“Slow zones” on the red line have escalated significantly recently. Don’t know all the details, but guessing it’s related to issues with the tracks themselves.

https://twitter.com/friendchristoph/status/1628026370054922245?s=46&t=XlSuTmJiStPgJ5Aq846MFg

The MBTA has not been very transparent about this. 3rd party trackers and advocates have been making most of the noise about this issue worsening in recent weeks and months.

Key points:

> Objections to Trinity’s original plan focused mostly on density, limited new parking, and the impact on traffic, according to interviews with abutters and other residents.

> They also said a five-floor apartment block would not fit with the city’s Neighborhood Design Overlay for the area, one of 19 in Dorchester intended “to protect the historic character, existing scale, and quality of the pedestrian environment” of the designated districts, according to the Boston Planning and Development Agency.

> “There was no effort done in terms of the scale or architectural style to make any sort of concession to the neighborhood overlay district,” said Andrew Saxe, whose 1895 Victorian home sits across a narrow street from the Fitzpatrick site. “The people here don’t feel like they’re protected,” he said, when a developer can come in with a plan that far exceeds zoning limits.

> Trinity now envisioned a four-story building with about 80 units. The concession wasn’t enough to change many minds.

> “We want housing that looks like what we have: smaller, more home-like,” said Vicma Desir, who lives up the street from the site and is a board member of the Codman Square Neighborhood Council.

> The letter of intent calls for 74 units — mostly one- and two-bedroom apartments and nine studios — and 39 off-street parking spaces. It would set aside 45 apartments at rates affordable for low- and middle-income tenants.

> Both sides will now face off in the city’s formal review, which could take a year or more to complete.