DCR Allston-Brighton Riverfront Parks and Parkways

FK4 said:
I have no idea if it would help things; and don’t really know why there isn’t an exit there now. But my guess is that the Newton exit will always be clogged and I don’t see it as being replaceable by Birmingham. If the city wanted to make Galen Street nice they could, and they should.
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It probably will never be great, but MassDOT found that about 40% of traffic to/from the west (by my lived experience the worst for congestion in the interchange) is tied to areas in East Watertown and Brighton that could theoretically be served by an Exit 129 (slide 29). https://www.mass.gov/doc/newton-cor...working-group-meeting-2-presentation/download
 
Equilibria said:
It probably will never be great, but MassDOT found that about 40% of traffic to/from the west (by my lived experience the worst for congestion in the interchange) is tied to areas in East Watertown and Brighton that could theoretically be served by an Exit 129 (slide 29). https://www.mass.gov/doc/newton-cor...working-group-meeting-2-presentation/download
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Oh my god I was just trying to find data like this from FK4's mention of "making Galen St nice". I've worked on Galen Street and heavy trucks and tractor trailers use Galen Street all the time to and from the Pike and I assume it's just a more direct and large road to get to the Pike from points in Watertown/Waltham or further north/east? or is it just to avoid Newtonville or Brighton tolls?. It seems like this document just talks about overall traffic, but it's definitely interesting to see.
 
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eber said:
Oh my god I was just trying to find data like this from FK4's mention of "making Galen St nice". I've worked on Galen Street and heavy trucks and tractor trailers use Galen Street all the time to and from the Pike and I assume it's just a more direct and large road to get to the Pike from points in Watertown/Waltham or further north/east? or is it just to avoid Newtonville or Brighton tolls?. It seems like this document just talks about overall traffic, but it's definitely interesting to see.
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I think it's the first one - the time spent making the detour probably exceeds the toll. The major road alternatives to the Turnpike - the river roads, North Beacon Street/Brighton Avenue, Arsenal Street - end up using Galen to access Newton Corner.
 
Equilibria said:
I think it's the first one - the time spent making the detour probably exceeds the toll. The major road alternatives to the Turnpike - the river roads, North Beacon Street/Brighton Avenue, Arsenal Street - end up using Galen to access Newton Corner.
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Pointing out the obvious: No trucks allowed on most/all of the river roads inbound from there - Nonantum, Greennough, SFR, Memorial, etc, nor on a lot of the rest of the parkways.

North Beacon/Brighton Ave, Arsenal/Western yes, but I think it's somewhat obvious that it's probably not a very worthwhile/effective toll or traffic dodge for a heavy truck with the much more limited routing options vs a car.

The only other sort of sane + legal routes for a truck to supply anything in that region (say, the Arsenal Mall) are some limited routes over from Route 2 that are much longer and obviously worse, even with Galen St's traffic nightmare.
 
millerm277 said:
Pointing out the obvious: No trucks allowed on most/all of the river roads inbound from there - Nonantum, Greennough, SFR, Memorial, etc, nor on a lot of the rest of the parkways.

North Beacon/Brighton Ave, Arsenal/Western yes, but I think it's somewhat obvious that it's probably not a very worthwhile/effective toll or traffic dodge for a heavy truck with the much more limited routing options vs a car.

The only other sort of sane + legal routes for a truck to supply anything in that region (say, the Arsenal Mall) are some limited routes over from Route 2 that are much longer and obviously worse, even with Galen St's traffic nightmare.
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Allow trucks on the parkways (would only require a few bridges being redone and maybe a couple extra lanes) and then we're good.
 
FK4 said:
Allow trucks on the parkways (would only require a few bridges being redone and maybe a couple extra lanes) and then we're good.
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My point was more that I don't think much of the current truck traffic on Galen St is using it as some kind of shortcut or toll cheat to somewhere further in than Watertown itself. They don't have many ways to do that from there, and the ways they do have do not usually work out better than just staying on the Pike would.
 
With or without this discussed Brighton exit, what would be really great would be:
  • A busway on Mt Auburn between Fresh Pond Parkway and Watertown Square.
  • Center-running bus lanes on Galen Street from Watertown Square to Newton Corner.
  • An extension of the 71 to Newton Corner.
  • A Regional Rail station in Newton Corner.
Done right, that could dramatically improve options between Cambridge/Watertown and the MetwoWest.
 
Charlie_mta said:
Wow, quite the pendulum swing from the mid-1960s when roadway underpasses and ramps were being pushed by the MDC for Memorial Drive at JFK Street, River Street and Western Ave, which would have wiped out much of the old sycamore trees, and transformed Memorial Drive into an expressway.
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I agree. The DCR officials still seemed a bit hesitant to include more traffic calming features, but at least there's going to be a much nicer park for this stretch of the river!
 
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