David Biele: As Rep, I will hold state agencies accountable

In 2014, the Massachusetts Legislature authorized $25 million to spend on transportation improvements in South Boston.  For over a year, officials from the City of Boston, MassDOT, Massport, and the Massachusetts Convention Center Authority (MCCA) conducted over 50 meetings across our community to gain community input and develop a plan of action on how to address the transportation needs in our community.

The final recommendations, known as the South Boston Waterfront Sustainable Transportation Plan, identified the following needs on our local streets:

·  Reduce congestion along South Boston streets; and

·  Install traffic calming measures to improve pedestrian safety and make those routes less desirable for cut through commuters.

In order to address these concerns, the Plan recommended implementing the following short-term fixes within three years:

·  Conduct a roadway safety audit on Day Boulevard;

·  New traffic signals at Day Boulevard, L Street, Columbia Road;

·  Implement lane management, restriping, pedestrian, and signal improvements along L Street corridor; and

·  Address safety at eight intersections in South Boston along Broadway, Dorchester Avenue, and Old Colony Avenue.

These recommendations were published in January 2015 to be implemented within three years.  It is now three years later and many of these recommendations have not been implemented by our transportation agencies, despite having the money and plans to do so.

What is frustrating for so many is that these solutions are well known, relatively easy to implement, and there is money to spend on them.  It is a fair question to ask why we have not seen these investments in our community to date.  

As your next State Representative, I will use every tool at my disposal to hold the executive branch of government and its agencies accountable to the people of South Boston.