There have been numerous unprintable words spoken about the Chelsea Street Bridge as it begins its long and slow sojourn to the top of its lift to slowly let barges and tankers through the waterway – clogging up traffic and ruining peoples’ lives – but many in the community are now saying the time for those words and many other words is over.
Now, they said, it is time for action.
“It’s time for everyone to come together and figure out what to do about it,” said Maria Belen Power of GreenRoots. “Enough of the talk, talk, talk. We’ve had meeting after meeting. The Coast Guard tells us one thing, MassDOT tells us another thing and the state officials another thing. We need some action.”
That will be the purpose of a meeting on Saturday, Jan. 25, at 10 a.m. in the GreenRoots offices on Marginal Street. Representatives from the federal delegation will be present to hear the concerns, as will Chelsea City councilors, Chelsea state officials, East Boston State Rep. Adrian Maduro, East Boston State Sen. Joe Boncore, and East Boston Councilor Lydia Edwards.
“I think we’re all agreeing that it’s been really slow going,” said Power. “In seeing what it will take to make the change, we realize we need federal legislation. The meeting is for the community to share with our federal delegation the frustrations and concerns to build momentum to get time of day lift restrictions – so they are no longer lifting the bridge so often during busy times of the day. We know it’s possible. Other bridges in Massachusetts have done it. But we know it also takes federal legislation.”
Power said the state is now talking about alternatives to time of day lift restrictions, such as lifting the bridge halfway, and providing more accurate and detailed lift predictions. None of those things equal time of day restrictions though, and Power said the communities on either side of the Creek have been adamant about wanting those types of restrictions.
The lifting of the bridge brings together a strange constituency of people inconvenienced by the frequent and long bridge lifts. That includes the MBTA, which has seen the new Silver Line service delayed frequently by the bridge, as well as MassPort, which has had problems with employees being able to get form the Chelsea parking garage to the airport on time. It also brings together residents of Chelsea with those from the North Shore who are trying to access Boston via the bridge.
“It’s not just Chelsea and East Boston impacted,” said Power. “It’s really all of Greater Boston.”