As the summer's warm weather leads to more events being held on the streets of the Back Bay, some community members are looking for more advance notice of road closing gatherings, or possibly moving them to other areas.
"The issue right now is that there is not, that we can figure out, a consistent form of notification that is going out to impacted businesses," said Meg Mainzer-Cohen, president of the Back Bay Association.
"It's
important for the stakeholders of Back Bay to be able to accommodate
and work around. We spoke to the city as recently as April requesting
this, it has been a real issue. It's not organized and not
comprehensive."
In the
past month, the neighborhood has seen the Pride Parade, a march by the
Ancient Honorable Artillery Company of Massachusetts, a Hare Krishna
procession, the BAA 10K Road Race and the Boston Overnight Walk, as well
as the Celtics' victory parade.
The
Boston Transportation Department (BTD) publishes city-wide traffic
advisories and closures on its website, although the most recent
advisory did not mention the Overnight Walk on June 22-23. Sometimes the
advisories cover events weeks in the future and sometimes days in the
future.
That requires
frequently checking the website instead of getting a heads up,
Mainzer-Cohen said. She said BTD used to send notifications to the Back
Bay Association after the issuance of permits for parades or street
closings, and in turn BBA would send out a notification for its members,
who could then adjust and inform their customers.
"It's
important so we can notify businesses. We have hotels, there might be
weddings at the hotel, and we tell them so they can notify the parties
that are circumnavigating between there and the church. Deliveries
happen, valet service happens. There is a very important notification to
know when the street is going to be closed," Mainzer-Cohen said, adding
that tour trolleys and duck boats are also affected by street closures
without advance knowledge.
"It's
really led to a sense of chaos. People don't really know what's going
to happen. It's not a little thing and this is something we are very
much hoping that this detail can be worked out," Mainzer-Cohen said.
District 8 City Councilor Sharon Durkan's office did not return a request for comment.
In
a statement, a BTD spokesperson wrote "The Boston Transportation
Department works with several city departments to determine permitting
for special events throughout the city. The city strives to balance
safety and access with providing support to organizations who want to
use our streets to create a shared experience for residents and
visitors. Traffic advisories are posted to the city website and sent
through an email subscription weekly."
Mainzer-Cohen said her members wanted a return to the neighborhood-specific notification system.
"It's
important for the stakeholders of Back Bay to be able to accommodate
and work around. We spoke to the city as recently as April requesting
this, it has been a real issue," she said. "They notified us about the
Celtics, but it's not organized and not comprehensive." And Martyn
Roetter, chair of the Neighborhood Association of the Back Bay, said he
wanted to see city officials encourage event planners to use other
neighborhoods for their gatherings, while "presenting that in the
context where the holder of the event is not presented as being
relegated to a neighborhood of less prestige than the Back Bay."
"One
of the aspects of equity is providing opportunities more evenly across
the city," Roetter said. "If you look at events and parades as being
opportunities and not just burdens, which we certainly do in the Back
Bay, let's think constructively and innovatively about what can be done
to encourage events and parades to consider other neighborhoods, and
what benefits they would bring to other neighborhoods. We are not saying
necessarily that we should not hold events in the Back Bay, we're
saying there are some alternative locations that make sense."