THURSDAY APRIL 25, 2024
SOUTH BOSTON ONLINE
VOLUME XIX- ISSUE 74
SBTAP, Street Usage Update by Rick Winterson
T
wo weeks ago, we covered a meeting that was organized by District 2 City Councilor Ed Flynn at the Condon Communit y Center. The meeting took place, in-person originally scheduled by the City of Boston BPDA/BTD that had suddenly been cancelled. Flynn used his impromptu meeting to gather South Boston’s reactions to SBTAP (the “South Boston Transportation Action Plan”), which was being developed for South Boston by the BPDA/ BTD. The comments from those who attended Flynn’s meeting were almost uniformly negative. Since then, South Boston Online has met with Councilor Flynn and his Chief of Staff Charlie Levin to further clarify the situation with SBTA P. In this meeting, Councilor
Flynn once again stated his firm opposition to SBATP as proposed, which agrees with the opinions plainly expressed by residents of South Boston at Flynn’s previous in-person meeting. He enlarged upon one of his basic objections to SBTAP: Assigning lanes as recommended by BPDA/BTD would hinder emergency vehicles (fire engines, police cars, ambulances) in transit. He pointed out that East and West Broadway are already crowded at times, due to MBTA buses, trucks loading/ u n loa d i n g , a nd ord i n a r y shoppi ng a nd c om mut i ng traffic. SBTAP could make this much worse in an emergency. It’s true that speeding occurs along Broadway and L Street/ Summer Street. Pedestrians are often endangered. Councilor Flynn recognizes this and he has advocated for lower speed Continued on Page 2
A Run for the Tierney Center
O
ne d ay a f ter thousands of runners trekked 26.2 miles from Hopkinton to the Back Bay finish line, The Anne M. Lynch Homes at Old Colony hosted a shorter fun run involving runners who work for Beacon Communities, team members from the Tierney Learning Center (TLC), and kids from the community center
to show support for the Run for Tierney Boston Marathon team. The marathon team, consisting of Beacon team members, TLC staff, and TLC partners, will donate 100% of the money they raise to programs and services at the TLC that promote education, empowerment and self-sufficiency for families living at Old Colony. “The inspiration for this fun run stems from a team of dedicated runners participating in the Boston Marathon on behalf of the Tierney Learning Center. We wanted the children to get a glimpse into the marathon atmosphere and foster enthusiasm as they obser ve the community’s support for the Tierney Learning Center,” said Jenn Boylan, Community E n g a g e me nt Di re c tor of Progra m Implement at ion at B e a c on C om mu n it ie s. The Anne M. Lynch Homes Continued on Page 6