Editorial written by The Item Editorial Board
Interesting time for the Lynn City Council, which last week was dealing with two issues that were unrelated until one councilor decided to leverage one against the other.
The week ended with a 165-second special City Council meeting necessitated by Councilor-at-Large Brian LaPierre filing a motion for reconsideration on his vote in support of the Massachusetts Department of Transportation’s Northern Strand project. The $11 million state-funded initiative, which would add 1.9 miles of bike lane from Western Avenue to the shores of Lynn and Nahant, has been popular among residents and public officials, including LaPierre, who had previously expressed unwavering support for the project.
With the deadline for state funding fast approaching, LaPierre risked the $11 million in a calculated move to try to kill a second MassDOT project – on a stretch of Broadway – which the City Council tabled.
“This has got nothing to do with anything going on with the Northern Strand whatsoever,” City Council President Jay Walsh said at the time. “He is making an attempt to kill the Northern Strand project because we tabled the vote on Broadway and didn’t kill it.”
The $6 million Broadway project would significantly improve sidewalk accessibility, public transit, and road safety in an area that includes two dangerous intersections (which average 24 accidents per year). The city requested an extension on its decision regarding land takings necessary to complete the project, which MassDOT granted.
There has been widespread support for the Broadway project from those who realize how misguided it would be to decline the opportunity to make critical improvements that will benefit all who live, walk, drive, or cycle through the area. That list of proponents includes Mayor Jared Nicholson; former mayor Thomas M. McGee, a member of both the MassDOT and MBTA boards of directors and the former Senate chair of the Joint Committee on Transportation; Sen. Brendan Crighton; Reps. Dan Cahill and Peter Capano; and residents.
Others have been vocal in opposition, including Salvy Migliaccio, a former City Council president and owner of Salvy the Florist and Steve’s Greenhouses, located at the corner of Broadway and Jenness Street.
There is nothing wrong with genuine dissent, but that’s a far cry from what LaPierre pulled.
“This is why some people distrust government,” Rep. Peter Capano said. “The best interests of the city were not in mind when that happened.”
The city benefits from having a state delegation that includes Crighton, Cahill, and Capano, whose jobs are to deliver state dollars for city projects. The unnecessary controversy surrounding these two projects doesn’t make their jobs any easier.
While we empathize with those who will be temporarily disrupted during construction, the priority must be what is best for the city as a whole – not one person, business, or even neighborhood. The city has been more than willing to listen to the concerns of residents, and MassDOT has even gone as far as altering the proposal based on Migliaccio’s feedback, moving a bus stop to create legal parking spaces in the area.
Making the community safer and more compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act should be a priority for everyone. We should keep in mind the person who can’t navigate Broadway because the sidewalk isn’t designed for their wheelchair, or the person whose loved one was seriously injured in a crash at one of the intersections.
“We can choose to manage the inconvenience and fix what’s needed now that we have the resources available, or we can again defer the maintenance,” Nicholson said. “If we again defer, we will have to explain to future generations that we didn’t lack the resources, we lacked the will.”
While LaPierre ultimately withdrew his motion for reconsideration of the Northern Strand project, his unprofessional handling of the situation should not be forgotten by voters. We urge elected officials to make decisions based on the safety and welfare of the city as a whole. Not to be overlooked is the leadership displayed by Council President Walsh, who called out LaPierre for playing politics with $17 million in state funding.
“This is dirty, old-school politics,” Walsh said. “This type of politics is what has hurt this city over the years.”
With the Northern Strand issue seemingly resolved, the next order of business should be for the council to move forward the Broadway project.
