Biking in Boston

I'll be interested to see how these new outlying stations function. In Roslindale, for example, there will be two stations in the square, but not much for people who might want to bike to the square. I suppose somebody might come from JP, but within Rozzie itself, you can only take a Blue Bike to the square if you are starting off over by Centre/Knoll (across the street from Yucatan Tacos). There should be a station further south on Washington, and one over by Hyde Park/Cumins/American Legion, and probably one between the Square and Forest Hills, maybe at Archdale.

It's a nice start, but without a more fleshed out local network, I don't see it being very high utilization.

[edit]
I see there actually is a dock at Archdale, and also one at Belgrade and Walworth, so that's good. I still think one is needed further down Washington and also down Cumins Hwy.
 
I think the stations at the outer edge are going to always have that issue since their service area is 180 degrees or narrower.
 
From 2018-07-31 bxp presentation (PDF) via the MXD II thread.

Very cool to see dates (mostly) assigned to filling in the cycle track network. Namely:
- Vassar & Main (SoMA): Vassar desperately needs to continue bike lane protection through the intersection. Where the sidewalk-level path turns to street level is frequently occupied by uber/lyft/partner drop-offs. The "SoMA" boundaries suggest the whole intersection will be reworked, which hopefully includes a fully protected intersection. No dates, but it can't happen soon enough.
- Galileo (DPW 2019): suburban drag strip, very discouraging for people to bike on. Also hard to turn left onto Broadway from the bike lane due to fast traffic/multiple lanes.
- MXD 2020: love seeing Broadway on here. The flexposts on Broadway west of Galileo are much-needed due to some of the highest bicycle traffic in the city (or region, I'd wager). Continuing east, protection will be very nice, since density increases, along with corresponding drop-offs/bike lane obstructions. And continuing the Galileo cycle track is key for safety & adoption.
- Volpe: the sooner they can extend the raised cycle track (currently east of here), the better. Hopefully they can do the north side early on, as well as include some cycle track provisions before/during Volpe reconstruction.

hR4JI6th.jpg
 
stevebikes said:
They are milling on Day Blvd between Babe Ruth and O St on Monday and Tuesday, and the report from a community meeting this afternoon is that they will reduce the road to one lane either way, with bike lanes added.
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That would be excellent if true, although Im sure there'll be plenty of angry aggressive natives over this change. I hate the Day Blvd — people always speed on it and generally drive aggressively, making damned sure you know how mad they are that you're biking in THEIR LANE. Good riddance.
 
34f34f said:
From 2018-07-31 bxp presentation (PDF) via the MXD II thread.

Very cool to see dates (mostly) assigned to filling in the cycle track network. Namely:
- Vassar & Main (SoMA): Vassar desperately needs to continue bike lane protection through the intersection. Where the sidewalk-level path turns to street level is frequently occupied by uber/lyft/partner drop-offs. The "SoMA" boundaries suggest the whole intersection will be reworked, which hopefully includes a fully protected intersection. No dates, but it can't happen soon enough.
- Galileo (DPW 2019): suburban drag strip, very discouraging for people to bike on. Also hard to turn left onto Broadway from the bike lane due to fast traffic/multiple lanes.
- MXD 2020: love seeing Broadway on here. The flexposts on Broadway west of Galileo are much-needed due to some of the highest bicycle traffic in the city (or region, I'd wager). Continuing east, protection will be very nice, since density increases, along with corresponding drop-offs/bike lane obstructions. And continuing the Galileo cycle track is key for safety & adoption.
- Volpe: the sooner they can extend the raised cycle track (currently east of here), the better. Hopefully they can do the north side early on, as well as include some cycle track provisions before/during Volpe reconstruction.
Click to expand...

These plans are over a year old, but are probably a decent idea of what's happening. Main/Vassar is fully protected.

http://www.cambridgeredevelopment.org/s/2016-268-10-Plans-Color_20160609.pdf
 
FK4 said:
That would be excellent if true, although Im sure there'll be plenty of angry aggressive natives over this change. I hate the Day Blvd — people always speed on it and generally drive aggressively, making damned sure you know how mad they are that you're biking in THEIR LANE. Good riddance.
Click to expand...

Well, most of the natives are angry that Day Blvd, and subsequently L St and Farragut Rd, have become extensions of 93 and major cut-throughs, so while they might not be fans of bike lanes, they are quite happy about the road diet.

For background, a child was killed on L recently, and another family struck on Farragut before that, which have led to a huge outcry in the neighborhood. The state had already launched a review of Day Blvd and the city is now reacting with interventions on L.
 
I'm a part time cyclist and I like dedicated bike lanes... I think the zeal for getting rid of lanes of traffic and parking spots for bikes is a little too much... The sidewalk/grass strip for most of Day blvd is huge, couldnt they just take some of that? There's a huge median on the inland side as well. I dont get it.
 
chmeeee said:
These plans are over a year old, but are probably a decent idea of what's happening. Main/Vassar is fully protected.

http://www.cambridgeredevelopment.org/s/2016-268-10-Plans-Color_20160609.pdf
Click to expand...

Beautiful--Thanks, chmeeee! Interesting to see Galileo brought down to one lane each direction very explicitly (plus turning lanes for each direction at intersections). Broadway as well.

This will really be Copenhagen-level when it's all built. Biking will be by far the simplest, quickest way to get around the area.

fattony said:
It isn’t drawn clearly on those maps, but you can see where those cycle tracks connect with the Ames-6th st connector. That is currently being rebuilt with peds and bikes separated which should be a big improvement for everyone.
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Good point. This needs to become standard practice as quickly as possible. Unfortunately, the paths in the Boston area with the greatest need for separation--the river paths--are run by DCR, who are incapable of meeting internationally recognized standards.
 
Suffolk 83 said:
I'm a part time cyclist and I like dedicated bike lanes... I think the zeal for getting rid of lanes of traffic and parking spots for bikes is a little too much... The sidewalk/grass strip for most of Day blvd is huge, couldnt they just take some of that? There's a huge median on the inland side as well. I dont get it.
Click to expand...

Most of Day's current configuration has room enough for a Southwest Corridor style separation (though see the NU thread for complaints about that kind of setup). I'm not sure there's room enough in front of the bathhouse or the yacht clubs, however. And no one wants to remove trees or green space - there's little enough of those in Southie.

But assuming it's true that they are putting bikes lanes in this week, they are a byproduct, not the end goal. The road is getting a severe lane diet, to reduce the throughput of commuters into the residential streets, and to reduce the distance pedestrians have to cross the road. The extra room can either go to parking or bike lanes or a wider sidewalk. Eventually, I think they will widen the sidewalks and put in grade separated cycle tracks, but this is a good first step and can happen much more quickly.

If they follow the BCU plan I linked above, they will also move some parking so that it's in front of the bathhouse, instead of across the road along the green median. People dart across the street all the time trying to get to the bathhouse from their cars.
 
stevebikes said:
For background, a child was killed on L recently, and another family struck on Farragut before that, which have led to a huge outcry in the neighborhood. The state had already launched a review of Day Blvd and the city is now reacting with interventions on L.
Click to expand...

It's terrible... I work peripherally with one of the parents. I saw that Globe article when it came out, and I have to say the quotes by Flynn are basically the only time I've ever heard anyone point out how simple it is to stop bad driving: police the hell of an area and for once actually enforce traffic laws. Flynn only hints at the fact that in Boston, it's basically understood that you can drive like a maniac and get away with it.

stevebikes said:
If they follow the BCU plan I linked above, they will also move some parking so that it's in front of the bathhouse, instead of across the road along the green median. People dart across the street all the time trying to get to the bathhouse from their cars.
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That's very true. It might allow better use of the median, too... although I wonder if it would impact the promenade feeling of the oceanside walk if there were cars up against it. Probably not, especially with a widened sidewalk and cycle track.

Suffolk 83 said:
I'm a part time cyclist and I like dedicated bike lanes... I think the zeal for getting rid of lanes of traffic and parking spots for bikes is a little too much... The sidewalk/grass strip for most of Day blvd is huge, couldnt they just take some of that? There's a huge median on the inland side as well. I dont get it.
Click to expand...

Suffolk, I agree with you, in some cases it is ridiculous. But as for here... I don't live in this neighborhood but I can tell you that my main loop for a great Boston ride includes almost the entire Day Blvd — for most of it, there's no shoulder and despite it not really going anywhere other than Castle Island people make it damned clear that they dont like a bike in the road, passing you aggressively, tailgating, etc... for the road it was designed to be, people drive on it like it's a free-for-all. And I've never seen traffic on it, so four lanes is ridiculous. I suppose if they decided to actually enforce the speed limit and put sharrows on the road, that might change the driving culture, but we all know Boston (and State) police aren't ever going to actually enforce speed limits in this city. So I think a lane reduction is fine.
 
The city just threw on some extra pain to make little orange-paint "islands" in the crosswalks of Walter Street. They didn't even bother removing the double yellow line in the middle, nor indicate to anyone who might be biking that suddenly, now (if you follow the lane markings) the cars are forced to veer sharply into the bike lane. I just don't get it.
 
Yeah, that's not good. Walter St. is already a tight squeeze for bike lanes because the cars are still driven too quickly. A real traffic calming solution would involve some flex posts along the lane at a minimum.
 
It just looks —*and is — sloppy. What would work OK is if they eliminated parking in the places where they bumped out the median. Then, the cars wouldn't be swerving into the bike lane.

Walter Street is tough. A full rebuild that introduced some waviness, lane narrowing, and crosswalk islands would help the most.

I remain amazed at the overall brainlessness of the Boston (and other local) traffic departments. I've never been anywhere else where two lanes suddenly, for no reason, become one without any warning, and where —*precisely where it is the most dangerous to do so — the bike lane disappears abruptly. Re: the latter, it's just insane how that happens at Centre/Allandale, Centre/VFW, or Centre/Arborway... right where cars are speeding up to catch the light or pull sketchy rotary tactics (beyond what's already excessive speed), you lose the protection of the bike land and are flung right into the intersection. Sigh...
 
Two minor notes on DCR pet peeves that have been addressed recently.

1. The Curb of Doom near the Veterans Memorial Pool on the Paul Dudley White path in Cambridge just upstream of the BU Bridge has finally been fixed. Was that so hard???

2. The desire line from the Emerald Necklace to the street across from where Aspinwall Ave ends at Brookline Ave has been paved. Getting from the southern part of the Emerald Necklace to the path that along the Muddy River is a real PITA, especially for less-confident cyclists. This should help somewhat.
 
Balerion said:
Two minor notes on DCR pet peeves that have been addressed recently.

1. The Curb of Doom near the Veterans Memorial Pool on the Paul Dudley White path in Cambridge just upstream of the BU Bridge has finally been fixed. Was that so hard???

2. The desire line from the Emerald Necklace to the street across from where Aspinwall Ave ends at Brookline Ave has been paved. Getting from the southern part of the Emerald Necklace to the path that along the Muddy River is a real PITA, especially for less-confident cyclists. This should help somewhat.
Click to expand...

Re #2. It has been more than paved. They ramped it down on both sides and made the bus stop accessible from the path at the same time. The question is still remains how do you get to and from Parkway Rd, which has a somewhat inaccessible contra-flow bike lane...
 
I've seen a million maps on Boston biking, but does anyone know if the city has yet to define a series of specific bike routes that actually can be worked on over the years to make continuous, safe and pragmatic bike routes in and out of the city? It's great to see so much investment in bike infrastructure but overall it's piecemeal and really mostly the factors have been a combination of 1) is there space to throw in a buffered lane here + 2) are we redoing the road anyway. I would really like to see the city define a bunch of specific routes and some actionable 5-year plans on how to achieve these routes over a series of projects, how much it will cost, etc etc. That way projects can slowly add to these routes over time, rather than just pieces of safe routes willy nilly without, as far as I can tell, any centralized plan (other than a few pinpoints of scariness like Mass Ave or Comm).
 
^ Nice. I guess I have seen that 'primary and secondary routes' map before... it just doesnt seem like the work is always focused on those routes.
 
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