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Description
Virtual meeting held on July 8th, 2021 at 6:30 P.M. by the Boston Public Works Department and the Environment Department to discuss the heat resilience study being undertaken by the city and opportunities to incorporate heat resilience solutions into the Cummins Highway reconstruction project. Meeting was held in English with Haitian Creole and Spanish interpretation.
This event is part of a series of meetings the Public Works Department is hosting to inform the final design for the reconstruction of Cummins Highway.
For more information visit boston.gov/cummins-highway
A
A
Well,
thank
you
all
for
joining
us
today.
We
just
wanted
to
start
with
a
question
in
the
chat
that
you
can
answer.
While
we
sort
of
go
over
some
questions
and
we'll
read
something
about
that.
So
the
question
is:
where
is
the
hottest
place
along
cummins
highway
that
you
are
familiar
with
on
a
hot
day?
It
feels
really
like
difficult
to
be.
A
B
B
B
B
B
B
Since
the
project
launched
in
february
we've
had
our
first
open
house,
we've
also
launched
our
co-map
survey
and
had
a
series
of
workshops
called
idea
sessions.
We
talked
about
some
potential
ideas
for
heat
resilience
and
so
now
we're
looking
to
our
second
open
house,
where
we're
excited
to
speak
with
you
all
about
these
ideas
that
we've
heard
from
folks
across
the
city
and
really
dig
into
them
a
bit
more.
C
C
Since
I
want
to
say
april
of
2019
and
in
regards
to
the
comments,
however,
project
we're
looking
at
reconstructing
and
rebuilding
the
street,
the
sidewalks,
the
curves,
the
street
lights,
the
traffic
signals
road
pavement
and
replace
or
update
utilities
as
necessary,
as
you
can
see,
with
cummins
highway.
Currently,
the
national
grid
is
out
there
making
their
necessary
repairs
to
their
gas
main
along
the
corridor
before
we
go
out
there
and
reconstruct
next
slide,
please.
C
So
what
you're
currently
seeing
on
cummins
highway
is
a
temporary
redesign
to
slow
speeding
drivers
and
improve
safety
for
all
users.
While
we
work
on
the
design
for
the
company's
highway
project,
we
we've
instituted
or
implemented
two
phases
of
the
temporary
traffic
pilot
to
reduce
speeds
along
cummins
highway,
as
well
as
to
provide
accommodations
for
cyclists
and
improve
pedestrian
spaces
to
make
it
safer
next
slide,
please.
C
C
Essentially,
when
the
engineers
redesigned
cummins
highway
and
removed
the
streetcars,
they
proposed
four
lanes
of
of
travel
essentially
to
provide
a
quote-unquote
highway
for
non-residents
to
kind
of
drive
through
this
neighborhood
quickly.
So
this
is
something
that,
where
we're
seeing
has
has
caused
a
number
of
issues
in
present
time,
so
we're
looking
at
ways
to
try
to
improve
and
make
safety
improvements
to
make
it
safer
for
for
pedestrians
and
cyclists,
and
people
and
cars
as
well.
C
Next
slide,
please!
So
what
is
the
relationship
between
commerce,
holland
and
residency?
The
plane
reconstruction
will
come
as
high
as
a
a
unique
opportunity
we
can
where
we
can
make
changes
that
reflect
the
neighborhood's
priorities.
Our
design
can
help
reduce
the
heat
impacts
on
residents
and
others
using
the
street,
using
a
number
of
tools
that
we
hope
to
get
into
later
on
in
this
presentation,
please.
C
C
Our
next
planned
meeting
that
we
have
for
the
cummins
highway
design
is
the
air
quality
meeting
on
july
22nd
at
6
30
pm
via
zoom,
as
well
as
a
land
use
and
transportation
planning
meeting
on
august
17th
at
6
30
pm
via
zoom.
As
I
mentioned,
we
as
zoe
mentioned.
We
we
do
have
an
upcoming
heat
resiliency
study,
open
house
this
month
on
july
14th
next
wednesday
at
6
p.m
via
zoom,
and
you
can
also
continue
contribute
your
continue
contributing
your
ids
via
this
boston.gov.
C
Slash,
prepare
dash
heat
website
next
side,
please.
So
why
does
heat
matter?
Heat
is
the
number
one
con
number
one
cause
of
weather
related
deaths,
more
than
tornadoes
hurricanes,
flooding
and
winter.
Slash
cold
weather
some
people
are
more
at
risk
for
heat
related
illnesses
like
heat,
stroke
and
heat
exhaustion
like
children,
older
adults,
people
with
certain
types
of
health
conditions
like
asthma
and
diabetes,
and
people
with
greater
heat
exposure
and
or
less
ability
to
access
cooling.
C
C
So
in
this
next
portion
of
the
presentation
we
like
to
get
like
for
you
guys
to
get
involved
and
and
tell
us
about
your
experience
on
a
hot
summer
day
in
matapan
in
order
to
access,
you
can
use
your
camera
phone
to
to
check
the
qr
code.
Also,
also
you
can
click
on
the
link.
That's
provided
in
the
chat
where
you
can
fill
out
the
information
and
somewhat
create
a
comic
book
and
we'll
be
sharing
that
that
link
with
everybody's
experiences.
C
I
don't
know-
maybe
during
this
meeting
or
after
this
meeting
you'll,
be
able
to
look
and
see
other
people's
experiences.
I
will
say
that
I
did
go
biking
this
past
monday.
It
was
a
nice.
It
was
a
cooler
cooler
somewhat
day
down
in
the
ponzi
greenway,
but
where
it
was,
it
was
nice
and
comfortable.
As
soon
as
I
entered
into
matapan
square
it
it,
it
was
the
heat
island
effect
was,
it
was
immediate.
I
felt
it
immediately.
C
So
this
is
something
that
I
mean
that
I
experienced
living
in
hyde
park.
I
mean
trying
to
I
mean
travel
through
matapan
to
go
to
get
to
the
nepal
greenway.
So
yeah.
Definitely
let
us
know
your
experiences,
and
I
mean,
as
I
mentioned,
that
information
that
you
share
is
something
that
we
can.
We
can
use
to
kind
of
help
improve
the
coming
the
compass
highway
construction
project
next
slide.
Please.
B
So,
with
the
heat
resilience
study,
we've
been
looking
at
how
heat
experiences
aren't
just
about
the
weather,
and
so
the
slide
that
you're
looking
at
here
gives
a
bit
of
an
overview
of
how
different
factors
can
come
into
play
here.
So
it's
easy
to
think
about
the
temperature.
You
know
when
it's
95
degrees,
that
everyone's
going
to
be
hot
and
that's
true,
but
we're
finding
also
that
there
are
different
layers
to
that.
B
So
here
are
some
of
these
factors
that
can
shape
these
experiences
and
so
as
we're
going
through
them
briefly,
I
would
encourage
you
all
to
just
think
about
how
some
of
these
factors
affect
you
all.
So,
first,
you
know
we
have
the
weather.
It
really
does
make
a
difference.
We
know
whether
it's
humid
or
hot
and
dry,
but
then
we
can
also
think
about
the
type
of
environment.
B
B
So
due
to
a
legacy
of
disinvestment,
some
of
the
places
some
places
across
boston,
including
some
places
in
matapan,
you
know
often
have
areas
where
there
are
polluting
uses
in
your
homes
or
that
can
also
increase
underlying
health
conditions
and
add
to
risk,
and
so
with
the
heat
resilience
project.
We're
really
looking
to
understand
these
connections
with
some
of
the
root
causes,
the
environmental
conditions
and
how
that
really
interacts
with
weather
as
well.
B
B
These
maps
are
showing
an
example
of
air
temperature
that
was
modeled
from
a
summer
in
july
2019,
and
you
can
see
that
just
based
on
the
different
colors
there
that
temperature
varies
pretty
significantly
across
the
city.
You'll
notice
that
some
of
the
hottest
places
in
both
the
daytime
and
the
nighttime
are
more
so
in
the
eastern
part
of
the
city.
Looking
at
areas
of
downtown
chinatown,
south
boston,
east
boston
and
then,
as
you
move
west,
you
can
see
areas
that
are
hot
in
the
day
like
parts
of
roxbury
dorchester
matapan.
B
A
Slide
yeah.
So
the
question
of,
why
are
some
neighborhoods,
hotter
or
cooler
than
others,
and
as
so
we
mentioned,
they
are
sure,
there's
weather
and
there's
temperature,
but
there's
also
other
underlying
reasons,
historic
as
well,
that
are
that
contribute
to
these
factors
so,
for
example,
between
1938
and
1968,
the
homeowners
loans
corporation
used
loan
riskness
as
a
grading
system
for
each
foster,
neighborhood
and
highly,
and
these
these
grading
systems
and
these
ratings
that
they
gave
each
neighborhood
are
highly
correct,
correlated
with
the
racial
makeup
of
those
neighborhoods.
C
A
To
qualify,
or
especially
people
of
color,
to
qualify
for
mortgage
loans,
it
also
reduced
the
neighborhood
stability,
because
there
was
also
less
public
and
private
investment
in
these
neighborhoods
and
the
impact
of
redlining,
as
this
is
called,
still
impacts.
How
we
see
our
neighborhoods
today
and
the
makeup
of
them.
A
So
the
areas
that
are
white,
sorry
didn't
a
best
or
still
desirable
versus
the
ones
that
were
deemed
as
hard
as
or
less
desirable,
a
zone
that
would
be
d,
for
example,
today
are
hotter
during
the
day
and
they're
also
hotter.
During
the
night,
they
also
tend
to
have
less
parkland
and
less
tree
canopy
compared
to
areas
that
were
marked
as
a
or
b.
A
Less
public
transportation
capacity
also
means
that
reduced
transportation
access
for
might
have
been
residents
to
jobs,
but
also
to
other
places
outside
of
mattapan,
and
this
also
incentivized
the
white
flight,
making
an
echo.
So
people
move
out
of
these
neighborhoods
because
they
are
being
less
desirable
and
then
the
streets
also
get
redesigned
to
be
more
car
oriented
to
serve
these
neighbors
that
are
now
moving
out
of
these
neighborhoods
so
that
they
can
commute
in
and
still
enjoy
all
the
amenities
but
not
live
there.
A
A
A
Today,
many
transportation
departments
focus
really
only
on
leaving
people
on
cars,
which
resulted
in
widened
streets
and
building
large
paved
parking
lots
and
actually,
in
you
know,
as
far
as
the
1990s,
but
even
further
many
engineering
documents,
sort
of
recommended
not
putting
trees
on
streets,
because
drivers
could
crash
into
these
trees
and
they
were
doing.
You
know
difficult
like
things
that
you
shouldn't
put
on
the
roads
to
make
sure
that
traffic
and
vehicles
to
reduce
crashes.
A
A
B
B
And
so
what
we
see
here
is
that
temperatures
really
do
range
from
about
92
degrees
to
107
degrees,
and
if
we
look
at
the
mattapan
t
stop
just
as
an
example.
It
is
significantly
hotter
there
than
in
comparison,
let's
say
to
a
forested
area
like
like
franklin
park.
So
that's
the
comparison
on
the
bottom
right
there,
but
a
couple
takeaways.
B
A
Yes,
thank
you,
so
we
wanted
to
sort
of
take
a
closer
look
at
sort
of
what
are
some
of
the
contributing.
What
contributes
to
heat
exposure
in
our
streets
today
that
make
them
hotter
than
the
median
of
the
rest
of
the
city,
so
large
faith
areas
tend
to
not
cool
overnight.
They
tend
to
retain
heat
and
sort
of
keep
it
for
longer,
even
through
the
night,
so
large,
dark,
grooves
bricks,
but
also
sleek
roadways
that
are
paved
when
there
are
few
to
no
trees.
This
is.
C
A
A
B
Sunlight
so
moving
into
our
brainstorming
phase,
we're
we're
about
to
transition
into
our
discussion,
but
before
we
do
would
love
to
hear
from
you
all.
Where
is
the
coolest
place
along
cummins
in
the
summer,
and
you
can
feel
free
to
type
your
answers
in
the
chat
I
do
want
to
recognize.
There
was
a
note
asking
for
clarification
on
what
we
mean
by
hottest.
B
A
B
B
B
B
B
B
B
A
A
A
B
B
All
right
well,
thank
you
all
for
your
amazing
ideas
and
input
on
some
of
these
things
here.
I
think
we'd
really
like
to
sort
of
bring
this
into
conversation
with
one
another
and
pivot
to
a
group
discussion
still
with
these
same
three
questions
and
still
thinking
about
ways
to
bring
cooling
to
come
into
our
way.
So
I
think
we
are
going
to
break
into
groups.
Is
this
true
daniela,
okay,.
A
B
So,
first
just
thank
you
all
for
your
your
thoughts
during
that
brainstorm
time
and
as
as
folks
have
been
saying
on
the
call
we
we
do
really
appreciate
your
ideas
and
are
taking
them
in
and
yeah.
So
thank
you
just
before
we
leave.
I
do
want
to
make
sure
that
folks
are
aware
of
some
of
these
resources
to
to
stay
cool
this
summer.
B
B
We
can
actually
post
this
link
in
the
chat
for
you
all
to
to
visit,
but
you
can
also
access
it
through
the
project
website
as
well
and
just
in
terms
of
keeping
in
touch
and
staying
up
to
date
feel
free
to
visit
the
project
website
for
more
information.
And
if
you
have
any
questions,
you
can
always
feel
free
to
reach
out
to
me
directly.
A
A
All
on
the
project
website,
you
can
also
explore
sort
of
what
we
have
on
the
street
right
now.
As
we
mentioned,
we
have
a
chat
with
us
or
meet
with
a
project
team
member
every
other
week
on
wednesday,
three
to
seven
pm,
and
you
can
have
15
minutes
with
one
of
us
jeff
who's
here
in
the
call
or
with
me
or
stephanie
or
with
zach,
and
you
can
always
reach
out
personally
to
jeff
alexis
who's
here
with
us
with
any
questions.
A
B
B
A
Otherwise,
thank
you
all
for
coming
and
we
hope
to
see
you
at
the
next
one.
This
I
forgot
to
say
that
this
information
will
only
be
available
virtually
we'll
also
be
adding
these
to.
I
think,
if
you've
got
a
mailer,
several
locations
someone's
coming
highway,
where
you
can
pick
up
a
booklet
with
all
this
information
as
well
as
give
us
a
call.