draft plan for responding to emergencies on Rte 2 by P Szerlag 12/6/2021
the existing 'plan' is essentially .... "pretend that all other FDs dont exist"
overview of proposed plan ... closest units will respond regardless of agency .... basic response to motor vehicle accidents will be 1 engine + 1 ladder + 1 ambulance from each direction ("eastbound" and "westbound"] ... plus 1 medic unit ..... basic response to large vehicle fires will be 2 engines from each direction .... highest quality location info can be obtained from roadside streaming cameras ..... sending 1 unit to the Rte 60 bridge or the park ave bridge can put "eyes on" a large amount of the highway ... all units will travel in the normal direction on the highway .... contra flow / counter flow / wrong way travel will be rarely used ..... Rte 2 passes over 2 bridges (lake st and dow ave] and passes under 4 bridges (rte 60 / pleasant st + park ave + bowladrome ped bridge + highland ave ped bridge]
A major current issue is that lack of accurate incident locations ... callers cannot tell the dispatchers exactly where they are located ... this can cause major delays as units travel long distances trying to find the correct locations ... sometimes it is just better to flood the zone and hope that someone finds the incident ... maybe more signs are needed on the highway .... such as "this is mile marker 59.3"
( It might be best to divide the highway into 'response zones' ... this will and/or should simplify the dispatching and response to emergencies ... this is not done presently ... Boston FD does have their highways divided into 'response zones' aka "boxes" ... 12/23/2021 ]
In regards to the 'response zones' ... need to add nearest water supplies and access points for stretchers for each zone ... need to add mile markers and exit signs and notable landmarks ... need to add helispots although the whole highway may be 1 huge helispot .... probably need to add radio dead zones (belmont hill canyon] ... need to add observation points ..... need to add mutual aid assignments ..... ? the median can / cannot be crossed on foot in all zones ?
it might be wise to consider all zones to be 'arlington' zones ... and to list mutual aid apparatus as 'first due' if the roadway is actually outside of arlington at some points ... maybe all radio comms could be on 460.60R
(If we follow the lead of Los Angeles area fire departments ... a unique 'radio communications plan' will be established for the highway ... radio channel usage will be prescribed for all zones .... repeater and receiver site locations will dictate which channels will work best in which locations ... for example ... calls near Alewife may be best done on Cambridge FD Ch 15 ... calls near Rte 60 might be best handled on Arlington FD Channel 1 or Belmont Ch 1 ... calls near Dow Ave may be best handled on Lexington Ch 1 or even Waltham Ch 1 ... 12/23/2021]
FDs involved ... arlington + cambridge + belmont + lexington + ? waltham ? + ? hanscom ? (for foam]
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'Exit' List .... also is 'Entrance' list of sorts
(possibly the exit numbers have changed recently - 11/21/2022) - (exit numbers were changed between Nov 2020 and April 2022 per google maps street views - 6/26/2023]
Rte 2 westbound
Exit 135 - was Exit 60 ... Lake St Arlington Belmont
Exit 134 - was Exit 59 .... Rte 60 / pleasant St
Exit 58 ... "park Ave Arlington" ... displaced ... leads to Jason St and pumping station and Spring St ... also leads to "Concord Turnpike" which is the access road alongside Rte 2 ... "Concord Turnpike" provides access to Highland Ave and park ave
Exit 57 .... "Dow Ave Arlington"
Exit 56 ... North 4 West 225 (and sorta Appleton st]
Route 2 Eastbound
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(lets start naming the zones and developing the response plans ... 12/23/2021] (3/17/2022 more info added]
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Zone 1 ... Rte 2 westbound ... begins at Alewife Brook Parkway ... zone ends just after Lake St bridge ....
A. usual response procedures
units from Arlington Center will respond Mass Ave to Alewife Brook pkwy to Rte 2 Wbnd ... units from Belmont Center will go pleasant st / rte 60 to Rte 2 eastbound ..... ... Cambridge units can respond from Rindge Ave to Rte 2 westbound
B. hydrants / water supplies can be found at :
alewife brook ..... probably portable pump and suction hose and strainer required ... maybe Lexington Forestry trucks have them
spy pond .... probably portable pump and suction hose and strainer required
on rte 2 eastbound at curve after (east of) alewife brook parkway - on right side / southwest side of roadway - 4/5/2023 - in cambridge - goo.gl/maps/uULWcHzTDVwHBBW58 - Nov 2020 street view
150 whittemore in cambridge .... goo.gl/maps/N6wsWJhh14uvvwA86 ..... lat / longs in URL .... grey and blue cambridge hydrant
800 alewife station access road at corner of alewife T subway station .... goo.gl/maps/44hU92rXaE4j77NG7 ... lats longs in url ... gray and blue hydrant
Acorn park drive at ramp from 2 eastbound to alewife T ... goo.gl/maps/yyAGVsEWJTmdpRXu8 ... longs/lats are in the url ......gray and blue hydrant which seems to be in Arlington actually based on city border sign
FDC for XXX on Rte 2 E ... https://goo.gl/maps/KwMvw17kME19ofCf8 ... long/lats are in url ... cambridge red hydrant
small roadway between blds off rte 2 eastbound ... goo.gl/maps/FxE6QSSPSpHNhiKR9 .. long/lats are in url ... cambridge red hydrant
at Tempo Cambridge dot com on rte 2 eastbound ... goo.gl/maps/NxoVAYBrCU1KZmxt9 ... lats/longs are in url ....cambridge red hydrant
at exit from VOX to Rte 2 eastbound ... goo.gl/maps/gYtU61zjuYS71rUr5 ... lat / longs are in url .... cambridge red hydrant
at west end of (VOX at 223 cambridge turnike ... per sign on bld] ... goo.gl/maps/i79gkneCgSnJZSdbA ..... lat/longs in url ..... cambridge red hydrant
along ramp from lake st to west end of acorn park drive and/or rte 2 eastbound .... goo.gl/maps/dUcEvVV6Ks2BeQZcA ... lat / longs are in url ... ?cambridge red hydrant ?
at 271 lake st per google maps ... goo.gl/maps/cDTT6NjG7cujQMKj6 ... long / lats are in url ... belmont yellow hydrant
at 257 lake st per google maps ... goo.gl/maps/YmxB4FKqHxk17oW87 .... long / lats in url ... arlington black hydrant
at 92 acorn park drive per google maps .... goo.gl/maps/ERCp1se4kwoCQVeM7 ... long / lats at url ... red hydrant ... maybe cambridge or belmont ... near / aka building 1000 / 375 acorn park drive
end of thorndike st in arlington / Thorndike Field .... goo.gl/maps/tyU1AotKhNSjsQWs7 .... lats / longs in url .... black arlington hydrant
at 197 lake st in arlington .... goo.gl/maps/4uNAs77wZnZQn9PQ6 ..... lats / longs in url .... black arlington hydrant
there do not seem to be any arlington hydrants along the northside of rte 2 westbound from alewife to lake st - per 2022 street view - that would be the "arlington" side of rte 2
C. landmarks
mile markers ... highway signs ... bld descriptions with signs and colors and heights ... pedestrian overpass ... woods ... marsh .... bikepath .... dog park
on rte 2 westbound - exit signs just after bikepath bridge - goo.gl/maps/SEwE7obtGsLoP7TXA - april 2022 street view - exit 134 - rte 60 - arlington belmont 1 mile - exit 135 - lake st - e. arlington - 1/2 mile - 6/26/2023
on rte 2 westbound - mile 134.6 mile marker - just after ped bridge by tempo - goo.gl/maps/7WucSKsQxL4S1jgk6 - Sept 2022 street view - 6/26/2023
on rte 2 westbound - sign for exit 133 Park ave arlington 1 mile - goo.gl/maps/FL5mUGKfmBhDD3Q9A - sept 2022 street view - just after ped bridge and before lake st - that probably confuses the heck out of people - 6/26/2023
on rte 2 westbound - mile 134.4 mile marker - goo.gl/maps/mMkShiLWxAs6dUSM9 - just before lake st offramp - 6/26/2023
on rte 2 westbound - entering arlington sign - goo.gl/maps/eThwC13fFUTxbiy29 - just before lake st offramp - 6/26/2023
on rte 2 westbound at lake st offramp - goo.gl/maps/JdxouXcKVLNrzV9L6 - exit 134 and exit 135 - exit 134 - etc - travel info call 511 - speed limit 55 - 6/26/2023
on rte 2 westbound on lake st bridge - mile marker 134.2 - goo.gl/maps/tQu63dcqsFBvjsBt5 - there is also a weight limit sign for trucks near there - maybe
D. special hazards
MBTA Red Line subway tailtrack into arlington ... emergency exit - [ maybe over there iirc - goo.gl/maps/9vdn7SCzQXQmMRdq5 - 2014 street view - about 500 feet from Rte 2 - 6/26/2023 ]
? gas pipeline ? - goo.gl/maps/w7RYJRF8CbAK8FYL7 - are those vents for the gas pipeline? - near the ped bridge near where the bowling alley used to be located - 6/26/2023
E . notes
2/2022 ... median / middle of highway near the pedestrian overpass and near VOX is now comprised of concrete jersey barriers topped by a ? 3 ? foot metal chain link fence - (Nov 2022 - the jersey barriers in the median now extend from Alewife Brook Parkway to possibly near Lake St) - (April 2023 - jersey barriers / white concrete barriers from Alewife Brook Parkway to the onramp from Lake St / Acorn Park Drive at lane drop - west of there is steel guardrail with chain link fence (maybe 5 foot high) on top that extends to Lake St bridge at goo.gl/maps/D4cuTYtWJNhsaZ2n6 - pedestrians can cross the white concrete barriers - they only seem to be 3 feet or 4 feet high)
6/26/2023 - update on median - from Alewife to JEO the Lake Street Bridge is (?3 foot high?) jersey barriers - there is chain link fence atop the jersey barriers at the Bikepath Bridge and at the Lake St bridge - [there are a couple of openings in the jersey barriers iirc - maybe 3 feet wide - maybe near the bike path bridge - not sure why they are there - maybe for flood waters - they would need to be protected during a fuel spill on one side of the highway]
4/6/2023 - light poles every 500 feet in median - helicopter can probably land in roadway in this section - unless media is too high - or space between light poles is too short
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Zone 2 .....Rte 2 westbound ... enter at Lake St ... zone ends at Highland Ave foot bridge
units from Arlington Center will respond via Mass Ave to Lake Street to Rte 2 westbound ... units from Belmont will respond from Dow Ave to Rte 2 eastbound ... units from East Lexington can go 4/225 to 2 east ... maybe Arl E3 from park Circle should respond via Dow Ave to Rte 2 east ... maybe Arlington Center units should go Rte 60 to Lake st to Rte 2 west to get good view of highway
Highway Sign ..... "West 2 Mile 133" ..... at Highland Ave footbridge .... no sign on bridge .... goo.gl/maps/1sWCjt9Fywz4fk5p7 ... Nov 2020 street view by Google Maps
Water supplies ... hydrants on Lake St and pleasant st and venner road and spring st and maybe on belmont side access road west of rte 60 .... spy pond - (there is a black arlington hydrant at approx 264 plsnt st in arlington - towards arl center from venner rd)
- [ here is a ratty black arlington hydrant at corner of pleasant st / rte 60 at venner rd / rte 2 access road / concord tunpike / whatever its called - goo.gl/maps/jV9UxNS62jdGD2EcA - Dec 2022 street view - 6/26/2023 ]
- [ here is a black arlington hydrant on venner road around number 30 - goo.gl/maps/ksPhLq3LRqJUJtB89 - 2020 street view - 6/26/2023 ]
- [ red arlington hydrant on spring st opposite the pumping station - goo.gl/maps/cTTGomE3Qwofm1sWA - 2020 street view - 6/26/2023 ]
Roadway is below grade from Jason St to Highland Ave
Median from Lake St bridge to Rte 60 bridge is - 3 foot high guardrail - plus chainlink fence maybe 4 feet tall atop the guardrail over the Lake St bridge - 6/26/2023
radio communications might be very bad in the below grade section of the highway - approx from the Spring Street pumping station to Dow Ave - Arlington FD had an SOP many many years ago to send 1 unit to the access road to relay radio comms - that would require the use of direct channels - we have not heard AFD using any direct radio channels in 10 years - that part of institutional memory has apparently vanished - we can probably assume that Belmont, Lexington, Cambridge, and Waltham FD would also have very bad radio comms in the cut - unless there are radiop repeater stations on the radio tower next to the cut - but we have never heard them mentioned - iirc AFD does have problems talking on 460.60R from inside the cut at times - testing is needed - portable radios might not wok in the cut unless on 'direct' channels - if you dont know what 'direct' radio channels are then you need to do some studying - and fast - 6/26/2023
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Zone 3 .....Rte 2 westbound ... enter at pleasant St / Rte 60 ... zone ends at Dow Ave
Belmont and/or Lexington units travel eastbound from Rte 225
access to most of the zone is also available from a very short onramp at Spring St at Jason St
Highway Sign ... Mile 132.6 ..... goo.gl/maps/s71yRj3K8Xb2WL898 .... just after park Ave bridge ..... Nov 2020 street view from Google Maps
Highway sign ... Mile 132.4 ..... goo.gl/maps/66tV4BTEFC7fgjgP9 .... before dow ave offramp ...... nov 2020 street view from google maps
roadway is below grade for nearly entire length of zone 3
water supplies ... hydrants along concord turnpike and park ave etc ... maybe on belmont side also ... hoselines have to be dropped down to roadway
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Rte 2 westbound ... enter at park Ave or ? florence ave ? ... zone ends at Rte 225
Arlington units travel west along Concord Turnpike from park ave or florence ave to onramp just before dow ave ... arlington units also travel westbound from Rte 60
Belmont or Lexington units travel eastbound from Rte 225 (or eastbound from Waltham St in Lexington - 11/21/2022)
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Rte 2 westbound enter at Appleton St or 225 ramp .... zone ends at XXX in Lexington
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Rte 2 eastbound enter at 225 ramp via cloverleaf .... zone ends JEO / just east of Dow Ave
Rte 2 eastbound ... enter at Dow Ave ... zone ends at pleasant St / Rte 60 bridge
Rte 2 eastbound ... enter at pleasant st / rte 60 .... zone ends at ramp at ?176? lake st
Rte 2 eastbound ... enter at ?176? Lake St .... zone ends at lake st / ?adl drive ?
Rte 2 eastbound ... enter at Lake St / ?ADL Drive ? .... zone ends at Alewife Brook pkwy
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maybe need another plan to cover the access roads between Rte 60 and Rte 225 ... aka "Concord Turnpike" and "Wentworth Road" in Arlington ... and ... "Rte 2 Access Road" or whatever in Belmont
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UPDATES
4/5/2023 - hydrant at rte 2 east at curve after alewife brook pkwy - jersey barriers from alewife brook pkwy to lake st onramp
6/26/2023 - added a few notes about median barrier and hydrant near 264 plsnt st in arlington