2. Targets of destruction.
3. Contacts, Miscellaneous.
1. Notice of destruction.
Misha has forwarded the following email from what passes for a state government in light of totally irresponsibility on the part of the City of Cambridge, but Cambridge has those nice Cambridge Machine folks joining in Cambridge’s lies of sainthood.
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Date: Tue, 18 Jun 2013 15:59:39 -0400
From: "pa, massdot (DOT)"
To: "MassDOTPublicAffairs (DOT)"
Subject: Longfellow Bridge Rehabilitation Preliminary Work -Main Street,
Cambridge
Longfellow Bridge Rehabilitation Project
Notice of Upcoming Construction Activities:
Main Street, Cambridge Preliminary Work
Median tree removal begins Wednesday, June 19, 2013 and
Modifications to median begin Monday, June 24, 2013
Bridge construction and traffic changes anticipated to begin in mid-July
The Massachusetts Department of Transportation's (MassDOT) design/build contractor, White-Skanska-Consigli JV (WSC), will begin preliminary work on Main Street in Cambridge to prepare for Traffic Stage 1 for the first phase of construction of the Longfellow Bridge Rehabilitation Project.
The first phase of the activities will begin on Wednesday, June 19, 2013 and entails removing trees located just north of the MBTA's Kendall station portal. The trees must be removed to allow the contractor to install jersey barriers across the median to shift traffic traveling to Boston (on the upstream side of the bridge) to the downstream side. The tree removal was previously announced at a City of Cambridge Tree Removal Hearing and at meetings and hearings during preliminary design for the project. The second phase entails additional median modifications to facilitate the traffic shift. Site restoration will occur once construction is complete.
In the first phase of construction, Boston bound traffic will be shifted to the downstream side of the bridge so the upstream side can be demolished and reconstructed. Cambridge bound traffic will be detoured using Craigie Bridge. Implementation of the traffic shift is now planned for mid-July. We will notify you two to three weeks prior to the shift via e-blast, website, social media and media outreach. A public meeting will also be scheduled to provide details on traffic management and monitoring.
To report issues or concerns or for questions related to construction, please use the dedicated project hotline, 617-519-9892, or email address, longfellowbridge@state.ma.us
2. Targets of destruction.
Misha comments:
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I figured out what those trees are. They are on the median right next to
where Red Line emerges to the surface, after Kendall Square
stop and before going over the bridge to Boston.
Five nice pines + a bit of small trees nearby.
I have no idea why they can't install their jersey barriers
without killing those trees. But those trees all have notices of
public hearing on May 16 attached to them, so, I guess, nothing much
can be done to protect them, since we missed that notice :-(
Anyway, I am going to forward you a photo of those pine trees...
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[Reduced Photo]
Editor:
The problem is that Cambridge has nine very bad city councilors plus a corrupt Cambridge Machine which repeatedly lies that the nine very bad city councilors are holier than thou. This situation is now made worse by a city newspaper which has turned itself into a house organ for the irresponsible city councilors and their machine.
The con games get printed by the Cambridge Chronicle as if we had saints. Responsible replies now seem to be uniformly censored.
3. Contacts, Miscellaneous.
Massachusetts Governor’s Office email form: http://www.mass.gov/governor/constituentservices/contact/.
State environmental people, DES Hotline: ESF.Hotline@state.ma.us.
MassDOT Accelerated Bridges Program: 857-368-8904 or Stephanie.Boundy@state.ma.us
All Massachusetts Legislators’ emails: http://charlesriverwhitegeeseblog.blogspot.com/2013/04/emails-for-all-massachusetts.html.
Cambridge, MA, USA city councilors: Council@cambridgema.gov.
Plus the links provided in the above email.
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For people listening to Boston Sierra Club endorsements of environmentally destructive members of the Cambridge City Council, you should be aware that
(1) using the world’s definition of “environmentalism,” there are no environmentally responsible members of the Cambridge City Council, and
(2) there are Cambridge Machine activists very visible and apparently very active in the Boston Sierra Club.
If you are talking to a person associated with the Boston Sierra Club, do a credibility check. Ask if they are familiar with the “Urban Ring” rapid transit proposal. This is a subway proposal designed to link the existing subway spokes. I have been working on it since 1985. Cambridge raised the project in a comment to an environmental Impact Statement in the last month or so.
If the Boston Sierra Club “expert” answers “yes,” that he / she is familiar with the Urban Ring rapid transit proposal, ask how many rail options there are. If the answer is “one,” you are getting the flat out lie put out by the City of Cambridge.
Cambridge’s flat out lie is that, of the TWO rail options, the only one that exists is the environmentally destructive streetcar option which the City of Cambridge supports. This option would be highly destructive to the environment near the Destroyed Nesting Area of the Charles River White Geese.
The reality is that THE STATE LEGISLATURE HAS SUBSIDIZED THE OTHER OPTION, the responsible Orange Line / heavy rail option, the Kenmore crossing. The state legislature has subsidized the expansion of Yawkey Station as part of the massive Fenway Park area project which has gotten recent press.
Cambridge’s nonsensical proposal would move Yawkey Station three blocks. The Cambridge proposal would not work without moving Yawkey Station. The Kenmore Crossing uses the now subsidized and being expanded Yawkey Station as part of a brilliant megastation.
You should immediately respond to such nonsense from a Sierra Club “expert” by having nothing more to do with this person. Whether the person is stupid or venal is irrelevant, the person has no credibility and is not worthy of your time.
It is frequently difficult to pin these irresponsible people down in general. The deviant behavior in my test is extreme. They are pious in their demands that, if you are politically correct and pro environment, you have to rubber stamp them. Please do not waste your time arguing about destruction they can wiggle around.
Turn your back on them and walk away fast.
