Biking in Boston

Vagabond said:
"A plan to restore Linear Park between Alewife and Somerville has been in the works for nearly two years with a redesign that would have widened the paved path and added seating, play areas and lighting. " https://www.cambridgema.gov/-/media...k/linearpark_cppmeeting_october2023_final.pdf

www.cambridgeday.com

Questions on how Linear Park plan affects trees means digging deeper into details in committee - Cambridge Day

A plan to restore Linear Park has been in the works for nearly two years with a redesign that would have widened the paved path and added seating, play areas and lighting. Councillors want to consider reusing a refreshed version of the existing design.
www.cambridgeday.com www.cambridgeday.com
Click to expand...

The hysteria and misinformation surrounding potential tree loss with this project has been insane. The path needs to be redone, and it definitely needs to be wider if it is going to function as an effective bike transport route going forward with Cambridge's bike modeshare goals.
 
This is a naked case of Not-on-*my*-bikepath-ism. The folks in the area seem to consider the bike path their own personal property.
 
New contraflow bike lane and speed humps on Eliot Street in Jamaica Plain.

This route connects Centre/South St (the Monument) to the Emerald Necklace and Jamaica Pond. Ultimately, this will provide a route from JP South to the Emerald Necklace that’s better/safer than the previous options:
  • Illegally salmoning up Eliot St
  • Centre St (with traffic) -> Pond St (with traffic)
Photos taken by me this morning:

IMG_3551.jpeg
IMG_3550.jpeg
IMG_3549.jpeg
IMG_3547.jpeg
IMG_3546.jpeg
IMG_3544.jpeg
IMG_3543.jpeg
 
bigeman312 said:
Ultimately, this will provide a route from JP South to the Emerald Necklace that’s better/safer than the previous options:
  • Illegally salmoning up Eliot St
  • Centre St (with traffic) -> Pond St (with traffic)
Click to expand...
Yeah, this is really exciting. My usual approach has been the second bullet point for getting to the Necklace, but Eliot St. for returning. I don't personally mind the ride to Pond St. via Centre St., but I think that puts the Pond out of reach for a lot of people. And I'll definitely switch to Eliot St. now, because it's definitely easier and safer. Poplar St., between Washington and Sycamore in Roslindale is getting the same treatment, which again will be a fantastic improvement over existing options.
 
HenryAlan said:
Yeah, this is really exciting. My usual approach has been the second bullet point for getting to the Necklace, but Eliot St. for returning. I don't personally mind the ride to Pond St. via Centre St., but I think that puts the Pond out of reach for a lot of people. And I'll definitely switch to Eliot St. now, because it's definitely easier and safer. Poplar St., between Washington and Sycamore in Roslindale is getting the same treatment, which again will be a fantastic improvement over existing options.
Click to expand...

Agreed! It's good to remember that this bike infrastructure is not built with you and me as the primary target. I know you agree with that and we've discussed this on this board before. Like you say, there are people who would be too intimidated to ride on Centre and Pond in mixed traffic, but comfortable riding this contraflow lane. Ultimately, that helps a mode shift and that's a win for everyone.

Like you, I've been a Centre -> Pond guy myself. Admittedly, I've only done this about 50 times in my life on bicycle though, as I live a bit further north for this to be routine for me.

Like I'm sure you agree, a goal of bike infrastructure is to build a network that is suitable for 8 and 80 year olds.
 
bigeman312 said:
New contraflow bike lane and speed humps on Eliot Street in Jamaica Plain.

This route connects Centre/South St (the Monument) to the Emerald Necklace and Jamaica Pond. Ultimately, this will provide a route from JP South to the Emerald Necklace that’s better/safer than the previous options:
  • Illegally salmoning up Eliot St
  • Centre St (with traffic) -> Pond St (with traffic)
Photos taken by me this morning:

View attachment 43851View attachment 43852View attachment 43853View attachment 43854View attachment 43855View attachment 43856View attachment 43857
Click to expand...
love the turkey placement
 
Looks like a welcome change! I assume street parking was removed on one side to make room for the lane?

My concern is just that with the parked cars on the other side, people will subconsciously drive closer to/on top of the double yellow line to avoid the door zone - especially larger and wider trucks or SUV's. I think if they're going to go to the trouble of designing and painting, why not put up bollards the entire length? That would double as a nice traffic calming measure to slow drivers down as well.
 
sneijder said:
Looks like a welcome change! I assume street parking was removed on one side to make room for the lane?
Click to expand...
Your assumption is incorrect. No parking was removed. For the section between Dane and the Jamaicaway, parking was shifted to the opposite side of the street, but that’s it.

The street was unnecessarily wide and underutilized before. This was just about the lowest hanging fruit possible.

sneijder said:
My concern is just that with the parked cars on the other side, people will subconsciously drive closer to/on top of the double yellow line to avoid the door zone - especially larger and wider trucks or SUV's. I think if they're going to go to the trouble of designing and painting, why not put up bollards the entire length? That would double as a nice traffic calming measure to slow drivers down as well.
Click to expand...

My gut reaction is that behavior would occur only when there isn’t anyone using the contraflow lane. I saw a few cars drive on Eliot this morning and nobody encroached on the contraflow lane. I’d imagine most drivers would abide by the lane markings, and those that don’t would only be doing so when there are no road users in the contraflow lane.

That being said, I am in no way opposed to further improvements upon this positive step.
 
Last edited:
D
bigeman312 said:
New contraflow bike lane and speed humps on Eliot Street in Jamaica Plain.

This route connects Centre/South St (the Monument) to the Emerald Necklace and Jamaica Pond. Ultimately, this will provide a route from JP South to the Emerald Necklace that’s better/safer than the previous options:
  • Illegally salmoning up Eliot St
  • Centre St (with traffic) -> Pond St (with traffic)
Photos taken by me this morning:

View attachment 43851View attachment 43852View attachment 43853View attachment 43854View attachment 43855View attachment 43856View attachment 43857
Click to expand...
Really fantastic to see these get completed. There's a lot of low-hanging fruit across JP that I hope the city (and DCR 🫤) tackle next, especially SW Corridor connections and crossings.

On a related note, I recently took the Jamaica Pond/Riverway bike path to Fenway after dark. Has anyone talked about lighting that? It feels like a serious safety hazard and cuts off an otherwise very solid connection to other parts of the city from the neighborhood.
 
grand_junction said:
D

Really fantastic to see these get completed. There's a lot of low-hanging fruit across JP that I hope the city (and DCR 🫤) tackle next, especially SW Corridor connections and crossings.

On a related note, I recently took the Jamaica Pond/Riverway bike path to Fenway after dark. Has anyone talked about lighting that? It feels like a serious safety hazard and cuts off an otherwise very solid connection to other parts of the city from the neighborhood.
Click to expand...
Just use the other side of the river
 
greenlinetobrooklyn said:
It's not paved? And on the Jamaicaway there's one portion that goes through a grove of trees (between rt9 and Bynner) that's pitch black at night.
Click to expand...
Yeah I haven't explored every nook of that bike path, but the section from Perkins to Bynner on the Jamaicaway side is quite dark, and is the easiest legal way to get through there without doing any street stretches.

Past Longwood/Brookline Ave, one side is unpaved and I'm pretty sure they're both not lit? If there's a better stretch I might be missing it, though (to be fair, wayfinding across each side of the river isn't always the easiest)
 
greenlinetobrooklyn said:
It's not paved? And on the Jamaicaway there's one portion that goes through a grove of trees (between rt9 and Bynner) that's pitch black at night.
Click to expand...
There is a bike path on the Brookline side as well that is better lit. It's literally 100 feet on the other side. One stretch gets a little dark if it's very foggy but anyone biking at night should have a good light anyway. I dont think we need to stud every square inch of park with lights; the beauty of the Olmsted parks is that it's not utterly manicured, sanitized and domesticated like that.

I commuted on the stretch between Perkins and Longwood for years. I can tell you what I usually did, which was to just ride on the totally deserted sidewalk on the east side of the R/J-way. That was before it mattered as much since there was no protected crossing at Rt 9, but it also was (and remains) the most direct, and the best lit. Also, as a biker, I tend to avoid routes that waste elevation. The woods path I have never liked because there's a slight incline and then decline that gets you nothing. On the Brookline side, you stay flat until you ascend up toward Perkins at the end. The sidewalk way also wastes elevation, but it's more direct if you're headed to Longwood.
 
grand_junction said:
Yeah I haven't explored every nook of that bike path, but the section from Perkins to Bynner on the Jamaicaway side is quite dark, and is the easiest legal way to get through there without doing any street stretches.

Past Longwood/Brookline Ave, one side is unpaved and I'm pretty sure they're both not lit? If there's a better stretch I might be missing it, though (to be fair, wayfinding across each side of the river isn't always the easiest)
Click to expand...
See my other post. For efficiency, esp at night, the sidewalk is great, and the most direct. You can take that all the way from Fenway. The other problem with the parkway route is you get shunted onto Netherlands St or whatever it's called.
 
grand_junction said:
On a related note, I recently took the Jamaica Pond/Riverway bike path to Fenway after dark. Has anyone talked about lighting that? It feels like a serious safety hazard and cuts off an otherwise very solid connection to other parts of the city from the neighborhood.
Click to expand...
The path on the other side of the river has better paving, and is also not so close to the roadway. It is also pretty dark, though, in my opinion, but a really fun and peaceful ride if you go through at night with a quality light (or two).
 
  • Like
Reactions: FK4
No photo, but I observed (last evening) some of the new implementation of parking protected bike lanes on Columbus Avenue between Arlington and Clarendon. The implementation process is a mess!

Painting of new parking spaces in the former right travel lanes are in place, but they overlap previous markings on the road (that were not blacked out). Signage is minimal so far (as far as I could see in the evening conditions). Hence Boston drivers, being Boston drivers, were parking in both the new parking spaces and at the curb, somewhat at random along the blocks, sometimes both at the same time (stacked parking, blocking the curb cars in, what driver thinks that is intended :rolleyes:). Cyclists were weaving through a maze of parked and moving cars. Intention gets a B, implementation gets a D- at best.
 
JeffDowntown said:
No photo, but I observed (last evening) some of the new implementation of parking protected bike lanes on Columbus Avenue between Arlington and Clarendon. The implementation process is a mess!

Painting of new parking spaces in the former right travel lanes are in place, but they overlap previous markings on the road (that were not blacked out). Signage is minimal so far (as far as I could see in the evening conditions). Hence Boston drivers, being Boston drivers, were parking in both the new parking spaces and at the curb, somewhat at random along the blocks, sometimes both at the same time (stacked parking, blocking the curb cars in, what driver thinks that is intended :rolleyes:). Cyclists were weaving through a maze of parked and moving cars. Intention gets a B, implementation gets a D- at best.
Click to expand...

I never understood why installing the last layer of flexposts/barriers to delineate the parking spots from bike lane takes months or years. Can't they just send one guy out with a drill to put them in overnight? The Mass Ave bridge was restriped but with only cones as separation for over a year.
 
sneijder said:
I never understood why installing the last layer of flexposts/barriers to delineate the parking spots from bike lane takes months or years. Can't they just send one guy out with a drill to put them in overnight? The Mass Ave bridge was restriped but with only cones as separation for over a year.
Click to expand...
Shortage of materials / flexposts being backlogged, contractors's schedules, weather, order of operations (ideally you want thermoplastic down first, etc.), contractor capacity reaches its limit, projects going over budget and needing new purchase orders, etc. - these are all common reasons for why it can take so long. There are only 2-3 construction firms in the region that handle this work and they work all over the state for private and public clients (and usually prioritize private ones because the money is better).
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top