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Citizen complaint of the day: Crosswalks aren't for truck parking
By adamg on Tue, 06/27/2023 - 11:38am
A disgusted citizen filed a 311 report this morning about the beer truck whose driver decided the best place to park it for deliveries is in a crosswalk on Main Street in Charlestown:
We need this crosswalk clear. Can someone in government please find a solution to this problem? There is no enforcement from Boston Transportation Dept. They do not enforce the constant illegal parking by delivery trucks in Charlestown.
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Comments
Company policy
A lot of companies have a company policy of encouraging divers to park illegally and then pay the fine. In response to this the city should increase the cost of fines for company vehicles considerably and fine the businesses they are delivering to as well encourage them to tell their delivery drivers not to do it instead of benefiting from it when they do.
I just can't...
This particular cranky person literally posts every day and has been for years...
The trucks won't fit into the parking lot, so where are they to go to accommodate the poster's sensitivities?
Somewhere that parking is
Somewhere that parking is allowed.
And if there isn't any? Just
And if there isn't any? Just shut the store down because deliveries are impossible? This person chose to live in cramped Charlestown not suburbia with a spacious parking lot for every store. This is city living.
That changes everything
It's established law that you can do anything you want so long as you justify it to yourself.
/s
All things considered
The driver did pretty well on this one.
Either he pollutes the air with exhaust and noise for 3 and half hours looping around that bizarro intersection until commercial parking opens up.
OR he chooses a section of road that has sidewalk cutouts both in front and behind him that enter 7-11.
Either way, this particular person would file a complaint either way.
Not the only options available
Why not park in front of one of the curb cuts? That would be enough space for the truck, without blocking the cross walk. But then, we can't have that, because it might inconvenience drivers and the store's customers, both of which matter more in this society than pedestrians. Yeah, the driver had other options, but chose to do the thing that harmed the most vulnerable, rather than something else.
Who was harmed here?
.
I think they teach this to bicyclists
Because the amount of excuses I hear about why they keep running red lights is laughable.
Motorists too Robbie, based on your own words!
Citation please
By robo on Sun, 06/11/2023 - 10:24am.
Not deflecting
By robo on Wed, 11/02/2022 - 12:05pm.
Quoted article that you agreed with:
https://usa.streetsblog.org/2018/01/03/study-cyclists-dont-break-traffic...
Your links are irrelevant to the post
Since you love links, I’ll post one that is relevant from myself.
Deflection post, your issue there is with Swirls
But your comments from previous threads are very relevant, let me break it down into smaller bites for you.
By BostonDog
By robo
By me!
You agreed with that data showing the law breaking between cyclists and motorists is about the same but I was worried you forgot about that original point because you keep running away from it thread after thread and still parrot points like the one below.
By robo
That would be a losing wager!
There ought to be a Uhub plugin
Where anytime someone writes the word "bike" it automatically hides that post and all subsequent responses.
Please add space saver to
Please add space saver to this list.
…
Nailed it!
People who desperately try to earn a living w Uber et al
Will be here soon insisting that rideshare drivers do all commercial deliveries in the city.
The question kind of answers itself
They are to go someplace where they're not blocking the crosswalk. If it is impossible to deliver beer to that store using that truck without blocking the crosswalk, then find some other way to deliver beer to the store.
Why wouldnt it fit in the parking lot?
Maybe I'm missing something, but it looks like there's definitely space there if you're willing to temporarily block some parking spaces. You might need to coordinate with the business owner to make sure the lot isn't full when you need to do a delivery, but hey, that's an organizational problem, not a physical impossibility.
It's a shallow 7-11 parking lot
.
Something missed
That beer truck is delivering to Charlestown Liquors, which is not in that parking lot.
So the beer truck is not parking/taking up spaces to a business which it is not delivering to.
There is a “delivery trucks” parking zone ahead, however when i went by this morning, regular cars were parked in it illegally.
So it’s the truck drivers fault, but many others as well.
I don't really understand..
I don't really understand...it is ok to park illegally blocking the crosswalk, but it's not ok to park illegally in the 7-11's parking lot? Why exactly? Because the 7-11 might complain? People trying to not get run over crossing the street also might complain. People who are in a wheelchair or with a stroller who literally can't even cross might complain.
Or is the problem that the 7-11 might tow the illegally parked truck? I would argue the city should do that too, so what's the difference?
There is honestly no excuse for a truck this size to be used for beverage deliveries in the city. If you go to Europe, you will almost never see trucks this size in the city unless they are delivering construction materials. This truck is probably dropping off one pallet of beer or less to this particular store, and that could easily fit in a van.
A few options
One option is to choose a truck that fits the legal parking options where your deliveries are.
Another is to move further forward or back so you aren't blocking the crosswalk.
Not many options there
Not excusing the truck here... but beer is heavy and you need a decent sized truck to handle the load. This is a fairly large box truck, so a shorter truck could do it, but don't even think about vans.
Why not vans? People use vans
Why not vans? People use vans all over the world to deliver beverages. They have many advantages, but I assume the "problem" is that their smaller size means the driver needs to return to base more often to get more cargo, which is InEfFiCiEnT~!!`1 and would raise delivery prices a little bit. Am I missing something? Because that seems like the definition of something market forces could sort out.
They could diagonal a truck
They could diagonal a truck into that parking lot EASY. Might temporarily lose some parking spaces but I'm sure the customers will be happy to accommodate.
Not delivering to that business.
That parking lot is for 7-11 and H&R Block. This delivery truck is delivering beer to Charlestown Liquors, which you cannot see in the photo.
Charlestown liquors does not have a parking lot, however there is a delivery zone next to it (which was filled with cars parked illegally).
This delivery truck could not use the parking lot that everyone on here seems to think they should use.
So, you all tip Amazon/Food delivery drivers well...
Because they park and walk to your homes from 2 miles away....
Got it!
That must be quite the lens on this camera
It somehow managed to get both the truck and the nearly empty parking lot clearly into one photo, despite the fact that they're 2 miles away from each other!
Just incredible what technology can do these days.
There is a a metal barrier on the sidewalk
Blocked by the truck in the photo and no truck of this size can take a right hand turn out of the parking lot because residential parking.
Don't even play with me on the idea of smaller vans/delivery vehicles
Ok Karen.
But why not?
I'm picturing Karen.
Walking up the steps of the Monument to take a photo lol in a daily basis
And why not?
I commute past here all the time and this truck blocking these crosswalks and the sight lines is very much a public safety hazard that needs to be addressed.
Replicator gnomes
At it again!
A few options
How about the mouth of either end of the parking lot. Why do pedestrians have to hazard crossing the road around this truck instead of the drivers lose access to the 7-11 until the delivery is completed?
How about turning 90 degrees and parking along the curb of the triangle in front of the fountain out of the way of the crosswalks?
How about the NO PARKING EXCEPT COMMERCIAL VEHICLES 7A-4P LITERALLY ACROSS THE FUCKING STREET FROM WHERE HE IS:
https://goo.gl/maps/E6mQdMF8Qqg9KRP78
You're example shows a small spot, with a Subaru in it.
No way that huge truck fits in it, even if no one is parked in it. Not quite the A-ha moment you think it is.
Back where they came from.
To get a smaller truck. Vehicles this size do not belong on city streets for a multitude of reasons.
Tell that to the busses
...
What's that country boy?
Seriously. Buses? They move on quickly and use bus stops.
Has your time in the country led you to forget what the city is like?
This is bullshit.
Poster complained about vehicle size
Calm down, swrls.
Poster ranted about vehicle size in the city while busses are just as large and have to negotiate corners, etc.
That's all.
No need for you label your
No need for you label your posts as bullshit, Swirls - that's taken as established.
Which busses?
It could be said to some of those giant double decker private tour buses. They are the size of semis and as tall if not taller. Earth shakers.
They don't fit?
Then they shouldn't be delivering there with a semi.
It's not a semi.
...
Classic pizza wheel comment...
...all edge, no point.
The statement was incorrect
That's the point. Was it that hard to understand?
From the looks of the picture
From the looks of the picture either in front of or behind the crosswalk. I'm not from Charlestown. Anyone here from Charlestown that knows this area?
Are we looking at the same picture?
To me it looks like the front of the truck is on one side of the crosswalk and the rear of the truck is to the other side and the middle of the truck is very much blocking the crosswalk.
My question should be read as
My question should be read as why is any of the truck in the crosswalk? Could he have parked on either side of the crosswalk without blocking it? Maybe a Charlestown resident can clear this up for me.
Parking/Deliveries
There is a similar situation on West Broadway in South Boston. Delivery trucks are double parked along the stretch between F Street and Dorchester Street. A few years back, there was a couple of designated Loading Zones, which worked well. Then came outdoor dining. The seating is in the Loading Zones.
These guys have no choice but to park in crosswalks or double park. I blame the city for creating this situation.
Completely false
That's completely false. They have the choice to say "I'm not making a delivery to that address because there's no place to park my truck."
That, or
"We'll use a smaller vehicle to make deliveries to those addresses to make sure that there's a place to park them".
Did You Grow Up in an HOA development?
You have got strong board member vibes here.
Ever run a stop sign / red light? Even in a car?
Ever go above the speed limit?
Ever jaywalk?
Ever not speak up to the T Ambassador when they fare gate is open and they are not collecting fares?
Ever cheat on your taxes, even just a little bit?
Lighten up for christsakes.
apply that laissez faire to
apply that laissez faire to cyclists some time.
I Will Try
I will.
No promises.
Pot, kettle, etc
Nope
By John Costello on Fri, 09/02/2022 - 11:58am.
Call me crazy, but I think there's a small difference
between you or I jaywalking, vs a corporation knowingly and regularly breaking the law because it saves them a few dollars.
store owners have choice too
to keep requesting that their suppliers make deliveries in sensible ways with appropriately trained drivers and adequate vehicles. smaller delivery vehicles exist, businesses need to demand that they be used.
This is how cities end up as food deserts
Think for a minute what would happen if a driver refused to make a delivery. They would get fired. If the delivery company made the decision to stop delivering, they would lose the business in favor of a competitor. If enough delivery companies did that, the store owner could decide they had enough with the hassles of getting stuff delivered, and close up shop, to sell the property for fancy condos or life sciences. Or in a poor neighborhood, creating a vacant storefront.
Then people in the neighborhood would lose the benefit of having a store nearby. Residents with cars could drive to a bigger store with parking, probably a big chain (yes, I know this particular example is a 7-Eleven with a small parking lot), at the expense of creating more traffic, pollution, and risk of accidents. Residents without cars would be out of luck.
A better solution would be for city transportation officials to do their job and ensure the streets are set up so everyone can use them safely, including pedestrians and delivery trucks.
About that
Thats gonna require some reduction in parking spots and you can look to the temper tantrum being through in West Rox to see how challenging a task that is.
Not really. The city could
Not really. The city could take 4 spaces for an expanded loading zone at the local grocery store and it would go just fine.
You mean beer deserts?
Please supply a citation on that.
Your car-brained speculation passing itself off as a social justice issue is not the same as actual research.
Please explain how my concern
Please explain how my concern for supporting food stores in walking distance of residential areas, rather than big parking lot supermarkets at the edge of town, is car-brained.
This example was a beer truck, but the issue is identical for food delivery trucks. If truck drivers refuse to make deliveries because there's no legal loading spot as an earlier poster suggested, and the city makes no effort to make loading zones available, stores in older neighborhoods without off-street loading docks can't survive.
Parking in the crosswalk will kill someone
This happens a lot in Dorchester too. My question is why are they doing deliveries during rush hour? That makes it so much worse.
Recently, they proposed city owned parking lots in Dorchester to prevent double parking. That is such a joke since they rarely actually block another car. If people are too selfish to pull to the curb, what makes you think they would pull into a parking lot?
I don’t understand all the
I don’t understand all the cars I see, mostly Ubers, double parked next to an empty parking space. That is the height of selfish laziness.
Rush hour?
Seriously?
There are only so many hours in the day. So, according to you:
- can't deliver 'til well after 9
- can't deliver from 4 'til 6 or 6:30
- can't deliver during lunch because the driver takes lunch or a lot of places don't let you. So, there's a few more hours.
That leaves about 5 hours out of a driver's 8-hour shift.
Reality is a bitch, huh?
Tell me you don't know Boston without saying
City streets don't clog up until after 7am. And some deliveries have actual parking.
Until after 7am?!!!
Hahahaha! Thanks, I needed that.
again, how would you know.
again, how would you know.
Ok, I’ll bite
Commuted to Kendall from
Brighton for 9 years, then Seaport to Somerville for 2 years then Dorchester to Somerville for 3 years.
Your turn because you clearly have never driven a mile in Boston if you think the streets are not congested before 7am.
What makes you think you have to …
… be in a car to know what congestion is and when it happens? I’ve driven many a mile in Boston but I can also just open my bedroom window and hear it too.
Business friendly
Boston: We want to be business friendly
Also Boston: We are going to make it as hard as possible to get deliveries.
And yes. I know crosswalks are important. I use them myself, many times per day. But I also frequent stores that… receive deliveries. And I know delivering in small vans or only at specific hours is inefficient (read: expensive). At times something’s got to give. We can all adapt.
With all due respect, I am
With all due respect, I am tired of adapting. I do not drive. I chose to live in a city for that reason. I am sick and tired of having to walk into streets (this is a general rant, not exclusively applied to this particular image) and around giant trucks, putting myself at the mercy of drivers who don't even bother looking before whipping around them.
Since you said somethings gotta give
Boston: We are going to make it easier to get deliveries by removing some parking spaces and making delivery/loading zones.
Motorists: No, not like that!
Duh...they certainly are.
Duh...they certainly are.
Not defending the truck driver but
the delivery is likely for the liquor store across the street, that’s why the truck isn’t parked in the lot that’s for the 7-11. There is a loading zone just past the crosswalk on the left, but since you can’t see it in the photo, no way to know if there was another vehicle taking up that space.
I checked the address- shouldn't have a problem
So, this truck is most likely making a delivery to Charlestown Liquors. Looking at the street view, there's commercial parking right next to to store. Parking there would be, in the most literal sense, the easiest way to make deliveries.
But here's the thing, if you clicked on the link, you'll see that the Google car caught a passenger car parked in the commercial spot. Going back 7 years, there are cars parked in the spot in 5 views, with a telephone company van one year and it empty only one time. The streets there are narrow, so no double parking. Sadly, this is most likely the only spot the guy could find to make his delivery.
Yes, the truck shouldn't be there, and the reality is that by the time anyone who could give a ticket got there the truck would be gone, but perhaps BTD might want to keep an eye on the commercial spots.
All that analysis
And you didn't want to mention the difficulty of emergency vehicles getting by?
Even in OPs image, it seems a little tight if not impossible for those larger vehicles to pass in an emergency.
Never researched that yourself, did you?
Because if you did, you'd know that emergency responders would have a much worse time of it if the truck was blocking Warren Street rather than Main Street. BFD would only be taking Main Street returning from a call, and if push came to shove they could go over to Rutherford Ave. to get back to the station. So it seems like you are saying that the truck driver did a public service, no?
But thanks for your concern.
Don't really need to research it, I work nearby!
Very strange that your solution here is to redirect the fire engines to Warren "if push came to shove."
What if there was a call on Main St? You know that emergency responders would have a much easier time of it if there were no trucks illegally parked, right?
And why only mention BFD but ignore the ambulances?
Redirect?
To get from the closest fire station to this location, the only way is Warren Street. If they took Main Street, they would be going the wrong way down the street. Only in your mind would this make sense.
Same with ambulances. The best way to MGH would be to go over the Prison Point Bridge. In any event, an ambulance could get by this truck.
Yes, it would be an easier time of the truck wasn't forced to do this, but again, someone parked in the commercial spots that were posted as such so the truck wouldn't have to block the crosswalk, which, if you cared about pedestrians, would be your concern.
Careful with that strawman
You've carefully muddy the waters here, so lets break down what you said:
Now you've pivoted to BFD coming FROM the station, not returning from a call. Crafty but I see right through it!
Emergency vehicles certainly would have to go down Main Street if the emergency was on Main St. Getting to MGH is of course another story
Why do you think I don't care about pedestrians?
What day and time was the Google Street View taken?
It's only commercial parking 7A-4P and only M-F and not on holidays.
Google Street View tells you the month and year...that's not enough to tell you if what you're seeing involves illegal parking or not.
Yeah
I'll admit that.
That said, again, the commercial space is tailor made for deliveries to the liquor store. I'd take any bet that it was occupied when the delivery took place.
If I were driving the
If I were driving the Googlemobile, I'd avoid places like Charlestown during the day on weekdays.
Complaining in Charlestown
Yeh, like. Moving to Monument Ave complaining about the tourist walking around. moving to training field and composing about dogs. moving by the community ice rink and complaint about kids making noise. i mean getting a condo/apartment above a Starbucks next to liquor store and across from a 7/11 and some feet from a strip mall and complaining about deliveries. God Bless america if you ain’t happy move. Most of us found Nirvana here in Charlestown. we got just the right balance of business here without it being a problem.
Why don't we have BTD on Bikes?
As a commuting cyclist, the easiest solution is to put a few BTD folks on bicycles and challenge them to ride around the city to ticket.
Not only will they cover my ground, but they'll understand firsthand the dangerous consequences of a total lack of traffic enforcement is to the city. To be clear, I don't put this totally on the BTD. The Boston Police Department, by their own admission, has wholly stopped enforcing all but the most egregious moving violations all while continuing to be the only department in the city with an unlimited budget.
Coffee table book of Best of
Coffee table book of Best of Motor Vehicle Operation in Boston would have this on the cover. Forget the Internet memes. Publication of a large glossy color photo coffee table book is worthy.
For shit's sake
Just detour around it. Some people have too much time on their hands