Coming Up Roses

Dear Friends, 

Happy Spring! 

There is so much good news at Albemarle that I’ve decided to write this newsletter entirely in lists. 

The lists are organized by the following categories:

1. Pool

2. Traffic

3. Fields

1. Pool

Fantastic progress on the pools!

  • Unanimous approval of $5,834,362 in funding to renovate Gath pool  – by CPC (Community Preservation Committee) on 3/14/23
  • Unanimous approval of site plan and design – by the DRC (Design Review Committee) on 3/29/23

Anyone else ever been told that this would never happen? It’s happening.

Expected groundbreaking: Sept 2023 with completion by June 2024

We are VERY excited about the pool design! Some of what we love:

  • A recreation pool with two walking lanes, a water slide, and fun water features
  • A separate competitive lap pool with 8 lanes that evenly descend from a 4-foot to 12-foot depth
  • Zero entry ramp access to each pool 
  • Diving boards in the lap pool
  • Both bathhouse and pools will be universally accessible
  • Splash pad with multiple play and cooling-off features, open in May and September as well as all summer
  • Improved bathhouse design with direct access to pool, better bathrooms, ramp access

We think this current design will meet the needs of the community as broadly as possible.Project website

2. Traffic

Great news! 

  • 20 MPH Safety Zone approved for the Albemarle corridor and surrounding area – thank you petition signers!
  • Albemarle between North and Crafts continues to be closed off to cars
  • Excellent attendance at the Traffic Calming Project Meeting on 4/3 with many residents, FoA members, City Councilors, and NPS employees and enthusiastic support for slowing down speeding drivers [meeting presentation here]
  • Traffic Calming measures set to be installed by August 2023 along Albemarle that includes speed cushions, flex posts, painting in bike boxes and a new head-out MUCH SAFER parking approach  – see our letter of support here. 
  • Other items requested by Friends of Albemarle also in development

Excited that things are moving toward a better and safer experience for all moving through the area, whether walking, biking, rolling, driving or other!

Project website

3. Fields

This is happening, too. 

  • Unanimous approval of $6,300,000 in funding to renovate Albemarle  – by CPC (Community Preservation Committee) on 4/11/23 (tonight!)

We got to walk with Newton Director of Parks and Open Space, Luis Perez Demorizi, and get a sense of the design first-hand. It’s going to be fantastic.

Highlights from the new design that we love:

Expected groundbreaking: Fall 2024

4. View from Albemarle:

Tracks are down and the runners are ready!

Phew! It’s a lot, right? But there’s room for one more list!

  • Thank you to the City Councilors, Mayor and committee members who are funding and championing this city asset
  • Thank you to Newton Parks, Recreation and Culture, who are working around the clock to bring all this vision to fruition
  • Thank you to the Department of Public Works and of Transportation for their work to make it a safer destination and homebase for all of us
  • And THANK YOU for all of YOUR hard work to make Albemarle shine! 

Pssst – and don’t forget – Pick up your beautiful Friends of Albemarle car magnet by leaving 5 dollars in the side porch at 29 North St. per magnet!

Our Support for the Traffic Calming Plan

We want to express our strong support for the Traffic Calming plan, which has received significant public input during the development period over the last few years, including from our organization.

Our 501(c)3 nonprofit, Friends of Albemarle, launched in January 2021 and represents all 8 wards of the city. We collaborate closely with Newton city departments and have more than 500 members throughout Newton, including more than half of City Council.

Everyone who enjoys, uses, commutes, exercises, or appreciates Albemarle is at risk due to the unsafe driving in the area. They include residents, visitors, seniors, athletes, spectators and our own children, and have all experienced the dangers of the road’s design that may have made sense years ago when cars were smaller, but now feels reckless when witnessing people load their kids into their cars and then, with little to no visibility, back into a traffic flow that includes other cars and children on bikes; and buses that must double-park in order to protect riders.  

Given that pedestrians are at greater risk than ever – with a 35% increase in pedestrian deaths across MA in 2022 – and high-speed, high-risk driving is increasing with dramatic results in our neighborhood – we embrace any step that Newton can take quickly towards a safer roadway.

Every bit of progress at Albemarle has a meaningful impact. This critical walking/biking route for Newton’s largest middle school, F.A. Day Middle School, is also used by students going to Newton North and Horace Mann. The schools combined enroll 4,000 children, along with abutters Fessenden and NECP, a city-wide preschool. Albemarle contains the athletic field that is the most heavily-used in the city. The impending renovation of Gath Pool will make Newton’s only outdoor pool into a water complex visited by even more than the current 30,000 visitors per summer. The special events at Albemarle bring tens of thousands at a time, from all over Newton and beyond. And the environmental impacts in this space have a long reach, including a creek that is a tributary of the Charles River and Atlantic Ocean.

Traffic calming measures are not always seen as popular, because they include things that are considered inconvenient, such as speed cushions and back-in parking. But the alternative of keeping current parking systems and speeding capabilities along this stretch of road is not acceptable. Every step we can take to strengthen safety along that highly-used corridor is going to be valuable for the lives of everyone in the area. 

The City of Newton has a responsibility to ensure that people are able to walk, bike and drive to Albemarle and the surrounding area without such clear and present danger. In fact, we know that the city and community should provide incentives for children to walk and bike safely in Newton. As we all know, this is a trial and we need to learn what works, particularly with so much upcoming change to the park in terms of the pool and fields.

As we have in the past, Friends of Albemarle plans to help participate in community engagement to help people adjust to these changes. We have prioritized safety at the Crafts intersection and appreciate the city’s work to advance solutions.

We are grateful that our city councilors are our partners to improving safety and we look forward to further improvements and value their leadership and engagement in this issue.

The Traffic Calming Measures at Albemarle will help us take the next step toward removing the fear and anxiety that is too often and unnecessarily present in our neighborhood and the risk experienced by everyone using Albemarle.

Sincerely,

The Board of the Friends of Albemarle

What’s the Deal with Synthetic Turf?

We sometimes get asked if we have concerns about placing a single synthetic turf field in one particular location at Albemarle, along Crafts St. We don’t.

Note that “we” in this case describes the Board, and includes many, but not all, members of the Friends of Albemarle. This is an issue which has two reasonable sides.

We think the best metaphor is an asphalt road versus a dirt road. We like dirt roads – except in high-volume locations where there is so much traffic that the dirt road must be periodically shut down. That’s what the field at Crafts is – a beautiful grass field that gets the MOST USE of any field, outside of the school fields, in the ENTIRE CITY of Newton. Both in time permitted, and in community use; whether it’s athletic use for cricket, Ultimate, football, soccer, lacrosse, Day Middle School student use in PE; or in use by the community as part of cross country skiing, snowshoeing, birdwatching, nature trails, or celebrations like Indigenous People’s Day or July 4th – this field sees it all.

It gets so much use that it requires lots of irrigation, creates lots of run-off, needs a lot of maintenance, and especially when Albemarle is in even more demand, will not be able to operate regularly due to high foot traffic. We think turf will provide our community with a highly functional space for a wide range of healthy outdoor recreation.

If we DO have concerns, they are mostly about access. If it is turf, then NNHS will get priority use, and we would want to have community access also ensured. But regardless of access, we think turf is the best surface for this two-acre field along Crafts St.

Here’s why:

Out of Newton’s 119 acres of public playing fields, Albemarle would raise the total turf to 8 acres. That’s just 6.7% of Newton’s fields – 2 turf fields at Newton South HS, 1 at Newton North HS, and 1 at Albemarle. We think that percentage is acceptable for a city of 90,000 people.

It would be the only turf field that is not at a school. This enables greater community use.

Having a turf field means far less water use and run off into Cheesecake Brook, part of an ecological wetland that connects to the Charles River and from there into the Atlantic Ocean. Modern turf is permeable and rain will infiltrate down into the ground.

A turf field means that irrigation efforts can be better focused on the rest of Albemarle.

Turf technology is evolving, becoming healthier, safer, better for play and more environmentally sound.

Synthetic turf is also more playable across the New England seasons than natural grass, thus expanding use on currently available land.

Without synthetic turf at Albemarle, the multipurpose field will likely suffer both many closures and increased water use, especially with the new modern lights.  More use is expected at Albemarle as a result of the replacement of the field lights.

Some opponents to this material mention the negative effects of the chemicals used in synthetic turf, but they are very commonly used; if we’re going to ban these chemicals at Albemarle, we need to be consistent and ban them throughout our households across the city. Synthetic turf does not expose users to more risk than something like toothpaste or toilet paper.

Funding?

The Community Preservation Committee (CPC) is not being asked for funding for synthetic turf. Instead, any CPC funding received will be directed toward things like fields, pathways, lights, courts, trees, fences, rain gardens and signage. Funding for turf will be determined later in the process.

Traffic Meeting – Monday 4/3 – 6pm

Dear Friends,

Great news – Newton’s Traffic Council approved a 20 MPH Safety Zone around Albemarle last week. This is a first step toward safer movement for everyone in the area. THANK YOU, Friends of Albemarle, for taking action and signing the petition!

Next Monday Meeting Update: Traffic Calming at Albemarle 

There’s an online meeting this Monday and we hope you all can go. 

If you can’t, please review the below and reach out with your thoughts to: 

jostroff@newtonma.gov  

You’ll reach Newton’s new Director of Transportation Josh Ostroff, who writes:

Next Monday, April 3, 2023 at 6:00 PM the City of Newton Planning Department will host an online public information meeting to share the proposed design for the Albemarle Traffic Calming project. Along with our consulting partners at Neighborways we will be presenting the proposed design for this project, along with the history and context, the timing of construction, an update on short-term and longer-term improvements to Albemarle and Crafts, and our outreach strategy for this summer to help make this important safety-focused project a success.

Following this meeting and the input we receive, we will be bringing this proposal to the Public Facilities Committee for required approvals, with the intention for it to be put out to bid and constructed in August. We are also developing a public outreach and communications plan to help ensure the success of this effort.This is a temporary installation of traffic calming devices that is funded with a state grant for this purpose. We will learn from the experience and propose more permanent measures. It’s also complemented by the signal project at Crafts and Albemarle which we will touch on in the meeting.

—

Thank you everyone for your hard work and for raising your voice on this important issue. Let’s keep doing it until Albemarle is safe for walkers, cyclists, drivers and everyone else!

Letter From Youth Sports Leader: About Turf

City Councilors,

I will be attending the public hearing of the Programs and Services Committee tomorrow night to learn more about the citizen petition to enact a moratorium on turf fields in Newton.

As a resident, father of three children, and a director of a youth sports program in the City, I am firmly against this petition. Simply put, we need more fields for more play, more often. Turf fields are an essential part of this equation.

Eliminating turf fields may be intended to protect player safety and rein in city budgets. However, the following things will happen if turf fields are banned in the City:

1. Fewer players will be able to compete on Newton’s sports teams. This is a simple issue of math. With fewer fields to play on–and less time to play on them, as grass requires more rest than turf–there will be limited spots for youth programs. This is not good for the health or wellness of young people in the city, especially given all of the mental health impacts of the pandemic. Now is a time to be opening up programs for more players, not restricting their growth.

2. The cost of playing youth sports will go up. This is because leagues will be forced to find turf fields in and around the city–and there are more than enough private facilities willing to rent out for a significant fee. The city may not be on the hook for these costs, but individual families will be.

3. Some programs may vanish completely. If turf fields are eliminated, my ultimate frisbee program, which last fall reached 150+ players in grades K-12, would have a very difficult time finding spots to play, as our field needs are filled well behind soccer and other Newton-based field sports. (Field space is currently the #1 barrier to the growth of my program.) I don’t even use turf fields–but I rely on them to create playing opportunities for other sports leagues so that I can get the (very small) amount of fieldspace that I need.

If the city does in fact want to ban turf, then I hope they are willing to create more open, green space to mitigate the impact of the ban. One option would be to clear space in Webster Woods for grass fields. Or, perhaps the city would be willing to purchase the Dudley Road estate as the future site of a youth sports complex. Assuming that neither option is very palatable, turf remains the best, most efficient option to supporting the needs of youth athletes across the city.

Respectfully

Burt

<><><><><><><><><><><><><><>

Burt Granofsky

Boston Ultimate Disc Alliance

Head Coach, Newton Youth Ultimate

www.buda.org

Make It Safer: A Petition

Dear Mayor Fuller,

What is the responsibility of a community to address an intersection that the state recognizes as a “High-Crash Cluster”? The posts, bridges and signs at Albemarle/Crafts tell the story of that designation, as they lie broken, flattened and splintered by cars unable to proceed safely through—and yet this cluster is part and parcel with North/Albemarle and North/Crafts, a trio of high-risk spaces in a community where many people walk and bike.

Risks at Albemarle are local…

The Newton residents who live within blocks of Albemarle are routinely unsettled by high-speed crashes, pedestrian near-misses, hearing squealing brakes and crunching metal. Cedar Pruitt reflects, “My daughter crosses North/Crafts twice a day, only ever at the walk light, and has video after video of not just one or two cars running the red light while she stands in the intersection…but three cars. Next year, my son will attend Day Middle. Should I drive him instead of let him walk?”

One resident has started doing just that; driving her children to Day and Horace Mann, adding to the traffic and yet saying, “We can’t imagine letting them walk those few blocks to school anymore. It’s just not safe.”

But drivers in this triangle aren’t safe, either. Resident Richard Dinjian says, “Driving on Crafts both today and yesterday I had cars coming from Albemarle not only NOT stop at the intersection but…actually accelerate straight through the stop sign in order to get in front of me. It’s insane!”

Many of the recent accidents, including from the past week, are documented on the Friends of Albemarle blog. Local residents reflect the fear and concern felt by many in the area. “I hope it doesn’t take a fatality before the City takes action,” says Matt Mazer. And fellow Maynard St. resident Dan Evans quips of the unsettling regular sight of wreckage, “I could probably build a car out of the spare pieces found on North, Crafts, and Albemarle Streets.” 

…and city-wide, and beyond.

The risks at Albemarle impact much more, though, than local residents. This space is undeniably a city asset. The athletic fields are the most heavily-used in the city. Day Middle School is the largest middle school with 1,000 children and almost 200 staff. The NECP preschool is an all-city venture. The impending renovation of Gath Pool will make the city’s only outdoor pool into a water complex that draws even more than the current 30,000 visitors per summer. The special events at Albemarle draw tens of thousands at a time, from all over Newton and beyond. And the environmental impacts in this space have a long reach, including a creek that is a tributary of the Charles River and Atlantic Ocean.

Everyone who enjoys, uses, commutes, exercises, or appreciates Albemarle is at risk due to the unsafe driving in the area. This critical walking/biking route for F.A. Day Middle School is also used by students going to Newton North and Horace Mann. The schools combined enroll 4,000 children. And the opening of NECP in January 2023 resulted in increased vehicular traffic overlapping with F.A. Day arrival and dismissal.

What can we do?

Attached you’ll find a petition for change signed by 203 Newton residents and taxpayers. Immediate short-term action is needed while we wait for the $861,962 Safe Routes to School Infrastructure grant to make improvements in FY 2025 (https://hwy.massdot.state.ma.us/projectinfo/projectinfo.asp?num=607977). 

The Roadway Safety Audit done in Spring 2022 by Howard Stein Hudson (https://drive.google.com/file/d/1_UfHibkm_r-l8YKSmWWXxforxlta-wRL/view) identified many safety issues across the following six categories:

  1. Speed Limits and School Zoning
  2. Intersection Geometry and Conflict Points
  3. Lighting
  4. Pedestrian and Bicycle Accommodations
  5. Intersection Signalization
  6. Drainage

It also offered 34 recommendations, including some that can be implemented at low cost and/or in the near-term. We need 20 MPH safety zones on Crafts and Watertown streets that include their intersections with Albemarle, through the Eddy/Eliot intersection, and signage that clearly alerts all drivers of these limits. We also support directed patrols with demonstrable increased ticketing for running red lights and driving at high speeds, especially during F.A. Day arrival/dismissal. 

We also need swift action to install lighting, and measures taken to reduce vehicle speed and other infrastructure as outlined in the Mass DOT Road Safety Audit.

We ask that a committee determine urgently, by Friday March 17, what solutions from this list of recommendations that can be undertaken in 2023 to bring much-needed ease to this scary situation.

The City of Newton has a responsibility to ensure that people are able to walk, bike and drive to Albemarle and the surrounding area without such clear and present danger.

Sincerely,

The Board of the Friends of Albemarle

(Names and addresses)

Appendix:

Letter in Support of Gath Pool Funding

To the Community Preservation Committee,

We’re excited about the progress that is being made on renovating Gath Pool. We advocate for moving forward rapidly with investment into this citywide asset and community resource that impacts all of Newton. We appreciate the work and effort taken thus far and look forward to investing time and energy into the completion of the project. Thank you for your time and willingness to help make this resource something that can serve Newton residents for generations to come.

Gath Pool has a significant impact on the daily life and health of our community and needs prompt and urgent attention to continue working. The badly needed updates will make it functional, accessible to our community and deeply appreciated for decades.

Our 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, Friends of Albemarle, launched in January 2021 with Gath Pool restoration as the leading priority, and represents all 8 wards of the city. We collaborate closely with Newton Parks, Recreation and Culture. We now stand at 500 members throughout Newton, including more than half of City Council, with members eager to champion Gath Pool as an indispensable part of Newton life.

As the pool ages and falls into further disrepair, we are continually alarmed about our community’s ability to use it even through the coming summer. Thank you for your serious consideration of funding for the bulk of the renovation of Gath Pool. We are deeply appreciative.

Sincerely,
The Board of Friends of Albemarle

More than a fender-bender

There’s so much exciting progress happening at Albemarle that it seems like a shame to spend time publicizing the cars that crash into it, but if we can’t improve the traffic situation, we will never be able to enjoy the pool, forest, fields or playgrounds. Here’s the scene from Wednesday February 8 on North street and Albemarle road. Is it from a high-speed chase in the middle of the night? No…just a regular early evening in a trio of unsafe intersections.