I've been going to most of the redesign meetings and this is the drum I beat everytime. As a regular pedestrian and cyclist on the SW Corridor, there are sections with high compliance to the separation and sections with low compliance and it is clear what features work where it does that should be duplicated elsewhere on the path on the sections where it doesn't work:
- Asphalt pedestrian paths instead of concrete. For runners, asphalt is mush easier on the joints than concrete. Many runners (myslef included) will stick to the pedestrian asphalt sections, but avoid the concrete pedestrian sections, opting for the parallel asphalt cycling sections. One major step is to make sure that the pedestrian and cycling sections are both asphalt.
- Separation from the road. On sections where the pedestrian path is just a sidewalk next to traffic and the cycling section is further separated from traffic and within an actual linear park, serrounded by grass and trees on both sides, people gravitate towards to section that is separated from traffic, understandably. Adding a green buffer between the pedestrian path and the roads would go a long way towards people naturally gravitating towards the appropriate section.
For reference, the sections that work well and have relatively high compliance:
- Forest Hills to Williams St
- New Minton St to Boylston St
- Prentiss St to Ruggles St
Section that will be at least somewhat improved on the above parameters as part of the Columbus Ave Bus Lanes Phase II project:
Sections that desperately needs some TLC with respect to the above parameters:
- Williams St to New Minton St
- Boylston St to Heath St
