MBTA Promises to Plow Busiest Bus Stops This Winter

When the snow falls this winter hopefully it won't be blocking bus stops and public ways for long after a hearing determined what organization will clear certain areas in the city.

JP/West Roxbury District Councilor Matt O’Malley held a hearing on Tuesday to discuss which public agencies have jurisdiction of certain public properties that have not been cleared in the past.

"The MBTA particularly stepped up to the plate. They've now pledged to clean up bus stops focusing on the 15 busiest routes in the city," said O'Malley. "That comprises almost 50 percent of T ridership, and two of those go through District 6 – the 39 and 32 bus routes. [The MBTA] is now going to plow from bus stop to bus stop sign something they haven’t done before."

O’Malley, who took office last November, called for the hearing after numerous snow removal-related phone calls last winter. O’Malley said there were public walkways, bridges, and bus stops that were not cleared of snow because public agencies could not agree on who was responsible for snow removal.                  

One Jamaica Plain resident who attended the hearing argued that the city should use left-handed snowplows on parkways, according to Universal Hub. Here is a brief video of the remarks by Meira Levinson, who lives on the Arborway.

One particular area of concern for West Roxbury was the commuter rail bridge on Mt. Vernon Street by the .

West Roxbury resident Steve Poftak spoke at the hearing about the bridge, "It went unshoveled much of last winter, until crossing guards talked to a state agency, not to be named, to take care of it... Kids needed to walk in the streets, especially with the kids going ot the , a lot of people were forced to walk in the road which is terribly unsafe."

Poftak said that Tom Timlin, the City's Transportation Commissioner gave his personal assurance that there would not be any problems at the bridge this winter.

"Obviously certain entities need to be in charge. We will have a better working relationship moving forward," said O'Malley.

He added that the meeting wasn't adjourned, but recessed until spring to bring people back to the table to hear about the challenges and what worked, to keep an ongoing dialogue of how snow removal can be improved.