The Swellesley Report

More than you really want to know about Wellesley, Mass.

Drivers in Wellesley face potential Cliff Road delays on Wednesday and Thursday

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wellesley policeUPDATE From the Wellesley Police Department:

The Town of Wellesley has rescheduled paving work on Cliff Road for Wednesday and Thursday this week, August 15 and 16, primarily due to weather concerns.  Previously, the work had been scheduled for Tuesday, August 14, but that has now been changed.

Work will begin at 7am on both days, and will involve all of Cliff Road.  Detours will be in place, but delays are expected.

On WEDNESDAY, August 15 and THURSDAY, August 16, 2018, the Town of Wellesley will be repaving a majority of Cliff Road.  Work is expected to begin at 7am on both days, and should conclude by 5pm.   The work will disrupt both the morning and evening commutes.

There will be detours and police officers in place while the repaving work is done.  Traffic on Cliff Road and some surrounding streets will be impacted, and there will be delays due to these detours and lane closures.  Please avoid the area of Cliff Road if possible on Wednesday and Thursday.

Questions about the paving process may be directed to the DPW Engineering Division at 781-235-7600, extension 3315.

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Washington Street reconstruction continues on in Wellesley

 

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Linden Square Summer Sale ad Swellesley

Washington Street reconstruction continues on in Wellesley

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If you’re on vacation right now, sitting on a Cape Cod beach or enjoying a shady spot on a cool lake, you’re not missing much here in Wellesley. It’s going to be a heck of a hot week, with temperatures predicted to soar up to the high 90s. While you’re off gallivanting, the Department of Public Works has the Washington Street reconstruction project in full swing. Can’t say it’s been much bother since traffic is summer-light. I took these pics at 4:30pm on a Monday, and the streets were almost as clear as the sky.

Washington St. construction project, looking toward Wellesley Hills. The Police Department is visible on the left.

The work to be accomplished includes:  replacement of sidewalk panels and ramps, removal and replacement of damaged crosswalks, milling and overlaying pavement, signage, pavement markings and other incidental work. The work will be accomplished by P.J. Keating Company and their subcontractors, under the direction of the Town of Wellesley Department of Public Works.  The work is scheduled to be completed in October.

 

Washington St., Wellesley
This shot was taken nearby and on the same side as the Police Department, facing toward Wellesley Square. Tolles Parsons Center is visible on the left.

Work takes place Monday through Friday, 7am –  5pm, and police details will be on-site during the project construction to minimize impacts to traffic, parking, and other roadway functions.  A minimum of one lane of traffic in each direction will be maintained throughout the majority of the project.

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Wellesley could soon be crawling with Ant bikes

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ant wellesley bikes
Ant dockless bikes at July Jubilation in Wellesley Square

 

Wellesley wasn’t among the more than dozen communities selected to take part in a dockless bike rental system involving the Metropolitan Area Planning Council, but such bicycles have nonetheless started to roll into town.

Ant Bicycle’s signature green bikes were on display at Wellesley Square’s July Jubilation, and a look at the Ant app shows a handful of the borrowable vehicles scattered around Wellesley.

Bikes have been popping up at places like the Wellesley Hills train station and Linden Square.

ant bikes at wellesley hills station
Wellesley Hills train station

 

ant bike linden square
Linden Square

 

If you’re not familiar with dockless bikes, here’s the upshot: You download an app on your phone, put in your payment info and then you can locate available bikes, ride them and leave them in a legal spot for the next person to rent (the app uses scanning technology that unlocks the bikes for use). Ant charges $1 per hour, though note there are steep charges if you park a bike illegally or wreck one.

Here’s a look at where bikes were located in Wellesley over the weekend.

ant wellesley bikes

 

Bikes from Ant, LimeBike and others are an alternative to docked bikes, like the Blue Bikes you might see around Boston, that are picked up and left at dedicated bike racks. Ant and other dockless bikes provide convenience by allowing bikes to be left almost anywhere, but have also generated controversy when people dump them in inappropriate places. Communities have confiscated nuisance bikes, and some of dockless bikes have wound up underwater.

Let us know if you’ve given one of these bikes a spin in Wellesley and how it went…

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Why the MBTA has cut down hundreds of Wellesley trees

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Anybody who takes the commuter rail from Wellesley Square, Wellesley Hills, or Wellesley Farms hasn’t been able to miss the tree removal work that MBTA contractors have been doing lately. We got an email from a chagrined reader who characterized the work as a “horrible hack job” and noted that although “Our property doesn’t abut the tracks, we feel badly for those who do.”

Wellesley Square, MBTA
I counted over 70 trees cut down from one end of the Wellesley Square inbound side of the train platform to the next. This picture shows a structure on the outbound side of the tracks. Several other properties have lost a substantial amount of green barrier between their property and the tracks.

I went down and took a look. Indeed, it’s not pretty. Here’s what I saw on my tour of the Wellesley Square, Hills, and Farms stops. First off, there were the 70+ trees down at the Square. From there I drove down to the Hills stop via Washington St. As I crawled along, craning my neck for a good look at the tracks area, I could discern even more carnage. I couldn’t get out and do a rough count because first off it’s not safe to do so along that stretch, and secondly if I did so I would most likely be trespassing. From my car I saw multiple stumps and lots of wood chips.

Once I got to the Hills stop I walked from one end of the platform to the other and counted another 50 trees down, all on the outbound side. This was a conservative count.

Then it was on to the Farms stop, which also didn’t escape the operation but instead experienced tree removal on the inbound side. I counted about 10 trees down as I patrolled that platform, including trees that were cut down nearby the pond. When I climbed the stairs to the bridge, there were substantial wood chips that stretched as far to Boston as I could see.

Wellesley Farms, into Boston
Stumps and wood chips, as far as the eye can see on the way into Boston. From the Wellesley Farms stop.

Here’s the upshot: hundreds of trees have been removed in Wellesley alone, some in environmentally sensitive areas. Since this project covers the entire Worcester line, there have likely been hundreds more removed up and down the tracks.

Compelling project

The project to remove trees and vegetation within the MBTA’s right-of-way has been in the works since before June 2016, when according to the Natural Resources Commission (NRC), the Wetlands Protection Commission (WPC) reviewed the MBTA’s request and determined that the areas slated for work were protected under the Massachusetts Right-of-Way Management regulations and were therefore exempt from Wetlands regulations. Because of that exemption, the WPC approved the plan. “Compelled” to do so was the word the WPC used, as in, they were, “compelled to vote to issue a Negative Determination of Applicability.”

What that means is that WPC Administrator Linda Hansen had to concede that Wellesley rules about Wellesley’s environmentally sensitive areas simply do not apply to the MBTA when it comes to that agency maintaining the tracks for safety reasons.  The [Read more…]

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