Biking in Boston

[Arlington]

I like the new state law for 2023, with the best two parts being:
1)Cars must give at least 4' when passing bikes or pedestrians, and may cross the centerline if required to give that clearance
2)Bikes must have red rear light (presumably after dark)

New state law adds protections for pedestrians and bicyclists

The legislation calls for larger vehicles to be equipped with lateral protective devices, additional mirrors and backup cameras. It also requires officials to report information about crashes involving vulnerable road users and allows municipalities to petition to modify speed limits on state...

www.wbur.org

 

[Arlington]

Gotta say, it was a fast, secure, and lovely bike ride today from West Medford, via Alewife Brook Path (Somerville), Mass Ave through Harvard Sq, Memorial Drive to BU bridge and thence to Longwood (and back). Faster than transit (remind me that "micromobility" should be in this thread title) and near-all of it was either on a path or in a bike lane. Well done, metro Boston.

But: who is in charge of storm grates on the BU Bridge? (MassDOT? DCR?) A huge number of them are fully silted up and I'd worry that they'll ice the bike lanes on the BU Bridge?

 

[as02155]

Gotta say, it was a fast, secure, and lovely bike ride today from West Medford, via Alewife Brook Path (Somerville), Mass Ave through Harvard Sq, Memorial Drive to BU bridge and thence to Longwood (and back). Faster than transit (remind me that "micromobility" should be in this thread title) and near-all of it was either on a path or in a bike lane. Well done, metro Boston.

But: who is in charge of storm grates on the BU Bridge? (MassDOT? DCR?) A huge number of them are fully silted up and I'd worry that they'll ice the bike lanes on the BU Bridge?

It seems like it should be DOT according to the MassDOT Open Data portal: https://geo-massdot.opendata.arcgis...0/explore?location=42.352630,-71.110641,18.47

 

[Arlington]

I have Jury Duty, 8am Monday at the Moakley Courthouse in the seaport.
Anyone know how good/safe their bike facilities are?

 

[BACsop]

I have Jury Duty, 8am Monday at the Moakley Courthouse in the seaport.
Anyone know how good/safe their bike facilities are?

You'll probably find plenty of racks in the area but personally I'd probably BlueBike.

 

[Arlington]

After the trial, the Judge asked jurors if there was anything the Court could do better to improve the jury’s comfort & effectiveness. I suggested that the court include help for those biking to court.

Judge himself is an avid (year round / snow tires) cyclist and knew that secure bike parking is available in the Seaport Garage (which is where the court encourages and validates parking for jurors who drive).

He said he would work to include the availablity of bike parking on the Court’s website (this is the Federal US District Court in the Seaport and the public parks their cars across the street)

Nice.

 

[ceo]

I don't know why it didn't even occur to me to tell you about the secure bike room in the garage; I used it all the time when I worked in one of those buildings. Though it wouldn't have helped you much since I've forgotten the code (and they've probably changed it).

 

[HenryAlan]

I don't know why it didn't even occur to me to tell you about the secure bike room in the garage; I used it all the time when I worked in one of those buildings. Though it wouldn't have helped you much since I've forgotten the code (and they've probably changed it).

What we really need is a map of all the secure bike facilities. I think there are a lot of them in garages around the city, but for the most part, there is little to no information for somebody who wants to find it. In 2021, my wife was hospitalized for a few weeks, and I biked to Beth Israel every day to visit her. But the only reason it even occurred to me to bike, is that I had noticed the bike lock up on one of the early visits.

 

[Arlington]

What we really need is a map of all the secure bike facilities. I think there are a lot of them in garages around the city, but for the most part, there is little to no information for somebody who wants to find it. In 2021, my wife was hospitalized for a few weeks, and I biked to Beth Israel every day to visit her. But the only reason it even occurred to me to bike, is that I had noticed the bike lock up on one of the early visits.

Wait, BIDMC has secure lockups for visitors? I bike to Shapiro Clinical and always lock up on the Longwood Ave plaza (outside the window of a ground floor office it seems "looked after") Is There a place where patients/visitors can have access to an actual cage? (the ones in the garage off Binney St have an "employee only" vibe)

 

[HenryAlan]

Wait, BIDMC has secure lockups for visitors? I bike to Shapiro Clinical and always lock up on the Longwood Ave plaza (outside the window of a ground floor office it seems "looked after") Is There a place where patients/visitors can have access to an actual cage? (the ones in the garage off Binney St have an "employee only" vibe)

It's not a cage, but it's in the Feldberg garage, near the entrance. I consider it fairly secure, because it is heavily used and visible to security staff. Nevertheless, I always recommend using multiple locks to completely secure a bike, and advocate for having your bike not be the most expensive looking bike in the parking area.

 

[BACsop]

Cambridge Bike Safety hosted a ride this morning (Feb.5) to tour / celebrate the new Garden Street and Brattle Street protected bike lanes. Good turnout--probably around ~150 people, plus three Cambridge City Councilors (Nolan, Azeem, Zondervan).

Started on Cambridge Common, ended in Harvard Sq.

 

[sneijder]

Did a short ride through a lot of the new downtown bike lanes (Boylston St, Essex St, Washington St, State St/Court St, Cambridge St, Arlington St) - much of it on flex-post separated dedicated lane and bus/bike shared lane. Definitely encouraging to see the start of a connected network come together.

The good:
- there is pretty good flex post separation throughout, making it easy to queue-jump right to the front of intersections (no more weaving between stopped cars at a light)
- the Washington St ped plaza was a joy to ride through. The brick surface nudges bikers to slow down to a more pedestrian-friendly speed
- Bike lanes near the common are the highlight (wide, bi-directional lane with some protected intersections). State St/Govt Center is also fairly good with a wide buffers

The ugly:
- Cambridge St - the infrastructure is still somewhat poor. There are 2 stretches where the protected lane just disappears for a block and you're expected to ride in mixed traffic with no shoulder. I opted for the sidewalk.
- Encountered a couple cars blocking the entrance to the protected lane, slightly annoying but doesn't prevent the bike lane from being useful
- My main gripe is the quality of the pavement ranges from passable to downright atrocious, with manhole covers that are extremely uneven with the surface, potholes, and other broken asphalt. Some of these imperfections are not bothersome to a car (with wide tires & shocks) but extremely jarring on a bike to the point that your feet might get thrown off the pedals/ and butt off the seat. I understand that most of these are converted car lanes so the worn-out surface was simply painted over and not resurfaced. However, because bikes are so much lighter than cars if we ever re-surfaced all these protected lanes the asphalt would last 100x longer and make the ride so much more pleasant. Does anyone know if there are any local politicians/DOT we can contact or tweet at to fix short specific stretches?

 

[FK4]

Did a short ride through a lot of the new downtown bike lanes (Boylston St, Essex St, Washington St, State St/Court St, Cambridge St, Arlington St) - much of it on flex-post separated dedicated lane and bus/bike shared lane. Definitely encouraging to see the start of a connected network come together.

The good:
- there is pretty good flex post separation throughout, making it easy to queue-jump right to the front of intersections (no more weaving between stopped cars at a light)
- the Washington St ped plaza was a joy to ride through. The brick surface nudges bikers to slow down to a more pedestrian-friendly speed
- Bike lanes near the common are the highlight (wide, bi-directional lane with some protected intersections). State St/Govt Center is also fairly good with a wide buffers

The ugly:
- Cambridge St - the infrastructure is still somewhat poor. There are 2 stretches where the protected lane just disappears for a block and you're expected to ride in mixed traffic with no shoulder. I opted for the sidewalk.
- Encountered a couple cars blocking the entrance to the protected lane, slightly annoying but doesn't prevent the bike lane from being useful
- My main gripe is the quality of the pavement ranges from passable to downright atrocious, with manhole covers that are extremely uneven with the surface, potholes, and other broken asphalt. Some of these imperfections are not bothersome to a car (with wide tires & shocks) but extremely jarring on a bike to the point that your feet might get thrown off the pedals/ and butt off the seat. I understand that most of these are converted car lanes so the worn-out surface was simply painted over and not resurfaced. However, because bikes are so much lighter than cars if we ever re-surfaced all these protected lanes the asphalt would last 100x longer and make the ride so much more pleasant. Does anyone know if there are any local politicians/DOT we can contact or tweet at to fix short specific stretches?

I’ve never really understood why the manhole covers in Boston are always sunken or uneven with the surface. People blame the climate for the condition of the roads, but I’ve never seen this in New York and I’ve never seen it in other northern cities. At any rate, this is a perennial problem with bike lanes, because the city will just throw Elaine down on a stretch of road without usually paying any regard to the conditions of that strip of pavement as pertains to a bike rider. It’s always better than nothing, but sometimes the conditions make it downright dangerous.

 

[Koopzilla24]

Is there a reason why new bike lanes in the Boston area aren’t consistently built with street parking to the outside of the bike lane (bike lane against the curb)?
I’m particularly annoyed with Brookline and the newly re-paved Washington St. bike gutters.

The houses mostly have driveways leaving few cars actually parking on the street on weekdays. I don’t see any reason as to why they didn’t put the bike lane against the curb. Cambridge is also very inconsistent with this. It feels unnecessary to bike 6ft away from the curb and inches from moving traffic just because there may be a parked car every 50ft.

 

[sneijder]

Is there a reason why new bike lanes in the Boston area aren’t consistently built with street parking to the outside of the bike lane (bike lane against the curb)?
I’m particularly annoyed with Brookline and the newly re-paved Washington St. bike gutters.

The houses mostly have driveways leaving few cars actually parking on the street on weekdays. I don’t see any reason as to why they didn’t put the bike lane against the curb. Cambridge is also very inconsistent with this. It feels unnecessary to bike 6ft away from the curb and inches from moving traffic just because there may be a parked car every 50ft.

Because then where would uber and doordash drivers idle while they are making pickups/dropoffs?

I think building bike lanes next to the curb usually requires a buffer for the "door-zone" and more ROW width - which it appears there is plenty of room on this street. I think there are some other considerations like handicapped people being able to access their car from curbside and making it easier to plow in winters with parked cars out of the way. I think as long as there is adequate traffic calming to keep vehicle speeds ~25mph the bike gutters are passable. Although I agree that generally, any road re-design should require accomodation to protect the bike lane (or even better, move it up to sidewalk level).

 

[Highwayguy]

Is there a reason why new bike lanes in the Boston area aren’t consistently built with street parking to the outside of the bike lane (bike lane against the curb)?
I’m particularly annoyed with Brookline and the newly re-paved Washington St. bike gutters.

In this example l believe it’s because the curb-curb width on this corridor is rather variable. As sneijder said, need more width for a car protected lane, so in this case it would lead to constant swapping back and forth between curb and travel lane sides mid block as the width changes. Obviously the markings could be better for sections like this with a buffer for both the door zone and the travel lane (and some chevrons). Do want to give Brookline credit though as this restriping eliminated parking on one side to provide bidirectional bike lanes, and this is a temporary condition since there is a DOT funded corridor reconstruction in the works to do it ‘right’.

General point still stands though.

 

[dhawkins]

Is there a reason why new bike lanes in the Boston area aren’t consistently built with street parking to the outside of the bike lane (bike lane against the curb)?
I’m particularly annoyed with Brookline and the newly re-paved Washington St. bike gutters.
View attachment 34430
The houses mostly have driveways leaving few cars actually parking on the street on weekdays. I don’t see any reason as to why they didn’t put the bike lane against the curb. Cambridge is also very inconsistent with this. It feels unnecessary to bike 6ft away from the curb and inches from moving traffic just because there may be a parked car every 50ft.

I believe this road is under state control vs town control, so different standards?

 

[Koopzilla24]

I think as long as there is adequate traffic calming to keep vehicle speeds ~25mph the bike gutters are passable.

My main concern is the stretch between Park St. and Washington Sq. It’s so wide with few parked cars, so many people speed and get road-rage with a bike being next to them. I was purposely hit by a car because they were mad that they couldn’t go around another car waiting to take a left due to the bike lane being right there. It’s also a frequent commercial vehicle route to cut across to route 9 on top of having the 65. I personally don’t like holding up buses that are unable to safely pass because they can’t get enough distance with the unprotected bike gutter there. Seems like there wasn’t too much thought around the repaving other than simply repaving it.

 

[LexSEDotVille]

Took a long ride today to enjoy the nice weather and explore the status of some new bike infrastructure.

Medford St/Gore St @ Grand Junction - 2 way separated in progress for whenever the 'Grand Junction Multi-use Path' is completed
PXL_20230220_204803993 by LexSEDotVille, on Flickr

Mass Ave Bridge - plenty of room for passing
PXL_20230220_210214722 by LexSEDotVille, on Flickr

ISEC Ped Bridge - unfortunately a poor bike connection. Unmarked elevator on N side to skip stairs. S side had no exit without entering the science building with a card swipe (kicking myself for missing the opportunity to explore inside!) Diverted back to Ruggles to cross - which is equally bike route unfriendly.
PXL_20230220_212752226 by LexSEDotVille, on Flickr

Tremont @ Ruggles
PXL_20230220_213619174.PANO by LexSEDotVille, on Flickr

Ruggles St. - Great infrastructure from Tremont to Shawmut!
PXL_20230220_213801632 by LexSEDotVille, on Flickr

Nubian Sq. - Crossing Dudley St here (Wash. or Warren) is pretty hairy - access Nubian Station isn't great. Is there a cage in Nubian Station? (forgot to look)
PXL_20230220_214202830 by LexSEDotVille, on Flickr

Tremont @ Mass Ave
PXL_20230220_215213564 by LexSEDotVille, on Flickr

Tremont @ Dartmouth/W Dedham - Cars parked all over the place - needs some paint (even temp) ASAP.
PXL_20230220_215516331 by LexSEDotVille, on Flickr

Tremont @ Union Park - Amazing what a few curbs can do! Tremont's probably going to become the preferred bike route through the SE with this upgrade.
PXL_20230220_215709049 by LexSEDotVille, on Flickr

 

[FK4]

Took a long ride today to enjoy the nice weather and explore the status of some new bike infrastructure.

Medford St/Gore St @ Grand Junction - 2 way separated in progress for whenever the 'Grand Junction Multi-use Path' is completed
PXL_20230220_204803993 by LexSEDotVille, on Flickr

Mass Ave Bridge - plenty of room for passing
PXL_20230220_210214722 by LexSEDotVille, on Flickr

ISEC Ped Bridge - unfortunately a poor bike connection. Unmarked elevator on N side to skip stairs. S side had no exit without entering the science building with a card swipe (kicking myself for missing the opportunity to explore inside!) Diverted back to Ruggles to cross - which is equally bike route unfriendly.
PXL_20230220_212752226 by LexSEDotVille, on Flickr

Tremont @ Ruggles
PXL_20230220_213619174.PANO by LexSEDotVille, on Flickr

Ruggles St. - Great infrastructure from Tremont to Shawmut!
PXL_20230220_213801632 by LexSEDotVille, on Flickr

Nubian Sq. - Crossing Dudley St here (Wash. or Warren) is pretty hairy - access Nubian Station isn't great. Is there a cage in Nubian Station? (forgot to look)
PXL_20230220_214202830 by LexSEDotVille, on Flickr

Tremont @ Mass Ave
PXL_20230220_215213564 by LexSEDotVille, on Flickr

Tremont @ Dartmouth/W Dedham - Cars parked all over the place - needs some paint (even temp) ASAP.
PXL_20230220_215516331 by LexSEDotVille, on Flickr

Tremont @ Union Park - Amazing what a few curbs can do! Tremont's probably going to become the preferred bike route through the SE with this upgrade.
PXL_20230220_215709049 by LexSEDotVille, on Flickr

Great updates