To: Tito Jackson, Councilor

Councilor Jackson: Push for Gardner St. sidewalk reconstruction in 2014

Victory! The creator of this petition declared the campaign a success. You can still sign the petition to show support.

The northeast sidewalk on Gardner Street in Roxbury is often unusable, because sections of the brick walkway are loose or torn up. This sidewalk is a major pedestrian thoroughfare, used by hundreds of Highland Park residents and visitors every day, whether going to or coming from the Roxbury Crossing T Station, Roxbury Community College, the Reggie Lewis Athletic Center, several bus stops, and a variety of small businesses in the area.

According to the Boston Highway Division, this sidewalk had to be repaired in 2004, 2009, 2010, and again, this month, in 2013.

Motivated by complaints from Highland Park residents, Frank O'Brien of the Boston DPW recently submitted a request to include funding for the reconstruction of this sidewalk in the 2014/15 city budget.

We, the undersigned Highland Park residents, visitors, and workers, request that Boston City Councilor Tito Jackson support the inclusion of funding for the reconstruction of this sidewalk in the 2014/15 city budget.

We furthermore request that the reconstructed sidewalk
• be ADA compliant (so it is useable by all of the people in the neighborhood, young or old, able-bodied or disabled),
• be designed to match the general architectural style of the neighborhood (using, for example, wire-cut bricks),
• resolve the issues that have caused the sidewalk to degrade so quickly and frequently.

(This petition will be submitted to Councilor Jackson at 4 pm on Wednesday, July 26

Why is this important?

I walk up and down Gardner Street frequently, but I often have to walk in the street, because sections of the northeast side of the sidewalk are a jumble of loose and torn-up bricks. This sidewalk had to be repaired in 2004, 2009, 2010, and again (this month) in 2013. It's time for a permanent fix for this sidewalk: a reconstruction that doesn't fall apart every few years, that makes the sidewalk usable by all, and that is appropriate to the architectural styles of the neighborhood.