To the Editor:
In an aggressive move, the federal government has rescinded $22 million in transportation grants for Mattapan and Roxbury, two historically underserved neighborhoods with high traffic collision numbers due, in large part, to outdated streetscapes. This is part of an ongoing series of punitive actions of the current federal administration toward progressive cities with populations of color in large numbers.
The letter from the US Department of Transportation addressing the Mattapan project noted that the agency currently prioritizes “reducing roadway traffic congestion by preserving or increasing roadway capacity for motor vehicles.” The project’s intention to encourage other ways of getting around — walking, cycling, transit – is deemed ‘hostile to motor vehicles and lacks national significance,’ and thus it runs afoul of the agency’s goals.”
In other words, we are regressing to car-centric roadway design, putting pedestrians, bicyclists, persons with disabilities and the overall environment at risk.
This affects me personally, not only because I worked on these projects as a consultant, but also because they impact where I grew up – neighborhood corridors and squares that haven’t seen any major revamps done in decades.
However, it’s not just the feds that are culpable here. The local and state agencies could have started some work, even in small ways, when they got the grant a few years ago. I know this will rattle some because it is a tough-love-truth for fragile ears.
A couple of the other consultants and I begged the city to start working on Mattapan Square as soon as they could. We recommended that city officials approach these projects in chunks, arguing that they can build public trust by implementing “small wins.”
The city team acknowledged they could, but decided to hold off. That bureaucratic culture of delaying, prevalent in governments when marginalized communities need them to act faster, is to the detriment of what progressive cities claim to stand for.
Allentza Michel
Mattapan
Powerful Pathways
