This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Health & Fitness

Let's Get This Right!

Let’s Get This Right.

Mayor McCarthy and I agree that Waltham’s downtown is in a state of disrepair and requires immediate attention. Unfortunately, the path to get there is where we disagree.  The mayor recently asked the Council for $1.9 million, in addition to the $4.5 million previously appropriated over the last twelve months, for a downtown streetscape improvement project, the details of which are changing and fuzzy at best. This endeavor started as a $3 million project last spring designed on the back of an envelope and has ballooned into a $6.4 million project before the first shovel hits the ground. Sidewalk bricks being removed are now being replaced.  Expensive decorative street light poles are now being cut five feet and moved.

While I agree whole heartedly that downtown needs immediate attention, at this moment, I have many questions.  Why isn't this project listed in the Capital Improvement Program?  Why has a contractor been hired prior to full funding? Has the city’s plan been vetted with the community?  Improper vetting previously resulted in poorly spaced giant light poles downtown.  The City holds Community Input Meetings for playground improvements.  Why not $6.4 million public projects?  Developers are expected to hire architects to present projects at public hearings.  Shouldn't the city be held to the same standard?  Do we know whether or not the plan addresses the critical needs of downtown businesses? How were the boundaries of the project decided and are we sure that this project will leverage the maximum long-term benefit for downtown? Has the city sought any state grants to offset the cost to the city, or to increase available funding to make this project even better? 

Downtown Waltham is the heartbeat of our community and rehabilitating it should be the city’s first priority. It is disheartening that the streetscapes were not maintained over the past decade, but we now have a great opportunity for the city to start fresh by partnering with local businesses and the Downtown Waltham Partnership to ensure that we are making the necessary public improvements to help them succeed. 

I am hopeful the community will support the spirit of this project, but only after proper preparation and presentation by the city with a project schedule, a detailed project budget, and a detailed design schematic to show how the city is proposing to alter the streetscape.  At a minimum, a $6.4 million expenditure of taxpayer dollars should warrant broader civic engagement and the disclosure of designs by professionals that we have not been afforded to date. Has the city not learned from the mistake of managing the still unfinished Banks Housing Project?  We owe it to the residents of Waltham to get this right.

Tom Stanley


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