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Roslindale car wash seeks to expand, says plans will get cars off busy road
By adamg on Mon, 07/05/2021 - 4:55pm
ScrubaDub has filed plans with the Boston Conservation Commission to use a lot it recently bought next to its existing car wash on American Legion Highway to expand with new queuing lanes, automated payment systems and more vacuums.
The Natick-based chain says two new lanes on its property will let it get cars and their drivers, who now back up on American Legion Highway near Walk Hill Street, off the road.
The Conservation Commission considers the plans at a hearing at 6 p.m. on Wednesday. The proposal needs commission approval because Canterbury Brook runs through a culvert under the front of the current site, reemerging as open water on the roughly 1/3-acre lot it recently purchased.
ScrubaDub says it won't be changing the mechanism of the actual car wash, although it will add some cosmetic touches to the building's exterior. It is also proposing a new landscaped island along the brook and American Legion.
The current nine vacuum spaces along the building will be removed and 14 new units installed on the new piece of ScrubaDub land, making them safer for users, who will no longer have to worry about getting hit by drivers pulling in our out of the car wash.
The company says it will have to chop down one tree, but that it will plant four new ones.
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Comments
It needs more detailing
It needs more detailing services like they do in Brookline and Natick.
I.agree I think they are
I.agree I think they are deserving.
Do they have to take any
Do they have to take any special measures to keep the wash water out of the brook?
Good idea, sort of
Under the circumstances, this is a good idea. But it's the road diet on AL Highway that really needs reconsideration. A perfectly good 4 lane highway is now a confusing mess, with drivers moving in and out of what look like passing lanes, but suddenly squeeze into single lanes with almost no warning. There was no need to do all these tricks for a road that has almost no bicycle use and hardly any pedestrians. It’s more dangerous than ever. Yes, I know people were driving way too fast. Fix it with police patrols, and you could pay for them with ticket revenue. Fix it with speed cameras. But don’t create the current situation, which includes people queuing in the bike lane for a car wash, because the dumb road design gives drivers nowhere else to go.
This road diet was absolutely
This road diet was absolutely necessary and was supported / advocated for by many.
I drive it a few times a week and think it's good. Cars are closer to the speed limit than they used to be and I feel safer.
It is getting safer to bike and there are more bikers as the word gets out
I jog it a couple times a week and think it's a massive improvement. It is getting nicer to walk as well, with slower traffic further set a bit further back from the sidewalks.
It may be a good idea
But as it stands now, it is poorly executed.
I never had an issue jogging the length, though to be open, I only ran the north/west side of the road.
Eh
I think a good thought experiment is what if that was only ever a 2 lane road, like Washington St, Enneking Parkway or many other roads in the area which move a lot of people without 4 lanes.
We need a 'highway' to connect Roslindale with Roxbury/Mattapan?
Cummins Hwy is also a road which went from 2 to 1 lanes and while I am not a daily driver over there, it seems fine?
I agree the 1 lane, 2 lane, 1 lane shifts on ALH are trickier than how Cummins was reconfigured.
To be fair
Most people commuting by bike avoid 4-lane highways because they are unsafe. Once bike lanes are installed, they tend to be used.
And now that they're built
if there's a line of cars in them and no enforcement, they're not likely to be used. But that's an argument for better enforcement of traffic laws, not that we shouldn't build necessary infrastructure.
There were already bike lanes
AL Highway (unlike Centre St. in West Roxbury) already had bike lanes. I rode my bike a few times with the old configuration and felt perfectly safe. For years I rode regularly from Roslindale to Dorchester and much preferred riding through Franklin Park to the American Legion route. I still prefer the park route even with the new bike lanes...but driving on AL Highway is just awful. Traffic gets backed up at the merge points after every intersection, and it's totally unnecessary.