Council presses for repairs to Winthrop Parkway lights and Revere Beach Parkway potholes

Councilors pressed state and utility partners to address persistent infrastructure problems that council members described as public-safety issues.

On Winthrop Parkway and Short Beach, Councilor McKenna asked the mayor to request the Department of Conservation and Recreation repair street lights that have been out since at least September. "2 lights are totally missing out of Short Beach. 3 lights are out on Winthrop Parkway, and 1 of those lights is crucial because it's on a crosswalk," McKenna said, adding that darkness there makes crossing hazardous. Councilor Mercurio joined her, calling the outages "a public safety issue" and urging the city to press National Grid and DCR for action.

Separately, Councilor McKenna also renewed a request that MassDOT repair deep, recurring potholes on the westerly side of Revere Beach Parkway between the police station and Route 16. She described recent patching failures and said some holes had become six inches deep. Councilors called for urgency and said they would follow up with state agencies.

Next steps: the council approved motions requesting DCR attend to the street lights and MassDOT to address potholes; councilors volunteered to compile ward-specific lists of outages and to contact state maintenance yards.