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Sign of things to come in Downtown Crossing?
By adamg on Wed, 01/13/2016 - 10:00am
UPDATE: This post is proof of Betteridge's Law and the fact that I can be awfully unobservant since the signs have been there for 7 months and are only related to the Tower construction.
This sign recently popped up in Downtown Crossing (along with a twin at Summer and Winter). A signal of the city's intentions, or just a temporary measure until Millennium Tower is finished? In either case, many hardened Bostonian pedestrians were paying the sign no heed yesterday.
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Comments
Summabytches walking are
Summabytches walking are impeding the UPS guy on his rounds here. The productive private sector gets no respect.....
No...
That sign has been there for months (at least since the Franklin St entrance/exit to Downtown Crossing was closed), presumably because they need an additional buffer during construction and I have seen them block the street with equipment as well.
Use the sidewalk?
On a street that is closed as a pedestrian mall? While the sidewalk on the opposite side is closed for construction? Many people walk in the street on that stretch because there is only one overcrowded sidewalk available for use. Sigh.
A pedestrian mall that
A pedestrian mall that constantly has cabs going down it. What a joke. We can't even have 3 blocks of the city where we don't have to worry about being hit by a car(which has happened to at least 3 pedestrians in Boston in the last 24 hours).
You can walk in the Boston Common
and gardens right nearby. Just watch out for scofflaw cyclists and skateboarders.
New concept for you
I know you're unfamiliar with the concept of walking in order to get somewhere (as opposed to a recreational stroll), but I'm asking you to take my word for it that that's exactly what most people walking around downtown Boston are doing. If you needed to take your car in order to pick up groceries at the Stop and Shop on Mass Ave in Arlington, what would you think if I said that you can drive on Route 2 nearby and that's just as good? You'd think I was a stupid twit given to making pointless and irrelevant comments in order to advance a truly insane agenda. And that is exactly what I and everyone else think of you.
You asked for a place to walk without cars
so I responded with answers. You're still unhappy. The Common is still a way to get somewhere. Until crackdowns on cyclists, many of them used it as a transportation route.
All the more reason
To put in that bidirectional cycle track around the common. You know, the one that comes up every time they decide to pretend to crack down on cyclists using the area?
That would be a vast improvement in an area that was never designed to have cars in it.
In the mean time, you should consider shutting up about an area that you know absolutely nothing about. Downtown crossing at mid-day is chock ablock with pedestrians patronizing the businesses and doing their shopping and errands.
Last I looked
there were these things called STREETS that border Boston Common and seem perflectly suited for cyclists to use.
Oh wait, that would mean cyclists might actually have to learn how to properly ride in the same space as other vehicles. Let's waste a boatload of money on special facilities instead and then state that cyclists aren't requried to use these facilities if they don't want t0.
You know
I bet you didn't even have to stretch your brain to find such a far-fetched misconnection to the point. The fact that you could also throw a few bicycles under the bus (your favorite apologist pastime) just came along as a bonus I'm sure.
We like to hope that you're trolling when you make utterly contemptuous and stupid statements like "if they want to walk downtown, they should just use the Common" (as if it magically connects everything to everything else as some sort of Ministry of Magic portal hub). But I'm starting to realize you *actually* thought this was a valid answer to the call for reasonable accommodations for walking as a mode of transport throughout the densest commercial space within the heart of the city. You *actually* believe that a "city center" strip mall variation is what Downtown Crossing should look like and pedestrians should get bent to provide more driving and parking space in front of the stores, etc.
You're so out of touch with what is actually desirable and what would make life better for so many people because you're so wrapped up in your own little microcosm of how life should be. It's not that you refuse to accept that a variation of modality from what you know would work in other places. It's that you can't even fathom it.
I think your best bet is to keep rolling that boulder, Sisyphus.
You don't know
me. I know the area and used to work in an office building around the corner on Tremont St. I walked down there daily at lunch time and often after work. I was just pointing out how incorrect the statement was about no place for pedestrians to walk without cars around. Furthermore, downtown Boston has sidewalks on both sides of every street while most towns have many streets with no sidewalks at all. You don't even know how fortunate you are. You are spoiled and want even more while lots of school children don't have any sidewalks to walk to school.
I'm betting it is an Alewife.
For a good amount of time the
For a good amount of time the area between the two barriers was so narrow that an ambulance had just enough room to pass through, with no extra room for a person. I saw that sign there months ago.
It's just temporary because the millennium fencing is actually pushing past that sidewalk into the road.
Its
Temporary, most of the time during the day cops are blocking the street because of construction; hence the barriers.
Old news
The sign has been there for months. I walked past this every day. Workers would fence off either end of the street and let trucks or police through.
The road was closed from the morning until late afternoon. The street just opened up again once the elevator was taken off the Washington Street side.
Months
The sign has been there for months! I know it's been there since at least August. I believe it's temporary due to construction. You are pretty much in a hardhat area just by walking below the construction.
Another sign
At the other end, at Winter Street. At least the Winter Street sign is NOT new; it's been there at least a year. I'm thinking this sign isn't new either.
Regardless, both signs are bullshit.
tower
They are there for the tower.
Occasionally they close off that section of the street for a delivery for the high rise. It was totally blocked off for a few weeks a month or so ago when the elevator was being taken down.
As someone who until a few
As someone who until a few weeks ago biked through DTX every morning, that block was ALWAYS closed during the morning rush at least.
Annoyingly they have a construction worker standing there to open the gate for delivery trucks, etc. to get by, but unless you could follow through right behind one, they would tell cyclists to use the sidewalk as well.
That isn't even legal
Without even getting into the safety reasons why it is illegal.
It appears to be a temporary measure
I saw workers putting that sign up sometime late last spring or early summer. A gate was set up, those plastic water-filled Jersey barriers were put at the curb and Washington St was closed and opened only periodically to allow delivery trucks, and emergency vehicles, etc. through. I think this was done because the crane building the Millennium Tower was carrying heavy items directly above that section of the street. Now that the crane is coming down, I assume the barriers will be removed. Who knows how long the sign will stay there.
If there's a gate and a
If there's a gate and a construction worker during the limited hours when pedestrians really can't use the street, what's the point of the sign?
The sign is located in
The sign is located in advance of the gate, which is a little ways back from the intersection on each end.
Liability
Liability
The signs are not new at all & are temporary for safety
The signs are not new at all. They have been there for months now. Suffolk Construction insisted that Washington be closed during work hours for safety reasons with the tower crane operating above. With the crane coming down, I'd assume that Washington will actually be reopening to its normal state soon.
This. The roadway part of
This. The roadway part of Washington St has been closed during weekday days for a while now due to the Millennium Tower construction. This is telling people that they must use the sidewalk through this section and not to try to walk through the closed part of the street.
They're actually trying to
They're actually trying to make it a permanent, true Pedi zone ....this is because of the construction
Bostonians don't follow signs
Bostonians don't follow signs when they are driving, why would it be any different while we were walking?