Will Allston overpass continue as soulless, unsafe span for pedestrians?

The 100% design has a quarter mile long fence down the median. What is this, Route 9? This design will result in more dangerous crossing between Allston Village and North Allston. See this previous thread: http://www.universalhub.com/2012/citizen-complaint...

Send your comments (due TODAY, 7/3) to: [email protected] and reference Project #606376. Posting on uhub is good but sending an official comment is very important too. It can be brief.

That overpass is so ugly and urban. It needs some green space.

Sarcasm off.

Some Hello Kitty murals would be nice,too. This is not an attempt at sarcasm.

I'm not happy about this petition's proposed cycletracks.

Even though the cycletrack problems of driveways, side streets, and passenger/freight loading don't exist on this stretch of Cambridge Street, there's still the problems of winter maintenance and passing other cyclists.

A buffered on-street bike lane would work fine.

... and if you ride the 66 you may as well chuck that monthly pass for a pair of sneakers, because between the fact that the Harvard Bridge is still not done, and the lane restrictions on the overpass for the next 2 years (give or take), it's going to be faster to walk. Even in Winter.

I sent in this comment:

Dear DOT,

I am a very frequent if not daily biker from Allston to Cambridge Central Square, using the Harvard Ave - Cambridge St. - River St. route. It is one of the most dangerous routes for bicycles, but one of the only practical ways to get between Allston an Central Square.

The route has many specific points of danger. When biking down off the Cambridge St. Bridge towards Central Square, the cars getting on the highway increase their speeds while still on Cambridge St. Many of them get confused by the signage and pull last minute turns into the on-ramp. Meanwhile, bikers on the right-hand side of the road must maintain the full lane as it splits into the highway onramp lane as cars pass around us. A friend of mine was rear-ended on a bike there-- it was terrifying. I've had many, many close calls, and have taken to rushing to beat the red lights in order to make myself visible in front of cars. They get very aggressive there because it is so close to the highway.

The road design also makes it very hard to turn onto North Harvard. Bikers have two options: cross 4 lanes of speeding downhill traffic to merge with the turning lane, or pull over into the train yard and use the signal to ride straight across onto North Harvard. Cars making the left from North Harvard to the highway onramp do not expect bikes to come towards them from that intersection, and I have almost been hit several times when I cross with the light, on a bike or in the crosswalk.

At the River St. Bridge going towards Cambridge I must merge my bike several times while cars cross five lanes in front of and behind behind me. Coming back across towards Allston, cars coming off highways speed onto wide, lane-free Cambridge St while I try to merge with the offramp, biking slowly up a hill. I look forward to the day when this area is made bike and ped friendly (I also walk it often!).

Put the bike lane on the median. Start the lanes at Linden St on the Allston side, and end them at the first light on the merge approach to the River St bridge or all the way to the Charles River Path.

This would allow bikes safe passage over the bridge, and to avoid the the dangerous highway merges in both directions. It would make it much easier for bikes to turn onto Harvard Ave, and North Harvard Ave.

Please take these notes into consideration as you revise plans for the Cambridge St. Bridge. Thank you so much for this work.

Sincerely,

A Longterm Allston Rat