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An old Facebook posting
— News about Quincy Massachusetts from Quincy Quarry News
Boston expected to be rebuilding soon
An Eric Kilby image
In the wake of the City of Boston securing a Chapter 91 license approval from the Commonwealth for its plans to rebuild the Long Island bridge, Boston now only has a few all but pro forma approvals left to secure to then commence with rebuilding its bridge on its dime.
Even so, Quincy Mayor Thomas P. Koch has yet again announced that he would file yet another all but certain to fail challenge of Boston’s plans.
After all, all of Koch’s previous appeals have been turned aside in spite of his spending at least a million dollars of taxpayers’ money in vain so far so as to mollify a local neighborhood of rife with NIMBYs for as long as he can.
As such, whatever it is that Mayor Koch is now planning to try will likely suffer the same fate.
It doesn't look good.
— Richard M. Nixon (@dick_nixon) June 27, 2023
Is Generalissimo el Jefe Alcade Tomas P. Koch cruising for a bruising?
A Quincy Quarry Photoshop Phun Team meme
In this case, hypocrisy comes to the fore in particular as Mayor Koch has variously enabled the development of roughly five thousand new residential units in Quincy most everywhere else in Quincy in recent years.
Additionally, most of these new residential units were built by connected developers who have generously contributed” to his Koch’s campaign fund with these thousands of new residences adding to the traffic congestion that plagues most everywhere else in Quincy.
Further problems with Mayor Koch’s beefs about traffic follow.
Key is that traffic flowing along but a short run along the edge of Squantum so as to access to the wholly-owned by Boston Long and Moon Islands is allowed care of the City of Boston’s basic right of egress and which is further grandfathered from the days when the old bridge was in use.
Modular housing built in Quincy Center
A Quincy Quarry News exclusive file photo image
In other words, unlike the considerable new development Mayor Koch has variously facilitated elsewhere in Quincy in recent years, all that City of Boston seeks to do is but resume traveling to and from Long Island per its fundamental legal rights to do so.
Even so, the City of Quincy has — among other things — also childishly as well as illegally banned trucks from traveling on the short run of roads that skirt the edge of Squantum used to access the Moon Island causeway to then travel across Moon Island so as to then access Long Island once the bridge is rebuild in around four years’ time.
Put away your citation books Quincy!
A stock image
Accordingly, this local ordinance will all but surely be stricken by a judge via summary judgement, if not also suffer a pointed reprimand, upon the first event of a Quincy police officer issuing a ticket to a truck with ties to the City of Boston traveling through Squantum as such a downgrading of road use on such a sole access way is variously proscribed.
Mayor Koch is also planning to continue challenging Boston’s plans to rebuild its bridge on environmental grounds.
A boat overladen with people in need
A Mission Lifeline image via DW
To this particular complaint, Koch has proposed that the City of Boston should instead go with ferry service as a (purportedly, ed.) more environmentally friendly way to go.
So what, however, for the fact that ferries’ mileage on diesel fuel is less to way less than truck and buses on both payload and passenger bases, not to mention that the whole of a ferry-based transportation model would entail more to significantly more fuel expended as well as time and energy wasted than going with a rebuilding of the bridge.
Just one of many sorts of first responder emergencies
A 2009 Reuters file photo
So what also for the fact that ferry service is utterly impractical for dealing with first responder sorts of emergencies as well as that such has been duly validated to a level such that use permit applications based on ferry service will not granted.
Further note that Mayor Koch’s continued kochotic quest to fight the bridge poses the very real risk that at some point the US Attorney’s Office may file an American with Disabilities Act complaint against the City of Quincy over his years of koch-blocking Boston’s plans to rebuild its bridge on its dime.
While Mayor Koch has largely focused his kvetching about the bridge with koched-up complaints about traffic concerns, in point of fact most everyone following this dispute knows that the driving reason for his trying to koch-block the bridge is that Squantum NIMBYs do not want a drug rehab facility a mile to two away away from their backyards as well as on an island in the middle of Boston Harbor.
Accordingly, if the US Attorney so opts to file ADA-based civil rights violation charges against the City of Quincy over its long ongoing kock-blocking of Boston’s plans to rebuild the bridge and the feds then succeeds at pressing their charges, the City of Boston could then file suit against the City of Quincy for damages so as to recover the extra costs incurred by City of Boston given Koch’s long-going koch-blocking the bridge’s reconstruction with all local taxpayers citywide stuck with having to cover the nut if Boston were to prevail in court.
Somewhere Mumbles is ROTFLHAO over Koch’s foolhardiness
A Matthew West image
Granted, such litigation would take years to conclude; however, at the end of it all Quincy taxpayers could so end up having to pay for a significant share of the cost of a bridge that is anticipated to run into the low nine figure range while at the same time have nothing to show for it such as access to Long Island.
Unless, that is, one is a Quincy local in need of drug addiction recovery services.
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Why will rebuilding the bridge take so long? Koch clearly cares more for his fat wallet friends than the critical needs of people who are in desperate need of services that would be provided on Long Island. Long Island has a long history of caring for the needs of people with no other way to survive. God knows homelessness and related drug and violence are exploding, not just at Mass and Cass. People are living on the streets in Quincy. Koch claims to be a good Christian and Catholic. Maybe it’s time for him to start acting in the spirit of charity and step away from denying Boston access to their own property where Boston will provide desperately needed services for those in need. To paraphrase, there but for the grace of God, go all of us.
D,
Actually, Boston’s plan is to see the bridge rebuilt over a relatively short three construction seasons — project time saving efforts include that the bridge spans will be prefabricated elsewhere and barged in for installation, etc.
Granted, COVID and four Boston’s mayors over the time the bridge had been hors de combat have slowed things down considerably.
Even so, at this point a good case could be made that Mayor Koch has been the biggest delay factor.
Also note that had Menino lasted another term he would have likely seen the bridge rebuilt ASAP if for no other reason than to swive Koch over Koch’s previously reneging on a publicly announced deal with Menino to build a wind turbine on Moon Island.
After all, as those in the know know, crossing Menino rarely ended well for the crosser.
Would Mayor Koch be fighting this hard for any other part of the city?
NO !!!
That will not fix Mass and Cass.
Mr. Johnson,
With all due respect, reopening ready access to Long Island so as to allow for the island to host drug treatment services is, along with other social services, part of a larger matrix plan to address the horrific mess at Mass & Cass.
Plus, until the mess at Mass & Cass is resolved, long ongoing plans to redevelop the surrounding sorely underutilized real estate cannot happen. In due course, however, what all is planned will provide considerable new tax revenue to the City of Boston.
I changed my mind. They should build a monster hospital out there. Fix the junkie problem and provide the hospital that was taken away and is so needed. At least 5 cities around Quincy would benefit. If going to happen anyway, let’s do it right. Build a big hospital.
All this talk about rehab, Quincy needs a hospital. Why don’t Quincy and Boston get together and build something big, south shore needs it badly. New idea.