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Work to add bike, bus lanes to Boylston Street in the Back Bay could start soon
By adamg on Tue, 05/28/2024 - 9:31am
The Boston Sun reports on the impending bus lane between Massachusetts Avenue and Arlington Street, which will be joined by a bus lane at Ring Road.
The bike lane will start on the south side of Boylston at Mass. Ave. then switch over to the north side at Hereford Street, under city plans. A separate bus lane will go in on the south side of the street at Ring Road.
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Comments
Cool
Traffic on Boylston Street will be great.
There will be no double parking. No door dash / uber eats people parking and taking up a whole lane between Dartmouth and Clarendon. The 18 wheelers delivering to CVS will magically disappear. All the bike lane people won't complain when an uber driver pulls over for 4 seconds to drop someone off.
It will be nirvana and everyone gets a cookie.
Way to go Boston!
"pulls over for 4 seconds"
Be serious John
Everyone screams about parking requirements
You've got a point about the 18 wheelers.
Everyone screams about not enough parking in new Condo buildings, but one of the biggest culprits of clogging our streets is that businesses in Boston do not plan for loading zones, alleys, docks or anything to receive goods. They export all of that hassle on to city streets and on to drivers, pedestrians, residents, and bikers. I sometimes feel bad for tractor trailer drivers delivering in the city, because there literally are not place for them to pull in or even pull over at most businesses.
Other than requiring new businesses to plan for loading zones, the city needs to start taxing businesses/delivery services that deliver to local businesses with large, "18 wheeler" or many multiple axel trucks. This is so that there is financial incentives to use smaller vehicles for local delivery. It's unacceptable the number of huge trucks blocking lanes on major thoroughfares such as Mass Ave, Dot Ave, etc, during MORNING RUSH HOUR on a daily basis. And most of the time they're unloading only a small number of pallets out of a nearly empty trailer. Sheer laziness due to complete lack of incentives to do things any differently.
All the problems/crimes you
All the problems/crimes you mention are caused by drivers. Bike lanes exist to protect cyclists from dangerous drivers and to promote cycling as a method of transportation. More bike lanes equal less drivers which benefits everyone.
Tell me you didn't look at the actual information without...
Nice set of straw men you have there, John.
--The bus lane is not on the side filled with uber eats pickups.
--Parking still allowed between Dartmouth and Clarendon, including a specific area for moped parking right where they tend to congregate now.
--The bike lane crosses sides just before Hynes so there is plenty of non-bike lane space for Uber/Lyft to drop off at Hynes and the Pru and the bus lane doesn't start until after Ring Road.
CVS will have to figure something out, possibly by working with the city to designate some of that parking for unloading only during certain hours. Or using smaller delivery trucks in the alley behind.
I'll take my cookie now.
Bend Over
Cookie Incoming.
If you think for a millisecond that this pattern is going to lead to peace, love, and Jerry, think harder.
Typical
Pointless hostility and aggression Typical.
As Always
Everything I read of yours is in Daria's voice.
NSFW
It's okay to have harmless fetishes.
But we don't need to know about your fetishes.
Well,
They don't include soon to be social security eligible trailer park women for sure.
Good to know these women….
… are safe from you, John Boy.
Triple decker trash
Calling out trailer park folks?
Pot calling the kettle black?
Not like either of us had any say in where we grew up anyway.
Oh, and I'm not afraid of being or getting older like you are, honey. It happens to everyone, all the time, every day. I'm looking forward to an active retirement before I even get social security. I'm sorry you are so hung up on purchasing visible signifiers of social status and so scared of aging that you spend all your money on things that will erode your retirement funds while time continues to whittle away at your sedentary shell.
Sing John out, John and John ...
Tell me you've never seen the area without...
Some afternoon, go to Chick Fil-A. No, you don't have to buy anything, but take a quick trip to their seating area on the second floor. Look out the window and guess what you will see?
On the park side of the street, there will be probably 10 to 15 mopeds parked on the street by the fountain. Yes, they are not in one of the three lanes, but if that parking lane is to be replaced by a bus lane, either the buses will be blocked or the mopeds will go somewhere. Where?
On the side of the street with businesses, in addition to a few mopeds, there will be 3 cars double parked. It's almost always 3, sometime 4 for a short period.
By and large Boylston doesn't see the traffic to justify 3 lanes, but that one block between Dartmouth and Clarendon is throttled enough to cause traffic. Now, the double parked cars can theoretically dealt with, but if you think something can be done about the mopeds, you haven't see the mopeds driving the wrong way down the street, running red lights, and driving on the sidewalk in the Copley Square area and beyond.
Worth pointing out
There is a moped parking zone in the plan on this very block you speak of. Maybe thats the "where" you were asking about?
Rest of the issues are really with BPD and traffic enforcement being beneath them.
Slightly related, I miss going to the Wendy's here!
There are zones already
But again, you probably have missed moped activity on the block.
I miss Wendy's as well.
It's going to be worse when they take down the fencing.
Without some serious enforcement, the long-awaited, freshly redesigned, lovingly landscaped Copley Square will become a parking lot for Chick-fil-A.
Menino was right.
Dead Link
Looks like the link to the city plan in AG's original post is dead. If anybody has an alternate url, please post.
Why would we want to plan our
Why would we want to plan our city around the gig economy ? An economy that treats its employees like trash and probably won’t exist in 10 years as it does now
I wouldn’t want to ride a
I wouldn’t want to ride a bike on that stretch of Boylston. I have and there’s no way it’s not going to be nerve wracking no matter what you do. Why not add some barriers and improve the bike lanes on Comm Ave, only two blocks away? Better yet how about bike lanes on an otherwise pedestrianized Newbury Street?
One big reason
There are businesses on Boylston that cyclists like to get to in order to work, shop, etc.
I like to spend money there. My son's partner works there. Even if it is a "drop in from Commonwealth for the last block" situation, the lanes will vastly improve the access to businesses and employment.
Back Bay Bike-Bus Lanes
Happy Motoring!
Excited for this bike lane
This bike lane has the potential to be one of the most utilized bike lanes in the city. The bike traffic on it will be visible on a daily basis. The haters are going to keep h8ing, but at least in this case there will be zero recourse for the "no one uses the bike lane" myth because this one is going to be huge.
And if you're one of those people who thinks "why do I never see bikes in the bike lane", allow me to say that one major, huge reason is that BIKE LANES DON'T GET TRAFFIC JAMS. The latency time that a bike is going to be in field of vision while in a Bike Lane is much much shorter than a car in Boston due to no traffic jams --- hence why Biking is so attractive to actual city residents, and also why bike lanes can appear under-utilized when they can have in fact carry the exact same number of actual humans (and more) as the much bigger car lanes, where humans seem to prefer waiting in long lines in their rolling steel cages.
The reality of bike riders
"Bike lanes don't get traffic jams"? Bike riders also do not obey any traffic signals. And I'm sorry, but nobody can honestly dispute me about this. If you are one of the six bike riders in this city who obey traffic lights and want to dispute me, be my guest.
It's impossible to refute a
It's impossible to refute a factually-devoid, discursive, and specious argument, because it's not in fact an argument.
Easy BINGO!
Everyone gets at least a BINGO with this comment - if not a complete blackout.
Ah, that old chestnut of a strawman!
Let's meet for coffee sometime, and count the cars that don't stop for a turn on red, then compare that to the percentage of bikes that roll through. You are selective in your outrage. That said, bikes shouldn't be held to the same rules as cars. They are a different type of vehicle with different properties. We can and should have different rule sets based upon the actual physics of each vehicle type.
Ok, but you don’t
Take your argument up with the legislature to change the laws. For now, obey them, which almost never happens.
Right...
Right after you, boss.
I haven’t been pulled over for who knows
How long? But nice try western MA. Watch out for cows crossing the street while you’re racing around in your a couple sizes too small kit.
lol
Gee, I don't know, How long? I'm guessing it's a little bit longer since the elapsed time since you broke a traffic law and didn't get pulled over. Now let's try for the over-under on the number of times you break a traffic law every time you get behind the wheel.
Wow, you are one goofy incel, you know that, South Shore? Watch out for bronzer-wearing trash all sugared out on their jumbo dunks while you're racing around in your a couple sizes too small butt floss, they're more dangerous than cows any day of the week.
A self enforcing anecdote, applied to total data set?
Come on, this is weak, even for you. I've never once been pulled over on my bike, therefore neither I, nor any other bike riders have ever violated traffic laws!
Stop talking sense
This is the Internet, after all. That's not allowed here.
When the Harvard Bridge was reduced from four lanes to two there were some people (surprisingly, though, not that many) who predicted it would be a traffic apocalypse. And it has been fine. Ditto with the Longfellow during construction a few years ago (for those of us old enough to remember).
If you look at a highly-utilized bicycle facility like on Hampshire Street in Cambridge or Mass Ave crossing the river, there are often as many bicyclists as there are cars, but while cars take up a lot more room and clear through intersections much more slowly.
Oversimplifying: cars going 20 mph are separated by about 40 feet, so 60 feet per vehicle. At slower speeds there's less separation, at faster speeds, more. So, about 60 feet per vehicle, at 20 mph that's 29 feet per second, so a car every 2 seconds or so. So a 30 second light phase can accommodate about 15 vehicles.
Bicycles are about 5 feet long and separated by about as much, so about 10 feet, if no one is biking two abreast or half-wheeling. But they only move at about 12 mph = 18 fps. Still, that means about two bikes per second, so that same 30 second signal phase is enough for about 60 bicycles to pass through. (See, for instance, this.) With two queues of 20 vehicles, bikes would clear the queue in a few seconds and then the lane would appear "empty", while cars would take the entire cycle and have some left over backed up waiting for the next one.
Others have posted on 53' trucks delivering to CVS, and I'd say the worst offender is Dunks, where they bring trucks into the city which are several times larger than the footprint of the stores they are delivering to. (I mean, other than food delivery, which, in the Back Bay, should be made by foot or bicycle or not at all.)
Oh, and, I know the T is a mess, especially this week, but Boylston Street in Back Bay is one of those places that it really isn't that hard to get to by bus, subway, Commuter Rail or bicycle from across the region, and the time you'll spend to find a parking space (leave aside the cost) will make up for the extra time you'll spend on the way there (unless you come at rush hour, when you'll wind up stuck in traffic somewhere else, probably). Which is not an excuse not to fix the T, lord knows it needs help.
The sooner the better, please.
The road raging Uber driver who tailgated me on my bike for several blocks of Boylston and harassed me at red lights is not going to be able to do that again. And I’ll still get where I’m going before he does.
Probably because you keep breaking the law
With your illegal in MA Idaho stop.
Not sure how the logistics of that work out
If a cyclist is Idaho stopping, how can they be getting both tailgated and harassed at red lights? Unless the driver is also running red lights, which I guess wouldn't surprise me.
Reading comprehension
Tailgated while riding several blocks, not stopped at a red light. Additionally, harassed at a red light does not imply Lee stopped at said red light.
I dunno, thats still pretty confusing
100% of the times I was harassed at a red light, it was because I was stopped at said red light.
Little hard to be verbally harassed from someone in stationary box if you're moving. Even more for being physically harassed, basically impossible to do if one party (the cyclist) um isn't there?
Hence why I would remove myself from more aggressive situations, on a case by case basis of course and yes, I did act illegally to get away from those motorists.
Keep on **ucking that chicken
Keep on **ucking that chicken.
Reading comprehension = noting pluralization
If you're tailgating someone who's not stopping at red lights, it's pretty tough to also harass them at multiple red lights, since, you know, you're behind them and stopped. So again, I'd love to see how you think the logistics work here.
But also, it's probably a bit beside the point, since harassing people isn't ok and tailgating people is dangerous, even if you have concerns about how they're operating their vehicle.
Ok, I’ll bite
Lee runs a red light. The driver rides his ass then passes him, but gets stuck at a red light and as Lee’s about to break the law again doing his Idaho stop the driver has his window down and is screaming at him as he passes. Rinse and repeat for the next 10 blocks with a light at each corner.
I never said the driver was right, or that I condone the behavior. Completely the opposite, but go ahead and put words in my mouth. I also don’t condone a biker breaking the law too, which, unfortunately for the bike brigade, the Idaho stop is still illegal in the state of MA.
Like an Idaho Strawman
Riding out on a bike in a star spangled roooodeeeeooooo....
Like an Ideeho Strawman
Making up pure bullshit in a truthy scenario
And believing we'll swallow it whole
LOL, you think a car will pass a bike on Boylston?
Have you seen the street? Bikes are much faster than cars on Boylston St.
robo, I’m glad you’ve learned what an Idaho stop is.
But you’re imagining things.
I stopped at red lights at intersections because there were drivers with green lights passing in front of me on the cross streets.
Good
Boylston is wide enough to accomodate this long overdue improvement.
About time
Now I can finally get to the dentist without taking the risk of getting doored and losing all my teeth.
(No subject)
Love it, but a more apropro Kelly:
https://www.theonion.com/congested-values-1819590506
Or this classic:
https://www.theonion.com/bum-rush-hour-1846606314
"impending bus lane"? Which
"impending bus lane"? Which will be joined by a bus lane?
Adam, should that be a new bike lane in addition to the existing bus lane which starts around Ring Rd?