City councilors Josh Zakim (Back Bay, Beacon Hill, Fenway, Mission Hill) and Michael Flaherty (at large) say it's time to curb a proliferating number of road races that tie up neighborhood streets, particularly in the Back Bay, but also in the Fenway and Beacon Hill.
"Parades, road races, the National Realtor's Race, the National Whatever Organization Happens to Be in Town road races," Zakim sighed. Especially because these events are often little publicized outside the groups themselves, kids trying to get to piano lessons or people trying to get to the dentists find themselves seriously detoured and late, he said.
Flaherty said he realizes many of these events help "very important charitable causes," but added, "there are other neighborhoods that can host races." Besides, that would mean more foot traffic for stores along the routes in other neighborhoods, so it would be win-win, he said.
The council agreed to schedule a hearing to consider what to do about the issue. Flaherty said that, in addition to city transportation officials, it would be important to invite DCR to the table, because of the multiplication of races along the state-owned Esplanade.
Like the job UHub is doing? Consider a contribution. Thanks!
Ad:
Comments
Is there ANYTHING people won't NIMBY about?
By 021_13
Wed, 01/09/2019 - 1:29pm
wow, can you believe people want to have parades and public gatherings in a major city -- and in the heavily business- and tourist-oriented portion of it, no less?
Well clutch my pearls...
By Friartuck
Wed, 01/09/2019 - 3:55pm
This is indeed a scourge on our fair city!
About time.
By anon
Wed, 01/09/2019 - 1:48pm
People do realize that you can donate to a charity without participating in a road race, right?
One of the best Barstool posts ever
By Will LaTulippe
Wed, 01/09/2019 - 2:22pm
El Prez goes off on a lady who solicited money from co-workers for a trip to run a race in Hawaii for charity. "This lady basically wanted people to pay for her vacation!"
Small road races don't need
By anon
Wed, 01/09/2019 - 1:50pm
Small road races don't need road closures. You tell racers "rest on red" and have everyone subtract red light time from their finishing time.
No you can't
By Waquiot
Wed, 01/09/2019 - 2:10pm
It is impractical to calculate time based on red lights.
That said, although I love my road races, this is a topic worthy of discussion. I'm surprised that Flaherty mentioned that other neighborhoods can put on races. South Boston, or specifically Day Blvd, gets a bit overrun with races, according to a friend who lives a few blocks from that road. Still, limits to the time of day and/or day of the week could help a lot.
By the way, registration for the BAA Distance Medley opened this morning. 2 races through the Back Bay and another one in the Fenway. Zakim will not be pleased.
Sorry
By adamg
Wed, 01/09/2019 - 9:42pm
He did mention South Boston.
Sing us a song, you're the piano man
By HarryMattison
Wed, 01/09/2019 - 1:55pm
How many kids are late to their piano lessons because of a 5K along the Charles River?
Right?
By TrophyWifeLinda
Wed, 01/09/2019 - 2:04pm
Everyone knows you just ask Alexa how long traffic is and send the chauffeur the updated timeline. Alexa schedules my mani/pedi/waxes on Newbury atomically to not coincide with with charity or Jim and Margery.
It's not hard people.
#timesup
#getsmart/getrich
I didn’t figure you for a wax
By Lmo
Wed, 01/09/2019 - 6:23pm
I didn’t figure you for a wax gal, I assumed you did laser.
Right?
By Will LaTulippe
Wed, 01/09/2019 - 2:25pm
What oddly specific concern trolling. If an adult can't get to a PCP, Zakim remains silent. But a CHILD can't get to a DENTIST? This will not stand!
And what about kids who play brass or woodwinds? Did you think of them, Josh? As Bob Knight said to Jeremy Schaap: "You have a long way to go to be as good as your dad."
My dentist gets mad when my kid is late
By Parkwayne
Wed, 01/09/2019 - 3:18pm
and then some poor cabbie in East Boston gets it.
HAHAHAHAHA
By Will LaTulippe
Wed, 01/09/2019 - 3:31pm
You're all right.
No one is talking about races
By anon
Wed, 01/09/2019 - 2:34pm
No one is talking about races or charity walks or concerts on the Charles. The street closings of concern are ones where people live and work. Back Bay is a neighborhood of residents, businesses, students, schools, restaurants, medical offices and not just an urban Disneyland for tourists and suburbanites... I know, shocking, right? Back Bay is proud to host to the marathon, July 4th, First Night, parades, countless charity walks and road races. I would think other neighborhoods would love to host more road races and walks. What's your problem with this?
It's also a neighborhood of..
By Kim SW
Thu, 01/10/2019 - 2:43pm
It's also a neighborhood of... flat streets! Perfect for races and walks.
Mine?
By eeka
Wed, 01/09/2019 - 3:04pm
We bike everywhere. We use the esplanade path for my commute to work and my kids' commutes to classes and other places. It's bad enough on a normal weekday when people don't realize it's a commuter route and think a good place to teach a toddler to ride a balance bike or walk three-abreast with your grandparents is the middle of a path where people are likely to be cycling 15mph. And before the bike haters show up, no, of course I don't run over these people. I ring my bell repeatedly, they don't look up or move, I slow down almost to a stop while still ringing, and eventually end up passing them on the grass if in an area where it's possible, or having some parent yell at me to quit ringing my bell because their kid is just a baby (which to them means that toddlers who don't respond to bells or voice or get out of the way of fast-approaching traffic should be sitting on a balance bike in the middle of the path while their parent's ass is on a bench).
Hi. Avid bike commuter here.
By anon
Wed, 01/09/2019 - 4:20pm
Hi. Avid bike commuter here. You are on a multi-use path that was built for everyone to enjoy, you are just using it to commute because it is convenient for you (just like I use my local trails to commute). You don't have a right to an unimpeded path to go 15mph just because you want to.
Yes, people walking three abreast are stupid. So are the 10-foot dog leashes. Toddlers on bikes? That's what the path is there for! Maybe some day they'll grow up to be a bike commuter too, hopefully not as entitled as some of us.
So please stop behaving the way you describe - "ringing my bell repeatedly". Just go around. You are giving good cyclists a bad reputation.
Yes, the path is for everyone
By eeka
Wed, 01/09/2019 - 6:59pm
As I said, I will go around on the grass if it's possible in that area, but I can't go around people walking across the whole width of the path, or toddlers wandering unpredictably and not looking up. There are a lot of narrow areas where there isn't anywhere to go around. You'd know that if you actually rode there.
I didn't say I should never have to slow down, but having to come all the way to a stop because people don't know how to use a shared path is ridiculous. So is finding the path completely covered in people standing on it because there's an event for which the DCR often doesn't bother to put up signage in advance, and because people don't understand a path is to be used for moving along and allowing others to do the same, not for standing around on and not moving when cyclists or runners wish to pass. There is an entire park for doing that.
And no the path is not an appropriate place to teach a toddler with no safety awareness how to ride a bike. Did you actually read my comment, or are you just deciding you're a superior cyclist to me? The kids I was describing are young toddlers with balance bikes mostly standing and wandering. Their parents are nowhere near close enough to grab them if someone were to not be as vigilant as I am. My children are bike commuters, and they didn't learn by being allowed to wander around in moving bike/foot traffic before they had any spatial awareness. They practiced in parks until they were preschool age and had some awareness to get out of the way of others, and then they used the paths and I frequently gave them voice commands to stay right, look up, pass correctly, etc.
Do you really slow down behind them and keep ringing the bell?
By Pete Nice
Thu, 01/10/2019 - 7:57am
I'm sorry that is borderline evil.
If I can't get past a group of people?
By eeka
Thu, 01/10/2019 - 11:25am
Yes, we ring our bells, we shout "excuse me." Some of the people don't look up or notice they're blocking a path until you're right behind them, and even then, they act surprised that people are wanting to use it for travel.
If there's grass to go around on, we do that, but parts of it are too narrow and have a fence, railing, trees, alongside them.
Do you have a better suggestion? I'd love to hear it.
Headphones
By Ron Newman
Thu, 01/10/2019 - 12:00pm
Do you think people aren't hearing you (your bike, your voice, your bell) because they are wearing headphones and listening to music?
Sometimes
By eeka
Thu, 01/10/2019 - 12:22pm
Sometimes they have headphones on, sometimes they just seem to be entitled and oblivious, particularly the nuclear families in the Back Bay between about 10 and 12 who spread out the entire width of the path.
The two toddlers about 18 months old who were wandering on balance bikes blocking the narrow wooden bridge near BU didn't respond because they wouldn't developmentally be necessarily responding to a couple of strangers calling to them and ringing bike bells.
Haha
By Pete Nice
Thu, 01/10/2019 - 12:48pm
The way you described it just seemed like you were being a dink about it. Like you were riding around, ringing the bell as you passed each person, and if they didn't get out of your way, you just got as close as possible to them and kept ringing the bell. And then if they got out of the way you would ride past them, look them dead in the eyes with a angry stare, stop your bike and ring your bell twice more before riding off again.
OK, that's kind of an amusing image
By eeka
Thu, 01/10/2019 - 2:28pm
But um no. I thought I pretty clearly described that there are people who really just do not look up or move. If they're in packs across the whole path, this is aggravating and isn't respectful use of the shared path. And then they're SUPER SURPRISED that people are biking on a bike path and want to pass their pack of people.
I actually have had two separate parents of young toddlers tell me and my kids that their kid is just a baby and doesn't understand that ringing our bells and saying "excuse me" means to move. OK, um, since you know that, why is your child wandering on the path without being corralled while you are on your phone not close enough to grab them? We had one this past fall where a young toddler was wandering around lining up dandelions on the path. The kid with me was quite up a ways ahead of me, riding my cargo bike. Slowed way down, was ringing the bell, asking if they could go around this way or that way. Kid was totally oblivious. This was around 4:45 on a weekday too. Not too long before the lycra dudes come flying through there. Why on earth wouldn't you tell your kid to do that on the grass instead? I wasn't a hoverer when I had little kids, but I would be terrified if my kid was wandering around on a bike path while I stared at my phone.
Ok, eeka...
By whyaduck
Thu, 01/10/2019 - 1:05pm
I don't know how old you are, but I was a bike commuter along that same path in the 1980s. I can tell you that, even way back then, I ran into the same problem.
The moral of this story is: Some people who use paths such as this one don't change behaviors that much.
So you can gnash your teeth at every indiscretion that you encounter on that path or live and let live and enjoy your ride.
Also, ringing your bell (but not being obnoxious with it) and saying "passing on your" whatever side will work for most people. Some people, who are wearing headphones, will not hear you. (They probably act surprised because of your presence.) Then, you have to pass them or get off your bike and walk around them.
That is life. Enjoy the ride.
Or you can bitch and moan. Your choice.
Not there, but
By eeka
Thu, 01/10/2019 - 2:21pm
I was a bike commuter in the '80s in a different city. The paths had signs explaining to stay to your right, use voice/bell to pass, and people did so.
Yes, most people move, but it's annoying when people don't. There's a whole park if you want to do things like stand around not particularly going anywhere.
Pedestrians have the right of way
By Stevil
Thu, 01/10/2019 - 6:27pm
You are on a wheeled vehicle on a pedestrian path and have to yield or follow until safe to pass just as a car has to yield to a bike on a road.
Sure
By eekanotloggedin
Thu, 01/10/2019 - 7:52pm
Yes, I happily yield to runners and cyclists who are slower than me. I didn’t say anything about these folks. I’m talking about people who think the path is the exact same as the rest of the park and that they can spread all the way across it and block it off and refuse to move. Having the right of way doesn’t mean you use a travel surface any way you want. If a roadway was covered in people standing around, would you happily sit in your car for as long as it took them to decide they were no longer going to do this? Or would you suggest they find somewhere else for activities that have nothing to do with roadways?
You tell those toddlers!
By Balance Bro
Wed, 01/09/2019 - 4:37pm
The Esplanade paths are explicitly mixed-use, not designated bike highways.
"Bicyclists must yield to pedestrians...and share the path" is pretty clear cut, even if people recreating are moving more slowly than you and the Lycra dudes might like.
Mixed use
By eeka
Wed, 01/09/2019 - 6:55pm
Mixed use path doesn't mean toddlers who don't yet respond to being called to should be wandering on the paths while their adult is staring at their phone nowhere near them, especially when there's a whole park for such activities. There's the expectation that people use it for predictable traffic flow in a single direction at a time. I of course don't care what speed people are traveling if they are staying right and can be passed. Should people also play soccer and Frisbee on the path? Why have a path at all if it isn't intended for travel?
How dare people utilize an
By Lmo
Wed, 01/09/2019 - 6:27pm
How dare people utilize an area owned by the Dept. of Conservation and RECREATION, for something other than commuting.
Well ...
By SwirlyGrrl
Wed, 01/09/2019 - 7:14pm
The same could be said of the DCR roadways on either side of the river. Those are actually for use by "pleasure vehicles only".
So shut Storrow and turn it over to cyclists.
Add Morrissey Boulevard, I’d
By Lmo
Wed, 01/09/2019 - 10:34pm
Add Morrissey Boulevard, I’d be delighted.
What if I am having pleasure while driving that road?!
By Pete Nice
Thu, 01/10/2019 - 7:57am
Huh?
Must be why you run red lights
By anon
Thu, 01/10/2019 - 8:56am
By just zoning out two or three times a year and think that is normal.
lol
By Pete Nice
Thu, 01/10/2019 - 9:39am
Make anything else up today?
FYI this exactly what I said about it. So you are kind of way off. Are you a liar by nature or just stupid?
(I also have not been in a crash since in 20 years and have been pulled over once in my life when I was 19)
Um Pete?
By eeka
Thu, 01/10/2019 - 2:30pm
That's normal and all, but you should probably stick to doing that in private locations.
Gimme a break Eeka.
By Pete Nice
Thu, 01/10/2019 - 2:37pm
What are you gonna tell me I need to wear pants while driving too?
Geesh.
I defer to your expertise
By eeka
Thu, 01/10/2019 - 3:05pm
Is there a law requiring pants while driving?
I hope not.
By Pete Nice
Thu, 01/10/2019 - 3:09pm
Never cared to look that one up.
Shoes are technically required
By SwirlyGrrl
Thu, 01/10/2019 - 7:27pm
But I drive without pants all the time!
(wearing a skirt ...)
:-)
By eeka
Thu, 01/10/2019 - 8:12pm
https://www.dailydot.com/layer8/is-it-illegal-to-d...
Don't know about piano lessons
By Stevil
Wed, 01/09/2019 - 4:50pm
But events on the Esplanade are often a nightmare because they allow people to park along Storrow drive. Can tie up traffic for miles coming off Route 1 and 93. Eliminate that parking (perfectly rational - but always seems to fall on deaf ears) and you solve the Esplanade traffic problem.
As for Back Bay - I'll have to admit - I mostly don't notice. Marathon, July 4, First Night are easy to plan around. The road races are usually just a couple of hours - but there are A LOT of them, so some limits should be reasonable (once a month?), otherwise take it to another neighborhood.
The one exception I'd like to see moved is the Greek Day parade - huge disruption on Boylston Street, middle of the day and more people on Boylston Street marching than on the sidewalks watching. Screws up traffic for much of the afternoon.
Objective observation from a 26 year resident.
The parking and uber drop off
By DuckingA
Wed, 01/09/2019 - 6:34pm
The parking and uber drop off lane on storrow during concerts is infuriating. Looks like something designed by a bunch of suburbanite DCR and MSP brass. There are weeks in the summer when they do it almost every day.
Suburbanites on Storrow
By Ari O
Thu, 01/10/2019 - 9:31am
Storrow Drive is for suburbanites coming in to the city, whether or not MSP/DCR uses it for parking.
Actually, it's for "pleasure driving" but that was cast off eons ago.
As a concertgoer, I liked having the parked cars on Storrow
By Ron Newman
Thu, 01/10/2019 - 10:26am
They provided some sound insulation against the moving traffic in the other lanes.
The only kids who would be
By Refugee
Wed, 01/09/2019 - 9:30pm
The only kids who are late are the ones who can't run fast.
South Boston already hosts
By anon
Wed, 01/09/2019 - 2:06pm
South Boston already hosts their fair share of road races. Streets are shut down and cars are towed for no reason. Take your races somewhere else
Win-win-win!
By Michael Scott
Wed, 01/09/2019 - 2:06pm
Win-win-win!
Roads are paid for by
By Kinopio
Wed, 01/09/2019 - 3:11pm
Roads are paid for by everyone yet drivers are complaining that they have to share them for far less than 1% of the time. The city has many real problems. People running a 5K is certainly not one of them.
Pages
Add comment