North Bank Bridge Pedestrian Walkway

Ron Newman said:
It's official now: the ribbon-cutting ceremony will be this Friday, July 13 at 2 pm. I just got an e-mail from the DCR with this information.
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Just want to stress what Ron is saying here: 2 PM. Not a typo, he didn't forget the 1 in front of it. It is NOT 12. It is actually 2.
 
Maybe I'll go. I went to the dedication of Paul Revere Park in 1999, when former Lieutenant Governor Jane Swift dedicated it. I was a ranger for the former DEM at a neighboring state park and was invited as a guest by the MDC ranger who was in charge of interpretation for the Charles River Reservation at the time.
 
Roxxma said:
Maybe I'll go. I went to the dedication of Paul Revere Park in 1999, when former Lieutenant Governor Jane Swift dedicated it. I was a ranger for the former DEM at a neighboring state park and was invited as a guest by the MDC ranger who was in charge of interpretation for the Charles River Reservation at the time.
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I too was at the 1999 Paul Revere dedication -- I'm hoping to make this one and perhaps find out what the realistic plans are for the other bridges
 
I walked by the bridge tonight and saw that it was lit up with a white light that traced the outline of the bridge. Looked pretty good from a distance.
 
Tango said:
I walked by the bridge tonight and saw that it was lit up with a white light that traced the outline of the bridge. Looked pretty good from a distance.
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Tango -- did you see anything interesting "light-wise" underneath the Zakim Bridge

Thrre are 4 or 5 strange metal cage columns sticking out of circular pits -- seem to be lights
 
Globe article:
http://www.boston.com/yourtown/news...linking_char.html?p1=Well_Local_YourTownlinks

Two more bridges:
Two more footbridges, one spanning the Charles, and a more complex structure that would leap over the railroad tracks adjacent to the Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, are in design, with funding in place to complete them by 2015, according to the Department of Conservation and Recreation. They’re not yet a done deal, but if these two bridges are built as planned, they and the new North Bank Bridge will allow cyclists and pedestrians to move almost seamlessly among the Esplanade, the Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy Greenway, and Boston Harbor,
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http://articles.boston.com/2012-07-08/magazine/32572828_1_bike-lanes-bike-racks-bike-improvements
 
^excellent news! I hope, but at the same time doubt, they will keep to this timeline tho.
 
Those bridges around North Station will allow commuters to use the Paul Dudley White path as a bike expressway into Back Bay and points beyond.
 
Lurker said:
Those bridges around North Station will allow commuters to use the Paul Dudley White path as a bike expressway into Back Bay and points beyond.
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Which bike commuters? The 17 who work in Charlestown and the north end?
 
when somerville build the community path from the current endpoint to there you can seemlessly bike from somerville cambridge and anywhere feeding the minuteman bikeway (the busiest bike trail in the country according to them) to north station and on to the back bay without riding on a single road. That's pretty appealing to many.
 
choo said:
when somerville build the community path from the current endpoint to there you can seemlessly bike from somerville cambridge and anywhere feeding the minuteman bikeway (the busiest bike trail in the country according to them) to north station and on to the back bay without riding on a single road. That's pretty appealing to many.
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Choo -- let's keep this in context "minuteman bikeway -- aka the busiest bike trail in the country"

How many commuters use the Minuteman Bikeway versus the number of commuters in cars and T buses who are using Rt-2 (essentially parallel)

We don't really have good counts -- but we do have the number of people boarding the T at Alewife and the capacity of the garage for cars and bikes

According to the "Ridership and Service Statistics Thirteenth Edition 2010" --aka the Blue Book [most up to date data I could locate]:

10,657 boarded at Alewife on an average day in FY 2009 -- if we assume that all of these were AM commuters [not perfect assumption but a good start]:

2733 arrived by car and parked -- The garage is essentially filled every AM
500 arrived by bike and parked -- there are approximately 500 spaces for bikes

7424 must have arrived on foot, by car not as drivers {kiss&ride, car pool or even by taxi} or by bus

implying that 5% of Alewife T commuters use bikes

If you consider the observation that the vast majority of the cars heading down Rt-2 pass the Alewife Station and keep on driving along Freshpond or even Alewife Parkway -- then the Alewife data suggests that Biking even in "Bike-o-philic" Cambridge seems to represent only a very small percentage of the commuters.




A 2733-space multi-level "park and ride" garage, with a direct connection to Route 2 Bicycle parking for approximately 500 bicycles.
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Saying the bike extension will facilitate more people biking is not me saying people won't or shouldnt use cars. It's not a direct competition and if it were cars would clearly win. But for many people it is possible to not have to drive and they shouldn't be forced into it by lack of infrastructure in the dense cities around Boston. The same way that car owners shouldn't (and contrary to what some here seem to fear) and won't be forced to ride a bike under the eye of a godless commie bureaucrat.
 
whighlander said:
Choo -- let's keep this in context "minuteman bikeway -- aka the busiest bike trail in the country"

How many commuters use the Minuteman Bikeway versus the number of commuters in cars and T buses who are using Rt-2 (essentially parallel)

We don't really have good counts -- but we do have the number of people boarding the T at Alewife and the capacity of the garage for cars and bikes

According to the "Ridership and Service Statistics Thirteenth Edition 2010" --aka the Blue Book [most up to date data I could locate]:

10,657 boarded at Alewife on an average day in FY 2009 -- if we assume that all of these were AM commuters [not perfect assumption but a good start]:

2733 arrived by car and parked -- The garage is essentially filled every AM
500 arrived by bike and parked -- there are approximately 500 spaces for bikes

7424 must have arrived on foot, by car not as drivers {kiss&ride, car pool or even by taxi} or by bus

implying that 5% of Alewife T commuters use bikes

If you consider the observation that the vast majority of the cars heading down Rt-2 pass the Alewife Station and keep on driving along Freshpond or even Alewife Parkway -- then the Alewife data suggests that Biking even in "Bike-o-philic" Cambridge seems to represent only a very small percentage of the commuters.
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What's your point? Frankly all you've done is admit that there are no good numbers and then go on to make a series of completely illogical conclusions. I would go into how just about every step of your analysis is faulty, but that would be a waste of my time.

These bridges are will be good for both pedestrians and bikers. If you don't think it's a worthwhile investment then just say so.
 
Hutchison said:
What's your point? Frankly all you've done is admit that there are no good numbers and then go on to make a series of completely illogical conclusions. I would go into how just about every step of your analysis is faulty, but that would be a waste of my time.
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Hutch don't just pretend -- DO IT!

I'd like to see the quality of your analysis and see how I'm screwing my customers with faulty analysis methadology

as an independent consultant I get paid to do analysis on a lot of different topics by a lot of diverse entities for a lot of diverse and sometimes unfathomable reasons -- I'd like to know how to improve the quality of my work
 
choo said:
Saying the bike extension will facilitate more people biking is not me saying people won't or shouldnt use cars. It's not a direct competition and if it were cars would clearly win. But for many people it is possible to not have to drive and they shouldn't be forced into it by lack of infrastructure in the dense cities around Boston. The same way that car owners shouldn't (and contrary to what some here seem to fear) and won't be forced to ride a bike under the eye of a godless commie bureaucrat.
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Choo -- I'm certainly not opposed to people riding a bike -- Since, I've lived in Lexington, bike ridiing has been for recreation only and I must admit not even very much of that.

However, for more than 4 years while a graduate student in Austin, I walked or rode a bike to/from UT classes on weekdays and 7X my place of employment as research assistant. After I got married and we moved far enough from the Campus I had the option of taking a UT shuttle bus as wellas biking, and in the middle of the night when I went to the lab I drove a car. Later, when I'd graduated and became a full time research staff member, we bought a house in the southwest of Austin where there was no reasonbable commuting option available except driving and parking at the University.

Bikes are fine for those who chose to use them for commuting or for recreation -- but we should not kid ourselves into thinking that bikes will become a significant method of commuting in the Greater Boston area -- even in downtown Boston/Cambridge biking will remain a minor method of commuting to/from work.

In fact the global trend is that as incomes rise cities which were once overwhelmed with bikes have gone motorized. Thus to be "fair" to the taxpayers -- we need to allocate the limited resources of $ and land to accomodate transportation options without creating a tyrany of the minority effect -- such as the impact of the well intentioned ADA.
 
whighlander said:
... without creating a tyrany of the minority effect -- such as the impact of the well intentioned ADA.
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Ya, I hate the tyrannical interests of BIG HANDICAP and their special interest ramps.

Let's face it, if you lose a leg overseas or have the unfortunate curse of living to old age you should just give up the ideas of being able to take the subway or get into a movie theater. 99% of people walk- we shouldn't subsidize the 1% that don't. WE ARE THE 99%. [\sarcasm\]
 
choo said:
Ya, I hate the tyrannical interests of BIG HANDICAP and their special interest ramps.

Let's face it, if you lose a leg overseas or have the unfortunate curse of living to old age you should just give up the ideas of being able to take the subway or get into a movie theater. 99% of people walk- we shouldn't subsidize the 1% that don't. WE ARE THE 99%. [\sarcasm\]
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Choo -- No I'm mostly talking about the recent order that one can not restrict the aircraft cabin to people, pets in cages, and seeing eye dogs. This is just a particularly ludicrous example of the growing list of unintended consequences of the ADA that apparently was unforseen by Bob Dole and other well intentioned when the ADA was enacted.

It seems that a group of Muslims (I think in Minnesotta) don't like seeing eye dogs -- they prefer seeing-eye miniature horses. Some other group as a reaction has suggested service "pot bellied" Vietnamese pigs. As the result of a suit a Federal Judge has ordered the TSA to allow these "service animals" to board along with passengers -- with no proof of their "service" required -- just to keep even from the semblance of ADA discrimination.

Other bizzare unforseen consequences of the ADA concern lifts and ramps required in swimming pools; accommodating for grossly obese persons on aircraft, in movie theaters, restaurants and soon to be required in new or renovated restrooms, etc.
 
Whig, it seems like you're arguing if there is some new, currently non-existent infrastructure being proposed, we should only build it if there is sufficient demand. And the only way to determine if there's sufficient demand is to count the number of people currently using the currently non-existent infrastructure.
You see the problem with that?
 
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