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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Don’t Let The City Get Away With Half Ass’ing The Design For The New Comm. Ave.

Its crazy considering how many pedestrians, cyclists, and public transport user are on Comm. Ave CONSTANTLY that the city wouldn’t spend more time trying to make it safe for all road users.  Follow the links below to let the Mayor know that this project needs to be a high priority.

From Livable Streets:

Did you see the paper this weekend?

Our work together to make a #SaferCommAve for everyone made the front page of Saturday’sBoston Globe, and was featured in Boston Magazine on Monday.

This media highlights that the redesign of Comm Ave is one of the most important projects in Boston right now, because it impacts so many people who live in or travel through our city.

Yet, the City says that they can’t make any major changes to current designs for Comm Ave because they’re “busy with other projects.” This redesign is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to make the street better for everyone to use. Help make sure the City makes improvements a priority.

Click here to tell Mayor Walsh that the City must prioritize making Comm Ave safer for everyone to use.

The City also claims that “we have to be careful we’re not creating a safety problem” with the Comm Ave redesign. We completely agree.That’s why we’re calling for changes like slower speeds, protected bike lanes, and wider sidewalks to keep all people safe and comfortable on the street.

Jamie

P.S. Did you already sign the postcard? Amplify your impact by sharing on Facebook and Twitter. 

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Action Alert: Comm Ave Needs You!

From Livable Streets:

My name is Matt and I’m a BU grad student, active Allston community member, and Make Comm Ave better for people biking, walking, driving and using public transit LivableStreets Commonwealth Avenue project lead. I’m writing to you for the first time today to ask for your help making Commonwealth Avenue safe for everyone to use. The City of Boston is redesigning a section of Comm Ave, between Packard’s Corner and the Boston University Bridge. We need your help to make sure that the City takes advantage of this opportunity to create a model street that serves the large and growing population of people who bike, walk, drive, and use transit. Join me in calling on the City to design Commonwealth Avenue for everyone to safely and comfortably use. My fear is that the current designs for the Comm Ave project actually make the street less safe – and less enjoyable – for people to use. The plans widen street lanes (which encourages speeding), narrow the already overcrowded sidewalks, and do not improve the bike lane (which has already been the site of many injuries and at least one fatality in recent years). Tell the City of Boston that the designs for Commonwealth Avenue must protect people who bike, walk, drive and use transit. LivableStreets, Boston Cyclists Union, WalkBoston, MassBike and many other advocates, students and people from the neighborhood are working on this project because it impacts all of us around the City that use Comm Ave. Sign the online postcard today to show the City that you care about safety on our streets. Thanks for your help,

Matt     Matthew Danish LivableStreets Alliance Project Leader E: reply@livablestreets.info P: 617.621.1746 W: www.livablestreets.info F: LivableStreets T: @StreetsBoston/#SaferStreetsBoston

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More On The Wigl Vs Ross Express Case

David B. Was nice enough to send me the complaint in the Weigl vs Ross Express case in
Superior Court, along with this context for folks who are not lawyers.  You can download the complaint here.  (pdf)  For more info on the case see here and here and here.

At this time (Nov 7), there’s no answer from the defendants; the only things in the case file are the “cover sheet” used by the court to get the case going, and the complaint, which sets out what the plaintiff claims and will have to prove. All of the causes of action involve “negligence,” which the plaintiff will have to show by proving that the defendants had a duty to Chris Weigl (to drive safely and not cause accidents) and that they breached that duty (by causing an accident) and caused injury to Weigl. They’ll also try to show that the trucking company was not careful enough in hiring the driver. Perhaps he has a bad record or something like that. The defendants will try to show that there was nothing the driver did wrong, even though the accident occurred. They will also, no doubt, try to show that Weigl rode carelessly and was responsible for the crash. The police report of their investigation will be important evidence and hasn’t been released yet, as far as I know. If the jury finds that both the driver and Weigl were negligent, they will have to determine how much each was at fault and that ratio will figure in the determination of any award.

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City Will Improve Comm. Ave For Cyclists

In response to recent deaths, the city and BU have teamed up to improve Comm. Ave. From BU Today:

More warning signs, better bike lane markings, and highway reflectors will be added to the campus’ mile-and-a-half strip along Commonwealth Avenue to improve safety in the wake of the death of a student cyclist in December.

Those improvements, recommended by a joint BU-city working group, will be made by the city. Safety advocates, including Craig Hill, chairman of BU’s Bike Safety Committee, commended the measures, while cautioning that additional improvements may be necessary in the future.

“I’m hopeful that these changes will help protect bicyclists and pedestrians traveling along this very busy stretch of Commonwealth Avenue,” says BU President Robert A. Brown. “I am also extremely grateful for the city’s continued support of bike safety initiatives that safeguard all people who use the city streets that pass through our campus.”

The improvements will include:

• Signs. New signage will designate a “High bicycle and pedestrian activity zone,” and instruct drivers to “Share the road” and “Yield to bicycles when turning right.” Other signs will post a 25-mile-per-hour speed limit. Part of the stretch had been posted for 30 mph.
• Pavement markings:. The existing bike lanes, installed five years ago, will be painted at intersection crossings with skid-resistant, high-visibility green paint, and white bike-shared-lane markings will be added within the green paint at busy intersections and at long crossings. The width of the bike lanes’ edges will be increased to six inches, from the present four inches.
• Reflectors. Highway reflectors, recessed into the pavement, will be installed along the outside of bike lanes between intersections, and more closely spaced before each intersection crossing.

Warning signs to improve safety will be installed on Commonwealth Avenue. Photo courtesy of Tetra Tech

Read the rest of this long, and in depth article here.

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