Biking in Boston

StreetsblogMASS said:
mass.streetsblog.org

Utility Poles Limit the Utility of Newton's New 'Complete Street' - Streetsblog Massachusetts

A years-long MassDOT project to redesign Needham Street in Newton as a more bike- and pedestrian-friendly street is nearly complete – but the street’s users are still waiting for Verizon and Eversource to remove old utility poles that are blocking the roadway in numerous locations. Since 2020...
mass.streetsblog.org mass.streetsblog.org
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I find this neither surprising nor problematic. The project isn't complete yet. This isn't an oversight, though perhaps it's bad planning. But regardless, the poles will ultimately be relocated. Same thing happened in Chelsea for the Beacham/Williams Street cycle track. As somebody who rides that route fairly often, there was certainly a frustrating period when I wanted to take the off street path and was prevented by the old utility poles. But after a few months, the problem went away.
 
StreetsblogMASS said:
mass.streetsblog.org

Utility Poles Limit the Utility of Newton's New 'Complete Street' - Streetsblog Massachusetts

A years-long MassDOT project to redesign Needham Street in Newton as a more bike- and pedestrian-friendly street is nearly complete – but the street’s users are still waiting for Verizon and Eversource to remove old utility poles that are blocking the roadway in numerous locations. Since 2020...
mass.streetsblog.org mass.streetsblog.org
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Did aB spark some investigative reporting?
 
KCasiglio said:
Did aB spark some investigative reporting?
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Perhaps, since StreetsBlog follows our discussions. But there is also a guy active in some Facebook Boston bike groups who has been pushing this issue, including making a video of himself trying to ride on the unfinished track. He got the attention of David Wade, a reporter for CBS-4, which will air a segment about this tonight at 6PM. I suspect he also gets the credit for the article linked above.
 
themissinglink said:
brookline.news

Major Washington Street redesign stirs debate over bike lanes, parking - Brookline.News

A plan for a massive reconstruction of Washington Street between Beacon Street and Route 9 is slowly moving forward, amid tensions between prioritizing bicycle safety or parking. One of the largest and most controversial changes as the plan now stands would put a curb between bicycles and cars...
brookline.news brookline.news
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I biked Washington St every single day and parking is virtually empty all the time save for between the fire station and Washington Sq and at the Police Station in Brookline Village, but the drivers who use it are so horrendous it's never felt safe. I've been purposely hit by drivers twice on this stretch in the past year so now I bail early and go the longer way to Huntington from Brighton via Beacon-Carlton Bridge or Comm Ave-Mass Ave. This should be a straightforward no-brainer if drivers could handle parking not even a block away in the lots, garage (Brookline Village), side streets, or Beacon St median parking that's never full.
 
Koopzilla24 said:
I biked Washington St every single day and parking is virtually empty all the time save for between the fire station and Washington Sq and at the Police Station in Brookline Village, but the drivers who use it are so horrendous it's never felt safe. I've been purposely hit by drivers twice on this stretch in the past year so now I bail early and go the longer way to Huntington from Brighton via Beacon-Carlton Bridge or Comm Ave-Mass Ave. This should be a straightforward no-brainer if drivers could handle parking not even a block away in the lots, garage (Brookline Village), side streets, or Beacon St median parking that's never full.
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I dont use it much these days but it's never been a heavily trafficked street, and it's always been too wide and I have long wondered when it would be redesigned. I would personally advocate for keeping the parking metered spots close to Beacon but overall it could stand to be heavily redone in favor of bikes.
 
Koopzilla24 said:
I biked Washington St every single day and parking is virtually empty all the time save for between the fire station and Washington Sq and at the Police Station in Brookline Village, but the drivers who use it are so horrendous it's never felt safe. I've been purposely hit by drivers twice on this stretch in the past year so now I bail early and go the longer way to Huntington from Brighton via Beacon-Carlton Bridge or Comm Ave-Mass Ave. This should be a straightforward no-brainer if drivers could handle parking not even a block away in the lots, garage (Brookline Village), side streets, or Beacon St median parking that's never full.
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Drivers in Brookline anecdotally seem much more aggressive to me than Camberville or even the core of Boston, maybe just because there are fewer people cycling and the road design of the major corridors (Beacon, Washington, etc.) encourages them to speed. It's not great. I never feel particularly comfortable cycling anywhere in Brookline save the Muddy River paths and the occasional residential backstreet.

Also, from the article--it's always wild to me how people lose their minds over such small quantities of street parking.
There are now 199 public, on-street parking spaces on the 1.1 mile corridor. The current proposal would remove 64 of them, leaving 135, according to Public Works Commissioner Chute.
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#bancars said:
Drivers in Brookline anecdotally seem much more aggressive to me than Camberville or even the core of Boston, maybe just because there are fewer people cycling and the road design of the major corridors (Beacon, Washington, etc.) encourages them to speed. It's not great. I never feel particularly comfortable cycling anywhere in Brookline save the Muddy River paths and the occasional residential backstreet.

Also, from the article--it's always wild to me how people lose their minds over such small quantities of street parking.
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This is the major difference between Cambridge/Sommerville and Brookline. Both wealthy white urban residential neighborhoods with a mix of major job centers and schools/hospitals, and excellent transit to the core. But Cambridge is forcing its cycling safety ordinance ahead no matter what small businesses say, and Brookline is destined to be a car sewer until 2050.

Just look at the restriping project for Cambridge's Broadway in 2025. Nearly every single on street parking spot removed despite most of the street being lined with businesses. While Brookline is losing their mind over keeping only 70% of their spots.
 
themissinglink said:
brookline.news

Major Washington Street redesign stirs debate over bike lanes, parking - Brookline.News

A plan for a massive reconstruction of Washington Street between Beacon Street and Route 9 is slowly moving forward, amid tensions between prioritizing bicycle safety or parking. One of the largest and most controversial changes as the plan now stands would put a curb between bicycles and cars...
brookline.news brookline.news
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Wow Brookline is really dragging their feet on bike infrastructure...
 
#bancars said:
Drivers in Brookline anecdotally seem much more aggressive to me than Camberville or even the core of Boston, maybe just because there are fewer people cycling and the road design of the major corridors (Beacon, Washington, etc.) encourages them to speed. It's not great. I never feel particularly comfortable cycling anywhere in Brookline save the Muddy River paths and the occasional residential backstreet.

Also, from the article--it's always wild to me how people lose their minds over such small quantities of street parking.
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sneijder said:
This is the major difference between Cambridge/Sommerville and Brookline. Both wealthy white urban residential neighborhoods with a mix of major job centers and schools/hospitals, and excellent transit to the core. But Cambridge is forcing its cycling safety ordinance ahead no matter what small businesses say, and Brookline is destined to be a car sewer until 2050.

Just look at the restriping project for Cambridge's Broadway in 2025. Nearly every single on street parking spot removed despite most of the street being lined with businesses. While Brookline is losing their mind over keeping only 70% of their spots.
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That's never been my experience at all, and Brookline is my home town. I have no problem hating on the fact that Brookline people are entitled, generally speaking, but I have always felt safer biking anywhere in Brookline than anywhere in Boston, or even Cambridge. First, there are tons of stoplights, and second, and more importantly, Brookline has always been a police state, cops everywhere who actually do constantly pull people over and ticket them. Even now, post-Floyd, with the nearly complete disappearance of speed traps, Brookline continues the hallowed tradition of posting cars all over the place. Drivers in Brookline drive scared, and I have always felt that they were timid when it came to me on a bike. The parkways (as in West Rox, Newton St, and Grove St) are the only roads where this is not the case. Despite my earlier comment that Washington needs a road diet, I've never felt unsafe there nor do I consider it a road where people speed.
 
FK4 said:
That's never been my experience at all, and Brookline is my home town. I have no problem hating on the fact that Brookline people are entitled, generally speaking, but I have always felt safer biking anywhere in Brookline than anywhere in Boston, or even Cambridge.
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I don't necessarily find it safer than Boston or Camberville, but it's definitely no worse. Brookline has built a lot of decent bike infrastructure, and to some extent got there first. Washington St. has long been a glaring gap in these efforts, but otherwise, I think (at least North of Route 9) they are making solid progress.
 
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FK4 said:
That's never been my experience at all, and Brookline is my home town. I have no problem hating on the fact that Brookline people are entitled, generally speaking, but I have always felt safer biking anywhere in Brookline than anywhere in Boston, or even Cambridge. First, there are tons of stoplights, and second, and more importantly, Brookline has always been a police state, cops everywhere who actually do constantly pull people over and ticket them. Even now, post-Floyd, with the nearly complete disappearance of speed traps, Brookline continues the hallowed tradition of posting cars all over the place. Drivers in Brookline drive scared, and I have always felt that they were timid when it came to me on a bike. The parkways (as in West Rox, Newton St, and Grove St) are the only roads where this is not the case. Despite my earlier comment that Washington needs a road diet, I've never felt unsafe there nor do I consider it a road where people speed.
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I live on the border of Brookline and need to travel through it for just about everything I do everyday especially when biking somewhere and everything I experience is the exact opposite of this. Brookline is the absolute least safe place I have the misfortune of needing to bike through. I feel safer biking in Norwood, Dedham, and Canton where there are no bike lanes and I need to cross route 1 and I-95 through highway interchanges where people are actually cautious around me and give me space.

I have been hit on my bike by Brookline Police cars twice while in bike lanes and neither time did they stop (I really need a camera but that's expensive). Once was on St Paul the other was in Brighton but by a BrooklinePD car. There is a constant lack of initiative from Brookline Police to enforce laws as I've witnessed countless times drivers turning right on a "no turn on red," parking in bus stops, and blocking the new Gateway West bus lanes directly in front of them.

Every morning I bike past Baldwin Early Learning and The Driscoll School during the morning drop off and every morning I watch drivers rip through the school zone going 30+mph as is displayed on a sign displaying vehicle speed as they enter the 20mph school zone.

To be fair I don't really think it's Brookline drivers since this part of Brookline doesn't really drive much and it's a small corner of Brookline that most cars on the road are passing right through. It's ironic because most people in this area are probably going to and from work in Longwood and I've twice been hit by drivers in scrubs. I've also never had any issues on WR Pkwy, Grove, Clyde, Lee, VFW, etc all those South Brookline parkways. The bike/breakdown shoulder is wide when it exists and drivers have respected the hand signal to cross to the left turn lane.

I also don't know where this praise of Brookline's bike infra is coming from when the only bits of protected bike lanes I can think of are a scattering of bits; on Rt 9 at Brookline Village, one side of Mountfort for a block, one side of Beacon at St. Mary's, one side of one approach of one block of Coolidge Corner
 
Yeah, the Brookline Police Department definitely tickets a lot, but I don't think it's out of their belief of bike safety, nor to create a more rule following state. Honestly, I think they're bored and it's something to do.

I cracked up when I saw those "We stand with the Brookline Police Department" signs that were posted when all those break-ins happened over the summer. I don't think the Brookline Police Department walks around, much less stands.
 
Koopzilla24 said:
I live on the border of Brookline and need to travel through it for just about everything I do everyday especially when biking somewhere and everything I experience is the exact opposite of this. Brookline is the absolute least safe place I have the misfortune of needing to bike through. I feel safer biking in Norwood, Dedham, and Canton where there are no bike lanes and I need to cross route 1 and I-95 through highway interchanges where people are actually cautious around me and give me space.

I have been hit on my bike by Brookline Police cars twice while in bike lanes and neither time did they stop (I really need a camera but that's expensive). Once was on St Paul the other was in Brighton but by a BrooklinePD car. There is a constant lack of initiative from Brookline Police to enforce laws as I've witnessed countless times drivers turning right on a "no turn on red," parking in bus stops, and blocking the new Gateway West bus lanes directly in front of them.

Every morning I bike past Baldwin Early Learning and The Driscoll School during the morning drop off and every morning I watch drivers rip through the school zone going 30+mph as is displayed on a sign displaying vehicle speed as they enter the 20mph school zone.

To be fair I don't really think it's Brookline drivers since this part of Brookline doesn't really drive much and it's a small corner of Brookline that most cars on the road are passing right through. It's ironic because most people in this area are probably going to and from work in Longwood and I've twice been hit by drivers in scrubs. I've also never had any issues on WR Pkwy, Grove, Clyde, Lee, VFW, etc all those South Brookline parkways. The bike/breakdown shoulder is wide when it exists and drivers have respected the hand signal to cross to the left turn lane.

I also don't know where this praise of Brookline's bike infra is coming from when the only bits of protected bike lanes I can think of are a scattering of bits; on Rt 9 at Brookline Village, one side of Mountfort for a block, one side of Beacon at St. Mary's, one side of one approach of one block of Coolidge Corner
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I feel extremely unsafe biking in Dedham and Norwood. But I suppose it does come down to perception, which is subjective.

thepixelnation said:
Yeah, the Brookline Police Department definitely tickets a lot, but I don't think it's out of their belief of bike safety, nor to create a more rule following state. Honestly, I think they're bored and it's something to do.

I cracked up when I saw those "We stand with the Brookline Police Department" signs that were posted when all those break-ins happened over the summer. I don't think the Brookline Police Department walks around, much less stands.
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It’s not out of concern for bike safety, I only bring it up because anyone who drives in the greater Boston area knows to behave themselves in Brookline, or else. I don’t like the excessive and aggressive police presence there at all. But it does have an effect.
 
In 2025, Brookline will add protected bike lanes on Lee, Clyde (Lee to Newton), Hammond, St Paul, Chestnut, Tappan, and Davis. Preliminary work is also underway for Beacon (town line to town line) (2029 earliest), School (2027), Upper Washington (Corey to Beacon) (2029-31), Washington (Beacon to Boylston) (2028-30), and Brookline Ave (2026-27).
 
cubbe8 said:
In 2025, Brookline will add protected bike lanes on Lee, Clyde (Lee to Newton), Hammond, St Paul, Chestnut, Tappan, and Davis. Preliminary work is also underway for Beacon (town line to town line) (2029 earliest), School (2027), Upper Washington (Corey to Beacon) (2029-31), Washington (Beacon to Boylston) (2028-30), and Brookline Ave (2026-27).
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Have you seen any specific plans about Hammond? It’s just screaming for a road diet, surely it’ll get one?
 
cubbe8 said:

Hammond St at Woodland Rd Traffic Signal and Hammond St Road Diet | Brookline, MA - Official Website

Hammond St at Woodland Rd Traffic Signal and Hammond St Road Diet
www.brooklinema.gov www.brooklinema.gov
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Thanks. This is pretty disappointing, honestly. First, I just don't get why Boston regional municipal transportation councils are so addicted to stoplights as being this pretend intervention that actually makes things safer. Better than nothing, sure, but all they do on roads like this is make it annoying to drive on (I mean get real, this stoplight is absolutely pointless for cars) while also making drivers speed up whenever the light is green. It doesn’t actually slow traffic *consistently*. Second, related to first point—why not do a full reconstruction, actually narrow the pavement and ROW and in so doing do actual traffic calming? No need for so much pavement here and they could make this a narrow boulevard where cars are forced to keep to 25mph, rather than a drag race mentality for the green light at Woodland…
 
Excited to share some relevant personal news, effective February 10th I will be taking over responsibility for the Boston Region MPO's Bicycle/Pedestrian Program. I'm hopeful that I can be a resource to folks here interested in biking/walking as well continue to learn and benefit from the knowledge and experiences in this community.

Obligatory "all of my bad takes/posts on this website are not reflective of my employer"
 
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