Imagine if Mass Ave looked like this, that would be amazing. Anyways, that's a lot of removed street parking, floating bus stops, trees, and proper bike lanes. Me likey.
The 47 bus does make that turn today, between unloading at the last stop of Green/Magazine (the stop for outbound 70) and turning onto Mass Ave for layover and boarding.
In the Bus Network Redesign (BNRD), the turn is removed for the new T47 route. Instead, the outbound T47 makes a left turn from Brookline Ave to Mass Ave directly, stopping at the Mass Ave northbound bus stop (outbound 1) before heading north on Prospect St towards Union Square Somerville.
So perhaps this redesign is intended to be only after the new T47 is implemented? That would imply this has to be among the earlier batches of BNRD implementations.
The 47 bus does make that turn today, between unloading at the last stop of Green/Magazine (the stop for outbound 70) and turning onto Mass Ave for layover and boarding.
In the Bus Network Redesign (BNRD), the turn is removed for the new T47 route. Instead, the outbound T47 makes a left turn from Brookline Ave to Mass Ave directly, stopping at the Mass Ave northbound bus stop (outbound 1) before heading north on Prospect St towards Union Square Somerville.
So perhaps this redesign is intended to be only after the new T47 is implemented? That would imply this has to be among the earlier batches of BNRD implementations.
Feel free to move it. I was looking for comps in the forum (gov center redesign and copley sq redesign were in Dev. Proj). Perhaps there should be a dedicated place for plaza/parks/public spaces within the 'Greater Boston' forums?
Imagine if Mass Ave looked like this, that would be amazing. Anyways, that's a lot of removed street parking, floating bus stops, trees, and proper bike lanes. Me likey.
After a careful look at the corridor and the plans, there are actually not much street parking eliminated. About 605 ft had parking completely removed (230' of which didn't even get bus lanes in return), and another 260 ft had parking cut in half. There are still about 1,475 ft with existing parking (residential and metered) mostly retained.
Granted, removing about one-third of parking - 20 parking spaces out of 62 - is still an improvement (not counting accessible parking).
Admittedly, I haven't been following these road redesign projects, but I feel that removing street parking in heavily residential neighborhoods like this is always harder to the point where it may get impractical at times. For households that do own cars (even if they don't use them regularly), you can't just tell them to sell the cars within the relatively short project time frame.
After a careful look at the corridor and the plans, there are actually not much street parking eliminated. About 605 ft had parking completely removed (230' of which didn't even get bus lanes in return), and another 260 ft had parking cut in half. There are still about 1,475 ft with existing parking (residential and metered) mostly retained.
Granted, removing about one-third of parking - 20 parking spaces out of 62 - is still an improvement (not counting accessible parking).
Admittedly, I haven't been following these road redesign projects, but I feel that removing street parking in heavily residential neighborhoods like this is always harder to the point where it may get impractical at times. For households that do own cars (even if they don't use them regularly), you can't just tell them to sell the cars within the relatively short project time frame.
Admittedly, I haven't been following these road redesign projects, but I feel that removing street parking in heavily residential neighborhoods like this is always harder to the point where it may get impractical at times. For households that do own cars (even if they don't use them regularly), you can't just tell them to sell the cars within the relatively short project time frame.
I've been pretty surprised how much on street parking Cambridge has been able to get rid of in these street redesigns. If you look at the Hampshire St. bike lane, that got rid of bit under half the on-street parking from Inman to Kendall. Similar is true on Brattle and Garden and I don't know where all else. Same will be true for the redesigns Main St, Cambridge St., and probably others I'm forgetting. Central Square got rid of a couple of blocks of parking so there could be outdoor dining during the pandemic and it's just stayed that way. All together, Cambridge has removed in the hundreds of on-street parking spaces recently, with more to be removed in 2024.
I would be curious how people with cars have reacted to the recent changes. I'm sure some have sold their cars. Others probably just park a little further away and spend more time searching. Some will buy a spot in a garage or lot.
I've been pretty surprised how much on street parking Cambridge has been able to get rid of in these street redesigns. If you look at the Hampshire St. bike lane, that got rid of bit under half the on-street parking from Inman to Kendall. Similar is true on Brattle and Garden and I don't know where all else. Same will be true for the redesigns Main St, Cambridge St., and probably others I'm forgetting. Central Square got rid of a couple of blocks of parking so there could be outdoor dining during the pandemic and it's just stayed that way. All together, Cambridge has removed in the hundreds of on-street parking spaces recently, with more to be removed in 2024.
I would be curious how people with cars have reacted to the recent changes. I'm sure some have sold their cars. Others probably just park a little further away and spend more time searching. Some will buy a spot in a garage or lot.
I doubt anyone has sold their car just because Cambridge designed and implemented some complete streets. I live in Cambridge so I walk basically anywhere I go in town, but as a car owner I find the new Inman much better to drive through and look forward to the new River Street design. A lot of this stuff is just removing uncertainty and putting things in dedicated, predictable lanes.
