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Snow-related one-way streets in South Boston could stay that way permanently
By adamg on Tue, 03/31/2015 - 11:22am
The mayor's office announced today that two-way streets turned into one-way streets to account for all that snow will stay that way until at least June 1 - and could become permanently changed that way.
The emergency road reconfiguration had been scheduled to end tomorrow.
Over the next two months, the City will host two community meetings, one at the Condon Elementary School, and one at the Tynan Elementary School to determine if making the reconfiguration permanent is the appropriate decision for the neighborhood. The details of the meetings will be announced in the coming days.
Mayor Walsh said his office has heard from South Boston residents who like the new configuration, saying it's relieved traffic congestion and increased public safety.
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Comments
I was wondering about this
I have coworkers living down there, and they were saying that it actually works better this way.
I wonder if the emergency services folks have weighed in on it, too?
1 way = faster speeds =
1 way = faster speeds = absolutely not safer to the public
Generally?
Or specific to these streets?
The ones that my coworkers live on are so narrow that they really shouldn't be two way at all. Barely wide enough for a fire truck or UPS truck.
Really
Name one two way street in Southie that is barely wide for fire apparatus or a UPS truck. Did your coworkers actually tell you this?
Don't remember the names of the streets
However, I have also dropped them off before, and biked over. (Right Here and Over There streets?) With on-street parking on either side of the streets that they live on, "two way" means that a car and a bike can barely pass in opposite directions, and cars cannot pass without one of them ducking into a driveway notch.
In other words, making them one-way would only eliminate the head-on shuffle.
They could be fully two-way with parking on one side of the street ... but I'll let those who live with it daily take it from here on out.
There are a few interstitial
There are a few interstitial streets that are two way and quite skinny. For example Hardy Street. As far as I know, these aren't the streets that are being discussed, though. In any case, this is called a yield street, and they work quite well, if your goal is safety and a nice place to live. The head on shuffle is a feature, not a bug.
Cite
How do you come to this conclusion?
Speeding is a problem in SoBo
one ways or not, speeding is a huge problem here.
It would be nice if the city can do what Cambridge does....install an elevated surface (speed bumps) at intersections that are in residential sections.
Marty step up...give me a reason to vote for you in the next election.
Speed humps
We have them in JP and they work fairly well. They're not the raised crosswalks that Cambridge has, they're bumps at various points along a street.
and do you live there?
1 way=faster speeds=absolutely not safer to the public? lemme guess... you're a transportation expert? tell that to those of us that live here who thinks it is way safer!!!
As a transportation expert
As a transportation expert (master's in transportation planning, transportation planning consultant) and City Point resident, yes, it is unsafe to have one way streets and faster traffic.
General statement
Does one beget the other?
Or, you know, half the
Or, you know, half the traffic. I don't go any faster on D street heading towards A than I do pulling off L street onto East 4th. Hell, half of the streets in Southie might as well be a one way anyways. There is always someone double parked, and when someone is coming at you, both need to squeeze to the outsides to get by. Odds are, if you are flying down the road, you are an asshole and would be doing it regardless of the new traffic law...
But this is exactly the point
But this is exactly the point: if the someone has to "squeeze to the outside to get by" they cannot speed, whether they would like to or not.
ugh no!!! Not for this at all
ugh no!!! Not for this at all. People do not follow the one ways creating dangerous driving conditions. The 11 bus route is affected creating no close bus stop to where it originally went on the outbound side.
Huh?
"The 11 bus route is affected creating no close bus stop to where it originally went on the outbound side."
It's one block down.
It's Not the Walk
There's no consistency. Some outbound drivers drop you on the shore-side of Day Blvd (and then you have to cross that ridiculous drag strip). Some go down Columbia and stay on Columbia. Some take Marine Rd. And if you want to ride it outbound (from say Old Colony down to Farragut), good luck getting picked up.
You're right about that
I've complained to them twice about that. They say it's supposed to take Marine Road but sometimes they take Day Blvd.
The consistency is a problem, but with one-way streets being permanent one would hope they'd be able to get on the same as to the official bus route.
Probably also helpful in
Probably also helpful in Dorchester, JP, Allston, and other neighborhoods with some narrow two-way streets. A lot of these little streets basically have one and half travel lanes and parking on both sides, and you just have to pull over in driveway cutouts to make space for each other.
Unless you get someone who doesn't get the custom...then please hope that one of you is less stubborn than the other.
I might be in favor, but many problems:
Several issues with this that need to be resolved:
1) Many residents in the last week have been blatantly ignoring the signs, particularly people pulling out of their driveways early in the morning on streets that used to be two-way.
2) The signage is too sparse - lots of Do Not Enter signs, not enough One Way signs. It was barely enough when it was temporary.
3) This has made a hash of the 11 bus route, particularly on the outbound. Sometimes outbound drivers will go down Day Blvd, sometimes Columbia, sometimes Marine Rd. Inbound used to use 8th (still fine) and then 7th (wrong way now). The other buses will need real stops on East Broadway (the used to use 4th going inbound).
4) A lot of the motivation for keeping this seems to be the idea that the city can now add angle parking to all the streets, increasing the number of spots. That would be a disaster for traffic, pollution, collisions, safety, etc. Even if it's the safer reverse (back-in) angle parking, which it won't be.
5) The letter streets will have to be reoriented so they alternate as well. The old scheme never made much sense anyway.
Inadquate signage?
That never happens in Boston.
Adequate signage?
If you had enough Bostonian blood, you wouldn't need signage. Blame your ancestors for having settled in other cities.
Mine were here before yours ...
They just left for several hundred years. Giant families and limited farmland.
#4
May more pertain to fire apparatus getting down the narrow streets than a parking concern.
However, I don't think there is a correlation of more parking spots mean people will buy more cars.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Induced_demand
Don't see it
That article is about travel and increased demand by making a route more convenient. Not about parking.
Further: "This article has multiple issues."
The very first paragraph:
I'm not certain Southie can sprawl in any way, shape, or manner.
E3RD AND N ST
I live on the corner of E 3rd and N St. right near South Boston Catholic Academy. N Street is supposed to be a one way near there, but every morning 10+ cars are driving down the one way to drop there kids off at the school. No one has been following the one way and continuing with this one way street plans is just going to cause accidents.
From which direction?
From which direction?
N is normally two-way between Broadway and 2nd. Under the temporary plan it's supposed to be one-way going south.
http://www.cityofboston.gov/news/uploads/25285_3_14_30.jpg
E3rd and N ST?
You don't live in Southie. Everyone (even some newbies) know that the alphabetical streets precede the numerical street. Ie: N & 3rd, F & 2nd, L & 8th. You don't say "I'm going to meet my homeys at 8th street Tavern".
uhmm...
STFU please.
I visit my friends on West Second and B Street and my coworker on East 8th and H St.
- The Original SoBo Yuppie
Terrible
I've live in Southie my whole life and I've never heard anyone that grew up here or lives here call state the number prior to the letter of the street. Your probably getting it confused with Cambridge.
On another note, this one way thing is ridiculous. Yes it was necessary during the insane snow storms but you can easily fit 2 fire trucks next to each other on 95% of the streets in Southie. Keeping the streets one way is absurd and makes commuting anywhere more difficult.
Orrrrr B & 2nd and H and 8th.
Orrrrr B & 2nd and H and 8th. No need for the E&W.
One-way sign is up now
Interesting - I checked on my way home last night and noted that there was no sign at the corner on N and East Broadway indicating that it is now a one-way street. This morning, as I left for work, there was a city truck parked at the corner, installing one-way signs. As I drove by, I checked: all the cars parked on that block of N Street are now parked heading in the wrong direction!
As opposed to N and West
As opposed to N and West Broadway?
What about East Cambridge?
They also implemented a temporary one-way street plan after all the snow. I think it was supposed to end today. Will it be extended too?
Nope, Cambridge announced
Nope, Cambridge announced that the temporary one-way streets in East Cambridge are going back to two-way.
Safety
A big part of the argument is that oneway would be safer. Does anyone have/know where to get accident stats specific to these streets? Without data, can't make a judgement.