People in West Roxbury - and Roslindale - who get those blue ValPak envelopes filled with coupons this week got at least one "coupon" that advertises an alleged conspiracy by the "bicycle lobby" and people from outside the neighborhood to destroy West Roxbury by forcing bike lanes onto Centre Street, and down the throats of the good citizens of that leafy neighborhood.
The "coupons" do not indicate who paid for them and do not mention that the city ignored calls to do something about pedestrian problems along the windy four-lane road until a West Roxbury resident walking in a Centre Street crosswalk died after being hit by a motorist who said she was blinded by the sun - at the same intersection where another West Roxbury resident suffered a traumatic brain injury three years earlier when he was hit by a motorist who sped by another driver who had stopped to let him walk across the street.
After an emotional meeting at the West Roxbury Elks Club following Marilyn Wentworth's death, city planners began looking at a proposal to essentially narrow Centre Street to three lanes - one travel lane in each direction and a turning lane in the middle, with pedestrian islands at several intersections.
The proposal would allow for dedicated bike lanes - the street does not currently have any. At a raucous meeting at Holy Name School, some people who do not live in West Roxbury, including the owner of a Jamaica Plain bicycle shop, supported the plan. However, the bulk of bicyclists - or parents of bicyclists - who rose to support the idea gave West Roxbury addresses, and discussed how they tried to avoid Centre Street because it is so dangerous.
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Comments
West Roxbury....where they'll
By anon
Wed, 10/16/2019 - 8:49am
West Roxbury....where they'll yell at you to "move to the suburbs if you don't like the city" but yet roll up their sidewalks at 8pm.
North of Boston
By SwirlyGrrl
Wed, 10/16/2019 - 11:16am
A similar crowd whines about parking being a disability issue (which it is), then freaks out when anyone suggests that maybe street parking should therefore be reserved for people with disabilities and everyone else use the ample parking in the lot behind the businesses and at City Hall instead (and walk).
Funny, no mention of the overwhelming opposition.
By Roztonian
Wed, 10/16/2019 - 9:14am
Funny, no mention of the overwhelming resident and business owner opposition from the meeting mentioned in this post. Spin much? No bike pun intended.
Spin?
By adamg
Wed, 10/16/2019 - 9:20am
Oh, please. Yes, there are people making sincere arguments against the proposal. But we're not talking about them here - the subject here is angry fantasists with delusions of grandeur making up conspiracies by an alleged Big Bicycle and a cabal of jealous people who can't afford to live in God's Own Country to ruthlessly destroy an entire neighborhood. And now they've gone beyond just harrumphing at community meetings - and denying that anybody who lives there could possibly disagree with them - to putting out actual money to promote their fantasy.
I'm honestly wondering if
By Miss M
Wed, 10/16/2019 - 10:40am
I'm honestly wondering if this is from the same person who put bumper stickers all over W.Rox. saying you shouldn't shop at stores that don't wish you a Merry Christmas. Same energy.
no
By cinnamngrl
Wed, 10/16/2019 - 10:59am
But I wonder if the local sales rep for Valpak is trying to generate interest from it's customers.
majority of people oppose - "we're not talking about them here"
By Roztonian
Wed, 10/16/2019 - 11:18am
So the majority of people oppose the plan (which is the reason for the insert) but - "we're not talking about them here".....ggggotcha.
"And now they've gone beyond just harrumphing at community meetings"...So if people strongly oppose something and have legitimate concerns they are "harrumphing" - cool, cool.
Seems pretty objective to me.
Look, the insert is over the top - I agree on that. But it is the result of the fact the the overwhelming majority of people in West Roxbury are against this plan.
Says who?
By adamg
Wed, 10/16/2019 - 3:37pm
I'm unaware of any actual polling on the issue.
Look, the insert is over the top - I agree on that.
So you agree with my reasoning for why I wrote the post the way I did. Thanks.
nope
By Roztonian
Wed, 10/16/2019 - 4:00pm
I'm sure you were at the meeting - and know of the opposition.
I said I agree that the insert is over the top - I think the overwhelming opposition to the plan is a real thing, and opposing opinions should not be dismissed as nimby-ism or "harrumphing" as you put it.
Overwhelming?
By Mark-
Wed, 10/16/2019 - 9:32am
I certainly haven’t been overwhelmed by the cars-over-everything people.
Interesting word choice
By Bill B
Wed, 10/16/2019 - 1:58pm
I can’t get enough of these folks who think all of West Roxbury is represented by the dozen people they talk to.
At the holy name meeting 30+ spoke in favor and five against. Most identified themselves as residents.
The anti-road diet candidate, Marty Keough, lost the preliminary election to unknown candidates that support the road diet. He got less than 12% in WR’s ward.
There are people ranting on Facebook, almost entirely echoing disproved alarmist nonsense about the impact of road diets. Signing a petition that isn’t even against the proposal, but against made up impacts like slower emergency response (not only wrong but opposite).
Hundreds of people signed a petition (with local addresses) supporting the actual proposal.
But keep saying everyone is against it.
Rumor is that the mayor is
By City Hall Watcher
Wed, 10/16/2019 - 9:54am
Rumor is that the mayor is backing away from this Centre St plan. If you're a resident who wants this plan to happen, time to flood the emails listed on that insert and let them know you want the road diet with protected bike lanes. The loud NIMBYs are the minority per usual but they have the mayor's ear allegedly, mostly due to campaign donations.
Really, because I heard a
By MattyC
Thu, 10/17/2019 - 10:24am
Really, because I heard a rumor that the Mayor wants cars to stop killing people and therefore supports it. You name your source, I'll name mine, but I bet mine works in City Hall and yours doesn't.
I know exactly who paid for this insert
By Parkwayne
Wed, 10/16/2019 - 11:19am
Adam Gaffin.
Just look at the web views and comments on this post. It's a gold mine!
Not out of his own pocket, though
By SwirlyGrrl
Wed, 10/16/2019 - 11:22am
He's going to do a chargeback to Soros.
Well, Congratulations Whatever Group Paid for This
By Iresd
Wed, 10/16/2019 - 11:27am
I'd signed the petition and told my city councilor, but now you've got this life-long WR resident sending an email to everyone on that *stupid* flyer about how I support the Road Diet. Well done!
speed kills
By Bobp
Wed, 10/16/2019 - 1:47pm
The woman was hit because of speed, ignoring the other car stopped for a crosswalk and solar glare.
The bike lanes have become a convenient scapegoat for everyone who does not want change.
Driving Centre twice a day, I can tell you that no one has slowed down. People still routinely don’t stop for people in crosswalks and they make illegal u turns and run red lights.
Slowing the traffic by creating tow travel lanes and a turn lane is the best solution. Sorry I will gladly give up a few minutes of my daily commute to make it safer for everyone.
PS the letter in the Bulletin two weeks ago sounded a lot like this flyer.
Just did the same
By Manny
Thu, 10/17/2019 - 3:35pm
Not only because I am in favor of the road diet and bike lanes but if this does get implemented it will make that Redbaron guy's head explode and that can't be a bad thing.
who did it?
By anon
Wed, 10/16/2019 - 11:57am
I sure don't know, but look for whoever spells it "neighboorhood"
How many people
By GrampaNurgle
Wed, 10/16/2019 - 6:24pm
Actually commute by bike from West Roxbury? It’s most likely not even in triple digits, and it makes absolutely no sense to spend tens of millions of taxpayer dollars and screw over tens of thousands of car commuters just to placate a couple dozen rabid frothy-mouthed bike zealots.
Winner winner chicken dinner.
By anon
Wed, 10/16/2019 - 5:13pm
Winner winner chicken dinner...another "I got mine screw the rest of you."
Apparently its 44 per day
By spin_o_rama
Wed, 10/16/2019 - 5:26pm
Thats on Weld Street west of Centre Street.
https://www.boston.gov/departments/boston-bikes/bi...
But of course this isn't just about biking, its also about dangerous road design and curtailing as much road violence as possible. Makes plenty of sense to spend money on that.
Also pretty clear that its not tens of thousands but about 3,446 motorists per day. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
You have to be Kidding 44 Bike Trips!!!!!!!!!
By redbaron
Wed, 10/16/2019 - 5:42pm
44 Bike trips 1.3%, of the vehicles and we suppose change the whole Business district. all of the Heavy routes were in town probably college kids short bike rides.
How do you feel about congestion pricing/market rate parking?
By spin_o_rama
Wed, 10/16/2019 - 5:49pm
After all, you just told me its a heavy route. Be it one lane or four lanes, induced demand is a thing and if you build it they will come. Might as well make em pay a premium for it.
Oh and we can do away with the freebie 2 hour car storage, gotta price that and let the free market reign amirite?
Remember, this isn't just about bikes but dealing with dangerous road violence caused by motorists and poorly design streets.
I'm assuming you have some data for this chief?
It's College kids, Longwood Medical Area
By redbaron
Wed, 10/16/2019 - 5:54pm
and people who live in the Back Bay, South end, How many people are coming in from outside of JP even. Minimal. Stop wasting our time. NO BIKE LANES. Improve traffic lights,
better crosswalks, slow down traffic. Fine but NO BIKE LANES. out of the question
Wrong
By Manny
Thu, 10/17/2019 - 11:47am
It’s me. I take my bike up to the business on Center St on a regular basis. Bike to get a burrito? Yes please. Bike to get my haircut? Yes please. Bike to Rochies? Yes (I put the bags in the crate on the back). You get the idea. I try my hardest to stay off of Center St in the car. It sucks.
To me the road diet comes down to this. Will it be safer for everyone ? If you believe the research (and I do) then yes it will be. Will it cost me a few minutes when I drive on Center Street ? Yes. Oh well.
Sure thing skip!
By GrampaNurgle
Wed, 10/16/2019 - 7:40pm
We, the 4000 something drivers, will be delighted to pay for those two travel lanes as soon as the 44 of you clowns pay for the other two travel lanes you want converted into your precioussssss bike lanessssss. 50/50 split since you want half of the available space all to yourself, sounds fair?
Maybe
By SwirlyGrrl
Wed, 10/16/2019 - 7:57pm
You can also contribute to a fund for the people you kill.
You sure you wanna make that deal?
By spin_o_rama
Wed, 10/16/2019 - 8:11pm
Remember how roads are funded before you go making arguments like that.
https://frontiergroup.org/media/fg/true-costs-driving
Self-owns are so delicious. Next!
Ah yes
By GrampaNurgle
Wed, 10/16/2019 - 9:29pm
It’s all about the gas tax. Excise tax, license, registration, inspection and sales tax do not exist, they’re all just a product of the overactive cager imagination.
You’re paying over $1100/year for your car fees?
By Ian
Wed, 10/16/2019 - 9:57pm
Not sure what state you’re in, since that’s way more than I’m paying for my MA registration, inspection, license, etc. Have you considered maybe switching to a bicycle? They’re a lot cheaper!
Most of those other fees don
By DTP
Thu, 10/17/2019 - 8:51am
Most of those other fees don't directly fund roads.
License and registration fees pay largely to run the RMV.
Inspection fees don't really raise any money at all. Stations usually lose money on them.
Sales tax pays for a ton of things. Roads are but one tiny portion of it.
No matter how you slice and dice it, user fees don't come anywhere close to funding our roads, and that gap in funding is made up through general revenue (e.g. sales tax) that is paid by everyone, regardless of whether they own a car.
Also, as has been pointed out umpteen million times, the majority of cyclists also own cars, and thus pay all those taxes and fees. It's possible to use different modes of transportation for different trips. It doesn't have to be zero-sum.
You didn't read the article
By spin_o_rama
Thu, 10/17/2019 - 8:54am
Spin you are done 44 Trips
By redbaron
Wed, 10/16/2019 - 5:45pm
Game over go out and get a used car and a Stationary Bike and stop wasting our time. we have a businesses and a community to run.
Oh you said businesses again?
By spin_o_rama
Wed, 10/16/2019 - 5:50pm
Funny thing about that and bike lanes:
https://www.citylab.com/solutions/2015/03/the-comp...
https://www.forbes.com/sites/carltonreid/2018/11/1...
https://www.citylab.com/transportation/2012/12/cyc...
https://usa.streetsblog.org/2012/03/23/why-bicycli...
What about the need to tackling the road violence in this area? No concerns there, stick with the status quo?
Road violence?
By GrampaNurgle
Wed, 10/16/2019 - 7:39pm
You mean all those entitled jeggins-wearing assholes swearing at pedestrians and smashing car mirrors with their ulocks? You’re right, something definitely needs to be done about it.
Hey Adam
By SwirlyGrrl
Wed, 10/16/2019 - 7:57pm
Looks like we got another "new member" from that same batch of socks.
Citations please
By spin_o_rama
Wed, 10/16/2019 - 8:15pm
Adam's already got links about the current road violence, do you have anything backing up your claims?
https://www.boston.gov/sites/default/files/imce-up...
Also some of us wear cut off jeans when we ride, jeez.
1.3% of People Travel by Bike in West Roxbury
By redbaron
Wed, 10/16/2019 - 5:57pm
1.3% I bet they are not even commuting.
So
By GrampaNurgle
Wed, 10/16/2019 - 6:31pm
Just a couple dozen as expected. Talk about being entitled...
Yeah advocating for safer streets
By spin_o_rama
Wed, 10/16/2019 - 6:54pm
What an entitled view to have.
Want safer streets?
By GrampaNurgle
Wed, 10/16/2019 - 7:46pm
Invest in better public transportation instead of wasting countless millions on a few entitled assholes.
Swearing?
By spin_o_rama
Wed, 10/16/2019 - 8:09pm
But above you were clutching pearls about cyclists swearing, different standard here?
Hey when you've got no argument to make, attack the messenger amirite lol
Fake troll bait
By cinnamngrl
Wed, 10/16/2019 - 8:11pm
Fake troll bait
¿Porque no los dos?
By Ian
Wed, 10/16/2019 - 9:51pm
n/t
Grandpa you are right
By redbaron
Wed, 10/16/2019 - 5:35pm
That would be a good question how many bike trips are there per day on Centre St.
I wonder why or if there has been a study. Northeastern could get some student ( I think the same one who did the Traffic study) And have him count, he could probably use his hands on how many Bikes go down Centre Street. I guess that is the question is the Road Diet for safety or these outside Bike groups. We don't need Bike Lanes, more lights? less Car lanes? But definitely NOT BIKE LANES.
The right hand
By SwirlyGrrl
Wed, 10/16/2019 - 8:08pm
Complements the left hand.
How do you both type with socks on your hands?
The main purpose of the road
By cden4
Wed, 10/16/2019 - 5:56pm
The main purpose of the road diet is to make it safer for pedestrians to cross the street. Fewer lanes to cross does that. It also happens to free up space that can be used for bike lanes.
In addition, it's usually not useful to gauge how many people would bike on a street after it has bike lanes based on the numbers before it has bike lanes. It's a little bit like trying to gauge how many people would use a new bridge based on how many people swim across the river today. People who bike avoid streets that are unsafe or uncomfortable. Making it safer and more comfortable for bicycling will be a huge boon to the local businesses. Studies show that people who bike spend more money at local businesses and visit more often than people who drive.
1.3% Travel by bike in West Roxbury
By redbaron
Wed, 10/16/2019 - 7:01pm
No need for change, outside Bike Lobby ruining the city. Marty Walsh would never agree to this change.
Christ, you're an idiot.
By DTP
Wed, 10/16/2019 - 6:27pm
Christ, you're an idiot.
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