Biking in Boston

C'mon Proposed Share-Use Bridge! Any more details on that?
 
Scipio said:
C'mon Proposed Share-Use Bridge! Any more details on that?
Click to expand...
+1 (and the still-on-the-map South Bank Bridge over N. Station's tracks)

Although once N. Wash Bridge gets bikable in its rebuild and the Somerville Community Path comes to town via the GLX, wouldn't CHB & planning money be better spent focusing on making a complete system out of these?
 
http://cambridge.wickedlocal.com/article/20150709/NEWS/150706812/2014/OPINION

To the editor:
Cambridge’s leaders should be championing the new Western Avenue and calling for more street reconstructions like it, not rejecting the two-year public process and denying positive impacts on our community. ("Cambridge councilors question street-narrowing initiatives," Cambridge Chronicle, June 26, 2015)

The new Western Avenue provides what hundreds of residents requested over a multi-year public process: safer crossings, more efficient bus transit, and a protected bike lane, among other major improvements. The project maintains the same number of travel and parking lanes for people who drive, while following national and international precedent to make our streets safer.

Benefits for the neighborhood and city have already become apparent. Compare before and after photos. Walk, drive, ride the bus, or bike down the street--and reflect on the positive changes for yourself.

Specific elements of the street reconstruction, such as narrower lanes, expanded curbs, and raised crosswalks, ensure calmer roadways and encourage more walking, bus transit, and biking.

While there’s no real evidence that the reconstruction has adversely impacted traffic flow, our city is not a traffic grid. It’s a place to live, work, move, and experience one another. Cars and trucks are an important part of our transportation system but they shouldn’t dictate planning for the 21st Century and beyond.

Cambridge’s politicians need to put their fear of change behind them and celebrate the reductions in collisions and greenhouse gas emissions we have already achieved. The goals of the Western Ave. reconstruction are forward-thinking and necessary in combating climate change, gridlocked roads, and a broken mass transit system.
People won’t drive less as long as cars are prioritized and subsidized with public space, to the detriment of other modes of travel. Transit must be efficient and attractive to use. Most people will only bike if there is a complete network of safe and protected bikeways.

Projects like Western Avenue move us toward sustainable goals and make our city more livable, healthy, interesting, and inclusive. We are so proud of Cambridge for making this a reality. Western Ave. is something to champion, not something to second-guess and frustrate. It’s time to come together and build Cambridge for a better future.

-- Mariko Davidson, candidate for Cambridge City Council; Jan Devereux, candidate for City Council; Nadeem Mazen, City Councilor; John Sanzone, candidate for City Council
Click to expand...
 
Arlington said:
+1 (and the still-on-the-map South Bank Bridge over N. Station's tracks)

Although once N. Wash Bridge gets bikable in its rebuild and the Somerville Community Path comes to town via the GLX, wouldn't CHB & planning money be better spent focusing on making a complete system out of these?
Click to expand...

My understanding from attending the CHB meetings is that the Lovejoy Wharf developer is making the improvements to Beverly Street.

The Ped/Bike bridge over the Charles at the dam is one of the Big Dig mitigation projects.

Regarding the North Washington St bridge, unless they extend the CHB cycle tracks through the North Washington St/Commercial/Causeway intersection, then they really don't have the connection to CHB that is truly needed for 8-80 biking infrastructure.
 
Surfacing the Revere segment of the Bike to the Sea path is underway:

b2cRev1.jpg


It's going to be a compacted soil/recycled asphalt mix rather than asphalt but should be rideable on pretty much anything.
 
Oh wow. Better than I expect. I thought it would be like the Saugus section until Bike to the Sea would be able to convince the city to pave it. Can't wait to check out to my bike out.
 
Rumor on Bike to the Sea's Facebook page is that it has already been damaged by motorbikes, so looks may be deceiving, unfortunately.
 
Alex said:
Rumor on Bike to the Sea's Facebook page is that it has already been damaged by motorbikes, so looks may be deceiving, unfortunately.
Click to expand...

Saw that comment. Also saw the dirtbikes [I think]. Was in Linden Square when they flew through an intersection illegally, hopped a curb, tore through the Harley Davidson lot, flew down the sidewalk and banked a right down the trail. And there was a detail cop within earshot of all this screeching rubber, literally on the other side of a house from the trail. Don't think he even called it in.
 
CHB is a great project, but I actually think there is a much more pressing need for cycle tracks on the radial routes in and out of downtown. The radial routes would be used by tourists AND commuters, whereas the loop will really only mostly be used by tourists.
 
Scipio said:
Boston has a new website up on Connect Historic Boston: http://www.cityofboston.gov/publicworks/connecthistoricboston/

Looks like they hope to have the North End, Staniford/Causeway, and Navy Yard facilities finished by the end of the 2016 construction season.
Click to expand...

I can't quite believe we are getting a "woonerf"!

From the website:

"Joy Street

Though a small roadway, Joy Street represents the only direct connection across Beacon Hill from the Boston Common to Cambridge Street. This project rebuilds Joy Street as a shared roadway without curbs, (in Dutch, a woonerf), which slows vehicular traffic and improves the environment for pedestrians. A particular focus of this part of the job is to ease walking access to the Boston African-American National Historic Site which hosts a half million visitors each year."
 
Causeway Street / Martha Rd is currently a 'gap' between the Paul Dudley White path and the relatively sedate Harborwalk / Commercial Street. It'll be nice for connections to North Station as well as whatever additional bridges are built in the future: two are due in that area as Big Dig mitigation -- across the tracks and across the river.

Although the CHB loop seems "out of the way" when you look at it from an overhead view, the nice thing about it is that it's all flat. If you want to go across the Shawmut peninsula and avoid hills, that's the way to do it.
 
cden4 said:
CHB is a great project, but I actually think there is a much more pressing need for cycle tracks on the radial routes in and out of downtown. The radial routes would be used by tourists AND commuters, whereas the loop will really only mostly be used by tourists.
Click to expand...

It's not as critical as fixing the Cambridge St mess, to use one example, but it should be a good opportunity to demonstrate the value of cycle tracks and shared streets in a downtown setting. Hopefully it will be a success and can be held up as something to build on, along with the Comm Ave cycle track.

And phase one is more of a tourist loop-de-doop, but if they get around to building out the full figure eight, that will include some key commuter connections (State St, Summer St, Tremont between Winter & Staniford). Not sure how many roadblocks there are to future phases though.
 
Here's a beautiful video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=167&v=KASlw0atPiQ

Well-narrated, very logical. One interesting thing I can add, having driven through the Allston one many times (as has everyone) is that drivers genuinely don't know that pedestrians and cyclists don't have a phase there. They get pissed at the non-drivers running out into traffic, because it doesn't seem possible that DCR was so boneheaded as to not have any signal at all for pedestrians.

Hopefully, this video starts something. DCR needs to fix these things tomorrow. Providing no pedestrian phase on an advertised cycle path is insane, if not actually illegal.
 
Brookline Emerald Necklace Route 9 crossing - according to Brookline PWD, the bids came in $200k too high and they will be revising and repackaging the bid documents and plan to go out to bid once more this fall..
 
There's a MassDOT project that was bid in June to fix Cambridge Street at SFR, if nothing else. Hopefully gets going soon.

DCR needs to fix these things tomorrow. Providing no pedestrian phase on an advertised cycle path is insane, if not actually illegal.
Click to expand...

This is DCR/MDC we're talking about here. They have a huge backlog of "OMG why the fuck did they build things so horrible and deadly for people walking and biking" all over the Commonwealth, and yet they spend all their limited resources on repaving motor 'parkways' over and over again.
 
Matthew said:
There's a MassDOT project that was bid in June to fix Cambridge Street at SFR, if nothing else. Hopefully gets going soon.



This is DCR/MDC we're talking about here. They have a huge backlog of "OMG why the fuck did they build things so horrible and deadly for people walking and biking" all over the Commonwealth, and yet they spend all their limited resources on repaving motor 'parkways' over and over again.
Click to expand...

Believe also that they plan to install a cycle track between Western Avenue and River Street as part of that project too on the insanely too wide roadway.
 
Here's the details of the "interm" project expected to cost $2.8 Million

This project will provide upgrades to the traffic signals at the intersections of Cambridge Street/I-90 Ramps and River Street/Cambridge Street/Soldiers Field Road. Traffic signal timings and geometric improvements will increase capacity and enhance the safety of cyclists and pedestrians. ADA compliant ramps will be provided at the intersections, and a new cycle track will be installed along Soldiers Field Road between River Street and Western Avenue. New overhead vehicle indications will be included as well as pedestrian indications. In addition to these improvements, a new traffic signal controller and cabinet will be provided at River Street/Memorial Drive in order to maintain compatibility and communications.
 
That's probably the section with the widest river path and least in need of a separate cycle track...

oh well.
 
Someone (I think it's Montague, the folding bike company out of Cambridge) is launching Park and Pedal, a program to encourage suburbanites to drive partway into Boston, park, and then ride the last 5-10 miles along good cycling routes. A handful of free parking spaces will be available in city and state parks like Tenean Beach, Mystic River, and Franklin Park. I doubt it will have much of an impact since they only have fifty spaces available across the region, but it will be nice for a few people and might sell some folding bikes. There's a big launch event on Friday.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top