Astrid A. Dodds

There are 4-5 young public street trees with many low branches that obstruct pedestrian passage on the #1573 sidewalk. This is just prior to the wide iron gate behind Youville House, well before Leonard Ave. All the low branches should be pruned up to 7' asap. With the leaves gone, the branches will be hard to see and will threaten the eyes of pedestrians. And maybe cyclists in the adjacent SBL. As it is, the too-low branches narrow this wide sidewalk by half.

In March 22, I reported this locust tree growing into the wires that supply our 3-decker at 73 Wendell; it is now July & no pruning yet. We are now suffering intermittent loss of internet & for all we know, this tree's branches play a part. This pair of locusts planted in front of #75 in 02 were sited too close to each other. This one grows only to the west, droops over the sidewalk and into our electric supply. Look at the other side: nothing grows. It is totally unbalanced. I reported this in 2021, and nothing happened. This locust needs severe pruning of its lower branches. Do I need a City Councillor to go to bat for me on this one?

Very large street tree (an Elm?) hanging high over Gorham St. in front of 31 Gorham appears to have a very large broken branch or at least a large branch about to bend down so far it will break. Can only be seen in middle of Gorham St. Maybe there is nothing wrong with it but it looks alarming.

The two city-owned street trees immediately to the left as you face 28 Wendell desperately need pruning so that all branches are at least 7' above the sidewalk. Few people can walk past these trees standing up. Both have many downward facing branches that look like eye injuries waiting to happen. The bare branches are the most insidious.

The Maria L. Baldwin School street address is now 85 Oxford St., Cambridge, MA 02138. It is not 28 Sacramento any more as the Click Fix map with an earlier report seems to think. The School Dept. says school street address is 85 Oxford. Also the Click Fix map labels the Baldwin School building on the corner of Sacramento & Oxford "Agassiz Community School ASP." That was never accurate. (Sorry I reported these map errors initially as a comment on another issue.) Thanks for getting these errors fixed.

Street tree, a locust, in front of 75 Wendell has one horizontal branch that has grown so far horizontally that it is lying on cable and phone wires attached to our three-decker at 73 Wendell, next door. Branches are small but it looks pretty alarming. Can someone come prune it asap? Thanks.

One of the 3 manhole covers marked "drain" in the middle of Wendell St. opposite #83 rattles loudly & annoyingly every time a vehicle goes over it. Could someone please re-set the drain cover?

On the Wendell side of 20 Howland is a carpet, rolled up, that has been on the sidewalk for 2-3 weeks, likely because it's in a location where nobody ever leaves trash.

A red, rusting bicycle has been locked to a sign post on Gorham St., next to 62 Wendell, continuously for at least 7 months. Its tires are now flat. It has not moved since Covid 19 arrived. It narrows the sidewalk uncomfortably for people on foot at this busy corner where visibility isn't great due to a 6' high hedge. I hope it qualifies for removal.

On Wendell next to 63 Oxford, 2-3 small public trees were removed. Next to one stump, a stick-on sign says 1 of those trees will be replaced. That is terrible idea. On the other side of this sidewalk are THREE (3) very nice trees on Lesley property. Isn't city policy to encourage trees on more open private property adjacent to public SWs where trees have a chance to thrive? Any new tree here will be shaded way too much by nearby trees, public and private. It is a wasteful use of a new tree. The city should be honoring its own specs for new trees! Please reconsider.

The sewer cover marked "DS" in the middle of Wendell opposite the end of the 73 Wendell driveway rattles every time a MV goes over it, which isn't often these days, but is still annoying. And actually louder now that the city is so quiet! The 73 Wendell driveway is the one on the LEFT of that address as you face it.

On Sacramento side of 46 Carver, huge holly bush narrows the already-narrow corner sidewalk by 3'. For next 15' on Sac St. side, assorted bushes narrow the sidewalk by 2' including at eye level. This is a busy walking route to/from Beacon Star Mkt. One volunteer maple sapling est 4' high needs to be dug out on this edge of 46 Carver yard before it takes over the sidewalk. Holly bush needs to be cut much shorter, too, so drivers on Carver can see peds and vice versa.

Signs on 2 signposts on Dudley St., next to park on Dudley-Cedar corner, are mounted too low & are a pedestrian hazard. MUTCD says the bottom edge of sidewalk signs must be 7 ft off the ground. Here, the street cleaning and res parking signs are mounted side-by-side, with bottom edges only 5' and 5'10" from sidewalk surface.

Sacramento PARK, street address unknown! at 3pm, Sat., 10/5, an automatic watering mechanism was spraying water on one park bench, the next bench up from the one labelled "Peacemakers". The water must have been running for a long time because about 20% of the path was under water as the water drained down to a catch basin at the E end. Auto watering is great idea but it shouldn't render parts of the park unusable on a sunny Oct. Saturday!

There is a 100% visibly dead street tree OPPOSITE 13 Roberts Rd., adjoining the HVMA parking lot. It is a city tree that is leafless and in places bark-less, looks ready to fall over. Looks like it should be removed soon.

Wisteria vine climbs from private property over high fence on left, forms dense canopy over already-constricted sidewalk, & tries to choke a young street tree on its 19' climb to obscure the street light. Now, while the vine has no leaves, is the perfect time to get this long-neglected, non-blooming public nuisance removed entirely from the public domain, including the light pole.

This long sidewalk past big apt. building was cleared incompletely early in last storm & then ignored. It is now icy,uneven & treacherous. The same for each storm. Desperately needs ice melter now. See Also snow pile knocked onto sidewalk yesterday needs clearing.

The last time the fabric construction fence was re-positioned, two metal fence bases were left sticking out into the sidewalk on the Wendell St. side. They are a trip hazard for pedestrians on this busy corner. The hazard will get worse with snow or ice.