Bike Winthrop 2022 Look Ahead:
Dear Council President Letterie & Members of the Town Council,
Since 2017, Bike Winthrop has hosted a series of annual family rides and community safety events in Winthrop. These events, such as our annual Spring Bike Kickoff and Halloween Costume Parade and Ride have been a huge and growing success. We are incredibly thankful for the support we have received from the Town of Winthrop, especially from WPD. Bike Winthrop has also been an advocate for improved bike infrastructure & policies, along with safety improvements for both bicyclists and pedestrians. In doing so we have been the lead Winthrop voice for extending the Mary Ellen Welch Greenway to Winthrop. Below we will outline Bike Winthrop’s plans & objectives for the year to both inform you of the fun we have planned, and to indicate areas where further collaboration can yield positive results for Winthrop.
2022 Bike Winthrop Events:
Spring Kickoff: May, 2022
– Bike Winthrop will host a Spring kick-off event this May which will include a Spring-themed fun-ride, safety and maintenance activities, and a BYO picnic.
Summer Beach Ride: Summer, 2022
– Bike Winthrop, in coordination with other groups, will be organizing a beach-themed and oriented family ride to highlight Winthrop’s beaches.
Halloween Costume Ride and Parade: October, 2022
– Bike Winthrop will host our annual Halloween festivities including a costume ride and children’s parade contest along with music, activities and food.
Solstice and Holiday Lights Ride: December, 2022
– Bike Winthrop will host the 2nd annual Holiday Lights/Solstice ride to celebrate the festivities of the season and the joys of winter biking..
2022 Objectives:
Mary Ellen Welch Greenway:
– As the direct recipient of the $87,000+ MassTrails design grant, the Town of Winthrop, in conjunction with the Friends of the Mary Ellen Welch Greenway (MEWGW), will be overseeing the next phase of the design work for the Winthrop Extension of the MEWGW. This project has the potential to connect the boardwalk and trails along Winthrop’s Morton Street section of Belle Isle Marsh with the MEGW which currently runs from Constitution Beach to Piers Park in East Boston (with plans to connect to Suffolk Downs and Revere Beach).
This is the product of a decades-long vision rooted in hometown advocacy and the result of steadfast advocacy from local groups such as ourselves and the Friends of Belle Isle Marsh. By creating a safe and enjoyable offstreet connection between Winthrop and surrounding transit, employment and recreational destinations throughout the region, the potential impact on Winthrop residents is enormous, both for commuting and recreational purposes. The Winthrop Town Council and Town Manager have a once in a generation opportunity to support the creation of this transformative public realm improvement that will provide substantial health and safety benefits to the people of Winthrop. Easy, measurable success on this front would be for the Town to unequivocally state to the Governor’s Office, Representative Turco, and Senator Edwards that seeing this connection built is a priority for the Town of Winthrop. Additionally, identifying and advocating for future funding opportunities for this project by the Town of Winthrop can make a tremendous positive impact on this project. Bike Winthrop, as always, stands ready and willing to assist with these efforts.
Safe Streets: Action and Policy:
– Action:
• Shared Streets and Complete Streets Funding: The Town Manager has recently discussed the opportunity to apply for Shared Streets funding for street safety improvements. Bike Winthrop supports the Town Manager’s efforts to make improvements that will improve safety for bicyclists and pedestrians. There are many low-hanging fruits to achieving these efforts, such as buttonactivated flashing crosswalk lights, digital speed response signs, and traffic calming measures where we know speeding and traffic conflicts are prevalent. Bike Winthrop also encourages the Town to apply for future Complete Streets Grants. Measurable success on this issue would be identifying priorities for this year’s grant that improve bike and pedestrian safety in key locations, applying for the grant, and completing projects where grant funding has been awarded.
• Lewis Lake Path: Bike Winthrop asks the town to move the ball forward in completing the long identified permeable pathway through the Lewis Lake Park connecting Veterans Rd. (the beach neighborhood) with River Rd (WHS/WMS/cemetary neighborhood). This path will create an important off-street connection for pedestrians and cyclists that will connect the newly improved Winthrop Center & public schools with the Lewis Lake/Daws Playground, Winthrop Beach and Point Shirley. This will also enable school-children, bicyclists, dog walkers and pedestrians traveling between these areas to do so safely and efficiently, while simultaneously enjoy this beautiful natural resource in our town. Measurable success on this front would be funding and completing initial design work in the upcoming fiscal year. This will enable the town to determine the cost of construction, to find avenues for savings, and to seek non-town funding.
– Policy:
• Complete Streets: Winthrop has already successfully enacted a Complete Streets Policy which unlocks funding for the Town of Winthrop and identifies a commitment to creating safer streets. Bike Winthrop believes that the next logical step is to follow through with the requirements and goals of the already enacted Complete Streets Policy. The primary task should be ensuring a proper scope of work for public works projects to reduce missed opportunities, and to increase the tax efficiency of public works projects. Measurable success would be establishing an official mechanism to ensure that all contracts involving non-emergency street or sidewalk work result in a final product that is in compliance with the Complete Streets Policy. The Complete Streets Policy, as written, envisions a committee to handle this task, but this is an area where direct Council oversight may be advisable.
Bike Winthrop
Christopher Aiello
Julia Wallerce
Bob Carroll
Sarah Jane Fourness
Peter Christopher
Janet Langley