Personal Experience with Non-Car Travel
Please share your recent experiences walking, biking, using public transit, or traveling with someone who has mobility challenges around Melrose. How safe and accessible did you find those experiences outside of a car?
When I made the decision to buy the house that I did, in was in part because it was both walking accessible to downtown and the Fells. I wanted to be able to walk to both places quickly and easily. In 2017 I adopted my first dog and my walking route expanded. I walk miles every week with the dogs—all around Melrose. I also use the Orange Line when getting into Boston.
For the most part, I find Melrose to be easy to navigate. But I know that is not the case for everyone. My stepfather lived in The Residence for the last year of his life and I took him out in a wheelchair, even though he could walk with a walker, I did not feel like it was safe for him to do so. Even in his wheelchair it was often a harrowing experience for him with the uneven sidewalks and missing curb ramps.
The one issue that I regularly experience when walking, either myself or with my dogs is that people don’t stop at crosswalks. If the crosswalk has the flashing warning lights, people are more likely to stop. The City needs to put more of the flashing signs up at some of the busier street/crosswalks.
Near-Term Municipal Actions
Please name one concrete step the City of Melrose should take within the next two years to make streets and sidewalks safer for people walking, biking, or using mobility devices. How will you ensure this step will serve people of all ages, abilities, and neighborhoods equitably?
Melrose has made efforts over the past decade in building new sidewalks and adding bike lanes. However, as the City looks to continue to improve its infrastructure through repairing crossings, well-maintained sidewalks, more lighting for sidewalks and traffic calming, it must also be paired with education and enforcement. Drivers, cyclists, and pedestrians all need to follow the rules of the road. The City plays a role in all of this, but safety has to come first. With the combination of infrastructure improvements and education and enforcement, people will feel safer choosing bikes and feet to get places.
City’s Role in Advancing Active Transportation & Climate Goals
Transportation is the largest source of carbon emissions in Massachusetts. What role should the City of Melrose play in encouraging people to travel by foot, bike, or transit? Please share one specific action you would take as a councilor, and explain how it supports Melrose’s sustainability and climate goals.
By continuing to improve the infrastructure and making people also feel educated and that actions will be taken against those who do now follow the rules of the road, people will get out more on their bikes and walk. This alone will help support sustainability and climate goals. So the best thing I can do as a City Councilor is to continue to push for these initiatives.
School Travel & Family Transportation
Melrose does not provide school buses and students are not assigned to their neighborhood elementary school by default, contributing to significant car traffic at drop-off and pick-up. Name one specific thing you would do to help families who want safe, reliable options to get children to and from school without relying on cars?
This is one of the more challenging questions to answer. Context in important in understanding active transportation to school. Many families are dual income, so not only do parents have to drop kids at school, they then need to get to work. Many companies are now requiring employees back in the office, so parents are now also having to commute. This often means that the fastest way to get kids to school and still get to work on time is with a car.
Melrose could also expand and support before and after school care that is kid friendly and cost efficient so that more kids want to attend, even if parents are working from home. For example ""Active Kids, Active Minds"" (Melrose participated in the precursor of this program called BOKS). While this does not eliminate cars, it would have the effect of spreading out drop off and pick up which would alleviate congestion.
And, of course, creating an infrastructure that makes biking and walking safe.
Regional Connectivity
Many nearby communities are investing in interconnected trails and paths that support both recreation and commuting. How would you work with neighboring communities and state/regional agencies to expand safe walking and biking connections to and from Melrose?
Melrose needs to join up with our neighboring towns and MassDOT to ensure that biking and walking safety expands beyond Melrose, but also as part of the region. This could include improved crosswalks, sidewalks, and bike lanes that connect across town lines, as well as shared traffic-calming measures to reduce speeding on streets that run between the local cities and towns. Melrose and the surrounding towns should also look for shared grant opportunities that promote joint municipal projects to ensure safety across Melrose and the surrounding towns.
Street Design & Business Districts
How can street design improve safety and foot traffic in Melrose’s business districts? Name one specific thing you would do to encourage the city and business community to make these areas more inviting for people walking, biking, or arriving by transit?
If people feel safe and confident, it will increase foot traffic. Melrose needs to have clearly marked crosswalks (perhaps even raised crosswalks), raised intersections, curb extensions that shorten crossing distances, and intersection designs that naturally slow traffic without relying solely on enforcement. But, even with that, there has to be consistent enforcement of the speed limits, with fines and not just warnings.
A very simple fix which will bring more foot/bike traffic into the business district is to add more bike racks and make it easy for people to take quick trips into town and feel secure that they can lock up their bike.
I would also like to see a return of the parklets — it was nice to see people enjoying their food/beverage outside — it brought a sense of “neighborhood” to downtown.
Budget and Staffing Priorities
Budget cuts impact the City’s ability to implement street projects, pursue state transportation grants, and enforce safety laws. What specific actions would you take (e.g., prioritizing budget, accessing other funding sources) to improve the City’s ability to respond to resident requests (e.g., traffic calming, speed enforcement, street design, etc.)?
I would support any initiative that would help strengthen and fix our infrastructure as well as support and prioritize initiatives that lead to traffic calming.
Most Pressing Street Safety Issue
What do you see as the single most pressing street safety issue in your ward (for ward council candidates) or in the city as a whole (for at-large candidates)? As a City Councilor, how would you address it?
Speeding remains a consistent problem in Melrose. Melrose needs to make an effort to curb this through a combination of prevention and enforcement. Speed bumps, raised crosswalks, and curb extensions, work towards slowing vehicles.
In addition to speeding, cracked sidewalks, uneven pavement, and poorly marked crosswalks make traveling around Melrose range from difficult to dangerous.
I would prioritize specific traffic calming measures and investing in sidewalk repairs