THE MALDEN ADVOCATE–Friday, December 24, 2021 Page 13 W BUSINESS ACCOUNTS WELCOME By Gini Pariseau I t was an especially dark night. The moon was only showing a sliver of itself. It looked like it had been dipped in chocolate. A hint of cloud that looked like a scoop of marshmallow fl uff could be seen beside the sliver of moon. It was a night for sweet dreams. Some girls and boys knew what time of year it was by the change in the weather. Some knew by the amount of shopping their parents suddenly did. Others knew by the name of the month on the calendar…December! It was the time of year to be especially good. It was a night to catch a sweet dream. Sweet dreams love an especially dark night. They fly around out there by the dozens, bumping into each other, trying to fi nd a lovely little sleeping child to share their magic. It is a very diffi cult and tedious task to make the perfect match. When morning comes, all sweet dreams must be gone. All are, hopefully, in e wish you a Merry Christmas Councillor-At-Large Stephen Winslow Malden Trans / Malden Taxi 781-322-5050 Lester, Peggy & David Morovitz Sweet Dreams the hearts and minds of children somewhere in this world. Babies in cribs, boys and girls in their beds, sleeping bags, tents and parent’s arms – all were sound asleep and hoping for a sweet dream. Now, it was getting close to morning and getting close to December 25. There was one dream still out there this night. It was fl oating around frantically trying to fi nd some child who would cherish the magic of dreaming and would want what this sweet dream had to off er. It was December and children are very particular about their sweet dreams. But, that was the hard part… what this sweet dream had to off er. It wasn’t sweet like candy or fun like doing a puzzle or riding a bike. It was plain and simple and shared in a minute. As the sun came up and the moon melted into day, somewhere in this world a little child awoke from the night and remembered the sweet dream that was shared and whispered in their ear…you are loved! How sweet it is! Edmund Hu graduates from Union University ACKSON, Tenn. - Edmund Hu of Malden recently graduated from Union University with a Master of Science Degree in Nursing Psychiatric Mental Health. J 24 Hour AIRPORT SERVICE PACKAGE DELIVERY Councillor Ward 5 Barbara Murphy AUTOTECH 1236 Eastern Ave., Malden (781) 321-8841 * EddiesAutoTech.com MAPC launches new report ranking Metro Boston bike paths, greenways and trails H ow does your community stack up when it comes to creating safe, accessible walking and bicycling routes? A new report aims to help you fi nd out. The “Metro Boston Municipal Trails, Bikeways & Greenways Inventory” study released this week by the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC) is tracking the region’s progress toward building new bike and pedestrian facilities across Greater Boston – ranking cities and towns based on total mileage recently built. It compares communities based on shared-use path, bicycle lane and foot path availability. The report also examines access disparities by race and socio-economic status, and it offers a list of high-priority projects to link key routes regionally for greater equity. According to the report, Cambridge, Somerville and Boston are leading the region by bike lane mileage, with more than 15 percent of streets in Cambridge featuring some form of protected bike lane, and at least 10 percent of streets in Somerville and fi ve percent of streets in Boston. The report is current through the end of 2020 and is using data pulled from trailmap.mapc. org, MAPC’s inventory of bike and pedestrian infrastructure in Greater Boston. The full report is available at mapc.org/ resource-library/trails-inventory. According to MAPC, the goal is to update the database annually. “It’s great to see this kind of data in one place, and to be able to show lots of measurable momentum toward building out a safe network of interconnected trails and bike lanes,” said MAPC Senior Transportation Planner David Loutzenheiser. “The goal is to get even more information, especially in light of how transportation patterns continue to evolve amid the pandemic, and to be able to use that to help cities and towns make a case for future investments.” “There’s great news in the report, showing the signifi cant progress that’s been made since the time in the early 1990s when the Boston area bicycle and trail network consisted of the Paul Dudley White Path along the Charles River and the Minuteman Trail in Arlington,” said Malden Councillor-at-Large Stephen Winslow, who founded Bike to the Sea in 1993 to help create what is now the Northern Strand Community Trail, which connects Everett to Lynn and Nahant. Connecting the Northern Strand through to Salem is one of the fi ve key regional routes identifi ed in the report as a high priority for the region. “I’m hopeful that as more residents become familiar with the newest facilities being added through the Complete Streets and Shared Streets programs, that momentum will continue to build towards the vision of a transformative regional network,” said Winslow. Massachusetts Bicycle Coalition Executive Director Galen Mook said bicycling infrastructure helps to support a growing economy and attracts new development while alleviating traffi c and pollution that is harmful to communities. “This ranking of bike lanes, trails [and bikeways] across the Metro Boston region by MAPC shows which municipalities are investing in their communities, and provides incentives and best practices for municipalities to inspire and educate leaders to take action,” said Mook. “Since this report showcases exactly where the gaps are, policymakers and municipal leaders in communities that didn’t rank as high will hopefully be motivated to invest in their infrastructure as the benefi ts of better bicycling and walking infrastructure become apparent.”
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