What’s The 311? Response to Hanover St. Construction, Illegally Parked Land Rover and Short Sign Scalps Head

Welcome back to our weekly update that highlights some of the cases appearing on 311 in the North End/Waterfront neighborhoods. All 311 cases are public information and can be found at 311.boston.gov.

Thorough Response to North End Resident’s Construction Complaint

“Between Salem, Prince, North, and Hanover St the North End residents are grid locked can’t you do construction one street at a time this is unacceptable we are prisoners in our own community.”

The original 311 post can be found here. This case was submitted and opened on May 22nd, 2018. It was then closed on May 23rd 2018, with the following message:

“Closed with status: Case Resolved. Dear Constituent,. Public Works plans on paving Hanover St from Commercial St to near Cross St this construction season. As you know Hanover St is in tough shape and definitely needs paving. In addition because of the festivals that happen during the Summer months the window for utility work and paving is limited between April and June and September to November. The City of Boston Public Works Department is responsible for clearing streets for paving. It takes very seriously its responsibility to have all proposed paving streets candidates thorough reviewed for any potential utility work before paving takes place. That’s why in 2010 the Public Works Department created online reservation software called The City of Boston Coordination Software (COBUCS). Before receiving a permit, every utility company, private contractor, site plan engineer, City Departments, and Public Works paving projects all have to enter their work into the COBUCS system. The COBUCS system will alert the City and permittees of potential conflicts this will allow coordination to take place that wasn’t done as successful before COBUCS. Since 2010 COBUCS has alerted the City of over 10,000 conflicts at a savings of over $40 million dollars of unnecessary paving fees if the street was cut after it was completed. No Street will be paved unless officially cleared through the COBUCS system. COBUCS told us to hold off paving Hanover St the last few years to allow BWSC and National Grid to install new mains. When we did a COBUCS review this spring we found that there were other permittees needing to do work first. This includes a cell phone provider Lightower as well as some service work requested by property owners. That’s the construction you are currently seeing on Hanover St. We don’t want that work to do be after we pave! In addition our sidewalk contractor Cicconi was out there trying to get the ramps done before paving begins. This has contributed towards everybody trying to get their work done before the festival season starts. Depending on what happens we may have to hold off paving until after the festival season. We are requiring the permittees to provide a weekly update to the Mayors Representative Maria Lanza. Maria can be reached at maria.lanza@boston.gov for the latest update of the construction. I hope this detailed explanation helps clarify your rightful frustration about all the construction taking place on Hanover St. Any questions or concerns you can contact the number listed below. Sincerely, Mark Cardarelli. Supervisor of Utility Coordination and Compliance. Boston Public Works Department. 617-635-4951 Office.”

Illegally Parked Land Rover Returns

“Range Rover illegally parked, again making it difficult for handicapped resident getting out of Ride from hospital.”

The original 311 post can be found here. This case was submitted and opened on May 22nd, 2018. The case was closed later that same day with the following message: “Closed with status: Case Resolved. tagged.”

Short Sign Allegedly Cuts Woman’s Scalp

“Please reallocate to BTD. Sign is very low. Watched a woman walk into it and cut her scalp.”

The original 311 post can be found here. This case was submitted and opened on May 21, 2018. The case is still open as of May 23rd, 2018.

Remember, to report a claim with 311, you can call 311, go to the 311 website, tweet at 311, or download the app. What do you think about these 311 cases? Follow our “What’s The 311?” tag to see past week’s postings!