Boston City Council Adopts BU Bridge Safety Resolution, Passes Two Park Grants

BOSTON — November 3, 2021 — Boston City Council honors Mayor-elect Wu, adopts BU Bridge safety measure on election aftermath day. Meeting November 3, 2021 under President Pro Tempore Matt O'Malley, the 12-member body suspended its rules to unanimously adopt a resolution urging MassDOT to reduce the Boston University Bridge from four to three travel lanes and install flex-post barriers before December — a move Councilor Kenzie Bach said was urgently needed after radar data showed 100 percent of drivers exceeding the 25-mile-per-hour speed limit, with a median speed of 41 miles per hour. The council also referred two state park grants to committee: $400,000 for Winthrop Playground in Dorchester and $387,164 for the new Sprague Pond Shoreline Reserve. Councilor-at-Large Annissa Essaibi George's resolution recognizing November as Youth and Young Adult Homeless Awareness Month passed unanimously, with Essaibi George citing figures showing one in ten young people ages 18 to 25 experience homelessness annually and 74 percent of those individuals identify as BIPOC. Much of the session was devoted to tributes for Wu, who won Tuesday's mayoral election, and to Essaibi George, who attended her final regular council session after losing the same race.