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https://www.wgbh.org/news/politics/2025-03-11/mayor-wu-says-boston-has-moved-too-fast-on-street-changes Maybe it's just me, but this seems fairly reasonable taken at face value. I haven't listened to her entire segment on BPR, so it is possible there is missing context. And while I don't want...

My reading of those comments is that both East-West Rail (through Springfield) and Northern Tier (through Greenfield) can help relieve housing pressure in Boston. Given that both these projects seem much more political than practical (in their current forms), I doubt we will see any push to move...

I'd like to push back on that just a little bit. While I won't speculate on how much empathy plays a role in these viewpoints on traffic violence, I will speculate on the role psychology might (and probably does) play. With low probability events (like a serious crash at the aforementioned...

Maybe this is just blind optimism, but the information coming directly from the city really did seem to support the idea that flexposts would be replaced with nicer, permanent barriers. Nothing has been explicit (or even implicit IMO) about removing any bike lanes. The aesthetics of old...

A new Emerson Boston Mayoral Poll was just released and included info on support for White Stadium renovations. 53% support, 22% oppose, and 26% are unsure. Further evidence that this is broadly popular but opposed by a vocal minority.

Not sure that's a hot take at all (at least on this forum). I would go even further and say any modifications to an active ROW that do not decrease service should essentially be given a pass on permitting, outreach, and environmental review. Even reactivation of a ROW (including rail trails)...

Even adjusted for inflation, Caltrain made much for electrification than Amtrak did for the NEC Shoreline. I can't how much electrification costs should scale with route miles vs track miles, but it's not hard to calculate both for these projects. Some quick numbers I scrounged up (feel free to...

Does the system have timed, cross-platform transfers anywhere else? I'm not aware of any, and this is on top of just starting up basic service. The 10 minute buffer is too long, but there's no reason to believe that won't shorten once there's a better understanding of exactly how long the trips...

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2025/02/12/metro/boylston-bus-lane-to-be-removed/ The article is mostly about the Boylston St bus lanes, but there's a fair amount about the city's bike infrastructure.

Streetsblog's reporting in the article you shared yesterday showed how A Better City thought the viaduct funds could be used to help adjust the staging, saving time and money. This in particular is what I was curious about. As far as I'm aware (but I'd love to be corrected), MassDOT has not...

As far as I'm aware, there has never been a professional estimate given to the public. There's a chance A Better City or Harvard has commissioned one internally, but that's all conjecture at this point. If anyone knows, it's almost certainly @StreetsblogMASS who has done great reporting on this...

A PDA Amendment has been introduced to loosen the allowed uses at the ground floor of Lantera. They've never been able to find tenants for all of those units and hopefully this helps. It also goes to show that the demand for retail around Boston Landing isn't as high as anticipated, and probably...

Thank you for that Harry and I had forgotten we were getting 10-15 years of preservation instead of just a few. This definitely does reduce the urgency on the project, but there is the (possible) silver lining of better project staging for when the viaduct actually comes down.

Mentioned this in the Cambridge zoning thread, but the Planning Department is quietly proposing a significant loosening of zoning rules dubbed "Neighborhood Housing" (short survey for anyone interested). While the primary stated purpose is to allow for easier ADU construction, it sure looks like...

At the level Cambridge did, probably not. But looking at Burhan Azeem's Primer, no other city in the US has gone this far either. Let's also not forget that the transportation access (and frequency high-paying local jobs) blow neighborhoods like West Roxbury and Hyde Park out of the water. That...

Maybe this is just my cynicism showing, but in many ways I think the project would benefit from losing the grant. As we've been discussing, the project is in a really bad spot and rushing to get everything finalized by next Fall is only making things worse. The designs we are seeing are bad...

What's the source here and do you have any additional information? Last I heard there was no public info on the RFP Keolis is issuing for the BEMU pilot.

Thank you for those corrections, @F-Line to Dudley. I was trying to remember everything from the meeting and clearly made some mistakes. I was also trying to only reiterate the points made in the meeting by MassDOT, instead of presenting them as fact, which was certainly not clear in my first...

Maybe, but based on the lack of progress we're seeing from East-West Rail and Regional Rail, malice is not needed to explain these designs. Also, city representatives seemed to indicate they would fight the state tooth and nail to prevent any new diesel maintenance facility within city limits...

First, the issue with Grand Junction is not layover space but access to Boston Engine Terminal (BET) in Somerville. I believe this is the only site where heavy maintenance can be performed on the CR locomotives and GJ is how all south side locos access BET. The city of Boston also effectively...