Info sought on Tatnuck traffic; Few know what state plans.

• Author: Kotsopoulos, Nick
• Position: Local

Byline: Nick Kotsopoulos

Councilor-at-Large Konstantina B. Lukes is asking for a report from the city administration on all the traffic improvements and changes the Massachusetts Department of Transportation plans to make from Lincoln Square to Tatnuck Square.

As part of an order she has filed for Tuesday night's City Council meeting, Mrs. Lukes is also asking that adequate public notice be given for any hearings to be held regarding those changes.

Mrs. Lukes filed her order after Tatnuck-area residents voiced frustration last week over a lack of public input on planned traffic signal changes along Pleasant Street.

"This has been the biggest secret for so long,'' said former District 5 City Councilor Wayne A. Griffin, who noted that plans for the Pleasant Street corridor have been in the works for four years.

Paul Gunnerson of the Tatnuck Neighborhood Association said he, too, is disappointed that there has been so little public discourse about the traffic changes that are in the works.

He said he requested more information about the project, but never received it.

"I'm disappointed that the public has been left out of this process,'' Mr. Gunnerson said. "Wait until you see what is going to be done to Tatnuck Square; it will blow your mind.''

District 3 Councilor George J. Russell would like to see more of the city covered by the gunshot recognition system that the Police Department will deploy.

The acoustic surveillance system, called ShotSpotter, is intended to help police combat gun violence in the city. It will be deployed in a 3-square-mile area, primarily east of Interstate 290, where gun violence has been a problem.

The cost of the system ($434,000 over three years) will be paid entirely with mitigation money the city is receiving from CSX for allowing the rail giant to expand its freight yard between Shrewsbury and Franklin streets.

But in an order he has filed for Tuesday night's council meeting, Mr. Russell is calling on the city manager to recommend funding to expand ShotSpotter citywide.

He is also asking that the Lake Avenue area be included in the scope of the CSX Advisory Committee, which is responsible for dividing up as much as $2 million in mitigation money related to the CSX freight yard expansion project.

Currently, the three districts eligible for that mitigation money are Grafton Hill, Shrewsbury Street and the Canal District.

Mr. Russell is pushing to have Lake Avenue added because, he says, residents on the east end...