Last week at the Massachusetts State House Rep. Adrian Madaro was sworn in to his second full term as the East Boston’s state representative.
Madaro will serve another two-year term representing the neighborhood’s 14 precincts.
After being sworn in Madaro sat down with the East Boston Times to reflect on the past year and some of the issues on the horizon.
In November, Massport CEO Thomas Glynn retired from his post. Madaro is now asking residents what their priorities are for the next head of Massport.
“In November Glynn retire and the Massport board has since been hard at work picking a new CEO to follow in his footsteps,” said Madaro. “I want to hear from residents on what they think that Massport and Logan Airport need to focus on. My top priority for the next CEO is to explore new ways to get airport passengers off our streets and onto public transportation, reducing traffic across the neighborhood. That means making Logan Express easier to use, implementing dedicated bus lanes, improving connectivity from the terminals to Airport Station on the Blue Line, finding ways to reduce the unprecedented levels of Ubers and Lyfts clogging our streets, and looking at innovative ideas like checking bags at North and South Stations.”
On Suffolk Downs Madaro said HYM Investments and the city have been holding a series of community meetings on the project, with folks from across Eastie giving their feedback.
“In addition to new residential and commercial space, the proposal includes forty acres of open space that can double as storm-surge retention during severe weather events,” said Madaro. “We’ve heard a lot from East Boston residents concerning traffic, housing, and the environment. I’m committed to seeing a Suffolk Downs development that grows our neighborhood equitably, with robust traffic mitigation, public transportation options, energy efficiency and environmental sustainability, and a sizable affordable-housing stock to make this new site accessible to people of all income levels.”
Finally Madaro touched upon the traffic issues that have been plaguing Eastie since MassDOT removed the Sumner Tunnel Toll Plaza, installed All Electronic Tolling and reconfigured the tunnel’s plaza.
The Times has reported extensively on the situation and Madaro vows to push MassDOT to solve the problem this year.
“While construction is still ongoing, and its completion will hopefully make the traffic pattern a bit better, we still haven’t gotten the answers that our neighborhood deserves,” said Madaro. “MassDOT needs a plan for East Boston, a plan that will alleviate tunnel traffic and shift North Shore commuters off our neighborhood streets and back onto the highways or public transportation. My office is still waiting to hear back from MassDOT about holding a community meeting on this issue in January. Transportation remains a top priority for me, and I will continue pushing for better solutions in the new legislative session.”