Biking in Boston

[jass]

Yeah, that must be the Beacon Street project. The design eliminates one side of parking in order to fit in bike lanes and a sidewalk where there isn't one already. Lots of ugly public process, gnashing of teeth, and dueling petitions for less than a mile of protected bike lane.

So the original plan is being built this year?

 

[Scipio]

I don’t think we know what exactly the original plan was – only the 75% plan is up on the project page. American separated bike lane design has advanced quite a bit since early 2014 and hopefully the 100% design has incorporated some of those lessons.

The project page says "completion of the project is expected during the 2018 construction season", so two and a half years of construction to deal with. The Beacon/Hampshire corridor is the busiest bicycle route in the state and one of the busiest in the country, it will be interesting to see how cyclists respond to it. I bet it's going to have a big enough impact that Camberville numbers will dip down during the 2017 and 2018 bike counts.

 

[jass]

I don’t think we know what exactly the original plan was – only the 75% plan is up on the project page. American separated bike lane design has advanced quite a bit since early 2014 and hopefully the 100% design has incorporated some of those lessons.

The project page says "completion of the project is expected during the 2018 construction season", so two and a half years of construction to deal with. The Beacon/Hampshire corridor is the busiest bicycle route in the state and one of the busiest in the country, it will be interesting to see how cyclists respond to it. I bet it's going to have a big enough impact that Camberville numbers will dip down during the 2017 and 2018 bike counts.

I dont understand how this shit takes so long.

Thanks for the info

 

[Scipio]

Hubway is focusing its expansion this year on Roxbury and Dorchester, with ten stations to be installed in the pink area:

.

The Hubway network already goes down that far, but it's very sparse. This is all infill to bring station density up to par with other residential parts of the region. The goal is that everyone in the pink area will be a 5-10 minute walk from Hubway at the most. More details, it's supported by a non-profit foundation.

 

[Randomgear]

I dont understand how this shit takes so long.

For all of these projects the the underground drainage must be at least somewhat rebuilt all while keeping half of the road functioning for cars. At the very least it requires relocating catchbasins, installing new drainage piping and frequently new manholes to intersect with the existing drainage piping. Of course, if the 50, 75, or 100 year old piping has crapped out or is beyond capacity, then you end up replacing everything while trying not to damage adjacent buried gas, water, sanitary sewer, telephone/data, and electrical conduit. Sometimes, the proposed grading or new drainage system requires other systems to be at least partially rerouted. Also, utilities tend to use the construction period as a time to replace their own aged systems.

All this before they can relay the gravel roadbed, grade it properly, install curbing, base pave, top pave and finally stripe the roadway - the stuff most of us think as of roadway construction.

 

[fattony]

The goal is that everyone in the pink area will be a 5-10 minute walk from Hubway at the most.

10 minute walk to Hubway... that isn't a functional level of service. 5 minutes even seems like a stretch.

Unless I'm mistaken. Is anyone walking 1/4 - 1/2 mile to get to a hubway station?

 

[bigeman312]

You are 100% correct. Good coverage would mean that everyone is within 0.2 miles of a Hubway station. That means many people are actually close to a Hubway station (<0.1 miles).

When I lived in Somerville, I wanted to use Hubway, but it seemed useless to me. The nearest station was a 0.5 miles walk, and I would theoretically walk past multiple bus stops and both entrances to Davis Station along the way.

Now, the nearest Hubway Station is a 0.3 miles walk from where I live in JP. It seems theoretically usable for certain trips, and I'm sure I'll use it at some point this summer, but it is definitely stretching the usable walking distance.

Everyone being within 0.2 miles seems like decent (not great) coverage. It's all about bridging that last half mile, and first half mile. Having to walk a half mile does exactly nothing for this problem. The only people who I could see walking a half mile to use Hubway, are those who are incredibly poorly served by transit, who might otherwise have to walk a mile.

 

[jass]

You are 100% correct. Good coverage would mean that everyone is within 0.2 miles of a Hubway station. That means many people are actually close to a Hubway station (<0.1 miles).

When I lived in Somerville, I wanted to use Hubway, but it seemed useless to me. The nearest station was a 0.5 miles walk, and I would theoretically walk past multiple bus stops and both entrances to Davis Station along the way.

Now, the nearest Hubway Station is a 0.3 miles walk from where I live in JP. It seems theoretically usable for certain trips, and I'm sure I'll use it at some point this summer, but it is definitely stretching the usable walking distance.

Everyone being within 0.2 miles seems like decent (not great) coverage. It's all about bridging that last half mile, and first half mile. Having to walk a half mile does exactly nothing for this problem. The only people who I could see walking a half mile to use Hubway, are those who are incredibly poorly served by transit, who might otherwise have to walk a mile.

Hubways density is atrocious, and it's why their membership numbers are so low.

The rate of expansion has also been a disaster.

 

[bigeman312]

So true.

Here is JP's current coverage, with a 0.2 mile radius circle around each station (7):

Here is what JP with decent coverage:

Clearly they have a lot of work to do. I added some stations in obvious places, which should be their focus:

• Stony Brook, adjacent to the T station and Southwest Corridor Path.
• Adjacent to the Southwest Corridor Path, across from Hoffman Street.
• Adjacent to the Southwest Corridor Path, across from Minton Street.
• Forest Hills Station Mall Park.
• Adjacent to Southwest Corridor Path and McBride Street.

This would give coverage along the SWC at the rate of two Hubway Stations per OL Station, which would be decent. Currently, there are two OL Stations per Hubway Station, which is pathetic.

 

[sm89]

So true.

Here is JP's current coverage, with a 0.2 mile radius circle around each station (7):

Here is what JP with decent coverage:

Clearly they have a lot of work to do. I added some stations in obvious places, which should be their focus:

• Stony Brook, adjacent to the T station and Southwest Corridor Path.
• Adjacent to the Southwest Corridor Path, across from Hoffman Street.
• Adjacent to the Southwest Corridor Path, across from Minton Street.
• Forest Hills Station Mall Park.
• Adjacent to Southwest Corridor Path and McBride Street.

This would give coverage along the SWC at the rate of two Hubway Stations per OL Station, which would be decent. Currently, there are two OL Stations per Hubway Station, which is pathetic.

When Hyde Square/Barbara St is full/empty, I don't really mind the walk to/from the Heath St station. Both Stony Brook and Forest Hills are definite for future. They were actually more requested than Heath St in the vote for last year's new stations, but there were approval difficulties so we ended up with Heath St, which was last in the poll. Forest Hills is under construction, and Stony Brook had more stakeholders involved (MBTA and DCR). There is also the thought that stations are better located away from public transit so that more of the population can benefit from alternative modes.

The JP Center station isn't even out yet because people have been upset about losing two parking spaces. Ughhhhhh

 

[bigeman312]

...There is also the thought that stations are better located away from public transit so that more of the population can benefit from alternative modes...

This is absolutely the wrong way of thinking about bike-sharing services. Successful bike-sharing in other cities have shown that there is a lot of utility in bringing people to/from public transit. Obviously, that's shouldn't be it's only use, but it is a major use of all successful, big-city bike-sharing systems.

EDIT: To clarify, bike sharing stations should be located away from public transit so that more of the population can benefit from alternative modes. Bike sharing stations should also be located at public transit so that those people can get to public transit via bike-sharing. Those stations have a symbiotic relationship. A good system needs both.

 

[JeffDowntown]

This is absolutely the wrong way of thinking about bike-sharing services. Successful bike-sharing in other cities have shown that there is a lot of utility in bringing people to/from public transit. Obviously, that's shouldn't be it's only use, but it is a major use of all successful, big-city bike-sharing systems.

EDIT: To clarify, bike sharing stations should be located away from public transit so that more of the population can benefit from alternative modes. Bike sharing stations should also be located at public transit so that those people can get to public transit via bike-sharing. Those stations have a symbiotic relationship. A good system needs both.

Agreed, which is why I would suggest that one Hubway Station per OL Station on the SWC is the right density ON THE CORRIDOR; then locate additional stations away from the corridor.

 

[bigeman312]

Agreed, which is why I would suggest that one Hubway Station per OL Station on the SWC is the right density ON THE CORRIDOR; then locate additional stations away from the corridor.

That's fair. I can't say you're wrong because at that point it is preference for stop spacing/density, but we're in a similar ballpark. I prefer to see two stations per OL station, as somebody who lives halfway between stations could benefit greatly from the flexibility of a bike-share station that both enables them to cut the time to get to an OL station, and gives them perpendicular travel options.

 

[BuilditDenser]

In all fairness, it is upto 1/4-1/2 of a mile radius. Assuming that they have any logic in their placement of the stations by putting them in denser areas, a majority of the population will be within a 1-3 minute walk of a station. The thing I think is most insane about this is that it is funded by a nonprofit and not the city. Walsh really does not want to put funding into expanding hubway.

 

[Balerion]

I stopped by the Fresh Pond Mall on my way home today and noticed that Cambridge fixed this shitty curb on the northbound side of the Alewife Brook Parkway just north of the intersection with Rindge. Previously, one had to dismount for a few yards or swerve into traffic to get onto that weird, narrow connector to the Alewife Linear Park.

But please, fix the whole corridor.

 

[Scipio]

Good to hear that, the path from Alewife station to Concord Ave may be the worst piece of bicycle infrastructure in the region. The intersection with New Street is supposed to get some attention this construction season, but the whole corridor is really problematic.

 

[sm89]

This is absolutely the wrong way of thinking about bike-sharing services. Successful bike-sharing in other cities have shown that there is a lot of utility in bringing people to/from public transit. Obviously, that's shouldn't be it's only use, but it is a major use of all successful, big-city bike-sharing systems.

EDIT: To clarify, bike sharing stations should be located away from public transit so that more of the population can benefit from alternative modes. Bike sharing stations should also be located at public transit so that those people can get to public transit via bike-sharing. Those stations have a symbiotic relationship. A good system needs both.

I didn't fully explain this. There are already stations at Jackson Sq and Green St. Having another one at Stony Brook wouldn't increase the number of "to transit" riders because they can already go to either of these two nearby stations. By putting a new JP Hubway station away from transit, people are now able to bike to Jackson and Green.

 

[Scipio]

The designs for "Phase 2A" of Comm Ave from are looking pretty good. Once built these are going to be the best separated bike lanes in the state and possibly the best in the country as of today, although better designs will probably come out between now and the two and half years it will take to build this out.

The lanes themselves are one-way protected bike lanes at street level, separated from traffic by curbs and from pedestrians by a curb and a street furniture zone. There are bus stops on islands between the bike lane and the traffic lane which should help speed up the 57. There are accessible loading zones straight out of the Mass Separated Bike Lane Guide and other great details.

Intersections are protected throughout, probably the first ones opening in the state unless there is a quick-fix retrofit going in somewhere else. Again these are generally by the book. The bicycle stop lines are too far back in a few and the geometry may allow turns at-speed in a few places, but otherwise these look great!

Source is https://www.bidx.com/ma/attachment?_id=5707ec374eccd41055000098 [see the last few pages of this big pdf], I took screenshots:

 

[Matthew]

Yeah this seems to match the slides that were shown a year ago. I'm happy that the bid document talks about integrating with Phase 2B and the shutdowns over the Pike starting Summer 2017. That's important.

 

[rinserepeat]

These designs are a start. Not quite at where the Dutch are (still to much deference to cars), but I think once this is built people will want to see it happen elsewhere. this has been painfully slow. I hate that city officials are using this as a "wait and see."