Comella’s Leaving Belmont Center Location For New Home At Former Loading Dock Site

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Photo: The current site at 43 Leonard St.

One of Belmont Center’s largest and most popular eateries will be leaving its Leonard Street storefront this fall for its new home on the Cambridge/Belmont line.

At its Monday, July 11 meeting, the Belmont Zoning Board of Appeals unanimously approved a special permit for a fast food license to the owners of Comella’s Restaurant to allow them to move the eatery known for its Italian cuisine and pizza to the former site of the Loading Dock at 11 Brighton St.

Attorney Stephen B Rosales, who represented the Comella family, told the board that after 10 successful years leasing the 43 Leonard St. location, the had to opportunity to purchase the property at 11 Brighton St. … which will ”cement and control their future here in town.” Rosales said the owners ”have applied to basically operate the same way and in the same manner as they have” at their current site.

”Same menu, same pizza. At $6.99, it’s a great deal,” said Rosales.

The loss of Comella’s will be a blow to Belmont Center which has seen the number of empty storefronts grow since before the Covid-19 pandemic.

Located at the former home of The Loading Dock restaurant, the new site will have 60 seats with 48 at tables and 12 at the bar. Under Belmont zoning requirements, the site will have 30 parking spaces, with 12 out in front, 10 permitted spaces across Brighton at the F. A. Williams’ property and nine off street.

The Comellas’ will soon seek a transfer of the beer and wine license it has at the Leonard Street store. A minimum build out will be required and the new site will be open in the fall. As part of the permit, the board restricted outdoor seating at the site even though the restaurant’s patio is private property, as opposed to town-owned sidewalk on Leonard Street.

Emma Thurston of Baker Street said the proposed new site – which is a block from her house – has been empty for a really long time, and since Comella’s is a household favorite, ”we’d be very happy to add them to the community over here” as it will become “a strong [business] anchor” along with Hillside Gardens in the area.

New MBTA Crosstown Bus Line Proposal Brings Out Critics, Supporters To Public Meeting

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Photo: Waverley Street

Last week’s public meeting which unveiled the MBTA’s revamped bus system gave Belmont residents a first look to proposed changes to the bus routes as well as a new line traveling through town.

Andrew McFarland and Olivia Mobayed from the MBTA came before the town’s Transportation Advisory Committee – the host for the July 7 virtual public meeting – to present the Belmont portion of the T’s Better Bus Project, the authority’s system-wide overhaul of bus service including current routes such as the popular 73 from Waverley to Harvard Square and the 75 from Harvard to Belmont Center. It was also a first look at the proposed 54 line, a new crosstown bus in which riders can travel into Arlington or head south through Watertown and Newton.

This plan is to ”rethink routes,” ”renovate and overhaul bus service” so that the public will find it ”simpler and easier to use,” said McFarland. For the MBTA, the meeting was an opportunity to present the draft to the community and receive feedback, he said.

See an earlier report on the changes to the Belmont-related routes here.

The big news was the first public revealing of the draft of the new 54 route, in which Waverley Street would join Lexington, Common, Leonard and Pleasant streets to create the Belmont portion of the new line from Arlington Center to the MBTA Green Line Riverside terminal in Newton. The 54 would replace the 554 – a six-day a week route that has infrequent times – that terminates at Waverley Square on Trapelo Road across from the Belmont Car Wash.

McFarland said the new 54 would allow for a “crosstown connection” where riders can travel directly to a desired location such as Arlington Center rather than take a bus into a “hub” such as Harvard Square to take a second bus to the destination.

The existing routes running through Belmont would see seven-day-a-week timetables with more frequent bus service as well as earlier start times and late night buses. The new plan calls of a return of buses traveling under the commuter rail bridge after two years when the introduction of new buses required routes to stay on the southside of the commuter rail line. Mobayed said the reason the routes would transit into Belmont Center is due to public sentiment. “They’d like it back” in the business district for convenience and safety, she said.

Olivia Mobayed from the MBTA’s Better Bus Project

The new routes entering Belmont Center via the commuter rail tunnel has been identified as a potential trouble point due to the size of the tunnel. Glenn Clancy, Belmont’s director of the Office of Community Development, said one of his concerns was if the two lanes currently under the bridge is reduced to one to squeeze the bus through the tunnel could result in major backups during the 90-minute rush hour.

Yet a test run along the route in which Mobayed took with MBTA bus instructors and training staff ”got there just fine.” McFarland said, at this time, “all stakeholders are working together to get under the bridge.”

“So, there are some challenges – including the “tight” corner at Common and Waverley – “to make the trip safe but it is feasible,” said McFarland.

When the meeting was open to public comments, critics of the new 54 route were quick to point out a list of issues using Waverley Street, eager to point out a litany of limitations and problems from traffic bottlenecks, impassable sections, afternoon and weekend parking along Town Field, blind driveways, crowds of children close to the road, unshoveled sidewalks, as well as an onerous steep incline at Edward Street that one resident called ”dangerous.”

“I am a proponent of public transportation,” said Debbie Dobbins of Waverley Street, ”but I see a serious degrading of the quality of life.”

What many opponents viewed as a compromise alternative route was for the bus to travel the length of Pleasant Street from Waverley Square to the Arlington line at Route 2, which would have the added benefit of skirting the commuter rail tunnel. But Mobayed said that proposal would severely limit the number of people and neighborhoods that would benefit from a new bus line including the town’s distressed business center and Belmont’s veteran’s public housing location.

For those who said they welcome a bus route close to residents and the business community, the challenges of a Waverley Street as well as getting three bus routes under the Belmont Commuter Rail tunnel shouldn’t be any more difficult than what the T has done for decades in urban communities such as Malden and Somerville where narrow streets and bridges are a norm.

Proponents of the new route were eager to have the route approved. Belmont High student Sophia Jensen told the meeting the route would be “extremely beneficial” for students who depend on parents to drive them and allows for much needed independence.

Brooklyn native Ade Baptista said he had ”heard a lot of concerns about safety” on Waverley Street, an issue that he believes doesn’t acknowledge that the MBTA employees are “professional drivers,” something he has seen using the system.

”This will be a boom for the town” as cars will be taken from street and a great number of people will use the bus to travel into Belmont Center. ”People will support that.”

While the pros and cons made their points, McFarland said before the proposal can move forward, it still will need to clear the T’s own safety committee which is somewhat down the road.

”This is a draft plan, just that,” said McFarland.

New Rink Committee In Sprint To Meet Aug. 1 Deadline; Public Meetings Set For July 14, 20

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Photo: The design of the new municipal rink (The Galante Architecture Studio)

While the majority of building committees’ work resemble a long-distance race, the newly-formed Municipal Skating Rink Building Committee is like watching Usain Bolt in full flight as the 12-member committee attempts to sprint the project onto the Nov. 8 ballot.

Facing a list of tasks that would make Hercules blush, the committee is seeking to create a completed design of the structure, a plan to revamp the fields and manage parking while coming up with a detail price tag for the entire project, all of it done in less than a month.

”We have 25 calendar days to meet our [Aug. 1] deadline,” Committee Chair Mark Haley said at the committee’s Wednesday, July 6 meeting that focused on the latest project feasibility study. And during that compressed interval, the committee is looking to introduce the project to residents.

That part of the plan starts with a pair of public meetings – on Thursday, July 14 and Wednesday, July 20, sandwiched between critical joint meetings of the Select Board and School Committee on July 18 and an informational get-together with the Planning Board on July 19. The meeting on Bastille Day will be dedicated to the rink design, while the 20th will highlight parking and the three playing surfaces ”west of Harris Field.”

The committee has been meeting weekly almost since it was created on June 13 during Town Meeting and will continue through July with the specific goal of having a debt exclusion ballot question to fund the rink before voters in November. The rush is required as the Select Board faces an August 1 deadline to make a final decision on debt exclusion measures to Belmont Town Clerk Ellen Cushman who will seek state approval to place any on the general election ballot.

And while the committee could present what it hopes is a complete package, that November vote is far from a certainty as all that work will need to come up to scratch by the expectations of the Select Board.

“It may be very difficult to meet that next timeline … because there’s a lot that needs to happen between now and Aug. 1,” said Mark Paolillo, the board’s chair, pointing to a volumes of recommendations it must produce to the Select Board and School Committee to meet its mandate.

”I’m just suggesting that, perhaps, it could be challenging,” said Paolillo.

As of the July 6 meeting, the rink design is fairly straight forward with architect Ted Galante using the steel skeleton of the existing structure, more detailed – but not yet finalized – design with the building expanding more in the front and the rear with the programs enclosed with the building creeping closer to Harris Field bleachers in an attempt not to impact the fields and eliminate a small alleyway between the two structures.

Take a peak at the July 6 municipal rink feasibility study here

Galante of The Galante Architecture Studio brought to the July 6 meeting a blueprint that severed the project into two parts with the majority of the program – the rink, community room, restrooms, hockey locker rooms – to be built in a first phase with the Harris Field locker rooms for fall and spring sports left for a later date with separate funding.

The dual construction phasing was quickly scuttled by the committee. “If it’s not done now, it will never happen,” said Ann Marie Mahoney. “It needs to be a complete project” brought before the Select Board and the public.

The full range of locker rooms are necessary as the new Middle and High School only has two full-scale locker rooms, for boys’ and girls’ varsity a limit imposed by the Massachusetts School Building Authority in its partnership with the town. According to Superintendent John Phelan who met with Haley and School Committee Chair Meg Moriarty the day before, the four lockers at the rink will barely meet the demands of the school’s athletic teams.

While the design is moving forward, the west fields and just how much parking is proving to be stickier issues to resolve. The fields as well as the parking component were “inherited” by the rink committee when they were orphaned by the Belmont Middle and High School Building Committee which abandoned the fields and the associated parking from its original plan to reallocate $5 million to its contingency funds.

“This complicates the picture,” said Tom Gatzunis, the committee’s owners project manager, with the committee forced to add the scope of the fields and the need for parking under its watch with a substantial increase to the building’s price tag and complexity.

With the BMHSBC washing its hands of West of Harris Field, the need for 120 parking spaces negotiated with the Planning Board more than four years ago has been taken off the board. With the ability to start anew, Galante said earlier analysis of the rink revealed a demand for 88 spaces on game days. Galante’s current intention is to utilize the ”jug handle” parking across Concord Avenue from the Underwood Pool along with new spaces where the White Field House currently sits.

Members noted that parking will be “a very hot button issue” for neighbors as they fought hard to take vehicles off side streets. Frank French, Jr. pondered the idea the committee could simply leave parking the way it is currently with patrons and fans using on-street parking along Concord Avenue when using the rink. The committee believes it will have a more detailed parking plan by the time it meets with the Select Board and School Committee on July 18 and for a critical Planning Board meeting the next day.

With the elements of the project increased with the addition of the fields and parking, the price tag on the expanded rink has increased by a third from the first estimate in of $19 million, currently in a range between $28-$32 million. Dante Muzzioli said the project must come in below $30 million, a price point that, if that number was breeched, would prove difficult for residents to support.

“We are going to get one bite of the apple,” said Muzzioli.

The members of the new committee are chair Mark Haley, Dante Muzzioli, Anthony Ferrante, Stephen Sala, Frank French, Jr, Catherine Oakes, Megan Moriarty, Bill Shea, Tom Caputo, Dan Halston, Ann Marie Mahoney and Dynelle Long.

Town Negotiates Contract With Superior Officers Association; Three Unions Left To Be Settled

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Photo: Contract settled with Belmont Police Superior Officers

Three down, three to go as the town reached a multi-year contract with another of it employee unions announced on Monday, June 27.

The Belmont Police Superior Officers Association reached an agreement on a new three-year contract to be in effect from July 1, 2020 through June 30, 2023. The parties agree to three 2 percent base wage increases from 2020 to 2023, according to Shawna Healey, the town’s Human Resources director.

The contract also provides education incentives and adds the Juneteenth holiday as a paid holiday. As part of working throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, the town is providing a one-time payment of $2,000 for active employees who worked from March 2020 to March 2021.

There are 16 members in the association representing Belmont Police sergeants, lieutenants and captains.

Street, Sidewalk Construction Contracts OK’d; Work Begins Mid-July

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Photo: Highland Road is one of the roads to be repaired

At its Monday, June 27 meeting, the Belmont Select Board approved the fiscal year 2023 Pavement Management Plan, the annual capital expenditure to conduct major roadway reconstruction and repair.

The contract, which was rewarded to Newport Construction with a low bid of $2,467,070 on the job estimated by the town at $2.6 million, comes in two parts: the first is $39,851 for sewer repairs before the road work starts and $2,127,219 on road construction. In addition, the contract calls for vertical curbing on Sycamore Street as well as creating two raised tables on School Street as enhanced safety measures.

Roadwork will begin in July, according to the contract.

The ten roads which will see work beginning this summer are:

  • Amelia Street between Orchard and Benjamin,
  • Hillcrest Road between Goden and Common,
  • Cedar Road between Goden and Common,
  • Beckett Road between Concord and Watson,
  • Clairemont Road between Prospect and Rutledge,
  • Fairmont Street between Goden and Common,
  • Highland Road between Fairmont and Cedar,
  • Van Ness Road between Belmont and Stults,
  • Gorham Road between Palfrey and Hammond, and
  • 800 feet of Marsh Street west of Evergreen to the Park Avenue Circle.

“You selected a set of streets that are a wonderful examples of the best of the worst,” said Board member Roy Epstein.

Along with the annual street repairs, the town awarded a contract to low bidder Sacca N and Sons Construction for $339,680 to repair and construct cement and concrete sidewalks and granite curbing through town.

What’s Open/Closed This 4th Of July, Trash Delayed A Day, Where Are The Fireworks Close To Belmont

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Photo: 4th of July fireworks on the Charles river, Boston, MA 2011-07-04 Pablo Valerio

Today, Monday, July 4 is when the country observes Independence Day, which the country commemorates the signing of the Declaration of Independence in 1776. Although the holiday wasn’t made an official nation-wide holiday until 1870 (and not a paid holiday for federal workers until 1941), Massachusetts has recognized the day as an official state holiday since 1781.

For most Belmontians, the most impactful result of the holiday is that trash and recycling pick up will be delayed a day.

Here is what’s closed and what’s open on the 4th of July.

  • Belmont Town Hall and town offices: Closed
  • The Underwood Pool: Open to members and those purchasing day passes
  • Belmont Public Library: Closed
  • State and Federal government offices: Closed
  • US Postal Service: Both Belmont post offices are closed; express delivery only
  • Banks: Closed
  • Retail stores: Open at owner’s discretion
  • Supermarkets: Star Market on Trapelo Road in Waverley Square in open regular hours.
  • Coffee shops: Starbucks and Dunkin’s on Trapelo Road will be operating their regular hours.
  • CVS: 89 Leonard St. (Belmont Center) Store 8 a.m. to 10 p.m., Pharmacy 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
  • 264 Trapelo St. Store 7 a.m. to 11 p.m.; Pharmacy 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

For those who want to do some day traveling using public transportation, the MBTA is running on the following schedule:

  • Subway will run on a modified Saturday schedule until 1 p.m. After 1 p.m., the subway will run on a weekday schedule.
  • Bus and the RIDE will run on a Sunday schedule.
  • Commuter Rail will run on a weekend schedule. The Fitchburg line will be held for 30 minutes after the end of the Boston Pop fireworks.

Where to see firework celebrations near-ish to Belmont:

  • Boston/Cambridge: along the Charles River at the Esplanade, 10:30 p.m.
  • Newton: Albemarle Field/Halloran Sports Complex, 9:30 p.m.
  • Wakefield: Lake Quannapowitt at the end of Beacon Street, 9:30 p.m.

Hill Estates Couple Killed In Multi-Vehicle Accident Monday Evening In Brighton

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Photo: Location of the accident

A Belmont couple was killed in a multi-vehicle accident near the restaurant they frequented on Soldier Fields Road in Brighton on Monday, June 27.

Massachusetts State Police identified the victims as Donald Houllahan, 85, and his wife Jean, 83, who lived on Vale Road in the Hill Estates.

In a press release, the MSP reported at approximately 7:15 p.m., a 2019 Acura RDX driven by Donald Houllahan was exiting the IHOP restaurant in the area of 1800 Soldiers Field Road in Brighton when it was struck by a 2016 Infiniti Q50 traveling eastbound on Soldiers Field Road, resulting in both vehicles ending up in the westbound lane. No other vehicles were involved, according the release.

The Houllahans “were transported to an area hospital with serious injuries. Mr. Houllahan passed away shortly after arriving at a hospital, Ms Houllahan succumbed to her injuries overnight. Three occupants in the Infiniti were transported to an area hospital with serious, but non-life-threating, injuries,” the MSP reported.

The crash remains under investigation by Troopers assigned to State Police-Boston.

The Houllahans had strong roots in Belmont with Jean being a life-long resident and graduate from Belmont High School. The couple raised their three children, Brian, Sue and Mark, on Carleton Road as each graduated from Belmont High. Town records showed they moved back to Belmont from Bedford in 1996 to the townhouse on Vale Road.

Donald Houllahan was well-known throughout town as the owner of Bowtie Limousine Inc. on Common Street, the ”go-to” limo service for proms, wedding and other events in the Boston area.

Funeral services are pending.

‘Now It’s Your Turn’: Select Board Voice Support For $39.5M Library Debt Exclusion On November Ballot

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Photo: Architectural drawing of the new Belmont Public Library along Concord Avenue (Oudens Ello Architecture)

After waiting in line for years behind other capital projects, advocates for a new Belmont Public Library building received the support of the town’s three-member Select Board for the project to be placed before voters on the November 2022 election.

”Now it’s your turn,” said Mark Paolillo, chair of the Select Board during an update on the new library project at a joint meeting with the Board of Library Trustees. ”This is ready to go.”

According to the latest data from the design firm and the library building committee, the revised price tag for the new 41,500 sq.-ft. library is $39.5 million.

“We’re feeling comfortable that this is the number that we would ask the Select Board to move forward with and what the building will cost,” said Kathy Keohane, vice chair of the trustees. The bill for the project has seen a jump since Sept. 2021 from $35.9 million due to a $2.1 million increase in construction costs in addition to the building committee adding $1.86 million in what is called ”market volatility contingency” above the current contingency line items “which we felt … was prudent to include that additional safe guard.”

While the Select Board is scheduled to vote at its July 25 meeting to OK placing debt exclusions on the Nov. 8 mid-term ballot, the members are ready to put the project before voters.

“I am committed to the library being on the ballot in November,” said Select Board Member Adam Dash. “You guys have done your homework and that the library trustees have been very patient and letting a lot of other go first.”

“You’re welcome to come [on July 25] … and listen to our favorable vote to put this on the ballot in the fall,” said Paolillo.

Keohane reported community donations to defray the cost of the new library has nearly reached $3 million (currently at $2.86 million) from 850 supporters. Keohane noted the donation figure is conservative as there are “many folks that have told us they are planning to make a donation but we don’t have that paperwork.”

”We are also pursuing grants with businesses, banks, local foundations and very much open to any suggestions that people may have about the possibilities … [in addition to] CPA grants,” she said.

The November vote comes as the library’s popularity has returned to near pre-pandemic levels, according to Library Director Peter Struzziero. The 2021-22 fiscal year [ending June 30] is the second busiest books in total collection use in library history with more than 600,000 books and material used by patrons, only topped by 2018-19 with 650,000. The library has also expanded its mentor match, collaberation with schools and other and the return of One Book One Belmont in the fall.

”We had a great response to the pandemic. We were a leader in the Commonwealth and learning new ways to serve while we built new relationships with our patrons,” said Struzziero.

Belmont Boys’ Rugby Takes State Title Over Arch-Rival BC High, 20-7; Fourth Title In Program History

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Photo: The Belmont High School Boys’ Rugby squad celebrate its 2022 MIAA Division 1 State Championship with the tournament trophy.

Boston College High School rugby squad is known as the Eagles, but at MIAA Division 1 state title match, it was the Belmont High ruggers who flew to victory.

In a match where Belmont’s embrace of an all-encompassing kicking game proved decisive against the traditional muscle and brawn style employed by BC High, the Marauders dominated the Eagles, 20-7, on Saturday, June 17, capturing its second MIAA Division 1 state championship and the fourth title in the program’s 15-year history before a boisterous near capacity crowd at Curry College in Milton.

“We had a saying all year: ‘Don’t go through the wall, go over it.’” said senior fly-half and co-captain Erik Rosenmeier who scored twice from penalty kicks and on a pair of conversions resulting in half of Belmont’s points. “And that’s what we did today. Our kicking was amazing.”

Belmont’s kicking strategy which has become an important part of the program’s overall tactics mimics a trend in the professional game where world-class teams and national squads punt to challenge opponents, all a defense to reset and to “flip the field” with deep strikes placing the competitor on the back foot.

While kicking was an effective weapon against BC and St. John’s Prep in the semi-finals, Greg Bruce, Belmont’s head coach since he brought rugby to the school in 2007, pointed to the hard work the Marauders have placed in defense and tackling during the season.

“For the past two weeks we coaches built our defensive structure and put it into practice in training,” said Bruce. “The forwards played great, the backs, the defense. It was a team performance to be honest.”

“BC is an amazing team but they rely on their athleticism more than they rely on their skill. They really just want to get the ball and run it hard up the gut and hope we can’t tackle them. And, you know, that’s what we did, stop them,” said Rosenmeier.

Belmont came out of the gate fast and used their inside running to great effect to set up Loose Head Prop Asa Rosenmeier – Erik’s younger brother – to barrel into try from six meters out just four minutes in the match to give Belmont the early 7-0 lead. But 10 minutes later, a series of quick hitting runs by BC allowed senior Jack McNicholl to slalom 30 meters to tie the game at 7-7.

Belmont spent the first half placing the Eagles under pressure with sustained tackling against the BC frontline and a number of clearing punts that kept putting the Eagles behind the midfield line. On the offensive side, the Marauders’ were able to string together drives that got them within kicking range when penalties were called against BC. Bruce didn’t hesitate to put the ball on Rosenmeier’s toe as the senior scored twice at the 23 minute and 32 minute marks as the lead climb to 13-7.

The ability to keep momentum on its side turned out to be critical in Belmont’s final score, a gutsy drive after time expired in the half in which the Marauders’ protected each ruck and finally opened a small gap in the BC line allowing Lock Viktor Insanic to run straight into try to give Belmont a two score lead, 20-7.

The final 35 minutes was a near masterclass by the Belmont XV in denying BC the momentum or big plays needed to get back into the match. When the Eagles threatened 10 minutes into the half, Belmont backs came up with a great stand inside its 22 meter preventing runners from turning the corner, stalling BC’s drive eventually resulting in a Rosenmeier kick that was “knocked on” by an Eagles back giving possession to the Marauders in the BC half.

While BC kept to its strategy of quick, hard hits into the body of Belmont’s line, the tactics proved exhausting to the Eagles which was only compounded by a series of deep kicks that allowed Belmont to reset its defense and force BC to travel ever further to attempt to cut the margin of Belmont’s lead.

“The second half was a little boring; a lot of whistles, we got a yellow card and then it got really, really choppy after that. But they did what mattered most when it mattered most and that’s why we’re here,” said Bruce.

In its final venture close to the try line, Marauders’ Number Eight Max Cornelius made a critical steal ending all of BC’s hopes. Soon after the starters started coming out and the reserves got a chance to be on the pitch for the final whistle.

The 2022 crown joins Belmont’s MIAA Div. 1 state championship won in 2019 and MYRO titles in Division 1 in 2013 and Division 2 in 2011.

“Coming into the season, there’s this kind of pressure. I really wanted to win a state championship to finish my high school career,” said Rosenmeier. “When we lost our very first game to Milton [17-12 on April 8],it was kind of like a wake up call for us that we needed to get our act together. And we just worked our [posterior] off for the rest of the season and now we’re here with this,” said Rosenmeier hold the state trophy.

“Amazing!” he said as the celebration continued on the pitch.

Learn More About New T Bus Line That Runs Through Belmont In Virtual Meeting Wednesday, June 22

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Photo: MBTA meeting on new bus routes including one through Belmont. (credit: Wikipedia)

As part of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority’s Bus Network Redesign initiative – to re-imagine the MBTA’s bus routes to better serve current and future bus riders – the authority is holding a series of regional meeting to present and discuss the new bus lines that will be a central component of the redesign.

One of the featured new bus lines will run from the MBTA’s Green Line D Riverside Station in Newton to Arlington Center passing through Waverley Square, Belmont Center and down Pleasant Street to the Arlington line. Below is the link to the meeting:

June 22, 6 p.m.: Bus Network Redesign – Minuteman & Metro North (Virtual)

Between now and through the end of July Mass Department of Transportation and MBTA staff will be collecting feedback through multiple platforms.

Below are additional information about the Redesign Initiative:

  • A link to an interactive version of the draft map is available here.
  • There are a series of detailed, community-specific booklets that include comparisons between the draft map and today’s bus system, and a summary table of all route changes. You can find a link to all the booklets here.
  • Members of the public can see how this proposed bus system could affect their personal travel by entering origins and destinations in this digital Trip Planner, which compares their potential commute with today’s network. You can find a link available here.
  • The public can share their feedback on the draft map here through this feedback form.