May Update: Elm Park Picnic and Bike Month

Hello Worcester Strong Towners! Our next general meeting is this Saturday, May 2nd, at 4 PM. This meeting will be held in person at Elm Park! (Over by the picnic tables near the playground). We’ll be doing a social, with games on the grass, a bring-your-own-meal picnic, and letter-writing to City Council and neighbors on the housing production plan and biking in the City. (If it is raining, we’ll meet at Technocopia on Portland St).

April Recap: Thank you to everyone for attending our April meeting. Planning from that meeting got translated into a successful table at WPI’s Earth Day event on April 22nd! You can check out the pictures on our Discord in the #strong-towns-events channel.

Bus Benches: On May 11 there will be a bus bench meeting at 5:30 PM at Technocopia.

Bike Ride: Also, on Saturday, May 16th at 10 AM, there will be a Strong Towns Worcester Bike Ride! It will meet initially at Worcester State University, for a course of about 30 minutes. Please RSVP here and follow along on that Facebook page for more information.

Action Items

City Council: Worcester’s City Council is meeting on April 28th at 6:30 PM in the Esther Howland Chamber (on the third floor of City Hall). You can view the upcoming agendas and all of its other files here (just look for City Council under “Meeting Title” on the left). You can watch in person or online.

Bike Month: May is Bike Month! Follow the Worcester Bike Alliance for information regarding events all through the month.

Jane Week: May is also Jane Week in the Woo! This is an annual event celebrating Jane Jacobs, a famous journalist, activist, and author of the book The Death and Life of Great American Cities (among several others). A week long event hosted by Preservation Worcester, Jane Week has several free programs that Strong Towners may find of interest! Check out Preservation Worcester to see the events and to RSVP.

Vernon Connected: This is a planning effort regarding the future of the Vernon Street Bridge and the surrounding neighborhoods. These are neighborhoods that were separated by I-290 decades ago, and this is an opportunity to reconnect them.

• You can learn more about Vernon Connected here. There is also a Vernon Connected survey, located at that link.
• Watch Jeff Speck (author of Walkable City) give the keynote speech for Vernon Connected, “Walking Through the Past, Present, and Future” with Jeff Speck.
• If you’ve ever encountered an issue with the transportation network in this area, you can add a marker to this interactive map to bring the project team’s attention to it.

Regional Pedestrian Plan: The Central Massachusetts Regional Planning Commission (CMRPC) is beginning work on updating its Regional Pedestrian Plan. Take its survey to make your voice heard on your walking experience in Central Massachusetts!

Vision Zero: CMRPC is also developing a Regional Vision Zero Action Plan (Regional Safe Streets for All), covering all of central and southern Worcester County. CMRPC is looking for feedback in the development of the plan.

• There is a short survey here to help CMRPC identify and prioritize projects across the region meant to eliminate fatalities on the region’s roadways.
• There is also a concern mapper (here) where you can specifically identify areas on the map where you have mobility concerns (like a dangerous intersection, or areas where biking is dodgy, for example).

WRTA Bus Tracker: If you didn’t know, the Worcester Regional Transit Authority (WRTA) released an updated bus tracker online. Use it here.

Call to Action! There are two street redesign meetings soon – both that could potentially have big implications for Worcester’s bike network. Anyone interested in safe, accessible streets for all should attend!

• On April 30, from 6-8 PM at Quinsigamond Elementary School (14 Blackstone River Road) there is an informational meeting about redesigning College Street (the road Holy Cross is located on). See this link for more information.
• On May 7, from 6-7:30 PM at Rice Square Elementary School (76 Massasoit Road) there is an informational meeting about redesigning Massasoit Road. See this link for more information.

We’re putting out feelers for any Strong Towns members who would be open to going to City boards and commissions meetings – especially those most related to Strong Towns interests (such as the Planning Board or the Zoning Board of Appeals). Let’s get that conversation started on our Discord!

Ongoing Efforts

• We continue to advocate for the Now|Next Plan, the Vision Zero Safety Action Plan, the Mobility Action Plan, and the Housing Production Plan.

Social Media

We have an Instagram, a Discord, a Facebook group, a Facebook page, and a Bluesky. We’d love to see you there and hear your thoughts! If you have any pictures or other Worcester-specific content you’d like us to post, please share!

Thank you for your continued interest! We look forward to bringing you more in the future.