By Jennifer Purcell

Last Thursday, November 9, Somerville’s Traffic Commission met to discuss several potential changes to the city’s streets. Although this meeting was relatively short, motions were made to accept all of the items without discussion, it was agreed that each item was no less important for the future of these streets.

Accessible Parking

The first item that was brought to Committee Chair Jill Lathan’s attention was a request for more handicap-accessible parking spaces at 38 Hansen Street and 22 Wesley Street (placed at 23 Wesley Street). Adrienne Pomeroy, a representative of the Somerville Commission for Persons with Disabilities, mentioned that she has already discussed these changes with the residents and they are one hundred percent on board with these additions.

Fire Lanes

One of the two most critical issues the Committee members discussed was the lack of fire lanes on certain streets. There was a total of three different requests for fire lanes in Somerville which will be at the following locations:

• Warwick Street (from the corner of Cedar Street down both sides in an easterly direction of 20 feet).
• The even side of Cross Street East (extending from curb to curb at Blakely Avenue).
• Pennsylvania Avenue (from the corner of Cross Street East down both sides in an easterly direction). The fire lane on the odd side will run for 30 feet and the fire lane on the even side will run for 20 feet.

Eliminating Dangerous Curbs

The second and most important issue tackled on Thursday was the sheer number of dangerous curbs in Somerville. Out of the eleven Items that were addressed, almost half of them were in regards to one of these curbs. The Commission’s main concern was that the following curbs in particular are making it incredibly unsafe for cyclists and pedestrians: the curb on the east side of Beacon Street and the curb on the east side of School Street. In order to resolve this issue, it was unanimously decided that for the curb near 371 Beacon Street, the space that is approximately 220 ft.-260 ft. south of Somerville Avenue will be converted from unregulated space to a “no parking at any time zone.” A similar conclusion was made for the curb on School Street, except the no parking zone will be 190ft. and will be between 20 ft. and 210 ft. south of Medford Street.

The final three Items, while also in regards to the curbs, were focused more on adding and/or eliminating loading zones in order to incorporate more residential parking spaces as it is part of their commitment to monitor these sides in particular. The areas in which these changes would be made as well as each Item’s specific details are as follows:

• The curb on the north side of Holland Street (170 ft.-230 ft. south of Broadway) will be turned into a loading zone from 8:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m., metered parking from 2:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m., and residential permit parking from 12:00 a.m. – 8:00 a.m.
• The curb on the west side of Moore Street (30 ft.-90 ft. south of Holland Street) will be converted from a loading zone to residential permit parking only. This will also extend to additional parking meters.
• The curb on the east side of Thorndike Street (20 ft.-60 ft. south of Holland Street), which is currently a 24-hour loading zone, will be modified it will be a loading zone from 8:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. and residential permit parking at any other time.

All of the above items were accepted immediately and without any further discussion from the commission.