Biking in Boston

sm89 said:
Installation updates from Cambridge (not exhaustive):

- Broadway Safety Improvement Project (Harvard Sq to Kendall Sq) has been moving along. Looks mostly complete at this point.
- Main St Safety Improvement Project (Technology Sq to Ames St) - street repaved and installation looks imminent.
- Beech St at Elm St Pedestrian Safety Project - street repaved and installation looks imminent.
- River St project - lots of work ongoing. Closer to Central Sq looks nearly complete aside from pavement markings.
- Intersection Safety Program (really cool website!) - various locations.
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www.cambridgema.gov

Central Square Safety Improvement Project

We are installing separated bike lanes and making related safety improvements on Mass. Ave in Central Square.
www.cambridgema.gov www.cambridgema.gov
 
FB Post from CM Ed Flynn. O'Connor Way Bike Lane being ripped out.
 

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Does anyone know how often the DCR resurfaces their paths? The biking and pedestrian paths along the Southwest Corridor have gotten pretty bumpy because of some tree routes. I shot them an email, but haven't heard back yet.....
 
BOS2BON said:
Does anyone know how often the DCR resurfaces their paths? The biking and pedestrian paths along the Southwest Corridor have gotten pretty bumpy because of some tree routes. I shot them an email, but haven't heard back yet.....
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It was sort of re-surfaced in 2022, when they expected increased bike traffic coinciding with the month long Orange Line shutdown. This included some smoothing of areas damaged by tree roots, but I don't think it was something we should consider as a permanent fix. It is still significantly better than it was 5 years ago, though I agree it's not ideal.
 
CBCArch61 said:
FB Post from CM Ed Flynn. O'Connor Way Bike Lane being ripped out.
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While Ed Flynn is typically a clown...is he wrong here? What was the idea behind this lane?

It doesn't seem to serve any worthwhile purpose I can see as-is, and I don't see any known plans that were trying to make this some sort of key node of bike infrastructure/routing?

And if it's not that, a low-traffic, single-lane, one-way street is not typically where we're worried about building best-in-class (+ most disruptive) bike infrastructure so I'm confused why this was put in.
 
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millerm277 said:
It doesn't seem to serve any worthwhile purpose I can see as-is, and I don't see any known plans that were trying to make this some sort of key node of bike infrastructure/routing?
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My recollection is that it is part of a larger vision, dependent on the completion of the Mary McCormack housing rebuild. But I've also read that this little tiny section was built on the wrong side of the street, so Flynn may have stumbled into something that indeed made no sense, but only due to improper implementation.
 
It IS part of MEM bike network. It was NOT built on the wrong side of the street.
It wouldnt have connected to the rest of the bike infrastructure through MEM for years (with Buildings E and G) so it was removed before construction was complete. This was by request of the existing residents.

poor quality, but its whats on the BPDA website. bike lane on south side of the street:
bpda.app.box.com

2023-12-14_Planned Development Area (PDA) Development Plan_Mary Ellen McCormack Redevelopment_2.pdf | Powered by Box

bpda.app.box.com bpda.app.box.com
1792692174785.png
 
millerm277 said:
While Ed Flynn is typically a clown...is he wrong here? What was the idea behind this lane?

It doesn't seem to serve any worthwhile purpose I can see as-is, and I don't see any known plans that were trying to make this some sort of key node of bike infrastructure/routing?

And if it's not that, a low-traffic, single-lane, one-way street is not typically where we're worried about building best-in-class (+ most disruptive) bike infrastructure so I'm confused why this was put in.
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This was my thought. Flynn generally stinks and obviously is anti bike and pro car... but, if residents of multiple buildings complained and the complaints are legitimate, they are legitimate whether we like the complainers' champion or we dont.

Not every bike lane is a great idea.
 
FK4 said:
This was my thought. Flynn generally stinks and obviously is anti bike and pro car... but, if residents of multiple buildings complained and the complaints are legitimate, they are legitimate whether we like the complainers' champion or we dont.

Not every bike lane is a great idea.
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Ok, but are any of these complaints legitimate?
Residents were concerned that they wouldn't be able to get past the bike infrastructure. What? There would still be crosswalks in all the same places. If people were crossing the street not at a crosswalk, they would just walk across the bike lane and step down the curb (like they would have done anyways).
Residents were concerned emergency vehicles couldn't get to the building. But that picture shows an ambulance in front of the building. If anything is blocking it, it's the cones left from the construction crew. The bike path is not in the way I don't know what they're talking about. Also, it doesn't sound like the actual emergency services are complaining. They were almost certainly involved in the street design. It's just residents worried on their behalf?
The people complaining also don't seem to actually want more space for emergency services to get by, because they want to use the bike lane space for parking.
Plus the senior center appears to actually have a parking lot round back.

So what are the legitimate complaints here?
 
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