A new plan for the Storrow Drive reconstruction proposes to reverse the directions of both Berkeley and Clarendon streets.

This plan is one of two that re-thinks Option D, the option that buries Storrow Drive in both directions on either side of the Arlington Street exit. Option D, as well as options A, B, and C, have emerged from the planning process, now almost two years old, that will recommend how best to fix the crumbling 1951-era east-bound tunnel that exists on either side of the Arlington Street exit.

In what is known as Option D-2, westbound traffic headed from Storrow through the Back Bay would exit at Berkeley Street. Eastbound traffic would enter Storrow Drive at Clarendon and descend into a tunnel. The street directions would be reversed up to Columbus Avenue. Boston Transportation Department officials will have to analyze that plan, said landscape design consultant Harry Fuller of Carol R. Johnson and Associates.

Fuller presented this modification and another one at a meeting Wednesday night of the Storrow Drive Tunnel Project Landscape Advisory Committee.

Committee members were intrigued by the ideas, but were also frustrated in not having enough information about where staging areas would be located during construction, how far the construction zone would extend, what trees would have to be sacrificed, what temporary roadways would exist and what changes in the traffic patterns in the rest of the city would be required during construction.

“This is a big decision,” said state Representative Marty Walz. “I’m gravely concerned about the order in which we are proceeding. It looks as if we’re getting the facts after we make a decision.”

Fuller said he could eventually supply some of the information, but some might have to wait until the committee recommends an option and that option gets into the 25 percent design phase. “Having a recommended option is not the same as a decision,” said Karl Haglund, project manager for the state’s Department of Conservation and Recreation, which owns Storrow Drive and has responsibility for its upkeep.

He agreed, however, to see what he could do to get as detailed information as possible on the incursion into the land area and specific trees that would need to be taken down for each of the four options.

Despite the committee’s reservations, they saw that both modifications of Option D, called D-1 and D-2, have the advantage of creating a wide, possibly majestic, at-grade entrance to the Esplanade where traffic heading to Beacon or Arlington streets now exits from Storrow Drive. Option D’s various versions also would create the most parkland after they are completed.

Moreover, access to the Esplanade for Back Bay residents would be improved. Walkways to the park at ground level could be installed at both Clarendon and Berkeley streets. The Dartmouth Street pedestrian bridge would no longer be needed and could be dismantled.

But any plan involving tunnels also means tearing up more of the Esplanade and having to replant scores of trees and shrubs. Any tunnel plan also involves an open rectangular vent somewhere in the vicinity of the present roadway near Berkeley Street, which committee members looked at with dismay. Trees planted over the tunnels would have to be carefully maintained since they would have only three and a half feet of soil in which to grow.

At this point most committee members are ready to eliminate Option C, in which a tunnel is constructed on the westbound, or opposite side from where it is now located.

Option A reconstructs the existing tunnel without making changes in the roadway. But it requires a considerable extension — 80 feet in each direction — of the Arthur Fiedler and Dartmouth Street pedestrian bridges. At Dartmouth Street, this might involve land-taking.

Option B puts all the traffic above ground with stop lights and at-grade pedestrian crossings. Proponents like it because it slows traffic and disrupts the Esplanade the least. But it adds the least green space to the parkland.

It remains unclear whether the option the committee recommends will be the one that state decision makers will back once costs and the length of the project are determined.

Lucas Vidal, Berklee College of Music senior from Madrid, Spain, conducted a 138-piece Boston Conservatory and Berklee student orchestra at Boston’s Symphony Hall for a live film score recording session Sunday, March 11. Vidal not only composed the music but also developed an opportunity for 240 other students from five schools in New England, New York, and Florida to help produce a large-scale, live film score recording, all with help from music business/management major Steve Dzialowski, from Belgium, also a Berklee senior.

credit: Penny Cherubino
caption: Phillis Wheatley at Boston Women’s Memorial.



For the past four years, Bostonians and tourists alike have been having fun with the women of Commonwealth Avenue Mall – Abigail Adams, Phillis Wheatley and Lucy Stone.

Images of the three, represented on the Boston Women’s Memorial, have been adorned with flowers, hats, and scarves. Visitors mimic their poses for souvenir photos. Children climb on them. And, in warm weather, it’s not unusual to see someone having lunch with one of the sculptures.

That’s exactly what planners hoped would happen. “Although each figure is engrossed in her thoughts and her work, they invite approach, contemplation and touch,” said sculptor Meredith Bergmann in her proposal for the commission.

When she walked the mall to see the setting for the project, Bergmann envisioned bringing these women down from their pedestals and allow them to use those pedestals for their own purposes – “a worktable, a desk, and a support for contemplation.” She also wished she knew more about the other statues in the park and therefore included a brief biography of each woman in her work.

The documents from the project allow a peek into the workings of a creative mind. These women would have been about 5’3”tall, but the artist chose to make them 6’4” so that they would be “a larger-than-life presence without making them overwhelming or grotesque when seen close up.”

She depicted the women at different ages, forming another symbolic circle. Phillis is portrayed at age 20, Lucy at 52, and Abigail at 65. Samples of the writings of each woman are carved into their granite supports, and people of all ages stop to read the excerpts.

The entire block, from Gloucester to Fairfield, celebrates the accomplishments of women. Those who are attentive while walking to and from the memorial, will discover more words worth reading. At the foot of each bench is an inspirational message from a woman — including a quote from tennis star Venus Williams and a passage from the Velveteen Rabbit by Margery Williams.

The bench quotes were selected by Beacon Street resident Harriet Lewis, who sponsored all the benches on the block. Each bench is dedicated to a person in her life, and the quote on its plaque is one that reminded her of that person. “I wanted people to pause when they read them. When someone is sitting there resting, they might have a few minutes to think and this quote might spur them to reflect,” said Lewis.

Another sponsor, the New England Women’s Club, added plantings to the story. They dedicated a tree to Julia Ward Howe, writer of the “Battle Hymn of the Republic.”

The benches, new trees, and Bergmann’s design have settled into the fabric of the neighborhood and become a favorite landmark. The memorial is a good place to meet friends because it’s a place for thought and education. You can study the writings of the three while you wait. Or you can sit on Phillis’ desk, lean next to Abigail or step up onto Lucy’s base for a better view.

Last summer, the sculptor returned to Boston to supervise a group of volunteers who carefully and lovingly waxed and polished the sculptures to preserve the finish. This and other ongoing care was planned and will be paid for from a maintenance endowment. Donations for this purpose may be made to the Fund for Parks & Recreation/Women's Memorial, 1010 Massachusetts Avenue, Boston 02118.

SIDEBAR:
Occasionally the Women’s Memorial has been vandalized. One pedestal has been damaged by a skateboarder. Spray paint had to be removed from the granite, and a few times the entire memorial was defaced with scribbles of sidewalk chalk. Earlier this week someone hung a political message on two of the statues.

Just how a home rule petition now on its way to the state legislature will affect bars, night clubs and other establishments holding liquor licenses is uncertain, but plenty of eyes are watching it.

“If it’s for the good of the public, then I’d be for it,” said Lir Irish Pub & Restaurant manager Declan Mehigan about the petition calling for third-party training and background checks of security staff at bars and clubs in Boston. But he has no comment now. “I’ll reserve that until I see exactly what the directives [given by the Boston Licensing Board] to the licensees are.”

Those directives may be long in coming, if they come at all, according to city and state officials. The petition, which was filed by Councillor Michael F. Flaherty, passed by the Boston City Council, signed by the mayor and filed at the state level by Representative Jamie Murphy, would require background checks for people performing the duties of security staff, including doormen, floor staff or other persons performing duties related to the admission of patrons and/or maintaining order and safety at bars, clubs, pubs, taverns or any other establishment licensed to serve alcoholic beverages. Such a background check would focus only on violent criminal history and, according to an executive order tacked on by Mayor Thomas Menino, would enable the Boston Licensing Board to immediately suspend the liquor license of any establishment that employees a violent felon.

The petition also would require establishments with three or more reported incidents of assault and battery by an employee on a patron to provide third-party training. During the last three years, more than 80 such incidents have been reported by the Boston Police, and it was this fact, in addition to hundreds of calls and complaints about employees’ behavior, that prompted Flaherty to file the petition.

Flaherty’s Policy and Communications Director Andrew Kenneally said the background checks would apply not only to bouncers but to any employee who is responsible for checking IDs. “People have called us to express concern that any employee who handles personal information about patrons be properly trained,” said Kenneally.

Daniel F. Pokaski, chairman of the Boston Licensing Board, said that, because of the way the bill is written, the requirement does technically apply to all licensed establishments. Although he thinks it would be difficult to limit it to specific places, he envisions the bill being aimed at bigger establishments that operate more like night clubs, such as Lir and Daisy Buchanan’s rather than smaller bars and restaurants.

However, Pokaski, who would be charged to set and distribute rules and regulations necessary to implement and enforce the bill if it passes at the state level, questions whether it is necessary. “We have great tools now to deal with the problems,” he said, referring to the licensing board’s power to revoke licenses or add restrictions to existing licenses. “This would add another layer.”

Pokaski said the licensing board would follow the home rule petition as it moves through the state process. If, and when, it passes, the commissioners will then add rules and regulations to it.

It’s those directives to the licensees that Lir’s Mehigan is waiting for. “We’ll have to see how it comes down,” he said. “But, it should be the same for everyone.”

credit: Penny Cherubino
caption:



These crocuses in a garden on Commonwealth Avenue did not need a calendar to know that the Vernal Equinox came this week. The crocus, one of the first flowers to bloom, more than a calendar, is a true harbinger of Spring.

We want officers on walking beats

Bostonians long for a return to community policing practices.

We’re not sure where they went. Police department officials for years have told us we still had community policing. But most people knew better, since they no longer saw the officers or knew them. The most to hope for was a patrol car going by. No officer was on foot.

Things are changing. Boston’s new police commissioner, Edward F. Davis, has said that the Boston Police Department will return to the practices that in the 1990s brought crime down. Newbury Street has had officers on a walking beat for about a year, and the Copley Square/Boylston Street area also has walking coverage. Davis said that Downtown Crossing will have them too.

An increase in walking beats came about the time more officers were added to the force. We are grateful to Davis for making a beat cop a priority. We missed getting to know the officers in the neighborhood. We feel safer — and Davis says we ARE safer — when cops get out of their cars and onto the sidewalks. The police officers who walk Newbury Street already have assisted catching several shoplifters.

At a recent meeting in the Back Bay, Davis gave a cogent comparison of community policing and “professional” policing.

In professional policing, officers sit in cars or drive around. When they get a radio call about a disturbance, they high-tail it to the scene. Their performance is measured by the number of arrests they make and prosecute.

But there is a problem with professional policing, said Davis. Research has shown that victims waited between five and seven minutes to call 911 after a crime had been committed. “We don’t get there when the criminal is still there,” he said. “It’s only the stupid ones who stick around. The chances of our catching them because of 911 is slim.”

In the 1990s, effective departments changed their strategy to what they called community policing. They focused on preventing crime rather than catching criminals after the fact.

In community policing officers are assigned to a territory to walk, or sometimes bike, a beat. They form relationships with such people as building inspectors, who often can pinpoint likely trouble spots. They learn who or what in the neighborhood causes trouble. Then they focus on removing or reducing the cause.

Crime went down in the 1990s with community policing. But Davis admits that Boston slipped back in its community policing efforts as crime increased, and as all of us who live downtown could observe.

Community policing requires a bigger staff. Back Bay is lucky to have beat cops, but not every Boston neighborhood has them.

We want these officers back in every neighborhood. Although Back Bay is not a high crime district, every shoplifting incident on Newbury Street, every mugging on Dartmouth and every incidence of graffiti makes it seem less safe.

We hope for the best from Commissioner Davis. He seems articulate and reasonable. He has been out meeting people in every neighborhood. Already the police department is more accessible to the press and to ordinary citizens. Police officers seem invigorated. His advocacy of community policing is refreshing. Every success Davis has in his efforts makes us safer and our city a happier place in which to live.