Teban54
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It sounds like you're talking about two completely different issues: (1) the bolded part, towards the northern end of Lower Broadway (Sweetser Circle); and (2) the non-bolded part, towards the southern end of Lower Broadway (Alford St).They talk about moving the bike lanes onto private property for a stretch of 99 to make room for a bus lane. I'm skeptical about the real caliber of busway that this whole segment will be able to provide. 99 is not that wide, and there is a ton of future development here, and the plan has the buses in mixed traffic through the rotary. Painted bus lanes that weave in and out of traffic at the rotary and the bridge does not seem like a recipe for success, if the same choke points remain unaddressed. But I guess we'll see.
For (1), the only portion where buses run in mixed traffic on Lower Broadway is the section I highlighted in yellow, according to the SLXAA:
However, I think they're overestimating or overdrawing the segment of mixed running needed, for two reasons:
- The northernmost parts of Lower Broadway, where it crosses the railroad ROW, already has dedicated bus lanes. (The northbound bus lane is shared with right-turning traffic.) So even without any new infrastructure, the drawing in the SLXAA isn't precise.
- I imagine the redesigned Lower Broadway will have 2 bus lanes and 2 travel lanes, not 4 travel lanes, in both directions combined. This is because even south of Beacham St (where bidirectional bus lanes start), Lower Broadway at its narrowest (63.5') can't accommodate 6 lanes and 2 bike lanes without taking private properties. If 4 lanes total (+2 bike lanes) are what we're going for, then the section I drew above can also handle it.
The 67' at the northern end (just south of Dexter) is easily enough for all we need (52' minimum without additional barriers or wider bike lanes). As for the 60' to the south, honestly they feel enough to me; but even if not, taking out the greenspace between the road and the private parcels should allow you to widen the road to 67'.
One scenario in which all my deductions are wrong would be if they're planning for 4 travel lanes (2 in each direction) in addition to 2 bus lanes. However, I find that hard to believe. That requires 72' minimum, and definitely requires taking away private parking lots at the 63.5' bottleneck mentioned above.
From the SLXAA:Also, doesn't the drawbridge operate? I feel like I once was stuck waiting for it to lower while on a bike ride, but maybe hallucinated that memory.
Alford Street Bridge Openings: The Alford Street Drawbridge provides an uninterrupted connection between Everett and Charlestown during most of the day. It is closed for the passage of vessel traffic during the morning peak hours and between 5 p.m. and 6 p.m. daily and would minimally impact Silver Line operations across the corridor.