Help Bring Protected Bike Lanes To Cambridge St!

got this in the email:

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Do you want to see protected bike lanes on Cambridge St? We need your in-person support to make sure it happens!

On April 25, the City is holding its first public meeting for the Cambridge Street protected bike lane project. We need as many people as possible to show up and express support!

When: Tuesday April 25th from 6PM-8PM
Where: Cambridge Rindge & Latin School – Media Café, 459 Broadway (use main school entrance)

1. Click here to RSVP on Facebook.
2. Canvass with us at least once this week along Cambridge Street! Click here to sign up. The focus of the canvass is to inform neighbors about the project, building support for protected bike infrastructure at the local level. Talking points and materials will be provided.

This project is in no small part because of our community’s collective effort last fall and will be a model for future protected bike lanes and lay the groundwork for a much broader protected network. It’s essential that we work with the city to get this one right.

More details about the project below.

Sincerely,
The CBS core team
What is happening, and where?

Protected bicycle lanes are going to be installed on Cambridge St from Inman Square to Quincy St (near Harvard). The lanes will have a similar design to those on Mass Ave near the Harvard Law School and Lafayette Square, except that they will be longer and on both sides of the street. Here is an example cross-section, and here is a photo of one of the similar lanes on Mass Ave.***

Detailed comments

Three design elements that Cambridge Bicycle Safety views as critical for safety for Cambridge Street and all protected bike lane pilots:

1. The protected bicycle lanes need to be physically separated from parked and moving cars along the entire length of the protected lane. This can be accomplished using a range of options from flex posts to pre-cast curbing and planters.
2. Vehicles such as buses, taxis/Uber/Lyft, and delivery vehicles should not need to, or be able to, block or stop in the bike lane. Floating bus stops–where the bus stops in the travel lane and picks up riders from a raised platform–and appropriate signage and physical barriers to prevent disruptive stopping in the bicycle lane should be included. Here is an example from the MassDOT separated bike lane design guide.
3. Designated loading zones need to be provided elsewhere to make sure that deliveries and passenger pickup/dropoff can take place. Loading zones are crucial for small businesses who depend on deliveries, and they are also important because they provide an alternative to stopping in the bicycle lane.

We’ve recently sent the city two memos outlining our suggestions for the spring projects. Read them here.

*** Although they aren’t the focus of this public meeting, two other short segments of protected bike lanes are also being added this spring, one on Brattle St from Harvard Square to Mason St, and one on Mass Ave from Trowbridge St to Bow St. Additionally, protected bike lanes are part of all the Inman Square redesign options. We’ll be writing more about these projects soon.

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Newton Wont Install Bike Lanes To Make The Roads Safer Because The Roads Are Too Dangerous In Newton

This is sort of what I used to hear about kids walking and biking to school…”We can’t let our kids walk and bike to school there is too much traffic near the school.” Why is there traffic near the school…because all the parents dropping their kids off at school.  This is like electing republicans who say that government can’t work, and to prove it they are going to destroy government.

Circular arguments for everyone!

so narrow!

such small tiny lanes

how will we possibly fit a bike lane here?!

Area in question runs from Rt 30 to Otis Street. The “dangerous” section Babcock referred to is from Mill to Elm ie high school

by the way this discussion started 2+ years ago…so this even though the choice they made is probably the wrong one, they did it in record slow time….what I am trying to say here is the whole thing was done in the worst way possible. Wait that might be harsh, what I really mean is that Newton doesn’t understand how to create integrated and safe streets for all residents. If you live and bicycle in Newton you might want to go to a couple of these transportation meetings and let them know how poor of a job they are doing.

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Citizen Group Pushes For Safer Bike Lanes In Cambridge

After the two recent deaths of cyclists at the hands it seems the citizens are taking to the streets to demand safer bike lanes.

I have seen some very lovely volunteers out collecting signatures on the street (I signed), they also have a website.  If you would like to support their efforts to demand safer bike lanes in Cambridge go here, and sign the petition.  Seems they already have about 1000 signatures, and its growing fast!

Below is their mission statement:

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Protected Bike Lanes Coming To Comm. Ave. Redesign!

Currently the world is drowning in snow, but this is huge news!!

From Livable Streets.

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We did it! 

 

Example of a protected bike lane.

After years of advocating for a balanced redesign plan for Commonwealth Avenue,the city has now agreed to a safer, more livable design that includes protected bike lanes!

As yesterday’s Boston Globe reported, “The city went back to the drawing board after an outcry by advocates, media criticism, and an impassioned public meeting two months ago at Boston University where more than 100 citizens showed up despite a nor’easter.”

For years, LivableStreets has been saying no to Boston’s inadequate plan for the redesign of Commonwealth Avenue that designed for car traffic at the expense of biking, walking, and transit. Thanks to over 1800 signatures and stories collected by our Street Ambassadors, and a strong coalition — including LivableStreets, Boston Cyclists Union, WalkBoston, MassBike, and BU Bikes — Boston and BU officials went back to the drawing board. Thank you City of Boston!

LivableStreets co-founder Jeff Rosenblum presenting a vision for a Comm. Ave. that prioritizes walking, biking, and public transportation. Photo BU Free Press

While thrilled with the news, this project is not yet complete. Stay tuned: we expect the City of Boston to hold a public meeting to share their latest plans in the next month.

We will continue to work with the city and our partners to ensure pedestrian and traffic calming improvements are included in the new design and push for a concrete commitment on transit priority for the Green Line and buses. And we will be pushing for better clearing of sidewalks and bike lanes in winter!

For more information, check out our project page.

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New Bike Lanes On Broadway In Somerville

Somerville has been doing a lot of work to make the old nasty broadway, into a nice street.  They took out a lane, put in a divider, added larger sidewalks, and now have laid down what appear to be double buffer zone bike lanes.  Sadly the drivers still have not quite learned what to do with them.  But once the bike symbols are down, and they are used more I think they will come around.  (sorry for the poor quality pics, it was late at night)

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