Only a little paint remains to define this crosswalk for a section of the Southwest Corridor Park path in Lower Roxbury.
(Christina Pazzanese for The Boston Globe)
Globe watch
Lower Roxbury crosswalk needs repainting
Only a little paint remains to define this crosswalk for a section of the Southwest Corridor Park path in Lower Roxbury.
(Christina Pazzanese for The Boston Globe)
July 4, 2009
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Tipster Anne L. McKinnon of Jamaica Plain says she did what the city asks people to do. As a bicycle commuter, McKinnon first reported to several city agencies last summer that a crosswalk for a section of the Southwest Corridor Park path in Lower Roxbury was almost completely worn away and needed repainting.
“Since August 2008, I have made eight phone calls to Mayor’s Office, Public Works, and Boston Transportation Department; one e-mail to the Boston Bikes program; and one call on May 27 [2009] to the [Mayor’s 24-hour] hotline number about a crosswalk that needs repainting . . . on Prentiss Street near the Boston Police HQ,’’ McKinnon writes. But nearly a year later, she says, she still has nothing to show for her efforts. “No action. This is a dangerous location that needs to be marked (signs are needed, too, but that will never happen). The hotline attendant recorded my request and gave me the tracking #.’’
But when she logged into the online system to check the status of her request, McKinnon says, the only information provided was that the case is “open.’’ No details, no timeline, no evidence the problem was being addressed.
“What now? I am at my wits’ end. It is very disturbing to see that maintenance of bike facilities around the City is not being done (Melnea Cass path, horrible road conditions on Blue Hill Avenue near Grove Hall, and Columbus Avenue entering Egleston Square.)’’
A Globe reporter checked out the crosswalk and found little more than a couple of small blobs of white paint in the roadway. It was so faded that without McKinnon’s heads-up, it would be almost impossible to know a crosswalk was there. Bicyclists following the Southwest Corridor path cautiously crossed Prentiss Street, often having to maneuver around vehicles backed up into the crosswalk from a Tremont Street traffic signal.
THE CITY RESPONDS
That crosswalk is on the city’s list for repainting this summer, and if the weather cooperates, should be done within the next two weeks, said Thomas Tinlin, commissioner of the Boston Transportation Department. The lengthy spate of cold, damp weather has “really hampered’’ the city’s efforts to tackle the 800 crosswalks slated for repainting this construction season, he said. The thermoplastic material used to mark crosswalks is sensitive to the elements and needs a warm, dry surface to adhere properly to the pavement, said Tinlin. As for McKinnon’s experience with the frustrating lack of information from the much-touted online tracking system, the city expects to offer users more frequent and detailed status updates starting in the fall, said Christopher Loh, a city spokesman.
“It’s exactly issues like this’’ that have prompted the Department of Conservation and Recreation, which oversees the 4.7-mile Southwest Corridor Park, to begin talks with the city about how to work together to address maintenance needs that affect park users, said Wendy Fox, DCR spokeswoman.
Christina Pazzanese
GlobeWatch
© Copyright 2009 Globe Newspaper Company.
