When We Fight We Win! Support the Boston Cyclists Union In There Important Work!

From the Email:

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Bikes Not Bombs July Update

SPECIAL UPDATE: 2 BNB events happening next week you don’t want to miss! Get Into Gear with BNB on Thursday, July 25th 6-7:30pm @Flat Top Johnny’s in Cambridge Bikes Not Bombs (BNB) will be at Flat Top Johnny’s at 1 Kendall Square in Cambridge on Thursday, July 25th from 6-7:30pm. We will be recognizing the hard work that our fabulous Earn-A-Bike participants and Youth Apprentices have accomplished so far this summer. This is a great opportunity to learn more about BNB and meet other like-minded people, while enjoying complimentary appetizers and free pool. Cash bar. You won’t be asked to make any financial contribution, but we would welcome your feedback following the party. Bring your friends and introduce your networks to our inspiring mission to use the bicycle as a vehicle for social change through empowering youth development programs and international partnerships. Feel free to share the Get Into Gear Facebook Event with your friends! Container Loading to CESTA in El Salvador @ BNB Warehouse at 10 Harvard Street in Dorchester PRE-LOAD: Saturday, July 27th 10am-2pm MAIN LOAD: Sunday, July 28th 9am-5pm PRESS CONFERENCE: Sunday, July 28th 1:30pm Help load 600 donated bicycles into a shipping container for CESTA, our partner in El Salvador: The El Salvadoran Center for Appropriate Technology (CESTA) is leading the struggle for environmental conservation, sustainable transportation and community-led resource management in El Salvador. CESTA’s youth programs teach bike mechanics while building pathways for young people to access paid leadership roles and increase affordable, environmentally sustainable transportation options. Register to volunteer for PRE-LOAD on Saturday, July 27th and/or MAIN LOADING on Sunday, July 28th for any amount of time. Walk-ins are welcome, too! Join us for a press conference on Sunday, July 28th at 1:30pm and support citizen demands to end US detention camps, to adopt a humane immigration policy, and to release asylum seekers and immigrants awaiting case hearings. Speakers include: Nancy Kelly of the Greater Boston Legal Services, an immigration lawyer and human rights activist. Dr. Ricardo Navarro, Founder of CESTA & President of Amigos de la Tierra, a renowned Salvadoran environmental activist working on alternative strategies for El Salvadoran and Central American pathways to sustainability. In addition to escaping violence, many seeking US refuge are fleeing drought and conditions making it impossible to grow food and find work. Globally, cities, towns, NGO’s, and thousands of organizations are committing to mutual aid to address climate change, and to develop a sustainable, healthier future. Global solidarity and peace is the only way to change the current paradigm, TOGETHER! For more information contact our Director of International Partnerships, Carl Kurz at [email protected].

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Somerville Says NO To Protected Bike Lanes On Powder House Blvd

From the email:

The city published an update Friday evening saying that Powder House Blvd will not get protected bike lanes this year. Instead they will paint a single painted bike lane in only one direction and that’s it. This decision unacceptably sacrifices the safety of people biking on Powder House Blvd. They say they will use temporary paint for the bike lane and revisit the decision in 12 months, but this decision will not be any easier to make then, and could be easily further delayed without notice.

Please email transportation@somervillema.gov, [email protected], [email protected], and CC somerville@cambridgebikesafety.org. Say that protected bike lanes save lives and that you are disappointed and angry with their decision on Powder House Blvd. Also, since election season is just starting to heat up, it is a great time to tell elected officials that safe streets are important for your vote in the election this November. There is also a meeting on July 31 @ 6:30pm at the West Somerville Neighborhood School on Powder House Blvd if you want to hear city staff explain their decision or voice your frustration in person.

We have to voice our anger now so that city officials feel a backlash at least as bad as any backlash from removing parking. Volunteers have spent many hours working on this project, talking to residents and stakeholders. We cannot make it easy for the city to throw away this hard work. When city officials avoid building protected bike lanes they must hear from all of us how disappointed we are with them.

As you may have heard a woman from Somerville was killed crossing Mystic Ave near the Stop and Shop in a hit and run crash. While this street is owned by MassDOT and not the City of Somerville, this tragedy should be a wake-up call to city staff that taking shortcuts on safety infrastructure can have terrible consequences. Advocates have complained about this intersection repeatedly and MassDOT has a project scheduled for safety improvements — unfortunately too late for her. Safety improvements always seem to come too little and too late. That’s why it is so important for the city to make the right decision when it can. And that is why we need to write to city officials and voice out anger with their decision.

Please email city officials and tell them that protected bike lanes save lives and that you are disappointed with their decision not to build protected bike lanes on Powder House Blvd. There are many Somerville residents on this list and we can make a big impact when we all speak up.

Sincerely,

-your neighbors at Cambridge Bicycle Safety

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Feedback For Memorial Drive

From Cambridge Bike Safety:

Thanks to everyone who came out to protest DCR’s plans despite the pouring rain! Almost 100 of us attended the rally where speakers advocated for more space for people walking and biking and more trees and greenspace.

Now we need to get to work. DCR needs to hear from all of us by this Thursday July 25th

that keeping four lanes on Memorial Drive is not in line with a safer, more sustainable riverfront. To maximize our impact we need to comment on DCR’s feedback form and also email our state elected officials.

We have two main asks:

1. A protected bi-directional bike path, replacing two travel lanes.
2. Protect existing trees and plant new trees wherever there are gaps.

Please comment on DCR’s site here, select “Memorial Drive Greenway Improvements Phase III”, and write your thoughts, then email [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]

and CC

[email protected] with your comment.

Please also check out the Boston Cyclists Union’s suggestions for Memorial Drive and add any other concerns you have about Memorial Drive or the greenway. This project will renovate the part of Memorial Drive and the greenway between the Eliot Bridge and the BU Bridge (including the rotary). This renovation is a once in a generation opportunity to remake our riverfront so we need to make sure DCR gets this right.

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Action Alert: Two Opportunities This Week To Stand Up For Cyclists On DCR Roadways

Tell DCR: Protect cyclists on your roadways

Last Thursday, we sent a powerful message to the Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) that we need more protected spaces for cyclists on our roads — and we need them now. Around 125 people stood ground on Fenway and Brookline Ave. to highlight the dangers of DCR’s unprotected bike lanes on those roads, proving in the process that even during rush hour cars can move just fine along Brookline Ave. with one less lane for vehicle traffic. Thank you to all of you who took time out of your day to be there! (If you missed it, here are some photo highlights.)

We urge you to now help us carry on our momentum from that demonstration with two actions this week aimed at convincing DCR to modernize its approach to bike safety and street design.

Images from last Thursday’s people-protected bike lane action (Images courtesy of Donrick Pond)
On Wednesday, a coalition of advocacy organizations called the Memorial Drive Alliance will rally to call attention to the need for a road diet along Memorial Drive as part of the redesign process currently underway there. Following the rally, there will be a critical mass-style ride along Memorial Drive, from JFK St east to the BU rotary, to show how the road could be transformed with one less lane for cars in each direction.

Despite overwhelming public comment in support of improving the corridor for walking and bicycling and expanding green space, at the last public meeting DCR presented a plan which retains four lanes of motor vehicle traffic for most of Memorial Drive, including the parts where these improvements are most needed.

Wednesday’s ride will be a highly visible way to try to change these plans before they are finalized.
Rally and Ride
Wednesday, July 17 starting at 5:30pm
Intersection of Memorial Drive and JFK Street
RSVP

As last week’s demonstration showed, if we speak up publicly we’ll be heard. Thursday’s action received significant favorable coverage in the press, got more elected officials at the state level engaging in the conversation, and renewed attention from the City of Boston to continue expediting new protected infrastructure on Boylston St and, together with DCR, at intersections with Park Drive.
In addition to attending the rally Wednesday, it is critically important to write to DCR – even if you previously wrote in – to ask them to change their plan. To submit comments, visit their website and choose “Memorial Drive Greenway Improvements Phase III”. Key points to include:

Replace 2 vehicle travel lanes with a protected bi-directional bike path. (Retain existing paths and sidewalks for pedestrians).
Protect existing trees and plant new trees wherever there are gaps.

The second activist opportunity this week is DCR’s Stewardship Council on Thursday morning, where you can share feedback directly to the Commissioner and members of the Council about Memorial Drive and Park Drive/Fenway, as well as the agency’s general unwillingness to implement physically separated bike lanes.

DCR Stewardship Council Meeting
Thursday, July 18 from 8:30 – 11am
Dillaway-Thomas House, 183 Roxbury Street
Roxbury, MA 02119

The public comment period is toward the beginning/middle (full agenda) of this meeting, and then the public can join a working group to continue to talk with council members. If you plan to speak and have something written, please bring 10 copies. Talking points you could include:

DCR roadways where you travel, and safety concerns that you have experienced on them (including crashes)
Positive experiences you have had traveling in protected bike lanes, and an ask to start using protected bike lanes on DCR roadways
In general, why it is important to you for DCR to prioritize walking/biking/green space on and along their roadways
Particular comments related to Fenway/Park Drive and their intersections, the Arborway in Jamaica Plain, or Memorial Drive

These meetings rarely happen in Boston, so this is a unique opportunity to address DCR directly. We hope you can join us!

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