Response to Somerville's Davis Square Plan
Somerville's Davis Square Plan has been released, covering public space, zoning, and transportation. It makes me so excited for the square's future. https://t.co/n5PfhWhaVD
— Sky Rose (@skyqrose) July 26, 2019
My review:
Thread, 1/16@SomervilleCity @somervillebike @somerbikesafety @SomervilleYIMBY @pathfriends pic.twitter.com/EMUi1YNJyw
Somerville's plans for turning multiple parking lots around Davis into public space are amazing. They explicitly compare the value that the parking brings to the square vs the value of expanded public space. 2/16 pic.twitter.com/oc7vSyFq5v
— Sky Rose (@skyqrose) July 26, 2019
It covers plans to upzone most of Davis Square to 4-6 stories, with setbacks. Davis is impressively lively for being largely 1-2 stories, and bringing in room for more people there will make it even better. The city is doing a good job pushing against NIMBYs here. 3/16
— Sky Rose (@skyqrose) July 26, 2019
The most exciting part of the plan (to me) is squaring off the intersection, making Davis Square a 4-way intersection.
— Sky Rose (@skyqrose) July 26, 2019
(These are rough sketches here, so don't take them too literally. Based on feedback on the first, they released the second.)
4/16 pic.twitter.com/iOWjgPDkWU
In the Davis Sq plan, Somerville says it will prioritize first for pedestrians, then transit, then bikes, and last cars. This is excellent and gives future planning lots of leverage. The plan mostly reflects this priority, but I feel they could go a little further. 5/16
— Sky Rose (@skyqrose) July 26, 2019
Pedestrians:
— Sky Rose (@skyqrose) July 26, 2019
Squaring off Davis Square triples the amount of public space, and slashes crossing times. That will be amazing. I can't wait to walk through this new Davis Square. 6/16
Transit:
— Sky Rose (@skyqrose) July 26, 2019
I'm not sure what the plan is. There will be TSP, bus stop moves, and other easy improvements. There might be a bus lane (maybe just a queue jump?) on Holland (page 24), but later they say there's not enough width for bus lanes (page 56). 7/16 pic.twitter.com/nnUEfhL74A
Transit (continued):
— Sky Rose (@skyqrose) July 26, 2019
It's really important that bus lanes get you all the way thru the intersection. I think it can with tradeoffs like removing more parking or expanding public space a bit less. See the plan I drew last year (https://t.co/MTldHIxPrs) for how I'd do it. 8/16 pic.twitter.com/1SxkZ9tiSB
Bikes:
— Sky Rose (@skyqrose) July 26, 2019
Without real designs, it's too early to say how good the Davis Square plan will be for bikes. This revision shows they know it's important to maintain protection through the intersection, but 9/16 pic.twitter.com/wWy09rLk5K
Bikes (continued):
— Sky Rose (@skyqrose) July 26, 2019
When the Davis Square intersection design starts for real, we will still need to push for good connections along the community path and to the rest of the Somerville bike network. Elm St will be an especially important part of that. 10/16
Elm St is a mess today. Making it 2-way will help a bit, but to make it an enjoyable space to be, it needs an even bigger reduction in car traffic. The Davis Sq plan tentatively suggests pedestrianization, which would be amazing. 11/16 pic.twitter.com/AfV4gelFhO
— Sky Rose (@skyqrose) July 26, 2019
If full pedestrianization on Elm St is unpalatable, we can still have a comfortable pedestrian-first space that allows local car access as guests. I've explored that idea in my plan (https://t.co/MTldHIxPrs). When it's time for design, I'd like Somerville to consider it. 12/16
— Sky Rose (@skyqrose) July 26, 2019
Somerville's Davis Square plan also proposes pedestrianizing one block of Dover. This would be a huge win for public space and making the intersection safer and smaller. Car access to Dover would be by extending Meacham to Day, which would also be good for walkability. 13/16
— Sky Rose (@skyqrose) July 26, 2019
Last year I drew what I imagine Davis Square could be.https://t.co/MTldHIxPrs
— Sky Rose (@skyqrose) July 26, 2019
As Somerville starts putting pen to paper on transportation in Davis, here's what I want them to take from my plan:
* Low-traffic Elm St
* Bus lanes thru the intersection
* Connected bike network
14/16 pic.twitter.com/wgsmhuTBMi
In summary: Somerville's Davis Square plan paints a good future for Davis, but it's a long way off. The zoning can happen now, but the building will take time, and the intersection redesign is years away. 15/16
— Sky Rose (@skyqrose) July 26, 2019
Until that future, and especially as Somerville develops its transportation designs for Davis Sq, keep telling them that bus lanes, a connected bike network, and high density buildings are essential for healthy, sustainable, enjoyable life in the city and in Davis Square. 16/16
— Sky Rose (@skyqrose) July 26, 2019