THE EVERETT ADVOCATE – Friday, February 28, 2020 Page 3 ~ OP-ED ~ Transportation Demand Management is key to solving our transportation and housing needs By Mayor Carlo DeMaria S everal times in this space, I have outlined my vision for transportation in the City. One where we reduce our dependency on personal vehicles, build a reliable transit system, and create aff ordable and attractive options to work live and play in our great City. We’ve been working consistently towards this goal, building the region’s fi rst bus lanes, safe, protected bike lanes on Broadway and Revere Beach Parkway, and improving the walking environments on our streets with new sidewalks, raised intersections and fl ashing beacons at crosswalks. Collectively, those eff orts have succeeded in creating 800 new bus boardings per day and 250 new bicycle trips per day. Those 1,000+ trips, which would have likely otherwise been taken in a car, further congesting our streets, are the equivalent number of trips produced by over 200 units of new housing. Mayor Carlo DeMaria This comparison to housing is important, because in order to solve our other pressing crisis, housing aff ordability, we need to build more housing units, but we need to do so without adding more vehicles to our streets. In the coming season, I will be taking the next step by introducing a new zoning ordinance to our Planning Board and to the City Council called a “Transportation Demand Management Ordinance or “TDM” for short. The goal of this ordinance is to require developers of new housing to reduce the number of new vehicle trips created by their projects. The City has been piloting TDM measures on several new development projects recently approved by our planning board including two projects on Broadway as well as two in the Commercial Triangle district. On these projects, the City imposed conditions that restricted access of new residents to parking both on City streets and within the development, required contributions to area shuttle bus services and the bicycle sharing system, and required transit information and passes to be provided to residents on site. The benefits of implementing TDM are felt by everyone. Fewer cars brought into the City by residents means less added congestion. The improved transit that comes from develMiddlesex Sheriff’s Office’s Warrant Apprehension Unit participated in 483 arrests in 2019 M embers of the Middlesex Sheriff ’s Offi ce (MSO) Warrant Apprehension Unit made – or assisted in – 483 arrests in calendar year 2019, Sheriff Peter J. Koutoujian announced on February 21. In total, those 483 people were wanted on more than 700 warrants – both bench and default – and faced over 1,000 felony charges and another 700-plus misdemeanors. “The members of the Warrant Apprehension Unit work hand-in-hand with our local, state and federal partners to locate and apprehend those who have attempted to evade justice,” said Koutoujian. “Many of these individuals are suspected of serious crimes ranging from domestic violence and rape to home invasion, fi rearms and murder charges.” Currently, the MSO’s Warrant Apprehension Unit is comprised of three deputy sheriff s and a member of the Lowell Police Department. Working in conjunction with state and municipal police, Warrant Apprehension Unit members assisted in the arrests of multiple homicide suspects in 2019, including Joseph McGillicuddy, 22, who was wanted in connection with the 2018 death of Anthony Luna, 24, in Lowell. “The Lowell Police Department has seen the benefi ts of working collaboratively with many law enforcement partARRESTS | SEE PAGE 19 505 Broadway Everett, MA 02149 Tel: 617-387-1120 www.gkdental.com • Family Dentistry • Crowns • Bridges • Veneers/Lumineers • Dental Implants • All on 4 Dental Implants • Emergency Dentist • Kid Friendly Dentist • Root Canals • Dentures • Invisalign Braces • Snap On Smile • Teeth Whitening We are the smile care experts for your entire family oper contributions attracts riders from all over the City (for example, the Encore shuttle that will take any Everett resident to the Chelsea Silver Line and Market Basket). Where a good TDM ordinance exists, most developers are eager to take part for two simple reasons; better certainty during their permitting process, and the fact that the construction of parking is prohibitively expensive. A single garaged parking space can cost upwards of $50,000. Meeting the current zoning regulations of 2 spaces per unit adds a $100,000 cost premium to every unit of housing, making a unit that may have otherwise been “aff ordable,” suddenly out of reach to many. The TDM ordinance provides a structure in which the City can reduce the transportation impact of a development while guiding the developer towards eff ective and MANAGEMENT | SEE PAGE 8 In House Dental Plan for $399 (Cleanings, X-Rays, Exams twice a year and 20% OFF Dental work) Schedule your FREE Consultations today
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