By Melissa Moore-Randall
As Revere continues to make bike and pedestrian safety a priority, the city’s Planning and Community Development office is working on a Bike/Ped Master Plan in collaboration with the MAPC. The MAPC, Metropolitan Area Planning Council, is a government research organization that promotes smart growth and regional collaboration. In addition, they will incorporate The Landline Greenway Network which is a plan by MAPC to create a bike/ped network that connects cities throughout the Metro Boston region.
On the City side, Tom Skwierawski, Chief of Planning and Community Development, and Julie DeMauro, Transportation Manager, will be working alongside Marah Holland (Senior Transportation Planner), Julia Wallerce (Assistant Director of Transportation), and Najee Nunnally (Community Engagement Specialist II) of the MAPC who are the lead consultants of the project.
According to Skwierawski, “The goal of this plan is twofold. First, we would like to create a holistic and logical vision that will inform city investments in bike and pedestrian safety in the city. We want to provide reasonable alternatives to driving in the city, but know we’ve got a lot of work to do to get there. Busy state-owned roads that separate our neighborhoods, limited bicycle accommodations, and local roads that are designed for cars, not people. This plan will help us develop a vision for how to safely connect our neighborhoods, making Revere a safer, better place for everyone.”
“Second, we want to create a vision that the community can get behind. We know there are thousands of people in the community that already rely on walking and biking to get around, and thousands more that would do so if the city was better built to support it. We want to elevate those voices and work to develop consensus on where and how we should invest in safer conditions for biking, walking, and rolling in the city.”
The plan will consist of five elements and should be complete by June 2025. This plan will be used as a tool to help guide municipal investment, and to help spur state and federal investment in Revere.
The five elements include (1) A review of existing conditions for bikes and pedestrians today; (2) Community Engagement to gather resident input on the plan; (3) A local “network plan” to create a connected system of off and on-road accommodations for bikes and pedestrians; (4) Connect Revere with MAPC’s regional Landline Greenway Network; and (5) Work with an engineering firm to develop conceptual design recommendations for 3-4 locations identified in the plan.
There are applications open to join the Bike/Ped Working Group. It’s a short application that can be found at
https://mapc.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_3eXwqAC3EZeU9y6.
Applications will stay open until May 15th.
