Green Line Extension to Medford & Union Sq

393b40 said:
Throw some wooden or metal sheets over that part. Worlds simplest fix, doesn't require closure. It requires someone in government to use their brain for 30 seconds
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We cover holes in roadways ALL THE TIME. It just takes caring about the path.
 
393b40 said:
Throw some wooden or metal sheets over that part. Worlds simplest fix, doesn't require closure. It requires someone in government to use their brain for 30 seconds
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I'm not sure that is an adequate way to make the path safe. Yes, we do that on roads, where the vehicles way 3000 pounds and have full shock suspension. But bikes tend to crash when they hit uneven seems, particularly when wet. And wheel chairs might not be able to get across them at all. I'm pretty sure the only safe fix is a complete restoration of the concrete surface.
 
HenryAlan said:
I'm not sure that is an adequate way to make the path safe. Yes, we do that on roads, where the vehicles way 3000 pounds and have full shock suspension. But bikes tend to crash when they hit uneven seems, particularly when wet. And wheel chairs might not be able to get across them at all. I'm pretty sure the only safe fix is a complete restoration of the concrete surface.
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This also an easy fix and involves rubber ramps or a tiny bit of temporary asphalt.
 
HenryAlan said:
I'm not sure that is an adequate way to make the path safe. Yes, we do that on roads, where the vehicles way 3000 pounds and have full shock suspension. But bikes tend to crash when they hit uneven seems, particularly when wet. And wheel chairs might not be able to get across them at all. I'm pretty sure the only safe fix is a complete restoration of the concrete surface.
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In that case they should probably just shut Highland down.
 
HenryAlan said:
I'm not sure that is an adequate way to make the path safe. Yes, we do that on roads, where the vehicles way 3000 pounds and have full shock suspension. But bikes tend to crash when they hit uneven seems, particularly when wet. And wheel chairs might not be able to get across them at all. I'm pretty sure the only safe fix is a complete restoration of the concrete surface.
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The state of some bike infrastructure in Boston is far worse than a metal or even plywood sheet over this. Virtually nobody riding a bike crashes when riding over small seams and bumps. I’m not sure where you'd get that idea from with the omnipresence of uneven surfaces in New England and lack of bike crashes. It’s far more dangerous to have patchwork on roads because of the potential harm that can be done if a multi-ton vehicle loses control as opposed to a 5-80lb bike.
People with wheeled mobility devices have to contend with far worse sidewalk conditions and as people have already mentioned temporary ramps can be installed to avoid impassible bumps and seams. Allowing the use of the path instead of uneven and narrow sidewalks with many street crossings even in an unfinished patchy state is still safer than the alternative if the proper temporary amenities are in place.
With the proper warning signs telling people where temporary infrastructure would be there isn’t much keeping the path from opening on the grounds of safety.
 
Some infrastructure currently in use is unsafe. Therefore, let's purposefully increase the amount of unsafe infrastructure? I think we can go ahead and stop talking about this now, given the logical contortions required to support opening the path immediately.
 
HenryAlan said:
Some infrastructure currently in use is unsafe. Therefore, let's purposefully increase the amount of unsafe infrastructure? I think we can go ahead and stop talking about this now, given the logical contortions required to support opening the path immediately.
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What I meant by highlighting our other bike infrastructure is that there are worse bumps and seams in our existing infrastructure that are deemed perfectly safe. Therefore having a small bump as the result of a plate doesn’t make things any less safe than the established safety standard. There are obviously potholes and big bumps that are not which is why the Melnea Cass path was repaved and the SW Corridor Park is in progress. No logical contortions required to conclude that there are temporary means of making the path perfectly safe to use during periods when crews are not working on it prior to a completion. Here’s a temporary scaffolding bridge for a multi-use path in Belgium
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There are means by which we can make temporary fixes that allow the use of unfinished or in-repair infrastructure in a safe manner when our officials care enough about them.
In the case of the Somerville Path, it would’ve been great if when the ADA compliance shortcomings were discovered, a plan was put into place to allow safe use of the path during ongoing construction with proper notification to the public. That would’ve greatly reduced the multi-month delay. At the current stage with parts of it torn up, it is more challenging to make those temporary fixes to open the path but still possible. It’s approaching mid-May and with the repairs expected to be finished in the next month there isn’t much of a point in doing so.



@JeffDowntown makes a good point that this shows how much more we care about cars when we do everything possible to keep roads open through unsafe conditions though. Think motorcycles and grooved pavement
 
My frustration at the councilor's Tweet and subsequent tweets she shows a stalk difference been us here and her. I'm not sure how to word it, but the tweets from Mike Connolly subcommunicates that he's asking the same questions and has the same desires that we would express and advocate if we were in his shoes. Mouakad does not subcommunicate that, while she's not wrong, she is also implicitly signaling what she cares about and it doesn't care about.

Despite that our ideas of how to address it is questionable, there are solutions if "we" care enough about it. The Belgium example may not be the right solution for this exact context, but it reflects the lengths willing to go to accommodate, that's a willingness problem. If a road was in a similar situation, it is doubtful that the tweet would be just "close the road", it would something like get it "this is unsafe, get it done faster, if that's not possible, find a safe workaround" (and sometimes it's not even safe, but that's a different discussion). But this bike trail, it is evident it is not viewed in the same way. Somehow what gets her motivate enough to care is people doing something that is unsafe, but apparently not being being in the situation in the first place.
 
Folks were generally compliant with the request for patience when the GLX first opened. However, that was followed by long stretches of time with little information from anyone (GLXC, MBTA, City Council, State Reps), and no apparent progress behind the fences. As any parent can tell you, expecting compliance when the person asking responds to “why?” with “because I say so” or silence is a recipe for failure.
 
HenryAlan said:
Some infrastructure currently in use is unsafe. Therefore, let's purposefully increase the amount of unsafe infrastructure? I think we can go ahead and stop talking about this now, given the logical contortions required to support opening the path immediately.
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ok, here's a solution, rather than doing piecemeal work here and there, put a proper crew on it and knock it out in a week.
Let the city in to do their work at the same time so there's no excuse when the MBTA finally hand it over.
Nobody would complain if the path was a hive of construction activity.
And I'm not buying 'the moon needs to be in line with Venus to complete this specific job'.
 
On a positive note: they poured concrete for the section that had been jackhammered. It’s clearly a bit thicker than the older the pour, and it has a different slope.
 
They were jackhammering another section of the Lowell to Somerville Junction path today. Given the length of time it took them to do the last section, I don’t have much confidence in the “June” opening date.
 
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