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Westbound Arborway lanes to shift tomorrow
By adamg on Thu, 01/25/2018 - 9:32am
MassDOT reports that after tomorrow morning's rush hour, like around 10 a.m. or so, workers will shift the westbound (towards the Jamaicway) lanes on the Arborway at Forest Hills to their new permanent positions, which will mean getting into a new mindset when driving through the area.
- Westbound traffic will be discontinued on New Washington Street.
- Westbound left turns to go from the Arborway to South Street southbound (towards Roslindale) will be prohibited at the intersection of Arborway/South Street.
- Drivers seeking to make the left turn from the Arborway to South Street southbound will:
-
- Continue through the intersection;
- Proceed to the western median U-turn;
- Reverse direction using the median U-turn;
- Proceed to the intersection of Arborway/South Street and turn right onto South Street southbound.
The final alignments of both sides of the Arborway mean no more left turns onto Washington and South Street - if you want to do that, you'll have to go up a bit to the new U-turn lanes - except for T buses, which will have their own special turn lane to get to the lower busway.
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Comments
Signage and maps
I use the westbound left turn on South infrequently. I haven't been in the area for a few months. Does anyone know if there be new signage tomorrow? Can someone provide a link to a map showing the new configuration?
Thanks
Probably?
I drive infrequently and was there the other day wanting to turn left onto Washington (going eastbound) - there was very good signage even telling you how many feet after the intersection to expect the u-turn. They also had a (cute) u-turn arrow on the signal light which I had never encountered before. I would assume they will do the same thing now in the other direction.
Link to map
http://blog.mass.gov/transportation/massdot-highway/casey-arborway-final...
A little more clear on MassDOT fb site
https://www.facebook.com/massdotinfo/posts/1564260256991415
This is good
n/t
Traffic cops for Friday and Monday please
In the grand scope of this project, I think the money spent to have cops directling traffic for rush hour on Friday and Monday at the Washington and South St. intersections might be a good addition. You know people will be taking illegal turns, blocking the box, etc... more than ever because once people are slow to adapt to new driving routes.
Links
Overview: https://www.massdot.state.ma.us/caseyarborway/ProjectOverview.aspx
Map: https://www.massdot.state.ma.us/Portals/24/docs/Casey_diagram.pdf
One more info link
This presentation from Dec. 6, 2017 has a lot of good maps and summary info about what's done and what's to come in 2018
https://www.massdot.state.ma.us/Portals/24/docs/presentation_120617.pdf
over budget and late
12 million plus over. 3 winters no bus cover, traffic pattern is worse.
Great job.
Is traffic going to gridlock,
Is traffic going to gridlock, when left-turning traffic has to go through these intersections twice, making a u-turn, and coming back to make a right? While crossing other streams of traffic going straight through.
Is BTD going to maintain the vehicle sensors? Or are they going to let them fail and give longer greens for streets that don't need them, like they usually do?
My prediction
Traffic will gridlock because jerks will just take a left at the current locations anyways and fuck it all up vs, following the traffic signs.
There's one line that confuses me
To me, that means that one will no longer be able to go from Franklin Park to the Arboretum with a car. That is a poorly written statement.
Michigan Left
I looked up this traffic pattern and that’s what it’s called-a Michigan Left. I guess they do it a lot there. I couldn’t find any damning criticism of it, so maybe some Masshole can step up. Supposedly a lot more cars can get through a green light when nobody is maneuvering for a left turn. But it will add yet another red light to my travels, because you have to go through two lights and drive an extra 1/4 mile to make the U-turn. I think a lot of Roslindale-bound drivers will continue up the Arborway to Centre St. rather than twist and turn for the dubious privilege of driving down Washington.
I really miss Shea Circle
It used to be so easy to get from Forest Hills to Franklin Park Drive and back. Now the lights take forever. Especially annoying: waiting to turn left from Franklin Park to the Arborway, when you have to wait and wait for an endless pedestrian crossing light at all hours. I have yet to see an actual pedestrian trying to cross the street there.
I’ve crossed that intersection
I have done it by car a lot more times, but it is easier than using the old crosswalk and praying a driver has sympathy for you.
Push the button
The lights go into pedestrian mode whether anyone is there or not. Why not let the light go green unless someone is there to push the button? There are few things I hate more than having to wait at intersections for minute after minute for no reason whatsoever.
Speaking of which, I drove through the new Michigan Left tonight, from Arborway East to Washington St. South. It was a piece of cake going through the Washington/South St. intersection. But when I got to the U-turn, it was wait - wait - wait - wait with absolutely no traffic coming from the other direction. There's so much hi-tech available for lights...why can't these brand new intersections detect that somebody is waiting for no reason, and let the lights turn green? I thought the whole point of this new plan was to get people through faster and safer than before.
To be fair
I never press the walk button (rarely do unless I get instant gratification like at Route 9 and the Muddy River) so I never notice that. I think I assumed that there was a concurrent walk with the traffic coming from the dental place.