Biking in Boston

I run along Commercial St all the time to check out the progress of the CHB cycle track, but I haven't had the occasion to actually bike in it until yesterday. I had an appointment on Hanover St that I was biking to, so instead of going up Cross St as I usually do, I decided to take the right and stay on Atlantic and come up Hanover on the far side. I knew they were still working on this part (and in fact the road in front of the park was in the middle of repaving so it wasn't exactly a smooth ride), but I figured I could at least try out the two blocks of cycle track that are finished south of Hanover St.

Of course, as soon as I could pull onto the cycle track, this happened:

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Just casually parked with no one inside.
 
I thought the one good thing about sidewalk side cycle tracks is cars can't park on them...
 
ant8904 said:
I thought the one good thing about sidewalk side cycle tracks is cars can't park on them...
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I'd like to view delivery/mail trucks as the same kind of natural allies to bikes that buses are:
1) they combine a whole lot of people's trip demand into one surprisingly small vehicle...probably more efficiently than any other mode (rail, bus, bike, or ped)
2) They are a natural alternative to a whole lot of shopping trips for which, today, SOV cars are the dominant street-clogger

When I'm military governor of this district, we will have "active loading unloading only" spots every 200' on every urbanized zone.
 
Arlington said:
I'd like to view delivery/mail trucks as the same kind of natural allies to bikes that buses are:
1) they combine a whole lot of people's trip demand into one surprisingly small vehicle...probably more efficiently than any other mode (rail, bus, bike, or ped)
2) They are a natural alternative to a whole lot of shopping trips for which, today, SOV cars are the dominant street-clogger

When I'm military governor of this district, we will have "active loading unloading only" spots every 200' on every urbanized zone.
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I agree with everything you said there.

The delivery truck still should not be parking in a cycle track.
 
So it's been several months since northeastern opened the refurbished bike path by Ruggles and they are new science building, but there still are absolutely zero markings to show that the asphalt part is the bike path, and not for pedestrians… So of course, it's completely littered with northeastern students now.

Does anyone know what the most effective and you would be to demand that they put some lane markings to keep people off the bike path? I just don't understand how Boston when it comes to anything related to transportation is so disorganized and averse to any sort of rule codification about anything.
 
FK4 said:
Does anyone know what the most effective and you would be to demand that they put some lane markings to keep people off the bike path? I just don't understand how Boston when it comes to anything related to transportation is so disorganized and averse to any sort of rule codification about anything.
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I believe the SW Corridor is actually DCR-managed, so good luck getting anything done.

The most effective approach would probably be a DIY sidewalk art project and some phone calls to the media.
 
Is it actually bike only or is it multi-use? I'm just not that familiar with it. In other parts, there are signs with arrows directing where pedestrians and bikes should go.
 
It was in the plans to stripe the yellow center line when the Carter playground is completed. In the meantime they keep putting up a barrier to close the path because of reckless truck drivers coming into and out of the construction site. Not only does it look like a sidewalk, cyclists have a hard time using it at all without dodging physical barriers.
 
sm89 said:
It was in the plans to stripe the yellow center line when the Carter playground is completed. In the meantime they keep putting up a barrier to close the path because of reckless truck drivers coming into and out of the construction site. Not only does it look like a sidewalk, cyclists have a hard time using it at all without dodging physical barriers.
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I havent experienced it being closed off, but Ive seen some barriers off to the sides of the path. My only issue with it is that it's completely clogged with people. It's total BS that they havent striped it at all.

cden4 said:
Is it actually bike only or is it multi-use? I'm just not that familiar with it. In other parts, there are signs with arrows directing where pedestrians and bikes should go.
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Ugh, I hate "multiuse path". That just means "mill about and walk 4 abreast without regard to anyone but yourself".

Anyway, the only part that's shared is the segment that's inbound from Mass Ave. The rest is entirely demarcated between bikes and peds the whole way to Forest Hills. And they ought to paint the bike part periodically saying Bikes Only. I'm not usually a bike Nazi but it's just one more annoying thing about Boston transportation that we can't just keep pedestrians from clogging up bike lanes. Especially right around a college campus.
 
cden4 said:
Is it actually bike only or is it multi-use? I'm just not that familiar with it. In other parts, there are signs with arrows directing where pedestrians and bikes should go.
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I always ride on Columbus for that stretch, rather than the SWC path, but my recollection from many years ago (before the Columbus lanes were painted) was that there was a sign indicating the asphalt was for bikes, the concrete sidewalk for pedestrians. One of the reasons I switched to the street was because so many students paid no heed to the signs.

Fortunately, Columbus Ave. represents a viable alternative. The worst spot by far on the entire corridor, though, is right in front of Ruggles Station, where you have to make that transition from the street to the path. Students, double parked cars, T passengers, it's a complete nightmare negotiating roughly 50 feet or so, then things are better again. I'm not sure what can be done, but it's really dangerous in that one spot.
 
^ I always take Columbus too but you are right about the asphalt vs cement.

Given the existence of a very good bicycle path to Ruggles, the stretch of Columbus inbound from there is a major bike route. However, for the volume of bike traffic on the Columbus portion, it is actually extremely unsafe and I always am leery of getting doored. Out of almost any route in the entire city, it is one that definitely should have protection from parked cars. This could easily be done if they illuminated the cobblestoned median on the south end part, and removed one of the three lanes on the Stuart Street segment between Arlington and Charles.

It also has been annoying the hell out of me how every single morning there is a car parked in the mini stretch of protected bike lane just inbound on Columbus from Mass Ave. go to Google Street view and there's even a box truck parked in the spot I'm talking about! as usual zero enforcement by the police.
 
I don't actually use the bike lane, instead riding in the "car lane", but I only ride as far as Mass Ave. On the other side, it's harder to not use the bike lane in my opinion, so your suggestion would definitely be nice to implement.
 
FK4 said:
^ I always take Columbus too but you are right about the asphalt vs cement.

Given the existence of a very good bicycle path to Ruggles, the stretch of Columbus inbound from there is a major bike route. However, for the volume of bike traffic on the Columbus portion, it is actually extremely unsafe and I always am leery of getting doored. Out of almost any route in the entire city, it is one that definitely should have protection from parked cars. This could easily be done if they illuminated the cobblestoned median on the south end part, and removed one of the three lanes on the Stuart Street segment between Arlington and Charles.
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I was doored in front of 612 Columbus last year. My wrist still hasn't fully recovered.

The City is trying to remove the cobblestone stripe to improve the bike lanes by reclaiming unused space, but a handful of people like to park in the middle of the street for church on Sundays, so the plan is not really going anywhere.
 
sm89 said:
The City is trying to remove the cobblestone stripe to improve the bike lanes by reclaiming unused space, but a handful of people like to park in the middle of the street for church on Sundays, so the plan is not really going anywhere.
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Ah, the classic church vs. bike lane battle.
 
The CHB was paved down to Commercial Wharf on Saturday, and I think they were going to do the section in front of the park yesterday but I haven't seen any confirmation.


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Sad that it's just black asphalt. Such as missed opportunity to do something more attractive.
 
elemenoh said:
Sad that it's just black asphalt. Such as missed opportunity to do something more attractive.
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Like green? I'm not sure how else you would pave a street?

Also - the City striped bike improvements on Faneuil St in Brighton last night!
 
sm89 said:
Like green? I'm not sure how else you would pave a street?
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There are dozens of pavement colors and paver options that they could have used. It doesn't take a lot of imagination to do something more attractive than black asphalt for a signature bikeway.

I also read somewhere that they are using porous asphalt for this project, which is expensive and difficult to maintain. It has to be vacuumed to keep it from clogging up and it's a special mix that isn't readily available for repairs.
 
I have no dog in this fight, but thought this short article below to be interesting. Thoughts? I figured of all places, Cambridge would be one of the biggest proponents of biking. Also, let me know if there is supposed to be a 'Biking in Cambridge' thread or similar where this would be more appropriate.

From Curbed Boston:
https://boston.curbed.com/2017/9/27/16365636/cambridge-new-bike-lanes-brattle

Cambridge’s new bike lanes spur opposition from locals, businesses
Critics: Too much, too fast

September 27th, 2017

Some business owners and other residents—and pedestrians—have greeted Cambridge’s rapid-fire installation of 1.25 miles of protected bike lanes with criticism and a plea to hit the brakes on additional ones for now.

Officials appear to be getting the message, per Cambridge Day’s Marc Levy. Mayor Denise Simmons said the city “did the right thing the wrong way” in installing the lanes without much public input and perhaps a little too fast.

The new lanes, which seemed to have sprung up overnight over the summer, run along Brattle and Cambridge streets in the busy, busy Harvard Square area. They were erected in part in response to the deaths of two cyclists in 2016.

Critics cite two main concerns in their critiques. One, that the city didn’t solicit enough information on where and when to install the lanes. Two, that the city listened a little too much to non-Cantabrigians [sic] —maybe unavoidable in a densely packed urban region where a daily bike commute might run through two or three municipalities.

So where does this bikelash—City Councilwoman Jan Devereux’s term—leave things?

Cambridge eventually wants to install about 20 miles of protected bike lanes (the city has installed 4 so far, including the Harvard Square runs). At some point before that, though, according to Simmons, the city would like to create a feedback loop with locals with single points of contact for each project.

Stay tuned.
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