A few tweaks needed to great pond access proposals

The following letter was sent to the Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR).

Thank you for the wonderful proposals to improve access to Jamaica Pond (Feb. 5 JP Gazette). They will be a boon to pedestrians, bicyclists and JP residents alike. In the interest of making already great proposals even better, please consider these four minor suggestions:

1. Please DO make the safety island expansion at the junction of Francis Parkman and Kelley Circle curb-protected grass, rather than rubble-pavement. Cars in this area drive over anything that is not protected by a good solid granite curb (witness the tire ruts in the Arborway greens), making a rubble-pavement expansion of the safety island probably ineffective.

2. It seems we’re in for a long budget wait for the reconnect of Jamaica Pond and the Francis Parkman monument. In the meantime, for those of us who regularly pass this way, could you please consider removing one section of the metal guardrail directly across from the asphalt path leading up to the Monument? It would save us climbing over or under the guardrail as we currently must to access the monument from the Pond.

3. The Kelly Circle/Francis Parkman minipark area would really benefit from a re-alignment of the boulders lining the roadway. This shouldn’t take the DCR backhoe more than an afternoon to fix. I hope you can schedule it.

4. Crossing the outbound Arborway at Cataumet and Pond streets (where Georgina Tyman was struck and killed a few years ago) is still very dangerous, because cars turning right onto Pond do not respect the red light and often cannot see crossing pedestrians because of cars/trucks stopped in the middle and left lanes. Would you please consider making this turn no right on red?

Thank you very much for all the hard work you, state Rep. Jeffrey Sánchez, the Emerald Necklace Conservancy and your consultants have put into developing a truly excellent set of Jamaica Pond access improvement proposals.

Kevin Handly
Jamaica Plain

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