Will this be an easier Back Bay parade season?

Gay pride parade in the Back Bay.

Parades in the Back Bay often express loyalty to Boston teams.

(Slightly edited for NED) article by Jules Roscoe for The Boston Guardian

(New England Diary’s editor, Robert Whitcomb, is chairman of The Boston Guardian.)

Back Bay parade season used to be a resident nightmare. In summers with busy road closing events, residents and businesses have often struggled to get around, as the city provided little to no communication about how events would impact roads and parking.

But as parade season starts up this summer, neighborhood leaders say that has changed.

Since Boston’s new interim chief of streets, Nick Gove, took over operations six months ago, they say, the city has been much more communicative about how events in the neighborhood will affect the people who live and work there. The Boston Transportation Department (BTD) now posts comprehensive city-wide traffic advisories every Friday on its Web site, usually well in advance of events.

“We find it helpful that there’s a consistent process around it,” said Meg Mainzer- Cohen, the president of the Back Bay Association, which represents businesses in the neighborhood. “None of that was happening until January, when there was a new Chief of Streets. Before that, it was more episodic. It was less consistent. We would get [a notice], but it would be the day before the event. There was a real challenge with it. But it has very much improved.”

The Back Bay has already seen some events, such as the Memorial Day weekend Run to Remember in honor of first responders. Others, like the Girls on the Run Road Race and the Boston Pride for the People Parade, will be happening in the coming days.

For the pride parade on June 6, Mainzer-Cohen said that a notice was first posted to the city Web site on May 15. That let the BBA first notify its member organizations by May 18, allowing for a full three weeks of planning.

“This is the timeless absolute Back Bay story,” Mainzer-Cohen said. “The tension of street closings versus parades, versus the needs of parades, and how they benefit for fundraising, or the Boston Marathon, or the Pride Parade. These events add joy and vitality to our streets. But they do have an impact, so that’s why the notifications help. I always say, people don’t really mind so long as they know. So we think there’s overall a net positive.”

The BTD and the mayor’s press office did not respond to two requests for comment.

The Back Bay is a hugely popular location for events, with such amenities as the Commonwealth Mall and Copley Square, as well as its general historic Boston character.

“Because we are close to the Boston Common, and often the Boston Common is the start or the end of these activities, there’s a chance that we will be there a little bit more in the circuit of these activities,” said Serge Savard, the chair of the Neighborhood Association of the Back Bay, which represents residents in the area. “But usually we manage to find ways to get them to have a minimal impact on the life of our residents.”

For example, Savard said he recently worked with organizers of a FIFA event on Newbury Street to move the start time for loud activities from 7 to 9am, so that residents would be able to sleep.

“Our residents in general are very supportive of these type of activities in the neighborhood,” Savard said. “Most of these [events] are for good causes, things that most of our residents really are taking pride in. And we’re happy to see, also, that we can have tourists and visitors that come to Boston and can enjoy the wonderful assets that we have, and to give our businesses here a chance to have good business, which is good for the neighborhood as a whole.’’