Critical meeting for Casey Overpass

Live in JP/ Rozzie/ points south?
You're probably aware that the existing Casey Overpass is an overbuilt-rustbucket-eyesore that's a whisker shy of falling down.   It's been rolled into the "Accelerated Bridge Program"  and the state is considering two options to replace it- one at grade and one with a new bridge.  Monday night is the meeting to determine which one will go forward into design.  There are a lot of people who drive through there who are amateur traffic engineers and think that a bridge is "obviously"  the only solution, but it's not necessarily the best for other road users or the neighborhood.

I'm not going to be able to make the meeting on Monday night, but I got this info in the email, and I'll send a letter supporting the on grade option.

Please attend the Casey Overpass meeting this coming Monday, November 21 from 6-8:30 at the Hinton State Laboratory at 305 South St. in JP! This is a critical meeting. Your input at this meeting, and our ability as LivableStreets to inspire other people to give their input could decide the fate of the project. 

What's happening? In the next few weeks, MassDOT (Mass. Dept. of Transportation) will decide to replace the crumbling Casey Overpass with either a new two-lane bridge or an at-grade network of streets.

Why attend this meeting? Building a new bridge is more expensive and creates a wall 20-feet high through our neighborhood that, according to MassDOT analyses, won’t help get commuters through Forest Hills any faster than with the superior at-grade option.

What are the options? Both options improve local traffic operations compared to existing conditions and handle all traffic projected through 2035. Both options maintain equal regional traffic operations. Only the at-grade option improves bus service and traffic along Washington Street.

What else needs to be addressed? Despite the enormous advantages of the at-grade option, the outcome is far from decided. We need every at-grade supporter to speak up in support of the at-grade solution. Thank MassDOT for listening and considering these key suggestions to make Boston a more connected, livable city.

Key points to make at the meeting: Show your support for the at-grade alternative to create more livable communities. Come to the public meeting on Nov. 21stand tell MassDOT that you prefer the at-grade solution for any or all of the reasons below. You can help reshape Forest Hills and impact greater Boston for generations to come. Ensure another bridge that cuts through Forest Hills is not built. 

What are the advantages of the at-grade solution?

• Maintains commute times through Forest Hills

• Visually and physically reconnects surrounding parks and neighborhoods by removing the overpass.

• Supports economic and neighborhood development by opening up street-front retail properties to shoppers.

• Creates a clear gateway to the Southwest Corridor

• Improves access to Forest Hills transit Station.

• Recreates Olmsted’s visionary parkway of tree-lined streets connecting the Arboretum with Franklin Park.

• Includes Washington Street improvements making it safer for walkers, cyclists as well as vehicles.

We encourage you to write a letter supporting the at-grade option to your local elected officials and John Romano, Municipal Affairs Liaison, MassDOT, 10 Park Plaza, Boston, MA 02116 or to John.Romano@dot.state.ma.us.

For more information about this project,  visit www.livablestreets.info/casey-overpass

Boston Bike Master Plan Wednesday

Boston Bikes is having a meeting Wed night to present the new bike network plan for the next couple of years.  I got a sneak peak at it from a friend at Livable streets, and there are some awesome things in the works (can anyone say protected bike lane?)

Get all the details at  5:30 PM at the Boston Main Public Library, in the lower level of the McKim building (the historic side that faces Trinity Church, not the godforsaken Phillip Johnson addition)  in conference room "A"  Enter from the Dartmouth street side, and go down the stairs.


 If you haven't ever been in that side of the library, it's worth getting there a few minutes early and going UP the stairs first to check out the murals, the carved stone stair and the impressive coffered reading room.

Do you, or Don't you? (updated)

I stopped at the grocery store on the way home to buy a treat for the Scientist,  and when I was riding off,  I saw a UPS truck at an intersection ahead of me, about to turn into my path.  I give all big trucks a wide berth, so I slowed down a bit, and saw the driver look right at me.  Feeling assured that she saw me, I proceeded, only to have her turn right out in front of me.  Fortunately I was acting with an abundance of caution, so I only had to brake slightly,  but when I caught up to her at the next block (she'd stopped to make a delivery) I rode up to her door, and asked "Did you see me before you pulled right out in front of me?"

She said "Yeah"

But immediately followed that with,  "but you're wearing dark clothes"
I said, "but I have a very bright light"
She said,  "you should have something flashing"
At this point, I just shook my head and rode away, pondering as I went.

This is a bit of a headscratcher.  "Yeah" she saw me and pulled out in front of me anyway?

Yeah, she saw me, despite my "dark" clothing?  and decided to punish me because I wasn't wearing neon lights?

Of course, neither flashing lights nor high vis clothing are required by law in any state I know of, and definitely not in MA, where you need a white light on the front and a red light on the back.   My lights are much brighter than many people's standard "blinkies"

For the record this is what I was wearing: white helmet (with planet bike superflash on the back) light grey sweater, black skirt with  grey tights (and red gloves).    Not exactly head to toe black.

More importantly Minerva was wearing  a Lumotec Cyco R 40 lux headlight mounted at handlebar height.

(It's what all the well dressed DL-1's are wearing these days!)

Basically she either didn't look carefully enough to see me, or didn't process that I was there, because she wasn't thinking about bikes.   After I confronted her (in a pleasant and reasonable tone) she started to make any excuse she could to excuse her carelessness and put the blame on me.

I know that the golden rule or urban cycling is to assume no one sees you.  But I also think that we have to start creating consequences for drivers who don't pay attention, consequences that are serious enough that people pay attention to what they're looking at!  Complaining to commercial driver's employers is a start, but I feel strongly that we need dramatically stronger liability laws to protects bicycles and pedestrians.

Updated-  I filed a complaint online with UPS,  and they emailed me to say that they'd forwarded it to the dispatcher. I did get a call from the dispatcher this morning (sat), but couldn't get to the phone in time.  He left a message apologizing and saying that he would call back later, although he hasn't yet, and the number he has called from seems to be permanently busy.  I don't want them to punish the driver, but I do hope that they will remind her to be careful, and perhaps keep a complaint on her record in case she later hurts someone.

A Visit to Newton

While Gilbert was at Harris for his pedal problems, I took a quick detour to visit Vee,  of the blog Suburban Bike Mama.  She made me some much needed coffee in her charming kitchen, while her cat flirted with me.   Then we headed out to let me try her new bikes.  I was especially interested in trying the electric assist Christiana trike that she got this fall.

The battery pack is nicely integrated with the rear rack, and you can barely see the motor-axle.

 The steering motion was very odd to me because you simultaneously have to push the handlebar out with the "outside" arm while leaning inward.  I suppose you could just turn one handed if you were more comfortable with it, but it was very counterintuitive on an initial test ride.

my arm extended as far as it would go, while I leaned the other way to keep from tipping

 The motor was pretty awesome though.  There's a very steep hill at the end of her road,  and it would be a challenge for an unloaded bike, let alone with a couple of kids or a big load of groceries.   The motor made it really quite manageable, and after the first "whoa" when I first kicked in the assist, it felt very natural and intuitive how to use it.

I also took a quick spin on her new bright orange Public.

 Maybe it was because we didn't bother to adjust the seat, but the geometry wasn't quite comfortable for me.  Partly I'm used to more backward sweep on the handlebars. I guess I would describe it  as if the center of gravity was too far forward. Not in the same "cruising" way that dutch bikes have, but in a twitchier sort of way.   I suppose that if I rode it regularly and adjusted it properly for me, it would start feeling natural.

The bike is perfectly accessorized with a bag made of woven juice boxes- very cool and the perfect amount of orange to coordinate without overwhelming.

One of the neat accessories that Public offers is a neat spring-loaded basket which will fit on either the front or the rear rack,  and which is quickly removable by pulling out the side stays, which are held against the rack tubing by the spring tension.

There were two "detents" for the different tube thicknesses at front and rear racks,  and I think the basket would be more secure on the rear rack with its larger tubing. I'm not generally a big fan of the look of wire baskets (it's the retrogrouch in me)  but the design of this one was very clever, and could not have easily been done in wicker or wood.

And with that,  Vee's kids and husband arrived home, and I had to go pick up Gilbert from his "pedalicure"  It was great to get a chance to catch up with her, and see her unique bikes!

zigzag bike

One of those Missioni for Target bike, spotted in its natural habitat, Newbury St (the swanky shopping street in Boston).

I've got to say,  the zigzags are very appealing.  The white tires, and the tiny splash of orange on the headbadge are nice touches.

It still looks a bit like a BSO in zebra's clothing,  although it has some of the right elements (chainguard, skirt guards etc).  Better  BSO with those items than one without,  and the provenance, and the flashy nature of the pattern probably means that it gets ridden more than a less pedigreed bike, which is all to the good.

"Everybody" Knows

American cyclists and progressive planners who visit the Netherlands are amazed and covetous of the separated paths and the cross section of society that uses them.   We tend to think that these paths are an outgrowth of the social-political system or are somehow engrained in the culture, and we could never achieve them here.

While admittedly the US has a different density and settlement pattern, there are a lot of places in the US that aren't physically that different than the Netherlands,  and their paths weren't always as fantastic as we see today.

This video, produced by the relatively new Dutch Cycling Embassy,  gives an excellent history of the social movement in the 1970's that transformed the bicycling landscape.  This video implies that the lynchpin of the movement was concern over child safety,  and I'm curious if that was indeed the main focus, or if there were other historic preservation/ density concerns.

There's definitely a virtuous cycle a brewing.  More facilies= more cyclists=demand for better facilities=attracting more cyclists, and at some point you end up with the political will to create a comprehensive cycle path network!

Snippets

A bunch of little stuff going on:

I've complained in the past about the Greenway not having bike lanes.   They're not completely in (and the old lines are not completely gone) but they're starting to put them in.   So far only on the water side (Atlantic Ave)  and I didn't explore to see how far they go.   Too much of the length is dashed,  and I'd really like to see a bike box at Seaport, because a lot of cars are turning right, and a lot of cars are gunning for the on-ramp to 93, and it would be great to have a head start through there.  Will try to get photos in the daylight.

Rode Minerva into work today.  I got replacement axle nuts for the 13/32 ones that were sent by mistake.  I put them on on Saturday, rode a couple of errands (including the paint store at which I picked up a gallon of paint)  and dodged some turkeys.  Bike rode great,  kool stop rear shoes are still awesome and grabby,  front drum brake is OK, still needs some adjustment.
This morning when I was hopping on Gilbert, I whacked the pie plate with my foot, and knocked it off somehow.  It didn't want to just snap back in,  so I wheeled G back into the shed, and hopped on Minerva. It's nice having a backup bike.  She looks so dignified in the corner of my office!

Unfortunately I neglected to grab a lock,  so when I got to WF to pick up breakfast, I took a chance and just brought Minerva in with me.  She's not much bigger than a cart,  they're pretty empty at that hour, and what the hey!   No one commented or even looked at me funny.

Got a new pair of old boots!   I had a pair of boots that I loved, but after two hard winters of almost daily wear they were coming apart at the soles.   I took them to my cobbler, and he said that it would be a lot of money and it wouldn't be a permanent solution to fix them.   Unlike 99% of the time when it seems that I discover I can't live without something only after it has been permanently discontinued, I found these online, ordered them Monday before work, and they arrived on Tuesday.  WOW.  They fit just like the old ones, and it's great to have them "back."  I'm looking forward to many miles ahead of them.  Oh, and I'm loving my dramatic print skirts I got from Boden.

Photo assisted by the small brown dog

Dueling meetings tomorrow night- I'm going to try to make at least one of them.
Brookline town hall, meeting about rebuilding the intersection of Rte 9 and the Emerald Necklace.  A notoriously poor connection for bikes and pedestrians,  They're rebuilding this area, and they need incentive to make the hard choices necessary to make it less of a highway and more of a neighborhood.  7pm,  Brookline City hall, info here.

Also a meeting about connecting the Fenway to the rest of the Emerald necklace at the Muddy River.  This is the kind of crazy rotary at the Landmark Center (the old Sears building).  The main project is to open the river, which is currently underground in a culvert, to the air.  There are some traffic changes though, and the Army Corps of Engineers, who is handling most of the project, isn't as progressive about non- motorized transportation as this busy urban district deserves.  Two meetings to handle shift change at the hospital.  Info here.

Finally, and I know this is a long, text heavy post.
New legislation just proposed by State Representative Will Brownsberger (Belmont/ Cambridge)  would mainly provide the same protections to bicyclists riding in a crosswalk as are provided to pedestrians (motorists must yield, $200 fine).   More importantly it hints at a protection for vulnerable users, that seems to declare that in any collision with a bicyclist, the driver may not use right of way as a defense in a civil suit.  Basically it's saying that cars always need to yield to bikes and peds no matte what.
I'm conflicted a bit about how it's stated in the law,  and suspect it's not going to make it through the process, but I firmly believe that stronger legal liability for drivers is a critical part of making cycling safer and more accepted here.  Velouria at Lovely Bicycle had an interesting post about cycling here vs in Vienna,  and a lot of it came down to the legal ramifications that drivers face if they hit a cyclist there make them much more polite and careful around cyclists.  We can build infrastructure all we like, but I think that the underlying liability issues, which I hope will come into focus as more people start to cycle, are critical to getting everyone who might enjoy biking to feel comfortable doing it.