Allan Appel Photo
The cut-through, with black rat trap at base of the infamous wall.
A downtown bus stop, outdoor art gallery and pocket park may no longer serve as a public urination spot as well.
That’s because the city plans to erect a six-foot high fence there, at the short cut-through that runs from Orange Street through the art-exhibition area known as “the LOT” and into the bus-waiting area at Chapel and Orange.
Deputy Economic Development Director Tony Bialecki revealed the news at Tuesday night’s meeting of the Downtown/ Wooster Square Community Management Team, held at Project Storefronts.
Looking toward the cut through from Chapel bus stop.
“This small area is often used by people loitering behind the building drinking publicly and urinating,” Bialecki wrote in an email after the meeting.
That was a “good start,” said Robert Lang, who has a good view of the activity from his perch as co-owner of Arpaia Lang jewelry store at the southeast corner of Chapel and Orange.
Lang’s group, Ninth Square Associates, has been lobbying the city for relief from the outdoor relief, he said at the management team meeting. The gathering drew of about 30 local merchants, who feel the effect of the public sanitation on their businesses.
Oil, soap, and incense vendor Suggs said he’s seen people peeing at other locations nearby.
Told about the fence plan Thursday afternoon, Chapel Street vendor Leamon Suggs (pictured), who operates nearby, said, “It’s a good idea. Not a lot of people use the cut-through except undesirables.”
He said that from his mid-block vantage he has seen people urinating elsewhere in corners. He said a portable toilet would be a good idea.
The city tried that idea before.
Bialecki said that the portable toilets placed in the rear of the lot were not successful. They were difficult to access and too isolated. Discussion about the experience led the city to place portable toilets on the Green.
A woman interviewed at the spot Thursday, who identified herself only as someone who has lived downtown for 14 years, had strong opinions on the matter.
She bemoaned the absence of a portable potty and said a solution would be to reinstall it. The Green is too far to go, especially for the many people who wait for the bus, she said.
“Dunkin’ Donuts won’t let you use it [the bathroom]. Ladies got to sit there [and suffer]. Men just whip it out,” she observed.
Lang said the humane solution for transit riders and drivers would be to move the entire sheltered bus stop and facilities to what he terms the under-utilized corner of State and Chapel adjacent to the brick walkway of the satellite train station.
“There is no plan to alter the current bus stop but rather make sure it works as a public space,” said Bialecki.
“At some point in the future that space and the surrounding buildings should be developed into active mixed-use including accommodations for the bus stop,” he added.
In the meantime, Bialecki said, work to erect the six-foot ornamental fence, which will be locked except for authorized access for maintenance workers, will begin within three to four weeks.
This is where they should have put the police substation.
Glad this is being cleaned up.