| Traffic Detour; Call to Kennedy; Rage Walk By Jim Correale (Published in the East Boston Sun Transcript on May 25, 2001.) The renovation of the McArdle Bridge has certainly made a mess of traffic in the Day Square area of East Boston. During some afternoons cars are lined up from the Chelsea Street Bridge all the way back to the Callahan Tunnel. Since the bridgework began, there's been a curious detour on McClellan Highway. Coming south on the road, cars have not been allowed to use the Saratoga Street exit. Boston Police vehicles force drivers to stay on the road, which takes them into traffic flowing from Logan Airport to the Sumner Tunnel. For local residents who usually use that exit to go home, getting stuck in the middle of rush hour traffic on the ramp is a disaster. Even more annoying is watching the police vehicles move aside to allow trucks through, but not the cars of residents. Phone calls to city hall and to Eastie's local police station produced an odd response. The detour, I was told, was at Massport's request. However, no one could tell me why. A second round of calls -- to Massport and city hall -- brought assurances that the city, in fact, had orchestrated the detour and that the port authority had nothing to do with it. I am not a traffic engineer, so I must assume that such a rerouting of vehicles is for the better. I only wish that those inconveniencing the lives of local residents would be more clear about the reasons. ******* ******* ******* When I called Edward Kennedy's office recently, I was all set to deliver arguments on why the esteemed senior senator from Massachusetts should come down on the right side of the runway issue. I was surprised then when the person who answered my call only wanted to know whether I was for or against the creation of 14/32. Once I told her that I was very much against the planned expansion, she thanked me and hung up. This seems odd to me. Is the senator's office keeping a running tally on the issue and, if so, what is the point? A person who is elected to public office should make decisions based on the merits of a particular issue, not merely by keeping score. Sen. Kennedy has spent his career fighting in the name of the people for what is just, and I expect him to do so on this matter as well. If the senator knows all of the arguments relating to Runway 14/32 then he should announce his decision. If he does not, then he should listen when citizens take the time to call. ******* ******* ******* Last Saturday started sunny but clouded up during the afternoon. Still, it was a beautiful day for a walk. In Wakefield, a number of people wearing purple shirts set off from the First Parish Congregational Church and did a lap of Lake Quannapowitt. They were not, however, simply walking for pleasure. The participants were part of Jenessa's WARR (Walk Against Road Rage), which was organized by the family of Jenessa Kirshning. In 1998, Jenessa, then 16, was killed in a car accident triggered by road rage. The walk was started the following spring as a way to honor the teenager's memory, and this year dozens of people turned out for the event, which follows a route around the lake and past the site of Jenessa's grave. The girl's mother, Valerie, grew up in East Boston, as did her uncle, Wally Bowe, known throughout Eastie for his work at the Salesian Boys & Girls Club and Savio High School. Joining them in the walk, as she has every year, was Krista D'Agostino, a Savio senior and one of Jenessa's closest friends. After the walk there was pizza for everyone in the church hall, while a monitor at the front of the room played video of Jenessa. It is frightening to realize how, in an instant, such a life can be taken because of the misguided and careless actions of another. |