Grand Junction Commuter Rail Feasibility Study -- Public Meeting

This is a notice from MassDOT on an upcoming public meeting regarding the Grand Junction Railroad.  The results of this study could have significant impact on the East Cambridge Community and Business Cooridor.  Hope to see you there. 

The Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) is pleased to announce a community meeting to discuss progress on the Grand Junction Commuter Rail Feasibility Study.

This meeting will be held:

Thursday, December 8, 6:30pm-8:00pm

Kennedy-Longfellow School – Auditorium

158 Spring Street, Cambridge

The purpose of this meeting is to discuss an ongoing study of the potential use of the Grand Junction Railroad for supplemental MBTA Commuter Rail service to Cambridge and North Station. At this meeting, MassDOT staff members will discuss results of a ridership analysis and traffic impact analysis, as well as overall study findings, and next steps. This meeting follows up on a community meeting held last June. For more information on prior meetings, see out study website at: http://massdot.state.ma.us/planning/GrandJunctionTransportationStudy.aspx.

All are welcome at the meeting, and please feel free to share this notice. For more information, or to request alternative language or other special accommodations, please contact Matthew Ciborowski at matthew.ciborowski@state.ma.us, or (617) 973-7180.

Please join us on December 8^th!

Matthew Ciborowski | Office of Transportation Planning

Massachusetts Department of Transportation

10 Park Plaza, Room 4150, Boston, MA 02116

phone 617.973.7180 | email matthew.ciborowski@state.ma.us

New East Cambridge Bike Parking on Cambridge St

Dear East Cambridge Business/Resident/Property Owner:

The City of Cambridge is planning for the installation of one or more bicycle racks on the public sidewalk in the vicinity of your building. You will notice white spray-paint markings on the pavement at each of the proposed locations. Here is a link to a google map with the proposed locations:

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid=214587193481545390469.0004b0219d38ae127340f&msa=0&ll=42.372166,-71.089488&spn=0.021211,0.043645

If you have any questions about proposed locations, or suggestions for new locations, please feel free to contact me. A version of this letter has been mailed to each abutting property owner and business or residential occupant.

The type of rack installed is the city standard “post and ring” rack (sample photo pasted below). The racks will be installed this fall.

The City of Cambridge Bicycle Parking Program provides bicycle racks throughout the city in order to support and encourage the use of bicycles as a mode of transportation. There are presently over 800 bicycle parking racks on the public right of way throughout the city, about 90% of which are located in commercial districts.

The number of cycling trips in Cambridge has increased by almost 150% between 2002 and 2010, accompanied by an increase in the demand for bicycle parking.

Over the past 5 years, over 350 new bicycle parking racks have been installed on public sidewalks, funded in part by an Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant, a component of the Federal Stimulus Package (American Recovery and Reinvestment Act 2009). Funding for the racks themselves comes from the Congestion Mitigation Air Quality program, and is being administered by the Metropolitan Area Planning Council.

More information, you can visit our webpage visit our webpage:

http://www2.cambridgema.gov/cdd/et/bike/bike_park.html

If you have any questions about these installations, please feel free to contact me.

Sincerely,

Jeff Rosenblum

Transportation Planner

jrosenblum@cambridgema.gov

617-349-4615