Video: Virtual Tour Of The $39m Bike-Ped Path Coming To Somerville
Written by greg on May 23, 2014 – 5:40 pm -
Greg Hum (Contributor) plays drums on his bike, gets people together for really big midnight and monthly bike rides, and is easily distracted by shiny things and fried potatoes. He shares stories and more on his personal bike blog, The Humble Cyclist.
Connect with Greg on Twitter | YouTube
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Have you ever wished there was a better way to bike from Boston to Somerville? Or vise-versa?
Not long ago state officials secured $39m in funding for a new Bike and Pedestrian path in Somerville that will connect Somerville and Boston, and yesterday MassDOT released this virtual tour video of the bike path so you can see what it will look like to bike on when it’s completed:
From the globe,
The path, an extension of an existing network of paths, will connect the Lowell Street, Gilman Square, Washington Street and relocated Lechmere stations providing a continuous route between Bedford and Boston for cyclists and on-foot travelers. If you are in o virtual sports also, the Uneekor golf simulator might work just well for you.
This 1.9-mile path is the blue-dotted line on this map (the black-dotted lines are existing paths). In addition to providing a safe bike and pedestrian link between Boston and Somerville, it will also serve as a final link in the 104-mile network of the Massachusetts Central Rail Trail connecting Boston to Northhampton, MA. You’ll not only be able to walk and bike on a safe path from Alewife to Boston, but also from Boston to Central Mass. Pretty exciting stuff (and more info here):
This community path is part of the Green Line Extension project, which will bring the Green Line up into Somerville through Union Square, which you can also ride a virtual train through to see what that will look like:
Both the community path and the Green Line Extension are slated to be completed around 2020, but the path will open up as sections of it are completed.
Hell yes.
Tags: bike paths, boston, central rail trail, Green Line, green line extension, rail trail, somerville
Posted in infrastructure | 4 Comments »
More Shared Priority Lanes Installed On Brighton Ave!
Written by greg on May 15, 2014 – 12:45 am -Greg Hum (Contributor) plays drums on his bike, gets people together for really big midnight and monthly bike rides, and is easily distracted by shiny things and fried potatoes. He shares stories and more on his personal bike blog, The Humble Cyclist.
Connect with Greg on Twitter | YouTube
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Just a little while ago, Jasmine Laietmark snagged these shots of city workers laying down the thermoplastic for more priority use lanes on Brighton Ave. in Allston!
Priority lanes are as Globe Reporter Martine Powers called “Sharrows on Steroids.” Kind of like shared lane use markings you’ve seen around town but with dotted lines to indicate to bicyclists and drivers where bicycles safely belong (in the middle of the car lane)
Looks like these go from Packard’s Corner to Harvard Ave. And if these look familiar, it’s be because you may have noticed these same priority lane markers farther down Brighton Ave. on the between Harvard Ave. and Cambridge St. since they were installed a few months ago).
New Brghtn ave. sharrows keep you safe from doorzone.Comm./Hunt. Ave needs these. @bikeboston @universalhub pic.twitter.com/chfj5SkbiY
— Greg Hum (@thehum) November 20, 2013
On my first ride down the priority bike lanes, I immediately noticed more cars changing lanes to pass me rather than queuing up behind me and riding up close to my tail. It felt less stressful and a lot safer to bike on Brighton Ave. which was both strange and a huge relief.
According to Boston Bikes plan for priority lanes on Brighton Ave., we’re still
in Phase 2 of this plan. During Phase 3 of this plan this coming Fall, these dotted priority bike lanes will get painted green.
This is pretty exciting since this type of shared priority lane is an idea born from local Northeastern Civil Engineering Professor Peter Furth and Boston is still one of the first cities to put it into practice.
And I’m not just excited for Boston being one step closer to a complete network of bicycle infrastructure that one day I’ll get to ride on – I’m also excited for the thousands of college students who will inevitably return to Allston in the fall will have a much safer bike commute up and down Brighton Ave. than I once did.
Tags: Allston, Bike Lanes, Boston Bikes, brighton ave, Peter Furth, priority lanes
Posted in infrastructure | 1 Comment »
Open Letter from Midnight Marathon Originator
Written by greg on April 18, 2014 – 4:38 am -Greg Hum plays drums on his bike, gets people together for really big midnight and monthly bike rides, and smiles too much. He shares stories and more on his personal blog, The Humble Cyclist.
Connect with Greg on Twitter | YouTube
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Dear Midnight Marathon Riders,
Now is a good time to fill you in on what’s going on with the Midnight Marathon bike ride this year (it’s still happening, but after months of questions and back and forth). But first, a few words about last year, the most successful Midnight Marathon bike ride to date…
I woke up the morning of the last year’s 2013 Boston Marathon monday dehydrated and sore, in a state of extreme euphoria. Just a few hours earlier, the Midnight Marathon Bike Ride had gone off without a hitch. Over a thousand of you showed up to ride bikes in the middle of the night, even though the temperature dropped to freezing and many of us couldn’t feel our toes by the end.
700 tickets sold out in under 12 hours for a special Midnight Marathon train the MBCR & MBTA chartered for riders.
Grassroots efforts to charter buses brought another 120 people out for the ride, and countless others carpooled or biked all the way to the starting like from Boston. Local businesses and groups sponsored water, snacks, and bike lights for the ride.
On the ride, volunteers helped warn other riders across dimly lit train tracks along the route to cross at a safe angle, and I finished 26.2 miles on my bike surrounded by not only people on bicycles, but longboarders, rollerbladers, and a new friend I met at the starting line who completed 26.2 miles on a unicycle. A group bike ride I had instigated with just a few friends five years ago had grown into a true community event. Feelings of awe, excitement, and hope swirled in my head from how far the ride had come in just five years and what unprecedented community involvement, especially with the MBTA, could mean for all kinds of community events like this in the future. As I was downing my first glass of water and sustenance that morning, I just could not stop smiling.
But then news of the bombings sent me into an emotional downwards spiral.
The sudden transition of emotions from extreme high to extreme low hit me like a ton of bricks. The last story to air on WBUR before sudden coverage of the bombing was a story of Midnight Marathon by a reporter who was on the ride just hours earlier.
I knew it would be even more important to the community for the ride to continue after the attack, and that any security forces would find a way to work with us to continue to make the Midnight Marathon Bike Ride a meaningful experience for everyone. Unfortunately, this thought may have been a little too optimistic.
This year, the MBTA didn’t return our e-mails.
Five months ago we tried to get in touch with the MBTA to talk about a train for this year, but never received a reply back. Then we learned it was because the MBCR (who managed the commuter rail lines) lost their contract to Keolis, another commuter rail management company, and many of the MBCR staff who had helped us organize a dedicated train last year no longer worked for the commuter rail. Our e-mails weren’t just being ignored – there was nobody on the other end receiving them.
And the B.A.A asked us to put a “pause” to the ride this year
The Boston Athletic Association, the private organization that puts on the annual Boston Marathon, called us into their office to talk about the Midnight Marathon ride this year. They laid out their concerns to us about this year’s challenges organizing the first Boston marathon after last year’s bombing tragedies, and how this year’s marathon with have tightest Marathon security to date. We sympathized with their concerns, and asked how we could help.
They asked us not to have a midnight bike ride this year.
We told the B.A.A. that the Midnight Marathon ride has grown virally into a community tradition that exists outside our control, as evidenced by the many chartered busses, car pools, and independent group rides that had zero involvement from us. Not to mention the countless social media posts from people promising to ride whether or not we would. Pausing Midnight Marathon this year would not only be impractical, but impossible.
Since the ride has grown over the years and depends on public roads that are open during the time of the ride, people would still ride on the route, and discouraging a ride that happened on public roads would not only crush community spirit of a wonderful public event in a time when Boston needs it most, but be counter-productive. Even if we asked people not to ride this year, hundreds would anyway, but without our ability to communicate the safest means of doing so, nor our ability to organize volunteers to help those whose bikes break, nor with phone & SMS support for riders who get off track.
The MBTA said they weren’t providing a Midnight Marathon train this year.
The statement from an MBTA representative quoted in the Boston Globe was the first news we had heard about their decision to not provide a special train this year as requested by the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency (MEMA). MEMA first cited security concerns in Boston Magazine as the reasons for wanting to discourage the ride from happening this year, but when asked by the Globe, instead cited safety and noise concerns and called the ride “an accident waiting to happen”
So we reached out to MEMA to talk it out.
MEMA representatives assured us that their concerns were not related to security of the marathon this year, but rather about the general safety of lots of bicyclists riding on roads in the middle of the night – for bicyclists and drivers alike. We assured them we’d follow the rules of the road (such as using reflectors and lights) and always have. After a number of helpful discussions, MEMA informed us that they will not be doing anything physically to stop people riding prior to the Marathon road closures.
While neither MEMA nor the MBTA are changing their stance this year, we have come to an understanding of each other’s concerns; that MEMA has a responsibility to think about public safety, and that Midnight Marathon will continue regardless of what we say. We came to the conclusion that statements discouraging the ride would do more harm than good. We also came to an agreement that it would be a great idea if riders stayed away from the marathon start and finish line installations. The entire Copley Sq. area including the finish line will likely be closed off the night before the Marathon anyway.
We agree with the Boston Globe editorial and the public’s response: Midnight Marathon Bike Ride should continue this year.
A few weeks ago, the Boston Globe editorial board released an editorial calling Midnight Marathon Bike Ride a “civic asset,” and that “IF ANYTHING, the popularity of a midnight bike ride along the course of the Boston Marathon is a reason to keep doing the event, not to discontinue it.”
We couldn’t agree more. Boston’s unique community energy keeps us together. As Shawn Musgrave, who recapped the 2013 ride for the Dig put it
There is a very real risk that city authorities and residents alike might target the unfamiliar, unwieldy and unorthodox as threats to security. This would be a dire mistake. Grassroots-led, impromptu, and seemingly chaotic projects like the Midnight Marathon Ride distill the very best of Boston, those aspects of our city that ought to be magnified in wake of tragedy.
As the city wrestles with grief and self-assessment between now and next Patriots’ Day, the security conversation must not obscure what we ought to protect: the unique (and often unpredictable) community energy that runs through Boston.
So this Sunday Night, together, WE RIDE!
In the past few months I’ve had more strangers than I can count approach me at work, at the gym, and at red lights on bikes tell me that they intend to participate in the Midnight Marathon this year regardless of whether I encouraged it or not. They were not just committed to a tradition, they were committed to participating in riding bikes in the spirit of riding as a community, and not letting terrorism win.
Show the strength of community.
On the night the manhunt for the Tsarnaev brothers came to an end, I followed friends to Davis Square to grab a beer of relief. Even though people were celebrating, I still felt emotionally exhausted and crushed. Then a few strangers approached me to tell me how much they enjoyed the Midnight Marathon and its ability to bring together friends and strangers alike. That was the first time I smiled since the bombing.
Click here to find out everything need to know about Midnight Marathon bike ride 2014
And be sure to invite your friends to the event page on Facebook
See you there,
Greg Hum
Tags: community, marathon, midnight marathon ride
Posted in fun | 2 Comments »
Tonight: Public Hearing For Game-Changing Cycle Track Loop In Downtown Boston
Written by greg on February 26, 2014 – 1:04 pm -Greg Hum plays drums on his bike, gets people together for really big midnight and monthly bike rides, and smiles too much. He shares stories and more on his personal blog, The Humble Cyclist. Tweet at him, bro: @thehum.
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Imagine being able to bike around the heart of downtown Boston on completely safe and separated from car-traffic bike paths, or cycle-tracks. This is the goal of the Tiger Grant-funded Connect History Boston Trail
Tonight is the public hearing to present plans for a protected bike path loop around downtown Boston to the public. Here’s the info about the hearing from the Boston Bikes event calendar, so definitely show up to voice support, comments, or concerns:
A Public Hearing will be held by the City of Boston Public Works Department to discuss the proposed Connect Historic Boston project that is being funded through a Federal Highway Administration Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery (TIGER) Grant.
WHERE: City Hall, Boston
One City Hall Square, Room 801
Boston, MA 02201WHEN: Wednesday, February 26, 2014
Open House 6:00 PM
Meeting 6:30PMThe City of Boston Public Works Department will be holding a public hearing to present the City’s Connect Historic Boston Project at the location and time shown above. The public notice which provides additional information relative to the hearing and project can be found here.
The plans for this path sound almost too good to be true:
The Connect History Boston Trail will be a family-friendly bicycle loop around downtown Boston, providing access to major transit hubs, regional trails, and National Park Service visitor centers and National Park service Partner sites.
A loop that provites two-way travel will simplify navigating Boston’s complex one-way street system. The trail will make it easier to connect from North Station to offices in the Downtown or Seaport District, or between the two stations themslves. For people just getting to know Boston, the out and back nature of the trail will make it easy to go from site to site and return along the same route.
The trail will be separated from traffic, such as a cycle track or path, in order to appeal to the broadest range of people and abilities. Trail users will be able to ride comfortably in small groups.
The trail will be buffered from sidewalk path by street furniture, special paving, or a curb where appropriate.
Wayfinding will direct bicyclists from the Connect History Boston trail to NPS sites and the regional shared-use path system.
Bikeshare, bike rental, and bike parking will be conveniently located to the trail.
If these plans go forward, we can expect to see a very different landscape for bicycling in Boston once completed.
Tags: bike lane, bike path, Boston Bikes, connect history boston, cycletrack, infrastructure, tiger grant
Posted in advocacy, infrastructure | Comments Off on Tonight: Public Hearing For Game-Changing Cycle Track Loop In Downtown Boston
10 In 1 Street Talk
Written by Boston Biker on December 4, 2013 – 2:41 pm -This is going to be awesome! Greg (friend of the blog) is going to be giving his talk about getting the MBTA to help out with the Midnight Marathon ride, go just for him, stay for the rest!
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3rd Annual 10 in 1 StreetTalk
Wednesday, December 11 6:00pm-9:00pm
@ Central Square Theater, 450 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge 02139
Tickets: $5.00 / Purchase here
Come learn about innovative transportation research, start up ideas, and advocacy stories given by planners, students, consultants and engineers from around the Boston region. Hear ten, seven minute presentations from home and abroad. Beverages for purchase available and light snacks provided.
2013 Presentations:
- 12 day transportation fight inside the State House – Elizabeth Weyant, Transportation for Massachusetts
- How I convined the MBTA to charter a train for the Midnight Marathon Ride – Greg Hum
- Discovering and growing a global bike culture at State Street – Peter DeBruin, State Street Corporation
- Connect Historic Boston – Steve Golden and Jamie Young, National Parks Service
- Green Routes: a vision for linked greenways in the urban core – Alice Brown, LivableStreets
- North Bank Bridge from the engineer’s perspective – David Greenwold, PE
- Agile city, urban renewal for a networked world – Aaron Naparstek, Streetsblog
- Quantitative Measurement of Infrastructure Changes on the Longfellow Bridge – Ari Ofsevit
- Reclaiming neighborhood streets: Circle The City on Blue Hill Ave – Jessica Parsons, Circle the City Initiative
- Street design activism in Santiago, Chile – Jeffrey Rosenblum, PE
LivableStreets is your advocate for better biking, walking, and public transit in the Boston region, creating safe streets and livable communities. www.livablestreets.info
More information: [email protected] / 617.621.1746 / #10in1StreetTalk / Facebook event
Thank you to event sponsors State Street Corporation and On the Move Coalition.
Tags: 10 in 1, livable streets, street talks
Posted in advocacy, fun | Comments Off on 10 In 1 Street Talk
