Biking in Boston

stevebikes said:
My main issue there is how poorly it connects to the rest of the North End cycle track.

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If the center track went all the way to Keany Sq it would work a lot better, even if you had to awkwardly transfer into it.
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Agreed. Even better, if it continued down Causeway/Commercial to Charter St, connecting to the cycle track there, you'd have a coherent "Connect Historic Boston" trail that's actually usable.
 
Even with the tunnel open, there are still lots of people who walk from North Station to downtown office buildings. Having a bike path on the sidewalk without any curb separation is ludicrous. Bikers would be better off in the street.

To be like Amsterdam or Copenhagen, it should be Sidewalk - curb - Bike Lane - curb - Traffic. The transfer to a center cycle lane also disrupts the flow. They had a clean sheet design with this road, what the heck were they thinking?
 
tysmith95 said:
I have to say, I think having bike lanes in the middle of the street like at North Station is dumb. I never see people actually utilizing those bike lanes. It's mainly used as an island for North Station jaywalkers.
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I've used these, and I'm not a frequent biker. I actually like the central lanes when construction vehicles are not blocking them. It's getting into them that gets hairy (especially from the Merrimac/Staniford/Lomasney clusterf*ck).

I agree with Stevebikes about how awkward it is between Causeway and where the track begins by the skating rink. I would also argue that the most useless section of track is the small segment in front of Portal Park - not only is it annoyingly short, but it functions as basically an extended sidewalk for anyone walking from North Station to Lovejoy Wharf and beyond. You can't ride there without dodging pedestrians.
 
Bike infrastructure pitch:

Continue the cycle track east along Causeway and Commercial, to the existing cycle track at Charter St.

Construct a new cycle track from the west end of this one, along Lomasney Way and Nashua Street, connecting to Nashua Street Park.

Boom, you have an actual bike network.
 
tysmith95 said:
To be like Amsterdam or Copenhagen, it should be Sidewalk - curb - Bike Lane - curb - Traffic. The transfer to a center cycle lane also disrupts the flow. They had a clean sheet design with this road, what the heck were they thinking?
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100 percent agreed that the center cycle track is awful. Not only are cyclists the buffer between counter flowing traffic, you have to dodge all the jay walkers and vehicles camped out there and cross traffic at least one additional time to get into or out of the stupid thing. Not to mention it is the crappiest paving job I have seen in a some time.

I will go a step further on your recommendation in that ideally that detail should be on BOTH sides of the street, especially if its a large or busy street. Vassar Street in Cambridge should be the standard, perhaps with some minor adjustments.
 
Lrfox said:
I've used these, and I'm not a frequent biker. I actually like the central lanes when construction vehicles are not blocking them. It's getting into them that gets hairy (especially from the Merrimac/Staniford/Lomasney clusterf*ck).

I agree with Stevebikes about how awkward it is between Causeway and where the track begins by the skating rink. I would also argue that the most useless section of track is the small segment in front of Portal Park - not only is it annoyingly short, but it functions as basically an extended sidewalk for anyone walking from North Station to Lovejoy Wharf and beyond. You can't ride there without dodging pedestrians.
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I’ve noticed how empty the central lanes look as well. I think the idea might be that there are just too many pedestrians on either side of the road, so better to put the bikes in the middle. But, by that rationale, I cannot understand why they have that stupid narrow lane by portal Park. In other countries, pedestrians respect bicycle lanes; in Boston, nobody respects anything. People walk on the bike lane on commercial Street as well. Big problem. Perhaps eventually they can extend the central lanes to N Washington.

I think the other issue with the lack of use is just at the intersection of Staniford and Merrimac is still just too big. All of those roads still need road diets around there, and, the light cycles are brutal for non-cars (and since the lanes move to the sidewalks at that intersection, you’re basically waiting for the pedestrian lights).
 
bigeman312 said:
Agreed. Even better, if it continued down Causeway/Commercial to Charter St, connecting to the cycle track there, you'd have a coherent "Connect Historic Boston" trail that's actually usable.
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They definitely started with the least-useful part. Not that I expect the other 60% to be even started anytime soon:

BikeTrails.jpg
 
So wait, going east, you get to Portal park and then you teleport to charter street..???
 
FK4 said:
I’ve noticed how empty the central lanes look as well. I think the idea might be that there are just too many pedestrians on either side of the road, so better to put the bikes in the middle. But, by that rationale, I cannot understand why they have that stupid narrow lane by portal Park. In other countries, pedestrians respect bicycle lanes; in Boston, nobody respects anything. People walk on the bike lane on commercial Street as well. Big problem. Perhaps eventually they can extend the central lanes to N Washington.
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No, I agree with you. When I say I "like it," I mean relative to an unseparated bike lane. I still prefer the Staniford and Commercial sections that are along the sidewalk. While I haven't had issues with jaywalkers there (I see them, but they've never gotten in my way), having moving traffic in both directions on either side of me is discomforting. Even with the separation. Apparently the section in front of the Garden is still incomplete, but I'm not sure how much the final version will improve the separation.

I honestly think the pedestrian problem won't be resolved until there are enough bikers using the lanes to make it an issue. As it is now, you can walk a good distance in the bike path without seeing a biker. If you almost get your head taken off by a cyclist, you may think twice about stepping in the path. I think the small strip in front of Portal Park would actually be better served by being in the middle because there's not enough room for cyclists to get up to speed anyway. You might as well just walk it there at rush hour.

I think the other issue with the lack of use is just at the intersection of Staniford and Merrimac is still just too big. All of those roads still need road diets around there, and, the light cycles are brutal for non-cars (and since the lanes move to the sidewalks at that intersection, you’re basically waiting for the pedestrian lights).
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Yeah, I don't know what the fix is there. It's a horrific place to be a pedestrian between the light cycles (people still don't understand the red arrow for turns from Staniford onto Merrimac), and the generally vast expanse, it needs work.

jass said:
So wait, going east, you get to Portal park and then you teleport to charter street..???
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Not really. You are supposed to follow the Harborwalk.
 
I'll add that they removed the Harborwalk underpass for the N Washington Bridge project, so there is no longer a connection there. I assume they will make some other accommodation? There is no signage that states they removed it either.
 
sm89 said:
I'll add that they removed the Harborwalk underpass for the N Washington Bridge project, so there is no longer a connection there. I assume they will make some other accommodation? There is no signage that states they removed it either.
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Well, I ran this route on Friday, though I stayed on Commercial which I usually do unless I'm going over the locks (because running on that clacky boardwalk makes me nervous). Glad I didn't waste my time, but I certainly did not notice any sign. I'll check next time.

edit: Nevermind, you said there's no sign. But I tend to doubt there will be any accommodation.
 
Cambridge City Council says that any street getting work done must include protected bike facilities if it's on the city's bike plan: Cambridge Day

This is being reported as the first law of its kind in the nation. It finally adds teeth to all the endless planning documents that are created but never followed through with. (Even in this article, the 2015 bike plan is called "aspirational", not contractual.)

As a reminder, here's the 2015 plan (taken from Ch. 5 here):
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This is great news. I hope this becomes a launching pad for neighboring communities to adopt similar language, mainly Boston and Somerville.
 
FK4 said:
https://www.boston.gov/departments/...ng-division-projects/cummins-highway-redesign

Plans actually look great. This would be the first cycle track in a disenfranchised part of town.
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I am pulling for the road diet + parking protected bike lanes among other improvements to this stretch of Cummins Highway. But I know there are already concerns being expressed that such efforts lead to gentrification. It's a real challenge figuring out how to make improvements that can both help current residents without disrupting their ability to live there.
 
HenryAlan said:
I am pulling for the road diet + parking protected bike lanes among other improvements to this stretch of Cummins Highway. But I know there are already concerns being expressed that such efforts lead to gentrification. It's a real challenge figuring out how to make improvements that can both help current residents without disrupting their ability to live there.
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There's a lot of things that threaten gentrification (like the commuter rail) but I don't think a road diet will do this, per se, even if it removes on street parking (which I wish the city would just start doing, everywhere). Forcing residents to park a little farther away from their home is inevitably going to elicit resistance and the resistance will use any and all arguments, including gentrification fears, to foment further pushback... But I don't think it's grounded here Hopefully, the city overrides these concerns. I hope they also include the roundabout, which would slow things down much more effectively than another stoplight.

I do think it's pretty painfully obvious that the overall road and sidewalk conditions are far worse in the poorer parts of the city than the rich ones...
 
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