By Journal Staff
The Revere Traffic Commission held its regular monthly meeting on Thursday, February 19, in the City Councillor Joseph A. Del Grosso Council Chambers of Revere City Hall.
DPW Director Christopher Ciaramella presided over the session that was attended by Executive Officer Glenn Malley (representing Police Chief Maria LaVita), Fire Chief James Cullen, and Chief of Planning and Community Development Tom Skwierawski.
The commission conducted a number of public hearings into requests to amend the city’s traffic and parking ordinances.
The first three hearings pertained to requests to add handicapped parking spots at 27 Avon St., 59 Cooledge St., and 11 Wave Ave. The commissioners unanimously approved the applications.
The next matter was a request to make a number of changes to the present on-street parking allowances and restrictions on Everard St. in the vicinity of the Beachmont Veterans Memorial School.
Julie DeMauro from the city’s Department of Planning and Community Development presented the application. “This has to do with the Safe Routes to School program for which the city has received a grant of $1.4 million for the reconstruction of streets and sidewalks for Everard St., Belle Isle Ave., Cottage St., and the Cummings Park area of Winthrop and Crescent Aves. in the vicinity of the school,” said DeMauro, who noted that about 60 percent of the school’s students walk to school, the second-highest rate in the city for any school.
“This request is asking to reconfigure the current parking allowances on Everard St. The two-hour parking between the two school driveways will remain, as will the two-hour parking on Everard up to Belle Isle Ave.,” DeMauro said, “but we are asking for the removal of parking in-between the Cottage St. and Everard St. intersection because the engineers are proposing to widen the sidewalk by five feet (to a new width of 10 feet) on the school side.
“This will prevent double-parking and will make it safer for pedestrians to walk to the school. This will be a friendlier environment for kids walking and biking to school,” DeMauro added.
In response to a question from Ciaramella, DeMauro noted that there will be only one legal parking space lost by the reconfiguration of the parking allowances and restrictions.
Ward 1 Councillor Jim Mercurio said he has reviewed the plan and he is a “little bit concerned” about the proposed 10-foot width of the sidewalk that will narrow the width of the street. “But other than that, I think it’s a great project and a needed project in that area for safety issues,” Mercurio said.
There were no opponents to the project, which is still in its early design phase and will be subject to a community hearing, and the commissioners unanimously approved the application.
The commissioners for the third time took up the proposal for the installation of three on-street EV-charging stations by Commonwealth Electrical Technologies on McCoba St., Hutchinson St. and Proctor Ave. The project is being funded through a state grant of about $500,000 for the installation of the curbside charging stations.
Abderezak Azib from the city’s Dept. of Planning and Community Development updated the commissioners about the project.
“As long as there is some sort of revenue set aside for maintenance of these stations, I have no problem with this proposal,” said Ciaramella.
After a brief explanation by Azib about issues relating to safety of the charging stations (which will be protected by bollards) in the event they are damaged, the commissioners unanimously approved the application.
The commission moved three matters forward to public hearings for next month:
The first was a request from Mayor Patrick Keefe that on-street parking permits be limited to four per address (or unit), though there will be an appeal process to the city’s Parking Department.
“This seems like a smart idea,” noted Skwierawski.
The others were two requests to add handicapped parking spots at 31 Bay Rd. and 54 Carlson Ave.