How 'bout them bike lanes!

That's my personal favorite part of the new bike lanes on Beacon Street: the shift of the center line, the left-turn lane, and the westbound travel lane to make room for the westbound bike lane. (That's Hammond Street at the top of the picture.) Before the bike lanes, there was rarely room for a bike if traffic was queued at the light. Now, there's plenty of room. (Biker's beware, the bike lane doesn't render drivers magically attentive. Watch out for right-turning traffic!)

The next shot shows more or less shows the entire stretch of bike lane. (This one needs to be seen in full size. Go ahead and click on it and come back.) The seam in the foreground is the Boston/Newton line. The crest of the hill where the bike lanes vanish is Hammond Street, where the bike lanes actually end. It's kind of depressing that Newton's entire inventory of bike lanes can be captured in a single photo. But, you've got to start somewhere!


This is what you see heading eastbound, crossing over Hammond. To the left, in the westbound lane, you can see how the lane routes around the bus stop, to avoid conflict with the frequent BC shuttle buses.




Finally, just for fun, this is the golden spike of our regional bike lane network, the point where the Newton-applied stripe overlaps the Boston-applied.