The meeting began Tuesday at
6:30pm and took place at the Capuano School. In attendance were about
25 concerned neighbors and representatives from the city, including
Alderman Bill Roche, as well as representatives from the Somerville
Police Department Traffic Enforcement Division.

The proposed
traffic restriction is designed to decrease the copious, daily traffic
Myrtle Street and Tufts Street have experienced for years during rush
hour. Many commuters use the small side streets as a cut-through to
Route 93, Mystic Avenue, and Medford. Consequently, residents in the
neighborhood have trouble with noise, parallel parking, and even
pulling out of their own driveways.

Alderman Bill Roche
mediated the meeting. "I don't have to tell anyone in this room about
the traffic at Myrtle Street," he said. "I have received 40 to 50
messages from people saying they were in favor of this change."

The
proposal, which will go into effect in the coming weeks, will station
traffic patrol officers on both Myrtle and Tuft Street during the hours
of 7am-9am and 4pm-6pm. Drivers will be required to show their licenses
to prove they live in the neighborhood and are not just cutting
through. For those who violate the new restrictions, there will be a
two-week educational period where officers will let them off with a
warning. After the initial two weeks, violators will be ticketed and
there will be a monetary penalty.

The Somerville Police seem
confident this new restriction will reduce traffic on the streets.
"Once you start writing tickets around Myrtle Street you will be amazed
how fast the word gets around," explained Officer Nick Stiles.

"There's
no doubt there will be arrests coming out of this," said Police Captain
Devereaux. "We won't be searching for them, but people will have
expired licenses, unregistered vehicles, and this will have a fast
effect on the area."

Roche also humorously added that with all
the tickets from potential violators "the city will probably be getting
rich the first month or so."

To prepare Somerville for the
change in traffic laws, the new restriction was advertised in the
Somerville Journal for three weeks as is required by city law. Signs
have also been made to notify drivers that only residents of Somerville
can pass through Myrtle Street and Tuft Street at those hours.

To
further reduce traffic, Roche promises there will soon be new signs
saying "Abutters Only." The belief is that changing the words from
"Residents Only" to "Abutters Only" will make it absolutely clear that
no one but those living in the neighborhood can use the streets at
those hours.

This ultimately caused some concern for residents
at the meeting. One young man explained his girlfriend liked to come
over to his house after work. He wanted to know if she would be
ticketed for driving down his street during the restricted hours.

"Yes,
she could be. There's no way to prove if what she's saying is true,"
answered one traffic officer. "But if the person was to give the name
and address of who she was visiting, being very specific, it would help
the officer in making his decision."

The new traffic
restrictions will be in effect for 90 days and then be evaluated for
efficiency in traffic reduction. At the 90 day mark Roche promises a
thorough assessment will be given: "We'll be looking at how many
citations have been given, see how many cars are passing through, find
out what the neighbors are seeing."

Six years ago a traffic
study was done on Myrtle Street. It found that around 3200 cars were
going down Myrtle Street every day. "What's being proposed tonight has
to help," said Roche. "The city, all the way up to the Mayor is
committed to making this work."

Towards the end of the meeting
one resident seemed to speak for everybody present saying, "This will
be a huge step to calm our neighborhood down. It's going to make all
our lives better and I just want to say thank you."