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Our epidemic of SUV flipping continues; this time by the convention center
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people speed way too fast in
people speed way too fast in the convention/squidport district. There are two police departments (Boston and Massport) but neither seem willing to enforce any traffic or parking laws there for some reason.
road design
When you design wide five-lane roads with medians and turning lanes in the middle of a city, don't be surprised when drivers speed on said roads.
^ THIS ^
Roads in the Seaport District (or South Boston Waterfront) are far too wide. It is dangerous for pedestrians and cyclists, of which there are many. I was almost hit by cars when I tried to cross Seaport Boulevard in a marked crosswalk. Vehicles just sped on through.
Hopefully, as construction continues and the residential aspect of the neighborhood grows, something will be done about the transportation issues -- whether it be traffic calming, bike and bus lanes, wider sidewalks, a reduction in travel lanes, or a surface light rail if they don't do something about the overcrowded Silver Line.
Otherwise, the situation will only continue to worsen.
Anyone can tell that the
Anyone can tell that the Seaport is only going to get busier based on the cranes all over the place. Yet they are doing nothing to improve public transportation even though people are complaining about the Seaport as is, nevermind when there are thousands more people. What are they doing about it? A freaking heliport for the 2 people who are going to use such a thing?
In a "new" neighborhood such as this they should have known that designing an urban neighborhood around the automobile is something that is long been proven to be dumb and dangerous. There should be Bus Only and protected cycle lanes all over the place.
This is our reality
I don't think there's anywhere in our area with a critical mass of decision makers/influences dependent on mass transit, and there likely won't be for a long time. Transit is always "someone else's problem."
You're only going to help address the Seaport mess (or the Kendall mess, or the Longwood mess) with a massive investment in transit capacity, that which will never happen in our lifetimes. It might even get worse as more expensive, high end housing is built in the city. The movers and shakers will be able to walk to work around the mess, while the minions are stuck in traffic, or stuck on the overcrowded T.
I hate to say it, but...
This type of thinking is emblematic of second- and third-rate cities in the South and Midwest. I would expect this type of political behavior from Tulsa or Memphis, not Boston. Things are done differently in the rest of the Northeast.
The most frustrating thing about Boston is how the state holds it back. This has nothing to do with the Olympics or Indycar; it has everything to do with allowing urban self-governance, curtailing the overreliance on cars, and moving beyond an 1890s transit system.
I agree...
I was being a bit over-dramatic, but...
We just don't see the same emphasis on making transit not just work, but work well. The Silver Line was a massive money hole that has been overwhelmed from the moment it's service area developed. And that's all we seem to be able to muster for the area.
There are some signs things are changing...hopefully they get stronger.
Every thinking person knew, and we were ignored.
Lest you think no one (I don't know who "they" is, but I suspect you mean government officials) saw this coming, I can say, because I was there, that lots of us saw this coming.
I worked on the BCEC project back in the late 90s early 2000s. First, it is important to understand/remember the posture then. The usual suspects (the visionless reactionary media-types and others) were calling us idiots for using public money to build in a "windswept wasteland that no one will go to because everyone wants to be in the Back Bay."
As you point out, the windswept wasteland is pretty damned busy and getting busier.
w/r/t transit, I do not remember a single person who was involved in building down there then saying that s/he thought that the Silver Line was adequate as proposed. (Many of us still refer to it as the Silver Lie, because it was initially talked about as light rail, but instead we got brightly painted buses.) In particular, the notion of an at-grade crossing at D Street was screamed about often because everyone knew it was dumb. Everyone except the aforementioned visionless reactionary types, who won the day on the tired "it will cost too much money" arguments. The real indictment is that this happened during the go-go late 90s, when it was easier to come by money to build it properly.
Now we get to live with the ramifications of that shortsightedness and worse, as the sentiment has metastasized so as to engulf the entire public transportation system.
I will keep saying it here and everywhere else. We are choking on our own success around our Little Outpost on the North Atlantic, and the window to commit to making the necessary improvements before we doom ourselves for a generation (see Anna Lee Saxenian's book from the early 90s, Regional Advantage - while nominally not about the transport issue, it touches on the problem of how we sometimes cannot get out of our own way around here) is coming to a close.
We simply must fight off this Big Dig hangover and push forward on transport infrastructure or all will be lost. My personal belief is that getting the process going on the N/S Rail Link would be a great way to do that, and would carry the benefit of getting us ready for construction just in time for the next economic downturn (when work is needed and prices come off their boom-time highs). There are also synergies to be exploited with the rail tunnel projects that unquestionably must and will go forward in and around New York.
We simply must fight off this
Except two of the most visible projects in the area right now, the Longfellow Bridge rehab and the GLX, are going the exact same way the Big Dig went. Huge budget increases and huge delays. People who oppose more infrastructure projects being conducted in the same environment are simply learning from history, not "hung over."
Maybe if we did more projects ...
We would have a better idea about how to design them and control costs. Too many people doing too many things to too few designs gets these messes.
Summer Street's design
Predates all of this. The lanes made sense back in the 1980s, when it was pretty much all industrial with cheap commuter parking lots.
I am always heartened when running up Summer Street and I keep getting passed by the trucks with containers on the back of them. It's the way it should be.
While Summer Street
was indeed constructed during a different era, there is no excuse for the rest of the Seaport. Summer Street is ripe for some traffic calming or bike/bus lanes at the very least, especially in the area around the Convention Center.
The D Street/Summer Street intersection is a nightmare for pedestrians, and with the popularity of Lawn on D and new residential and hotel activity in the area, crashes and other incidents are only going to increase.
Someone up above mentioned police jurisdictions between Massport and BPD. Let's not forget about the State Police as well. I remember a while ago there was a push to determine who was going to be responding to emergency calls, as well as patrols. Has this been addressed?
Summer Street
I just saw this a few hours ago come thru my feed in twitter.
Looks like Summer Street is getting a re do, along with Congress
http://www.bostonredevelopmentauthority.org/getattachment/fe71d84d-8b54-...
from:
Outstanding
Thanks, Cybah.
Next Up: South Station and the Silver Line...
Hehehe
Yes, the state police kept the detail assignments coming out of the seaport. Don't think for a second that it was about jurisdiction or public safety. It was, and is, 100% about the details.
neither seem willing to
Why do they need a reason? This is Massachusetts.
How does this happen?
When I look at the behavior of many Boston drivers, I think "no good can come of this", but I don't imagine the cars flipping over.
Except for those ladies who blast through intersections on red while looking at their phones/tablets, or one hand to head and having a conversation on phone, or eating, or applying makeup. You can see this by watching just a few minutes on the corner during rush hour. I wouldn't mind if they flipped up into the air and exploded, TV-style, so that they didn't hit pedestrians, kids, or bicyclists. Not that there aren't a lot of criminally negligent male drivers, but I see women do this more often.
Most boston drivers, not just
Most boston drivers, not just "ladies" blow through red lights. And its not just those distracted by phones or alcohol, its a knowledge of drivers here that they wont be pulled over. Especially during rush hour, many drivers who see a light turn red think its ok to run the light since they really want to get where they are going and its only been red for a little while. Harvard Sq is terrible for this, as is all along the Rose Kennedy median strip, where drivers coming onto and off of ramps run red lights daily with no worries of being pulled over. Stop signs in Boston are treated as yield signs, if you dont think anyone is coming (or they are on foot) its ok not to stop, no worries that you will be ticketed.
"Most Boston Drivers"?
Does it happen? Sure. But not even nearly "most".
C'mon
"the ladies"?
This is the cause of the driving issues in Boston? I guess it's because women derive so much of their ego from the type of car they drive, how much other women envy them, and who makes it out first at a red light. If only we could be as reasonable and non aggressive when driving as the mens. Wow - it must be paradise in Saudi Arabia!! Thanks for opening my eyes on this.
unbunch your britches lady
Statistically, women put on make up while driving at a higher rate then men. Look it up if you don't believe me.
I'll give you the makeup
But more men shave while driving.
Statistically you say?
You know who likes statistics - insurance companies. They tend to have higher rates for men because STATISTICALLY, men get into more accidents, drive faster, and take more risks while driving - more than 3x more than women.
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/men-vs-women-who-are-safer-drivers/
Putting on makeup is only one form of distraction for drivers (and some men do wear makeup) - there are others just for men (I was broadsided once by a guy turning left from a middle lane on Speen Street who was distracted by teen girls offering car washes - didn't notice an entire car in the left lane) or are gender neutral. Overall, however, men get into more accidents, as borne out by statistics.
If we're only talking about makeup, however (which we weren't), then you can bask in your victory - statistically, women tend to wear makeup more than men. Congratulations.
Like I said...
unbunch them britches. It's only Wednesday, if you're this worked up about something so trivial, I fear your head will explode sometime well before the weekend begins.
In case you were wondering
In case you were wondering, zetag is deliberately being a complete asshole, possibly in an awkward attempt at humor, or possibly because he really IS this much of an asshole and really believes his ridiculous 1950s little-lady bullshit. My money's with "something of an asshole pretending to be funny in order to be an asshole", actually.
That was no lady
that was my wife
A lovely lady. Hey baby, you
A lovely lady. Hey baby, you must've been something before electricity.
The term "Masshole" is gender
The term "Masshole" is gender-neutral for a reason.
Not enough complaints maybe?
The large number of complaints seemed to spark action with regards to the dangerous dirt bikes around town, how many more of these incidents need to happen before a crackdown is sparked?
EDIT: Whoooosh. Should've mentioned the "crackdown" on texting/driving instead, the sarcasm wasn't detected.
Sorry
Given that politians and their supporters like to speed, there will never be a serious crackdown on traffic safety. Too many people don't care or think their "right" to drive fast and loose is more important then the risk. (Unlike dirt bikes which garner no sympathy from anyone important.)
Not as simple as "just crack down"
If that worked, we'd have solved the opioid crisis.
(From what I hear from people around Franklin Park, the dirt bike problem is far from solved, as well.)
SUV stands for...
SUV stands for Stupid User Vehicle. I can't tell you how many of them I've seen in the ditch on the access roads to Vermont ski areas, as locals drive by in sedans with snow tires.
lets cut the real reason..
Lets cut to the real reason we are seeing these flipped cars hitting parked cars. Cell phones.