Biking in Boston

FK4 said:
Great. Let’s spend 20 years talking to “the community”.
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Oh, cut it out. This is an extension of the Neponset River Greenway. First the "community " doesn't deserve a library in Fields Corner and now it is being accused of suddenly foot dragging on a project solely of their own creation. You have to wonder why
 
Scott said:
Oh, cut it out. This is an extension of the Neponset River Greenway. First the "community " doesn't deserve a library in Fields Corner and now it is being accused of suddenly foot dragging on a project solely of their own creation. You have to wonder why
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Uhhh what the fuck? First, try actually reading the article instead of looking for fights to pick based on whatever you want to see. This isnt Neponset Valley Greenway; this is figuring out how to slap a bike lane on Blue Hills Parkway so people can get from Mattapan Square to Blue Hill Reservation (by the way, it’s an obviously good project that should’ve been done years ago). It’s DCR owned land, and the state could easily answer the question of “gee, how can we make a safe bikeway on this road” without wasting endless hours of community engagement on process. Comical that you bring in my library comment as well as if you’re trying to twist this into some sort of narrative about the neighborhood. I said it was absurd that a small library will cost over 30 million dollars and that would be true anywhere, and it’s as true as every other “why do we fritter away so much money and time on everything in this state” I’ve made all across this forum. But apparently you’re just looking to see what you want to see.

“Community engagement” has devolved into a way to drag out timelines and drive up costs, and it’s a problem with state projects, local projects, public projects, and private projects. And you know who loses out in the end? The community.

This project is not rocket science. It’s a bike lane or a cycle track, and the state should just make the damned design and build it.
 
Yes it has always been part of the Neponset River Greenway which is a community driven initiative, and the "small" library is in across from a Red Line Station in a neighborhood with a population density of over 20,000 per sq mile. There are no corrupt NIMBY bad guys here ruining things
 
Scott said:
Yes it has always been part of the Neponset River Greenway which is a community driven initiative, and the "small" library is in across from a Red Line Station in a neighborhood with a population density of over 20,000 per sq mile. There are no corrupt NIMBY bad guys here ruining things
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The meeting in question was about a bike path that will run on a DCR parkway. There’s not a lot of design options here. There’s a road, and the bikes will be on it, or next to it. Have at it splitting hairs over the history of the idea, but your responses are accusatory and uninformed. As for your library, it’s more than $2,000 per square foot. If calling attention to such an absurd cost triggers you just because of the neighborhood it happens to be in, perhaps you should spend less time here. I’ve said all I have to say.
 
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Just saying this is a plan that the NRG actually got funding for back in 2021 and Dorchester deserves it's library
 
Most bluebike docks were buried this morning and inaccessible. Seems like they're slowly digging some out now. Some protected bike lanes (longfellow bridge, boylston st in mass ave, most bikeways in cambridge) are plowed and ridable.
 
KCasiglio said:
mass.streetsblog.org

Traffic Analysis Shows Newton Bikeway Project Reduced Car Traffic, Speeding, and Crashes - Streetsblog Massachusetts

"Vehicle volumes on the corridor have decreased without evidence of cut throughs on local roads, speeds within the pilot area have reduced, and bicycle activity has increased," according to a City of Newton technical memo.
mass.streetsblog.org mass.streetsblog.org
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I mean, the title is a little misleading since it implies that adding the bicycle option helped reduce traffic. What actually happened is they removed a lane on each side and sure enough, speeding went down. Same results would have happened with or without the bikeway...
 
FK4 said:
I mean, the title is a little misleading since it implies that adding the bicycle option helped reduce traffic. What actually happened is they removed a lane on each side and sure enough, speeding went down. Same results would have happened with or without the bikeway...
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The title says that the "Bikeway Project ... Reduced Crashes". The bikeway project, as many bike infra projects famously do, involved removing a lane. It's fair to say that the project reduced crashes IMO.
 
ball_square said:
The title says that the "Bikeway Project ... Reduced Crashes". The bikeway project, as many bike infra projects famously do, involved removing a lane. It's fair to say that the project reduced crashes IMO.
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Yes, it is technically true, but as I already said, it implies an incorrect message. Traffic safety is improved by reducing lanes, not by adding bike lanes. That’s a secondary benefit. Obviously it’s a great project, and obviously when you could both add bicycle infrastructure in addition to shrinking roadways, that is a net benefit. But there are plenty of roadways including DCR roadways where we should be thinking about similar lane drops and we don’t have to think about turning that space into a bike path per se. The goal should be reducing crashes, period, and adding additional options as a secondary option, where possible.
 
On the topic of sneckdowns with the recent storm, one area that is super-apparent is Charles st in Beacon Hill. The two side lanes of the 3-thru-car-lanes are half filled with snow, so only the center lane is fully clear and passable by cars. The side lanes have been useful as a door-zone bike lane for now. And traffic is.... flowing fine? Maybe a couple intersections with 4-5 cars waiting single-file for the light, but definitely no traffic armageddon that the business owners/local NIMBY's are raging about. Seems like some cars have re-routed over to storrow southbound. Pedestrianize this street already with a brick roadway surface from curb to curb, with one parking lane, and one lane for dropoffs/deliveries, and one thru-lane for local access to businesses and residents. Make the roadway surface rough enough so cars can't comfortably go above 15 mph, people & bikes prioritized.

Something like this:
naturespath.com

Woonerf: The Dutch Solution to City Planning

English is a lovely language, but it is not always economical with words. We can certainly make ourselves understood through lengthy explanations, but we don’t have many singular words that encapsulate a very specific feeling or experience. Take the Danish word hygge, which exploded...
naturespath.com naturespath.com
 
sneijder said:
On the topic of sneckdowns with the recent storm, one area that is super-apparent is Charles st in Beacon Hill. The two side lanes of the 3-thru-car-lanes are half filled with snow, so only the center lane is fully clear and passable by cars. The side lanes have been useful as a door-zone bike lane for now. And traffic is.... flowing fine? Maybe a couple intersections with 4-5 cars waiting single-file for the light, but definitely no traffic armageddon that the business owners/local NIMBY's are raging about. Seems like some cars have re-routed over to storrow southbound. Pedestrianize this street already with a brick roadway surface from curb to curb, with one parking lane, and one lane for dropoffs/deliveries, and one thru-lane for local access to businesses and residents. Make the roadway surface rough enough so cars can't comfortably go above 15 mph, people & bikes prioritized.

Something like this:
naturespath.com

Woonerf: The Dutch Solution to City Planning

English is a lovely language, but it is not always economical with words. We can certainly make ourselves understood through lengthy explanations, but we don’t have many singular words that encapsulate a very specific feeling or experience. Take the Danish word hygge, which exploded...
naturespath.com naturespath.com
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There might be a more recent article, but "community feedback" is why there aren't any bike lanes on Charles Street.

mass.streetsblog.org

Brahmin Bikelash: The Inside Story of Why There Are Still No Bike Lanes Through Beacon Hill - Streetsblog Massachusetts

There's broad agreement on the fact that Charles Street has too many lanes for cars, and not enough space for bikes and pedestrians. But emails between Beacon Hill neighborhood organizations and city staff reveal intense disagreements over the details of how a redesign should be accomplished.
mass.streetsblog.org mass.streetsblog.org


mass.streetsblog.org

Bike Union Protest Creates 'People-Protected' Bike Lane Across Beacon Hill - Streetsblog Massachusetts

This morning, the Boston Cyclists Union created a “people-protected bike lane” to call attention to the need for safer bike infrastructure through Beacon Hill to complete the promised Downtown Bike Network - a pre-pandemic City of Boston initiative that’s yet to fully materialize.
mass.streetsblog.org mass.streetsblog.org
 
BOS2BON said:
There might be a more recent article, but "community feedback" is why there aren't any bike lanes on Charles Street.

mass.streetsblog.org

Brahmin Bikelash: The Inside Story of Why There Are Still No Bike Lanes Through Beacon Hill - Streetsblog Massachusetts

There's broad agreement on the fact that Charles Street has too many lanes for cars, and not enough space for bikes and pedestrians. But emails between Beacon Hill neighborhood organizations and city staff reveal intense disagreements over the details of how a redesign should be accomplished.
mass.streetsblog.org mass.streetsblog.org


mass.streetsblog.org

Bike Union Protest Creates 'People-Protected' Bike Lane Across Beacon Hill - Streetsblog Massachusetts

This morning, the Boston Cyclists Union created a “people-protected bike lane” to call attention to the need for safer bike infrastructure through Beacon Hill to complete the promised Downtown Bike Network - a pre-pandemic City of Boston initiative that’s yet to fully materialize.
mass.streetsblog.org mass.streetsblog.org
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The Beacon Hill Civic Association is a pox on the whole neighborhood. They managed to gum up the works for years on even getting ADA-compliant sidewalks with their 'tradition' racket.
 
F-Line to Dudley said:
The Beacon Hill Civic Association is a pox on the whole neighborhood. They managed to gum up the works for years on even getting ADA-compliant sidewalks with their 'tradition' racket.
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It’s really weird, who would want three lanes of traffic running through their neighborhood… you’d think they’d be all for it
 
Jeremi said:
It’s over. Wu won in a landslide. Time to ratchet up the bike lanes.
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Yes, but the Mayor doesn't seem as interested in bike lanes as she once was. I think the departure of Jascha Franklin-Hodge is likely also a break in prior bike lane momentum. I'm not super confident that we'll see as much success on this issue during term 2.
 
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