Dear Friends,
I was starting to think we’d have to become Friends of the Tundra, but I have it on good authority that the ground is under there somewhere.
Construction: How’s it Going?
Short answer: Fantastic! The contractors are hard at work and on schedule.
Scenes:
Gosh That’s A Lot of Construction
We have an Interim Parks & Recreation Commissioner, Mark Welch. He says, “At this time the Albemarle project is still on track to be completed this Fall. Some of the natural grass areas will need some time to establish before play on them can start, but otherwise the project timeline we have been provided by our contractor has it completed this Fall.
We expect it to be another great season at Gath. No major changes are in store. We are currently working on our summer schedule.”
Traffic: Signalization IS Coming – in 2030
Stoplights are planned for the accident-prone Crafts and Albemarle:
Newton’s Transportation Director Jenn Martin says, “Construction is now targeted for FFY 2030. See the recent Transportation Improvement Plan (TIP) amendment from January 15 (*search for Horace Mann as it is a Safe Routes to School fund). The project is now budgeted at $1,762,238.”
….But wait, do I have to do anything?
Yep. Your support will be needed. Making this intersection safer at all points will be a community effort. Design will need more funding in order to make the signalization work with the whole intersection. We will all need to work together on this.
Back-In Parking: But Does it Work in the Winter
Yes. It does! It works on icy roads and amid snow banks. Thank you DPW for keeping it clear and thank you drivers for back-in parking safe, effective, and 100% consistent.
Check out the Winter Back-In Parking
Cheesecake Brook Has Eels and Sunfish and Suckers
Guess what? This month marks our first guest post! It’s all about what’s living in our wetland area. The Executive Director of the Native Fish Coalition, Bob Mallard, authored an article for us and provided pictures of the studies of Cheesecake Brook. He says, “To date NFC and our partners have captured 9 native white suckers, 15 non-native carp, 6 American eels, 1 native pumpkinseed sunfish, 1 native crayfish, and a few green frogs in Cheesecake Brook upstream of the cement slab.”
They are doing more work in 2026 and yes…they will need your help!
People Updates:
Welcoming our new mayor, Marc Laredo!
We said farewell to Nicole Banks, who was a huge help as former Commissioner of Parks & Rec, and is now helping parks in California.
Josh Morse has also been a huge help in making our buildings great as former Building Commissioner, and he is now our city’s COO.
We also welcomed many new City Council members. Get to know ’em!
Views
Brrrrrr….Our beautiful woods and fields in the snow!
This Turf Is Made For Skiin, And That’s Just What It’ll Do…
TOTE BAGS
We still have some beautiful tote bags available!
Please follow these steps to let us know if you’d like one:
Stay warm, stay green and keep moving!
Cedar
Friends of Albemarle 