New Markings At Mass. Ave. Bridge Intersection

(pardon the poor pictures it was dark)
Took these late last night, lane markings are back, but still no flexible bollards up.  In the five or so minutes I sat there about ten cars went by, oh which about 3 were going way too fast and driving in the newly created bike lane. I am hoping once they put up some bollards this will stop, but its a clear indicator that lane markings alone are not going to solve this problem.  Might not hurt to have a week or two of targeted enforcement at this intersection Cambridge PD style.

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Boston Is Improving Dangerous Mass. Ave. Intersection

As I noted before, the intersection is definitely under construction.

A protected bike lane, signs calling for turning motorists to yield to pedestrians and cyclists, and optimized traffic signals are some of the improvements coming to the Boston intersection where a bicyclist was killed this month.

The intersection at Massachusetts Avenue and Beacon Street has been repaved, new striping will be applied, and flexible posts protecting the bike lane on Massachusetts Avenue will be installed starting this week, said Vineet Gupta, director of planning for the city’s Transportation Department.

“Our goal is to make it safe for everyone at that intersection,” Gupta said.(via)

I would have liked to see more improvements, but this is a start.  Keeping Mass. Ave. to two lanes as it exits the bridge heading into Boston and making the right most lane a protected cycle track with a large curb bump to slow right turning vehicles (the curb bump out could have a cut through for cyclists) would have been more optimal in my opinion.  The curb bump out would also make it easier for pedestrians to cross.

Even though they have known it was the most dangerous intersection in the town since at least 2013(pdf), it apparently took a fatal crash to get them to fix it up. While I am very glad they are addressing this concern, will it take a dead cyclist at every dangerous intersection to get these well known problems fixed?  The truck drivers name/company still has not been released, and they have still not filed any charges.

It looks to me like he was clearly making a right hand turn from the left most lane.  And if the city has these images, they probably have many more.  This person needs to be charged with something.

A ban on crazy huge vehicles without escorts should also be put in place.

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Mass. Ave. Intersection Repaved, No Lane Markings

The Mass. Ave. intersection at the base of the Mass. Ave. Bridge has been repaved, and all the street markings are gone. This, as you may recall, is the scene of the recent hit and run that killed Anita Kurmann. The driver of that truck has of yet not been charged with anything.

Two thoughts immediately came to mind. Is this going to affect any investigation into her death? And two, is this in direct response to the crash?

As of now there are no lane markings, making what was already a very dangerous intersection, more so. Be careful out there.

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Woman Cyclist Killed On Mass. Ave. In Hit And Run

Check in with your friends.  Does anyone know who this is.  This is horrible, and marks yet another instance of large trucks having fatal interactions with cyclists.

More images here

——

A woman riding a bike was struck and killed by a truck in an apparent hit-and-run in the Back Bay Friday morning.

The cyclist was hit by the rear wheel of a flatbed truck as it turned off Massachusetts Avenue onto Beacon Street around 7 a.m.

The woman was rushed to Massachusetts General Hospital where she died a short time later, according to police.

Her name has not been released, but investigators said she was in her 20’s. (via)

If you see a truck matching the following description let police know right away.

Police said it is possible the truck driver was not aware the cyclist had been hit.

They’re looking for a flatbed truck with a red sleeper cab and a damaged chrome grill.

A city traffic camera has video of crash, according to police, and authorities plan to release images of the truck soon.

No other information is available at this point in the investigation.

Does anyone know who owns this bike?

More info from the globe:

She was struck by a tractor-trailer unit pulling a flatbed trailer loaded with steel, said Boston Police Superintendent Bernard O’Rourke. Police were called to the scene at 7:05 a.m.

He described the tractor-trailer as having a red sleeper cab with chrome air horns on top of it, and some damage to the grill. He said the truck driver may not have seen the bicyclist, but stressed the investigation is just starting.

He said surveillance cameras in the neighborhood captured the incident and some of that footage may be released to the public later Friday.

“It’s a very, very tragic situation,’’ O’Rouke said.

The search for the vehicle is underway. “We are checking everything we can. We are looking at every single surveillance camera we can check,” he said. “We’re doing whatever we can to find the truck.”

Zach Cloyd, 31, who lives next door to the scene, said he stopped biking home from work because this particular intersection is dangerous.

“That exact corner, waiting at that corner, I’ve had someone almost hit me as they were turning right,” he said.

In the aftermath of the crash, there was a bike with a crushed handlebar laying at the intersection and nearby a helmet laying next to the bike.(via)

EDIT:

This is the truck they are looking for:

(via)

EDIT:

See a periscope of the officer at the scene talking about the crash.

EDIT:

UHub reports this is a very dangerous intersection, which we figured out in 2013.  Lets hope we do something with that data now. (via)

The Back Bay intersection where a bicyclist was hit and killed this morning was identified in a city report two years ago as the most dangerous in the city for bicyclists.

A 2013 report on bicycle safety commissioned by then Mayor Menino found the intersection of Beacon Street and Massachusetts Avenue had more bicycle crashes than any other – and noted it was just two blocks away from the second riskiest intersection for bicyclists:

We found that nearly 60% of all bicycle collisions occurred at street intersections. Of the 7 locations with 5 or more geographically identical collision locations, the top two intersections with the highest number of crashes were in the Back Bay/Beacon Hill neighborhood, with 14 collisions at Beacon St and Massachusetts Ave and 12 collisions at Massachusetts Avenue and Commonwealth Ave (Westbound).

H/t Penny Cherubino.

EDIT:

BPS has released more pictures of the truck.

They have also said that the woman was in her early 30’s not her 20’s.

EDIT:

They found the driver and the truck.  No charges filed yet.

7News Boston WHDH-TV

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Pics Of MassAve Bike Lanes

The good author of BikeyFace (the best bicycle based comic you will find on the net bar none), sent me these awesome pics of the new Mass Ave bike lanes!

starting Up again near symphony

No Parking

Near the first church

Gap near Best Buy

Typical, cars already blocking the lanes

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