Green Line Extension to Medford & Union Sq

Love the whole "Won't someone please think of the children?!!?" pearl-clutching about speed restrictions. Not everything requires a law or a rule. I have great confidence in the fact that a stretch of pavement with people on it will result in some bumps and bruises, but much more often just people making their way from place to place. Those afraid of great bodily injury should shelter in place.
 
kjdonovan said:
Love the whole "Won't someone please think of the children?!!?" pearl-clutching about speed restrictions. Not everything requires a law or a rule. I have great confidence in the fact that a stretch of pavement with people on it will result in some bumps and bruises, but much more often just people making their way from place to place. Those afraid of great bodily injury should shelter in place.
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My experience with combo bike/ped paths is that the hazard doesn't come from conventional peddle-powered bikes. It comes from e-bikes, e-scooters, e-skateboards, and the like. They zoom along at highway speeds.
 
It would be nice if someone would publish a list of remaining work before the extension can open. Instead, the councilor is just using the nebulous phrasing of “spring” for an opening date.
 
RandomWalk said:
It would be nice if someone would publish a list of remaining work before the extension can open. Instead, the councilor is just using the nebulous phrasing of “spring” for an opening date.
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we're now entering peak frustration period.
I'd be pretty sure that all the work still needed could be done in a week but will instead take 10 weeks.
 
kjdonovan said:
Love the whole "Won't someone please think of the children?!!?" pearl-clutching about speed restrictions. Not everything requires a law or a rule. I have great confidence in the fact that a stretch of pavement with people on it will result in some bumps and bruises, but much more often just people making their way from place to place. Those afraid of great bodily injury should shelter in place.
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If they really put in a radar speed sign you bet all of college kids will be racing their bikes/scooters for a high score on that thing..
 
sneijder said:
If they really put in a radar speed sign you bet all of college kids will be racing their bikes/scooters for a high score on that thing..
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Looks to me like there already is one below the cross st bridge. There is a solar sign if sime kind but it’s bagged up fir now
 
My experience with combo bike/ped paths is that the hazard doesn't come from conventional peddle-powered bikes. It comes from e-bikes, e-scooters, e-skateboards, and the like
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My experience on the Esplanade and other places mirrors this WITH the addition of the "I've chosen this mixed-use path to try to quality for the Tour De France" group of bicyclists.
 
I sound like a broken record, but we need a rule and enforcement that no EVs that are capable of going >20 mph be allowed on multi-use paths. Class 1 e-bikes are fine. mobility scooters are fine. Souped up micro-EVs going at 30+mph are not in any way compatible with the spirit or safety of a multi-use path. If you have a class 3 e-bike, stay on the road with the other mopeds.
 
bigeman312 said:
I sound like a broken record, but we need a rule and enforcement that no EVs that are capable of going >20 mph be allowed on multi-use paths. Class 1 e-bikes are fine. mobility scooters are fine. Souped up micro-EVs going at 30+mph are not in any way compatible with the spirit or safety of a multi-use path. If you have a class 3 e-bike, stay on the road with the other mopeds.
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How do you enforce that kind of rule? Ebike police pulling over every ebike and testing how fast it goes? Bike license plates and yearly inspections? It's just not very feasible, people have to take some self responsibility.
 
Where am I now on the GLX?

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HelloBostonHi said:
How do you enforce that kind of rule? Ebike police pulling over every ebike and testing how fast it goes? Bike license plates and yearly inspections? It's just not very feasible, people have to take some self responsibility.
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When I lived in Corvallis Oregon getting a masters degree at OSU, the city required all bikes to be licensed. In the case of this Community Path, I'm thinking licenses would really only be needed for e-bikes, e-scooters, anything e-powered. The license should be mounted at a certain spot on the e-vehicle so it can be photographed if tripped by speed radar registering an excessive speed.
 
Somerville PD makes absolutely no attempt to pull over automobiles for running stop signs at full speed or driving >50mph in a school zone, but you guys are talking about radar for e-bikes on the community path? No traffic laws are enforced in Somerville and haven’t been in the 13 years that I’ve lived here. They aren’t going to start now.

Parking, on the other hand, will get ticketed within minutes.
 
fattony said:
Somerville PD makes absolutely no attempt to pull over automobiles for running stop signs at full speed or driving >50mph in a school zone, but you guys are talking about radar for e-bikes on the community path? No traffic laws are enforced in Somerville and haven’t been in the 13 years that I’ve lived here. They aren’t going to start now.

Parking, on the other hand, will get ticketed within minutes.
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The reality and the desired reality are often misaligned. You can yearn for something unrealistic, even when there are more important issues going unaddressed.

For example, I want our nation to decriminalize all drug use. The fact that it’s incredibly unrealistic in today’s political climate while proven, obvious policies like single-payer healthcare is even a pipe dream doesn’t invalidate that desire.

We should have safe, calm, livable streets AND multi-use trails.
 
Somerville City Council approved the path extension lease last night. Now we wait for the photo op.
 
Charlie_mta said:
When I lived in Corvallis Oregon getting a masters degree at OSU, the city required all bikes to be licensed. In the case of this Community Path, I'm thinking licenses would really only be needed for e-bikes, e-scooters, anything e-powered. The license should be mounted at a certain spot on the e-vehicle so it can be photographed if tripped by speed radar registering an excessive speed.
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Restricting class 1 e-bikes and e-scooters that travel under 20mph is not a good move. Class 2/3 sure. Going 20mph can be done fairly easily on a normal bike and people can sprint faster than that. Requiring licensing and plate registration is a system not worth the cost for the number of e-bikes/scooters that fall into that moped category.

Law enforcement rarely enforces speed limits for cars, cities/towns refuse to design safe streets that discourage speeding. We let people, including children, drive multi-ton hunks of metal with minimal training. We let drivers cry about red light and speed cameras enough to make their use illegal. We should address the speeds of far more concerning and deadly 3400lb vehicles before worrying about a 60lb bicycle passing by slower than Usain Bolt.

I’m not saying that micro EVs speeding about in pedestrian zones isn’t a mildly dangerous issue and I’m all for bikes being illegal on sidewalks, but that can’t come until the public spaces that are city streets are safe for everyone to use. This is putting cart before horse and refusing to acknowledge the horse is actually an elephant.
 
Koopzilla24 said:
Restricting class 1 e-bikes and e-scooters that travel under 20mph is not a good move. Class 2/3 sure. Going 20mph can be done fairly easily on a normal bike and people can sprint faster than that. Requiring licensing and plate registration is a system not worth the cost for the number of e-bikes/scooters that fall into that moped category.

Law enforcement rarely enforces speed limits for cars, cities/towns refuse to design safe streets that discourage speeding. We let people, including children, drive multi-ton hunks of metal with minimal training. We let drivers cry about red light and speed cameras enough to make their use illegal. We should address the speeds of far more concerning and deadly 3400lb vehicles before worrying about a 60lb bicycle passing by slower than Usain Bolt.

I’m not saying that micro EVs speeding about in pedestrian zones isn’t a mildly dangerous issue and I’m all for bikes being illegal on sidewalks, but that can’t come until the public spaces that are city streets are safe for everyone to use. This is putting cart before horse and refusing to acknowledge the horse is actually an elephant.
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This^^. Somehow for every mode of transport other than driving, safety is the top priority and there is a near-no-tolerance policy (how long were the new OL trains yanked off for?) while for driving, it's just an unavoidable cost of keeping the economy moving.

Anywho - can they install some cheap "traffic calming" on the bike path in the form of short rumble strips or brick surface near points of conflict? The minuteman path and davis community path does this pretty well.
 
The path will work it's self out in terms of speed.
From McGrath to lowell, there's lots of street crossings, a station entrance, a school, a park, gradient changes, there's no where to pick up dangerous speed.
From McGrath inbound, there probably is but there wont be much pedestrian traffic.

I ride a class 1 ebike and have been passed countless times by the tour de france time trial types with their ass in the air and chin on the handlebars!
 
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