Assembly Innovation Park | 5 Middlesex Ave | Somerville
- Thread starter tysmith95
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Does that last photo contain a partially protected intersection for bicycle traffic?
Bike lanes are great to build for at this stage, but I don't really see Assembly as having much bike traffic until those huge commercial buildings are occupied creating more demand, and better+safer connectivity is established with the surrounding neighborhoods. The Everett bridge in particular will open up a new corridor that makes it far more attractive to bike to.
Biking from Charlestown? Sucks.
Biking from Winter Hill? Sucks.
Biking from North? Actually kinda nice if you go through Ten Hills and under the bridge
Biking from Medford? Brutal
Biking from Everett? Not Yet.
Biking from Charlestown? Sucks.
Biking from Winter Hill? Sucks.
Biking from North? Actually kinda nice if you go through Ten Hills and under the bridge
Biking from Medford? Brutal
Biking from Everett? Not Yet.
While I agree with your larger point -- and, further, think that virtually all city biking sucks (even with protected lanes, etc.) -- getting from Winter Hill to Assembly really isn't all that bad if you simply avoid McGrath altogether, which is easily enough achieved by going a block or two past it and turning on Kensington or Garfield and cutting through the Stop n Shop lot. It's an *ugly* commute for much of it (no amount of murals and whatever is going to make riding or walking under a dark and poorly maintained elevated 93 an enjoyable experience), but it's not especially awful.
yea, now I dont even cut through stop n Shop. I just go through that new little park at the end of Cross st. The Kensington Underpass is still a mess. I cant believe who ever the powers that be are didnt make the developers of the tower on the Assembly side, pay to have it cleaned up and maintained.
Still find that no one knows how to use those hawk eye things.
I'll be standing at the pedestrian crossing with a red hand signal and cars stopped getting irritated with me for not crossing.
It's a bit better than it used to be and at least the Assembly side has fleshed out a bit.
whsurveyor
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Bike access to Assembly isn't nearly as bad as you've portrayed here.
From Charlestown, you can take the new path extension along the Mystic. They've also made a lot of improvements to Sullivan Square, and the section of sidewalk you have shown is much easier to get through since they cleared the brush. Everything in that picture will eventually get redeveloped anyway.
From Winter Hill, it's much easier to cross I-93 now that they've narrowed the traffic lanes, added speed humps, and added optical sensors to the stop light so it's now often turning red before I've even thought to push the button. The new crosswalk and gate to Foss Park are also great, there's new paths in Foss Park itself, and the walk signal across McGrath gives a very generous amount of time. There's also a new paved path and ramps to replace the herd path if you want to head towards the north end of Foss Park.
On the Wellington Bridge, you completely ignored the wide bike lanes they added. There's also a lot of new paths on the Medford side, although they need to add a couple curb cuts so you can get to the bike lane over the bridge. If the bridge traffic scares you you can always take the sidewalk, although it's annoyingly narrow.
No direct access from Gately Center yet, but a bridge is in the works and there's nice paths to get to the nearest bridges.
I've been biking and running through all of these areas for years and they've all improved dramatically.
From Charlestown, you can take the new path extension along the Mystic. They've also made a lot of improvements to Sullivan Square, and the section of sidewalk you have shown is much easier to get through since they cleared the brush. Everything in that picture will eventually get redeveloped anyway.
From Winter Hill, it's much easier to cross I-93 now that they've narrowed the traffic lanes, added speed humps, and added optical sensors to the stop light so it's now often turning red before I've even thought to push the button. The new crosswalk and gate to Foss Park are also great, there's new paths in Foss Park itself, and the walk signal across McGrath gives a very generous amount of time. There's also a new paved path and ramps to replace the herd path if you want to head towards the north end of Foss Park.
On the Wellington Bridge, you completely ignored the wide bike lanes they added. There's also a lot of new paths on the Medford side, although they need to add a couple curb cuts so you can get to the bike lane over the bridge. If the bridge traffic scares you you can always take the sidewalk, although it's annoyingly narrow.
No direct access from Gately Center yet, but a bridge is in the works and there's nice paths to get to the nearest bridges.
I've been biking and running through all of these areas for years and they've all improved dramatically.
To be clear - I bike them as well, but I don't consider myself a "casual rider." I want these routes "blue bikes-with-flipflops-and-no-helmet " safe.
I do believe it is safe once you get to Assembly, and I fully agree that active changes are in progress, but saying "it will get better when they will eventually get redone" was exactly my point, wasn't it?
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