Fenway Infill and Small Developments

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The city really needs to do something about Boylston Street in the Fenway. So crappy and dangerous. I hope they have some plans ready.
 
The strip with the Baseball Tavern is looking very puny now... What are the odds that gets torn down and redeveloped within the decade?
 
DominusNovus said:
The strip with the Baseball Tavern is looking very puny now... What are the odds that gets torn down and redeveloped within the decade?
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I was under the impression that everything on Boylston street in Fenway was zoned for at least 10 (maybe more?) stories, so it's definitely possible. If this building boom continues I would definitely expect all of the old buildings on Boylston to get torn down - the land is simply too valuable to have a couple rinky-dink shops taking up the lot.
 
Matthew said:
The city really needs to do something about Boylston Street in the Fenway. So crappy and dangerous. I hope they have some plans ready.
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There is a master plan for Boylston somewhere on the BRA website, no timetable though. One of the very cool recommendations (requirements?) is to make the sidewalk on the sunny side (Trilogy side) much wider to accomodate outdoor dining. Looks like Samuels is doing that anyway.

With the number of underground garages now, We should get rid of on-street parking in favor of bike lanes. It's inevitable but sooner is better. I live in Trilogy and have never seen the 3 level garage more than 30% used but I don't drive and am not down there too often.

There is a new street going in between the Van Ness and Tasty Burger, which will require a traffic light. Anything that slows traffic is better for residents anyway.
 
That new street (Richard B Ross Way) is supposed to eventually extend to Brookline Ave to improve the street grid over there.

(rant) I don't like the name of the street. Why can't new streets have names that make them seem like they were always there? Why Richard B Ross Way? If they need to use his name, why not Ross Street? Ross Ave? Whenever they choose odd names for streets I always get the feeling of them being private, no matter what's on them. And don't get me started on "Mercedes View" in Roslindale. Whatever suffix 'View' is? (end rant)
 
stevemus said:
With the number of underground garages now, We should get rid of on-street parking in favor of bike lanes. It's inevitable but sooner is better. I live in Trilogy and have never seen the 3 level garage more than 30% used but I don't drive and am not down there too often.
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As a cyclist I'm weary of bike lanes next to parked cars, they're dangerous.. However as a pedestrian, I believe the "buffer" created by parked cars is largely beneficial. I really don't like walking on streets without parallel parking, even with traffic calming devices and slow speeds. Not only are you very close to moving vehicles, but there is more noise as well. There is also an urban "feel" to a street with parallel parked cars. IMHO, a dense urban street without them feels like a raceway, while a residential street without them feels far more suburban.

I rarely drive on the Fenway stretch of Boylston, but thinking out loud here, if it is possible to reduce it to one lane each way + designated left turn lanes, you could probably widen the sidewalks and have a bike lane. At 80':
12' Sidewalk | 7' Parking | 6' Bike | 10' Travel | 10' Turn/Median | 10' Travel | 6' Bike | 7' Parking | 12' Sidewalk​
should work. Looking at google earth now, the existing sidewalks appear to be 8', so it would be a drastic improvement. Where the new buildings are going up they are set back a good 10-12 feet, so with the above plan you could get very generous 20-something foot sidewalks, similar to Comm Ave.



Regarding street names, I agree wholeheartedly with sm89 above. I think Shepard has ranted about this in the past two. I know it irks me every time I see it done.
 
davem said:
As a cyclist I'm weary of bike lanes next to parked cars, they're dangerous.. However as a pedestrian, I believe the "buffer" created by parked cars is largely beneficial.
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The City's 5-year bicycle plan indicates that there will be a "buffered bicycle lane" on this stretch of Boylston St. (The section after the Fens heading into town is earmarked for a cycle track!)

Map here: http://maps.cityofboston.gov/bikenetwork/
 
I agree with Dave, I think the city would be better off doing a lane diet on Boylston. Perhaps do a cycle track using the parked cars as a buffer.
 
Matthew said:
I agree with Dave, I think the city would be better off doing a lane diet on Boylston.
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Over John Henry's dead body, perhaps? Maybe not, I have no idea. Brookline Ave. is one lane by the ballpark and it functions about as well as could be expected on game nights -- or at least it's no more of a problem than anything else in that area.

What definitely seems attainable would be some sidewalk bump-outs, especially as more and more luxury buyers/renters arrive in the neighborhood they bought on walkability only to find out how much it sucks to cross the street.
 
ErnieAdams said:
Over John Henry's dead body, perhaps? Maybe not, I have no idea. Brookline Ave. is one lane by the ballpark and it functions about as well as could be expected on game nights -- or at least it's no more of a problem than anything else in that area.

What definitely seems attainable would be some sidewalk bump-outs, especially as more and more luxury buyers/renters arrive in the neighborhood they bought on walkability only to find out how much it sucks to cross the street.
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I'm sure sheer volume plays a part, but I can't help but feel that a lot of those backups are because of people making lefts, and then the traffic behind them weaving over and causing a backup behind. This happens on the stretch of Market Street that is two lanes by North Beacon in Brighton. If the left lane was just striped as a turn only lane traffic would move so much smoother. But instead people fly up in the left, cut over and cut someone on the right off when the person in front has their blinker on, and its nothing but brake lights. Then the light turns red. Maybe I'll play with a design.
 
ErnieAdams said:
Over John Henry's dead body, perhaps? Maybe not, I have no idea. Brookline Ave. is one lane by the ballpark and it functions about as well as could be expected on game nights -- or at least it's no more of a problem than anything else in that area.
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Lane/road diets don't have to reduce throughput and may actually greatly improve operations. Especially on a street like Boylston, where there is lots of turning traffic but no dedicated turn lanes. Actually, the more I think about it, the more I like it -- even putting aside the benefit of gaining more space for bikes/peds, the road diet seems like it could easily be the right way to go for this stretch of street as it transitions from suburban-style strip-mall hellscape to urban corridor.
 
davem said:
As a cyclist I'm weary of bike lanes next to parked cars, they're dangerous.. However as a pedestrian, I believe the "buffer" created by parked cars is largely beneficial. I really don't like walking on streets without parallel parking, even with traffic calming devices and slow speeds. Not only are you very close to moving vehicles, but there is more noise as well. There is also an urban "feel" to a street with parallel parked QUOTE]

I realize this wouldn't satisfy the "urban feel" criteria, but wouldn't a cycle track (perhaps with trees in the buffer) provide the same pedestrian benefits? (And I'm speaking more generally than just on Boylston - curious on your opinion).
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It has been said before but I love how all the buildings use varying heights, it makes them seem less like the mid-rise land scrapers they are. I wish more seaport buildings did this.
 
It might just be a really great rendering, but this use of alucobond looks like it will be on par with the treehouse (although in a much different way). I hope it looks this good IRL.

AmericanFolkLegend said:
I realize this wouldn't satisfy the "urban feel" criteria, but wouldn't a cycle track (perhaps with trees in the buffer) provide the same pedestrian benefits? (And I'm speaking more generally than just on Boylston - curious on your opinion).
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Mostly, although I think parked cars provide a real, physical barrieryou don't get with greenscape. An accident is going to hit the parked cars instead of going onto the sidewalk. A car hitting a puddle will splash the parked cars instead of pedestrians. I haven't seen a study, but I believe that parked cars probably do a bit of noise dampening from passing traffic as well. Maybe it's just personal opinion, but to me there is something intangibly urban about a street filled with parallel parked cars.
 
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