By adamg on Tue., 5/19/2015 - 5:38 pm
As Jessica Burko reports on the second day of the rest of our lives without the Casey Overpass:
Traffic parking lot from Forest Hills up thru JWay to Centre St rotary AND all up South Street to Centre. Bad.
To which Mike, sitting in a Boston firetruck, adds:
No way for even the mighty Tower Ladder 10 to get out of overpass traffic!
It gets better once drivers get used to the new surface roads and lights, right?
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Washington Street by Forest Hills
By Michael Kerpan
Tue, 05/19/2015 - 5:44pm
... was pretty disastrous during rush hour last night -- and again during rush hour this morning. Bus delays last night were over 20 minutes, and over 15 minutes this morning. No reason to think this won't be our new norm.
washington st...
By teric
Tue, 05/19/2015 - 6:14pm
...backed up to Hatoffs last night...needed 3 staties to direct traffic despite the working signals.
Cops
By anon
Tue, 05/19/2015 - 8:36pm
They should have cops at each intersection ready to write tickets for blocking the box. Do that for a week and hopefully people would learn not to do it and it would pretty much cover the construction costs.
By 6:30 this evening....
By Michael Kerpan
Tue, 05/19/2015 - 8:44pm
... (unlike yesterday) things weren't too bad -- but my children report it was pretty miserable in the early rush hour (4:30-5:30).
Increase the fine
By anon
Wed, 05/20/2015 - 7:20am
I'd love to see $1000 tickets for this BS.
Agreed. Put them at South &
By anon
Wed, 05/20/2015 - 8:42am
Agreed. Put them at South & Washington - it took four light cycles for my bus to get out of the upper busway at 5:30 last night because northbound drivers on Washington kept blocking the intersection.
Spotted my first staties this morning
By adamg
Wed, 05/20/2015 - 9:16am
On our drive from the Arboretum down to the Monument. Two state troopers, kitty corner from each other, where South crosses under the overpass. I miss the construction guy with the clipboard; had grown fond of him.
And for some reason, they
By anon
Wed, 05/20/2015 - 7:15pm
And for some reason, they think it's a good idea to move the 39 stop over there.
Washington Street Update
By teric
Wed, 05/20/2015 - 9:05pm
...backed up to Egleston tonight on commute
passed and counted:
From Egleston to Green: 62 vehicles
From Green to Williams: 51 vehicles
From Williams to FH: 47 vehicles
side streets also jammed
things eventually moved through FH pretty well;
staties and BPD not directing traffic but counting cars: each one had a little note pad?
Non-rush hours
By Mark-
Tue, 05/19/2015 - 5:55pm
i usually drive or ride my bike through the Casey tear down area around noon, and again at about 8:30 PM. My ride in the past week and a half has been the best ever in my 15 years of making this commute.
The lights are timed more sensibly, there are fewer traffic-blocking turn options, there are more multiple lanes going where the cars want to go. My Waze has had to reset itself to cut minutes off my trip as I breezed from Shea Circle to a left turn down Washington St. without even having to stop once.
I know, it's not everyone's experience, but it is not all gloom and doom.
Who cares what traffic is
By anon
Tue, 05/19/2015 - 6:38pm
Who cares what traffic is like at noon and eight pm?
Those of us who drive around then
By adamg
Tue, 05/19/2015 - 8:00pm
We exist.
Who cares about the
By Kinopio
Tue, 05/19/2015 - 10:38pm
Who cares about the complaints from the dummies who drive towards a construction site during rush hour?
The construction site happens to be next to....
By Michael Kerpan
Wed, 05/20/2015 - 9:54am
... the largest public transportation hub in that quadrant of the city. Wahat a maroon....
Easy Solution
By BlackKat
Wed, 05/20/2015 - 10:16am
So why aren't the people driving using said public transportation?
You mean the busses that are
By anon
Wed, 05/20/2015 - 10:31am
You mean the busses that are the only method to get south of town from Forest Hills? The ones also stuck in traffic?
I mean i'm all for extending the Orange line here to alleviate traffic up and down washington and hyde park but come on
But if EVERYONE took the bus
By Waquiot
Wed, 05/20/2015 - 11:55am
The buses would be jam packed, but there would be no traffic.
In that scenario, I would just start driving, even though I don't commute via car now. I'll just assume that no one else will start driving, or need to do a commute where the T is the least efficient means like reverse commuting to the suburbs.
During rush hour....
By Michael Kerpan
Wed, 05/20/2015 - 11:57am
... many buses running along Washington (and Hyde Park Blvd) are already at or near capacity.
Oh, there's always room
By Waquiot
Wed, 05/20/2015 - 12:49pm
You just have to be creative. Like why does only one person sit in each seat. A second person could sit in the first person's lap. Also, what about the roof of the bus. It's just sitting there empty.
I think BlackKat is on to something. We all just have to be creative.
Learning Curve
By RWC
Tue, 05/19/2015 - 6:22pm
There is usually a two week learning curve for any new traffic pattern.
Is that right
By anon
Tue, 05/19/2015 - 8:54pm
Please provide a link of your bs analysis. Try THREE years!
Excellent Reading for You
By thetrainmon
Wed, 05/20/2015 - 9:29am
Traffic: Why We Drive the Way That We Do (And What it Says About Us)
The whole book is very good reading about car culture, with an emphasis on why, among other things, the average lazy-brained American driver can't do simple things like merge without coming to a complete stop (as opposed to a continuous zipper) and why too much signage is just as ineffective as no signage at all.
Getting to the point, there a short section that talks about new traffic patterns and why and how it takes a few weeks (not years) for people to adjust to them.
http://www.amazon.com/Traffic-Drive-What-Says-Abou...
People have known for 2 YEARS
By Kinopio
Tue, 05/19/2015 - 10:43pm
People have known for 2 YEARS that this was gonna happen yet they haven't adjusted their commute, work schedules, or started carpooling or taking the T. If you are sitting in this traffic blame yourself.
There is no other option
By RosiMama
Wed, 05/20/2015 - 7:30am
We live in Roslindale, the kids go to school on JP. There are only 3 ways to get from one location to the other and all 3 ways are being affected by this traffic. Even if we could go by bus (which we can't because I need my car for work) we would still be badly affected by the slow downs. Also, do you really know anyone who can alter their work and school schedules to accommodate construction?
Busses are stuck in the
By anon
Wed, 05/20/2015 - 8:00am
Busses are stuck in the traffic too.... it's not all filthy evil drivers who are suffering, here.....
Nor is it only suburbanites
By Rob Not Verified
Wed, 05/20/2015 - 9:46am
Nor is it only suburbanites as I've seen some people suggest. Lots of city residents in the southern part of the city are affected by this. And not everyone can easily change their work start times, day care drop off times, etc. There is no subway service south of Forest Hills and the commuter rail times don't work for everyone's schedule. I'm not a pro-bridge person and think the new road configuration will probably end up ok, but the lack of empathy from some folks for the current gridlock is grating too.
Well put.
By JCK
Wed, 05/20/2015 - 11:18am
I think the anti-car crowd should stop crowing its own superiority and explain why it's solutions are better for everyone. (Which, in may cases, they are.)
We told you so. This
By anon
Tue, 05/19/2015 - 6:53pm
We told you so. This intersection didn't work in the 1950s, that is why the overpass was built. Back then there where a lot less cars than today. As for the bicycle advocates, I can't trust the judgement of people who choose to ride their 25 lb. vehicles with 3000 to 5000 pound passenger vehicles and big scary trucks. They remind me of the fools who run with the bulls in Pamplona Spain.
Just keep telling yourself that
By adamg
Tue, 05/19/2015 - 8:03pm
The overpass was going to come down even if the answer was another overpass, so the temporary mess would have been the same.
And it's not like the state just tears down the overpass and leaves. Not sure why it's so hard for some people to realize there's a whole new road system coming.
Yes you're right
By anon
Tue, 05/19/2015 - 9:08pm
But the end result is debatable, and if you're honest with yourself it's not going to improve.
The need tear down a shit bridge is nonnegotiable, however in three years when the yuppie clowns who voted for this are long gone, were going to be the ones stuck with a cluster F____!
I stopped going to ferris wheels after 15 years because he supported the boondoggle.
And for the people who don't have kids, fuck you. I'm not bringing my kid to a hockey or soccer game on a unicycle.
Get over yourself, you're NOT that important.
Wow
By just walkin
Tue, 05/19/2015 - 9:59pm
Just when we thought that commentary about this project couldn't get less coherent or more ill-informed, the random walk of life brings a new surprise.
You've managed to raise the relative quality of the rest of the discussion. Thanks!
(No subject)
By erik g
Wed, 05/20/2015 - 7:40am
[img]http://i.imgur.com/mH9uty9.png[/img]
You forgot
By SwirlyGrrl
Wed, 05/20/2015 - 9:17am
It stops counting like clicks
By anon
Wed, 05/20/2015 - 7:18pm
It stops counting like clicks after the first one.
omg
By Malcolm Tucker
Wed, 05/20/2015 - 11:10am
this is great. right-click-saved for future interweb shouting matches!
Yuppie Clown or not,
By JP Runner
Wed, 05/20/2015 - 8:28am
the fact that you think Jeff Ferris supported the at grade solution shows that you have zero clue.
The only people whining about how important they are right now are drivers. One of the benefits of the new at grade plan is that the balance between the preference/support given to cars versus the way that many, many people travel through this transportation hub, will be much more even.
Also, I drive essentially parallel of this mess each and every day, and the route is much, much better than what others seem to be experiencing.
I'm sure the bus riders...
By JCK
Wed, 05/20/2015 - 11:19am
Are equally unhappy about their delayed commutes.
Obviously Haven't Done Your Homework
By thetrainmon
Wed, 05/20/2015 - 8:55am
Really?! Because I'm pretty sure anybody who has been following the development of this project has known that Jeffrey Ferris, despite running a bike shop in what is arguably the neighborhood with the highest level of earthy crunchy bike usage in the City, has a been a staunch supporter from the beginning of a replacement bridge.
Angry letter to the Jamaica Plain Gazette about pro-bridge people not getting their due at a MassDOT meeting:
http://jamaicaplaingazette.com/2015/02/13/letter-c...
More recent article; a quick mention of Ferris's steadfast opinion on the project:
http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2015/05/09/casey-...
I guess you can go back to patronizing his establishment.
Get over yourself, you're NOT
By Scratchie
Wed, 05/20/2015 - 9:42am
Projection: It's not just for movie theaters anymore.
paging Dr. Freud
By Malcolm Tucker
Wed, 05/20/2015 - 11:12am
he'd have a field day with this guy!
I hope you are correct, Adam.
By whyaduck
Wed, 05/20/2015 - 9:44am
If this mess is only temporary, all well and good, and I hope that the new road system will work wonders.
Yes, the overpass was in dire shape and needed to come down. Whether the decision to not replace the same was a good one, that still remains to be seen.
Yes, instead trust the people
By Kinopio
Tue, 05/19/2015 - 10:52pm
Yes, instead trust the people who hand over thousands per year to Exxon Mobil and kill 35000 Americans every year.
people in glass houses...
By anon
Wed, 05/20/2015 - 10:09am
Do you grow your own food? I thought not. You are contributing to
as well then by purchasing goods that are shipped by semi's which use gas and oil in order to distribute food and products. You want to see things in black and white? Then YOU are also GUILTY of the accusations you throw out there. It's not all or nothing. There are shades and nuances of issues.
Ha.
By JCK
Wed, 05/20/2015 - 11:20am
We all rely on gasoline powered cars and trucks, even if we don't personally use them.
I think certain posters need to get over their innate superiority.
hear hear....
By teric
Wed, 05/20/2015 - 2:25pm
..uh, wait, that would be ......us.
Be serious, anon.
By erik g
Wed, 05/20/2015 - 7:32am
I'm just going to keep reposting this until the pro-bridge crowd stops making this asinine argument:
We all know that if the replacement overpass had been built, it would have materialized, fully-formed, from the æther before the current bridge was torn down. It would have gloriously spanned from Arboretum to rotary, twinkling brightly in the twilight sky and causing Forest Hills to smell faintly of fresh-baked bread. Frederick Law Olmsted himself would have shed a tear at its gentle majesty.
It's all right there in the BFH literature.
The traffic snarling right
By Rob Not Verified
Wed, 05/20/2015 - 8:03am
The traffic snarling right now is due to the demolition, which was going to happen no matter what because the bridge was well past repair. You cannot pass judgment on a new road configuration that does not exist yet.
Just stop Massholes from being Massholes
By BB from Dot
Tue, 05/19/2015 - 9:04pm
If people would just stop "blocking the box" and wait a bit, things would go much more smoothly (and not just here, everywhere that's there is traffic). Ticket the scofflaws for a couple of weeks and we'd see a dramatic change.
Before someone's tweet is
By Boston_Bloke
Tue, 05/19/2015 - 9:37pm
Before someone's tweet is taken for reporting they should be required to write clearly. What is Jessica talking about??
Forest Hills connects to the Centre Street rotary by the Arborway, not the Jamaica Way.
Meanwhile I breezed through the Centre Street rotary this morning at 7:15 am. There was so little traffic I thought there must be a school holiday.
It's all the same
By RosiMama
Wed, 05/20/2015 - 8:07am
Jway, Arborway, Riverway. All the same road going through different neighborhoods.
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