Our city is not accessible. This is true in general, but especially for people with disabilities or who have reduced mobility of any kind. It is an issue we can directly address by increasing our commitment to DPW and long-term maintenance.

Most fundamentally we need to ensure level and accessible sidewalks throughout our city. Safe accessible sidewalks, especially those that connect other means of transportation are incredibly important and should be part of our city network plans.

I support more raised crossing in neighborhoods and permanent road narrowing at crossings. We also in general need to install speed bumps on roads where speeding and cut through traffic of neighborhoods remains prevalent.

Private land owners must also be reminded of their obligation to keep sidewalks clear of vegetation or snow. When this is not done, wheelchair users can be forced to bypass sections of sidewalk in the street, which is unsafe.

I also support traffic calming and enforcement measures that helps remind those who violate our road rules that their actions are dangerous for our community members. We must also enforce our traffic regulations, including issuing tickets to violators and issuing monetary penalties to drivers who are severe violators.

Cars are a primary form of transportation for many Somervillians. While alternate forms of transportation are seeing increased adoption, our streets must also accommodate cars.

It is important in our curb use decisions to remember that current personal vehicle usage requires neighborhood permit parking to be available. It also means that in squares and near services we need short-duration parking and pick-up /drop-off spaces for residents to be able to access businesses.

Somerville is in the process of transition most other cities are in—we are designed for a lot of cars and vehicular transportation and are slowly modernizing to make other forms of travel safe. We rightly recognized this a number of years ago and have begun building infrastructure like protected bike lanes, parking-protected bike lanes, and public ways, like the Community Path, that are pedestrian and cyclist-only. This modernization is in line with both how the city was already commuting and how we know it will be in the future.

I am committed to continuing Councilor Gómez Mouakad’s work on the Somerville Bicycle Network Plan and will be a strong advocate for conducting the rollout of this plan. This includes sponsoring an ordinance similar to Cambridge that requires the upgrading of bike infrastructure on streets on the plan when they are repaved.

I support expanding the Blue Bikes network to include electric bicycles

We also need to uphold our commitment to Vision Zero; we need to make sure that people can go about our city without fear of injury or death; we need to complete the essential infrastructure projects the city has planned to get there.

For lengthly and detailed information on my bike policies check out my Somerville Bike Safety Questionnaire responses: https://somervillebikesafety.org/somerville-city-election-2023/

As a frequent MBTA bus, Red, and Green Line user, I know we have a lot of work to do to make buses and the T again a reliable part of our public transportation network. As a Councilor, the role as I see it is two-fold: we must work to improve municipal infrastructure accessibility and affordability and support our state delegation to advocate for changes to policy and budgeting for the MBTA at the state level.

Firstly, while MBTA transit may be state-run there is a lot the city can do to make using them more accessible and convenient to use. It is especially important that we upgrade infrastructure given that the new bus network design increases the frequency on a number of Somerville routes like the 101 and 96. The improved reliability of the routes which are most central are important for our city, and will improve ridership. As I myself know, waiting for a bus that never comes—or comes so late to be of no or little use—discourages ridership and makes our community more reliant on vehicular travel. We need to also better connect our bus routes by continuing the rollout of the bicycle network plan and repairing sidewalks that connect bus, bike, and subway routes.

As a city, we need to ensure that bus stops are safe from congestion and not illegally parked in. We need to create proper seating at stations, night lighting, and provide sheltering from the elements, especially on routes that now see reduced service or now have later night traffic.

Municipalities must work with the MBTA to give feedback as to how we will best be served. That includes the obvious speed issues along the Green Line. I am glad for the advocacy Councilor Neufeld had on ensuring Clarendon Hill residents remain with access to essential routes. While that particular building is not within Ward 5 I remain committed to working with our city’s population which is most reliant on buses to ensure they see retained and expanded access. I closely observed the work Representatives Barber and Connolly undertook to advocate for the restoration of some routes and frequencies and will continue to work with our state delegation to create an optimal bus network.

I will be committed to doing the state advocacy component of the role of a Councilor. This plan is part of the enormous nearly $10 billion dollar capital improvement plan that itself only came about due to intense and hard-fought advocacy. I will work with advocates to ensure that such funding continues, and then when it is allocated it is spent most effectively and in line with our Vision Zero and long-term climate goals.

Somerville continues to have a number of transportation gaps