Beacon Hill residents debated a proposed plan to upgrade Meeting House Square on Mt. Vernon Street with the Beacon Hill Civic Association and the Beacon Hill Business Association on Tuesday.
The development plan, proposed by the Joint Charles Street Committee, would require the street level to be raised to meet the sidewalk and the roadway in front of the square to be paved with brick.
The proposal would also remove parking spaces on the streets surrounding the square between Mt. Vernon Street and River Street in order to make two lanes of traffic and a wider sidewalk.
Beacon Hill residents, however, would have to show enough support for the venture to win out over the other capital expenditures proposed in neighborhoods throughout the city.
John Corey, co-chair of the Beacon Hill Civic Association, presented the organization’s ideas to beautify the area to a group of about 65 area residents, representatives from Mayor Thomas Menino’s office and City Councilor At-Large Michael Ross.
“I’ll tell you that the city isn’t looking to inherit a $300,000 project unless there’s support from the community,” Ross said. “It’s important that we have this discussion and that [the neighborhood gets] on board. This is the kind of project that the mayor’s office gets excited about.”
Although the committee had been working on the plan since last year, both Corey and Ross said that the committee’s plan was not final.
Complaints from audience participants said that the proposal did not realistically account for maintenance of the new area and would cause traffic and parking problems.
“I hear the lovely sound of crickets outside,” said Rogina Jeffries, a Mt. Vernon Street resident. “If you start bringing in bands, people hanging out and spilling into the square, you’re not going to be able to hear the crickets anymore.”
Her husband, Stephen Jeffries, said that if the proposal passes, he would have to turn into oncoming traffic in order to get to his house.
“It’s not going to work to cut down the street to two lanes of traffic,” he said. “I do not believe that proposal, though aesthetically pleasing, will work.”
The meeting continued with residents examining numerous facets of the new proposal and addressing other problems in the neighborhood such as street maintenance, snow removal, traffic, tourists, panhandlers, speed bumps and residence safety.
Though the proposal was not met with much support from the Beacon Hill residents in attendance, co-chair of the Beacon Hill Business Association Susan Symonds said she was optimistic.
In an interview with The Daily Free Press after the meeting, she said that the forum was a success and that the association is committed to solving the issues addressed by the residents.
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