If the goal is a safe, off-road bike/scooter channel to connect to downtown Boston (as it should be) - now we've got a defined path from the northeast burbs into Sullivan... but then what? Is it a connection following the rail line to meet up with the Green commuter path leading to Lechmere, or is it to directly south along Rutherford to the new North Washington bridge?
That section is horrible, cars go speeding down there at 30mph+ and there is no clear distinction between there being one lane or two lanes and absolutely no bike facilities. It actually even used to have a bike lane and they took it out to widen the lanes for the buses at Ruggles. As you say it's a prime LMA connection and a connector for a lot of residents trying to get to Fenway area so I hope they do something about it. Lots of ROW available for it
I enjoy the phrase salmoning up Leon St... It's also a super popular street to ride the wrong way on a bike which to me indicates some latent demand for that connection. It is a much nicer way to go and that street is absolutely wide enough for a contraflow lane... But who owns that street? Genuinely not sure
Quite a bit of discussion about this last night at the Rozzie Bikes/West Rox Bike Committee joint meeting. The sense of the room, I think, was that people who support the road diet should e-mail the listed city officials to make sure they know that anti isn't the only point of view. Aside from that, as Van points out, it is a vocal group, set in their ways, very averse to any change. I'm not sure that there is a way to directly address their concerns, but what I've been doing for the most part is re-framing the issue as one that regards safety, specifically pedestrian safety. It's not about bike lanes.
thats a very good point.
There are some groups out there, like Walk Boston and Walkup Roslindale, but it definitely does not attract as much direct advocacy. I think part of the reason is that walking is seen as the default (everybody walks!), and therefore not needing any coordinated support structures. That's an incorrect assumption, though, as clearly car based users are the dominant force.
Just another angry white shitbag from WR. Probably drives a monster pickup truck and tailgates everyone and everything in site.