speed bumps, like the ones on Powderhouse Blvd.? Those bumps gotta be fun for plow drivers, 5-0 and FD too!”

Plastic pylons herding traffic in the name of safety. I say we should continue to strive for safe streets. But let’s not get ridiculous.

Sunday: 11:45 a.m., sunny. Even at this early hour there seems to be a plethora of bikes and pedestrians all along my ride home one mile through the city. Let’s hope the pylons are easy to get used to and we can all share the streets and sidewalks with Somerville. Patience everyone. Take a deep breath and stay in your lane.