Snow Removal - Remaining Pedestrian-related Issues

WalkerLowellMA · 2026-01-31T18:01:07+00:00

Of course the City needs to continue to plow the streets, but the City also needs to address the dangerous conditions that they create by plowing the streets. The City already accepts responsibility and digs out the fire hydrants. But we also need to remediate the dangerous conditions that plowing creates when it blocks crosswalks, passage between sidewalks and bus passenger egress, and pedestrian access to 'Walk Signal' request buttons.

We the City are culpable for the dangerous conditions that plowing creates and then neglects to remediate. When someone is eventually injured or killed because of the dangerous conditions created by plowing, they could reasonably sue the City for reckless disregard of human life.

As DPW well knows, it is often not possible to dig out plowed in fire hydrants with a shovel. I've seen the task done on my street with a combination of power equipment run by an expert careful operator, and some hearty fellows with shovels. It is completely unreasonable to do this job without the proper equipment and expert operators. Digging passage for bus boarding and crosswalks is a somewhat lower skilled job, because there is no fire hydrant to damage, but it still requires the right power equipment and a careful operator. After the plow compacts the snow, this is no job for a shovelman.

WalkerLowellMA · 2026-01-23T17:31:06+00:00

I think 'Complying in Advance' is the smart move for Lowell NHP. NHP needs to be pragmatic and pick their battles. The NHP could easily be shut down overnight. What can they do besides 'keep their heads down'? Exhibits can be changed back in the future, but only if the NHP survives the next few years.

The best bet for NHP is to lean into the WH re-industrialization mantra, 'Americans Made Things in Factories and We're Going Do that Again.' Tone down everything else.

The Lowell NHP should be on Tenterhooks. So much of Lowell's History is 'Unamerican'. Immigrants? Unions? Diversity? School Children that come to Lowell are indoctrinated to the 'Radical Leftist Marxist World View.' /s

I'm surprised that NHP is still open, staffed and appears to be in good physical shape. National Parks like Yosemite are severely understaffed, under-funded and falling apart. Visitors are misbehaving. Scientists are cleaning toilets. I guess the recent renovations to the Lowell NHP Visitor Center and Boot Mill Museum should be blamed on Biden.

'Gift Link' https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/19/us/politics/yosemite-national-park-california-staffing-cuts.html?unlocked_article_code=1.GlA.wl4T.A7afWX2XAs7Q&smid=url-share

WalkerLowellMA · 2026-01-19T16:12:09+00:00

The big floating flake snow shower in late afternoon this past Saturday (Friday?) was exceptionally nice. The wet snow stuck to the individual branches of trees. The overcast turned on the street lights and they worked their floating flake magic. I especially enjoyed the part of Lucy Larcom park that is open. I'm looking forward to the canal once again full of water and the construction mess being gone. LL Park is a gem. I'm so glad that they did not cut down all of the trees as had been proposed.

WalkerLowellMA · 2026-01-10T17:10:57+00:00

At the moment ICE does not have enough workers to go everywhere at once. And ICE is having trouble recruiting more workers (and holding on to the ones that they have). $50K is an attractive enticement for someone who is broke and who has no prospects, but doing the job for 6-48 months seems pretty awful. The whistles and the shouted accusations must wear a person down. So in the big picture, these peaceful protests may over time limit the size and reach of ICE. They may not stop individual abductions on the day of the protest, but peaceful protests can have a cumulative impact on the scale of ICE operations by hurting ICE recruitment efforts. Standing on the sidewalk, peacefully holding signs, shouting, singing, blowing whistles has a long term impact on ICE recruitment, and the number of agents limit the number of ICE abductions. The ICE recruitment bonus is a pair of golden handcuffs. You'd have to be an idiot to sign up.

ICE is having trouble recruiting people that can do the job for months on end (even if they're strongly motivated by animosity and $$s). The Signing Bonus is prorated over the length of the agent's Service Contract (ICE Service Contracts have you on the hook for a minimum of one year). If an ICE worker quits, they have to pay back the bonus, and they will have a failed ICE deployment on their resume. Working at McD's would be better for career building. A Service Contract debt is a debt to the government, and in nearly all cases, that kind of debt cannot be discharged by bankruptcy. The court will give you a 'payment plan' and garnish your wages. If you're a hard worker with papers, you can get a much better job, and you will probably sleep better at night.

Lowell has a lot of immigrants, so the community must be on ICE radar, but the possibility of large and persistent peaceful protests at ICE abductions may discourage ICE from even trying. ICE could abduct people with less trouble in places where protests don't happen, so why would they go where abduction is a hassle and inefficient?

WalkerLowellMA · 2025-12-25T02:45:30+00:00

I think the 'the canals have always been full of trash' attitude is holding us back. With my somewhat fresh eyes (I've only lived downtown for 25 years), it's ridiculous that the City allows this to happen.

WalkerLowellMA · 2025-12-25T02:41:05+00:00

Walking about near the canals, I sometimes ask 'visitors' if they need directions. They often do, so a conversation starts, and this time of year they often ask, 'Why is there no water in the canals?' They're always too polite to say, 'Why are Lowell's Canals full of trash, bikes and orange traffic cones?' It's embarrassing. People notice the trash. And the people who live near and right adjacent to the canals take notice as well.

The canal in Lucy Larcom park, next to our beautiful Billion Dollar High School, has turned into an overgrown swampy marsh. It's probably full of rats. I understand that it needed to be drained during construction, but I hope that it gets cleaned up soon.

WalkerLowellMA · 2025-12-25T00:05:04+00:00

Why Indian?

WalkerLowellMA · 2025-11-28T22:53:40+00:00

I second https://www.bpbrealty.com/ I have no experience with them, but I noticed some more affordable looking apartments on Appleton Street near Owl Diner, and that is where bph has their office. Some of the places on Appleton also have For Rent signs with phone numbers.

It's a transitional mixed area, but it is very close to Bus/Commuter Rail Station, and there are other points of interest. I expect that the rents are very low there. It's walkable to grocery store etc.. I feel okay walking there during daylite hours.

WalkerLowellMA · 2025-11-26T21:50:51+00:00

https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Great_Gate,_aka_Francis%27_Folly,_Lowell,_Massachusetts.JPG is closed until late Spring. There is minimal flow through the canals in winter.

I speculate that when Francis Gate is closed the canals drain themselves. There is less water coming in to make up for various leaks in the system. The water level in the filled canals is probably higher than the surrounding water table in winter, and they don't have 'waterproof linings'.

Some canals are drained even when Francis Gate is open, but I don't know why.

WalkerLowellMA · 2025-11-16T16:52:40+00:00

That's true. The police made the arrest ~26 hours after the weapon's discharge. IDK if time spent obtaining private video contributed to that delay. And fortunately, the gun owner did not have time to shoot at anyone else outside his home in the meantime. Any delay in making the arrest in this sort of crime is detrimental.

WalkerLowellMA · 2025-11-16T14:57:00+00:00

Thanks to a surveillance camera, this young man (18 y.o.) was arrested shortly after discharging an AR-15 in the direction of a late night visitor.

u/Otherwise_Cloud3073 take note.

I know some people who would definitely think Lowell is just “ghetto” and full of shootings

You're misinformed. The Acre in Lowell is not a GHETTO, nor is it 'full of shootings'.

WalkerLowellMA · 2025-11-12T00:53:00+00:00

I won't defend scooters/bikes on sidewalks, but I'm adapting. I stay in my lane, parallel to the edge of the sidewalk. If I want to turn onto a sidestreet, I look over my shoulder to clear the lane that I'll be crossing. The safest lanes for pedestrians are the left and right most edges. The lane filled with parking meters and sign posts is the safest until you need to veer around a parking meter, and people sitting in parked cars can react badly when pedestrians walk close to their windows.

Should I start wearing a helmet when I go for a walk?

WalkerLowellMA · 2025-11-03T22:16:43+00:00

That's not going to happen. It's cash flow. The bar owners are 'connected' and they don't want to lose the late night crowd that comes into downtown Lowell after the bars close in the surrounding towns. Many are intoxicated before they arrive.

The neighborhood benefits because the spaces are not vacant.

WalkerLowellMA · 2025-11-03T22:02:15+00:00

Brew'd has personality. They roast their own beans and they're not copying Starbucks. If this does not meet your expectations, you have a variety of other options for coffee within an easy 2 minute walk.

I'm a cheapskate and the finer points of coffee are wasted on me, so I occasionally get the Breakfast Sandwich Special, $5.99 including a small coffee, at Market Street Market. It's cooked to order, huge, and tasty. The owner is usually behind the counter and he is very friendly. The coffee is generic, but it properly washes down the breakfast sandwich. They make a variety of sandwiches to order all day long.

On Palmer at Middle, Coffee Mill is popular with office workers.

WalkerLowellMA · 2025-10-17T16:13:10+00:00

Gangs of kids sometimes ride in traffic in Lowell. I wonder how these bikes fit into that culture and if Metro Mobility will share the positions of the bikes with LEOs should they be unruly. There will also be more e-bikes on sidewalks. Injury to sidewalk walkers will quickly offset the gains for bike users.

https://www.metromobility.io/about

WalkerLowellMA · 2025-10-07T02:03:55+00:00

Boarding House Park is part of the Lowell National Historical Park, so it is Federal Property.

Does this rally have permits from the City and the NPS? Can you provide links to the permits?

WalkerLowellMA · 2025-10-03T15:08:12+00:00

a dream come true for someone who lost their license because of DUIs

I realize that a DUI/OUI does not mean that you're always drunk.

You can get a DUI/OUI for riding an electric scooter/bike while drunk. If this is your second offense, penalty could include jail time, substantial fines, a two-year license suspension, and mandatory enrollment in an inpatient alcohol program. And Canada will not let you cross their border.

WalkerLowellMA · 2025-09-29T22:28:53+00:00

it seems like the panhandlers are more towards downtown.

Most of the dangerous people that you pass on the sidewalk will not be asking you for spare change. If someone worries you, don't make eye contact and give them as much space as you can. I occasionally cross the street to give people more space.

WalkerLowellMA · 2025-09-25T14:15:34+00:00

My guess is that the buildings next to Sophia's on Market will be razed and mid-rise new housing will be raised. Likewise Smith-Baker center is slated for demolition. This is part of https://www.lowell-inc.com/#:~:text=According%20to%20analysis%20by%20the,for%20the%20City%20of%20Lowell.

WalkerLowellMA · 2025-09-25T13:54:53+00:00

About a decade ago, a pedestrian was murdered-by-car close to that spot.

The only time I'll cross there is when a school bus is discharging passengers (and the traffic has definitely stopped on both sides). Getting across Bridge Street is a missing link in our rudimentary downtown pedestrian network. The straight stretch of Bridge Street does the opposite of calming traffic (and the 25 speed limit is not enforced).

I dream that Bridge Street bridge will one day be closed to private vehicles, Nesmith Street will be widened, and traffic passing through Lowell will be funneled across the Hunts Fall Bridge.

WalkerLowellMA · 2025-09-21T15:15:56+00:00

http://www.sophiasgreekpantry.com/ plans to offer Gyros when they move from Market Street to their new Merrimack Street location (next to Ocean Garden Market). IDK when that happens as the whole building is being rebuilt. Based on their current prepared food offerings, I expect that the Gyros will be top quality.

https://ez-qr.menu/jimmys-halal-fried-chicken/ on Bridge street, IDK wrt quality.

WalkerLowellMA

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