Newton Streets and Sidewalks

Sunday, September 26, 2010

Brookline/Newton comity

From the Brookline TAB, this nugget regarding a recent Brookline selectmen meeting and a proposal to move a liquor store from 1327 Beacon St. to 1198 Boylston St.:

There was some shouting at the meeting, as Selectwoman Jesse Mermell tried to allow a Newton business owner to speak, and was cut off by Selectwoman Nancy Daly.

“I have to object. Hearing from a Newton business, that they don’t want competition from Brookline, is offensive to me,” said Daly.

Is this really the precedent you want to set when Newton aldermen are about to take up a the Chestnut Hill Square proposal? And, Boston's going to consider a proposal to develop the former Circle Cinemas site?

Monday, September 13, 2010

Parking at Newton North

Converting the demolished old Newton North High School to a parking lot is a bad idea. The current parking constraint (240 spaces shared by faculty and students, and restricted street parking), will drive better student commute choices, which would stick, except for the undermining effect of a big new parking lot. A community garden, park, or outdoor classroom would be a far better use of space than more pavement.

And the policy for issuing student parking permits should not be 'first come, first served' as it is currently. Students should have to justify the need to drive a car by demonstrating that walking, biking or taking a bus is not practical. Incentives for student carpooling should be created. Exceptions should be made for disability, but those who drive for sheer convenience should pay for the luxury and cost to the neighborhood.

Sunday, September 12, 2010

Legacy Place: not pedestrian friendly

Hiking in the Blue Hills and looking over Dedham, a new friend volunteered (totally unprompted): "Legacy Place isn't very pedestrian friendly."

Interesting to us in Newton because Legacy Place is the closest example of what is planned for Chestnut Hill Square: come off a main route into a big parking lot surrounded by retail. To the developer's credit, New England Development has planned some tree-lined pedestrian paths through the parking lot, but those are a weak compromise compared to more urban, more village center-like model where there is curb-side parking and more parking behind and to the side of retail. (Obviously, Newton Centre is the exception.)

It's not clear who the party truly responsible for the proposed layout of Chestnut Hill Square is, there are a number of candidates, but the combination of a very long blank wall on Boylston Street/Route 9 and retail surrounding a big parking lot is going to be a design we are all going to regret.

Child hit by car on Parker Street

The TAB/Wicked Local Newton reports that, on Friday, a twelve-year-old boy was hit by a car on Parker St., between Ridge Rd. and Glenwood Ave. We'll have to wait for the police report to know what happened, but some thoughts and observations ...

Inevitably, someone's going to say that Parker St. is too dangerous to be crossed by a twelve-year-old. As made clear by this incident, that's a fair observation. But, the question is whether it should be. A twelve-year-old ought to be able to cross Parker or Beacon or Washington or Walnut or ...

We should not be forfeiting streets to cars only. Streets can connect or divide neighborhoods. Kids on both sides of Parker go to the same schools. It shouldn't require an adult -- and particularly not a ride from an adult -- to visit a middle-school friend.

Another likely response is to request a crosswalk at Parker and Browning. The address noted in the article as the site of the incident is about 1,000 feet from a crosswalk at Cypress and about 600 feet from a crosswalk at Daniel St. (rough estimates using Google maps to measure). It's simply not reasonable to expect that pedestrians are going to walk 1200 to 2000 ft out of their way to avail themselves of the protection of a crosswalk. Especially not tweens and teens.

But adding a crosswalk is not necessarily the right answer. We already have a cross-walk compliance problem in the city. The crosswalk at Parker and Daniel is heavily used, but you can stand there and wait for up to ten cars to pass before one stops. Adding another crosswalk, which would be lightly used, will just lead to more non-compliance.

The real problem is design. From end-to-end, Parker St. is a ram-rod straight invitation to speed. There is routine police presence nabbing speeders at Parker and Daniel St., but the speeds are high nonetheless. Only traffic calming interventions are going to make a meaningful difference.

Just for fun -- the horse bike

Riding a bike with these horse accessories wearing full spandex kit will probably make heads explode.

I may wait for the unicorn version.

From Gizmodo.

Saturday, September 11, 2010

New bike lanes -- thank you and more please

This is the north-bound version of new bike lanes on Walnut Street between Homer Street and Commonwealth Avenue, right in front of City Hall.

They are terrific. Any bike lanes, especially on already well-traveled bike routes, are terrific. So, we bike advocates ought to be thankful. We also need to continue the campaign for more bike lanes.

This is a very short stretch on an important north/south corridor. Walnut between Homer and Beacon already has nice wide shoulders, which could be converted to official bike lanes. South of Beacon is a long-contested stretch. The stretch north of Comm. Ave. leads to Newton North, and should be made as bike-friendly as possible to encourage students to ride to school. Homer between Walnut and Centre is being repaved, and should be a candidate for bike lanes. &c.

So, thanks. And more, please.

Monday, August 30, 2010

Soldier Ride -- Labor Day

Looking for a ride on Labor Day? Check out the Soldier Ride to support the Wounded Warrior Project. Leaves at 10 AM from the North Bridge Visitors Center in Minute Man National Historic Park.

Saturday, August 28, 2010

Construction pending in Lower Falls

Evidence that work is imminent to convert the existing rail bridge in Lower Falls to a pedestrian bridge.

The shot above is from the Wellesley side. The hay bales may be related to also impending construction on the former Grossman's site.

This is a post along the approach from Concord Street.

These are marking on Concord Street at the entrance to the approach to the bridge.

Friday, August 27, 2010

What the hell is going on?

Updated: As Universal Hub reports, the man who died was a Andrew McAffee, an emergency-room physician and epidemiologist at Brigham and Women's Hospital. He was, apparently, riding a scooter, not a motorcycle. The comments to the Universal Hub post include the text of an e-mail sent to hospital staff.

--

Yet another death ~~on Newton streets~~ on Newton-area streets. The TAB/Wicked Local reports a motorcycle rider died in a crash with a car on Beacon Street and Reservoir Road near BC.

Wednesday, August 25, 2010

Would a seatbelt have saved Adam London?

Updated: In a follow-on Wicked Local/TAB article, Howard London says his son was speeding:

And he was speeding—I know he was speeding—and he was told not to.

My heart goes out to the London family. I don't think there is anything harder or sadder than burying a child. And, I admire the hell out of Howard London for, so soon after Adam's death, acknowledging that Adam wasn't wearing a seatbelt and promising to promote seat-belt use.

But, when a crash is bad enough, seat belts don't make a difference. Based on the pictures, Adam's was a horrific crash. A seat belt may not have saved him. And, if that's so, it's going to take more to prevent a repeat.

We all need to wear our seat belts. I haven't driven or ridden in a car in probably 20 years without buckling up. But, we also need to get drivers to slow down. And, we need to redesign unsafe streets to make them safer.

Monday, August 23, 2010

TWLTLs have failed on Needham Street, make room for bikes

Most of the mile of Needham Street is three-lanes: two lanes in each direction sandwiching what is called a two-way left-turn lane or TWLTL. Here's the theory behind a TWLTL. A driver wanting to turn left into one of the abundant driveways along Needham Street pulls into the center lane and waits for a gap in traffic that's going in the opposite direction. Traffic in the same direction can proceed. The turning car doesn't block traffic. And, the turning driver can wait without anxiety until a safe gap for turning appears.

It's a similar theory for a driver making a left turn into traffic. Once the driver has a safe gap in the traffic she's crossing, she can turn into the center lane. From there, she can wait for a gap in the traffic she's joining. The left turn is broken into two elements that don't require simultaneous gaps in both directions.

Great in theory. But, after years of observation on Needham Street, definitely not working in practice. So, the TWLTL is a waste of real estate, real estate that could be put to much better use for bike lanes. No, not bike lanes in the center of the street. Re-stripe to put the travel lanes together and put nice big bike lanes along the curbs.

Sunday, August 22, 2010

McDonald's drive-thru is a bellwether

What does Needham Street want to be when it grows up? Because, right now, it's not one thing or another.

For starters, the Needham Street corridor is one of the economic engines of the city and one of the few areas in the city with real growth potential. But, it is hobbled by some serious traffic issues, many of which stem from -- or are at least exacerbated by -- half-assed, piecemeal development. The city should tread carefully, as decisions made on a lot-by-lot basis may limit what can be accomplished if a vision is ever articulated.

Reasonable people might venture that the best use for Needham Street is to allow or encourage the kind of strip-mall, auto-centric development that exists now. There are already a number of uses that are distinctly auto-centric and pedestrian-unfriendly: drive-in oil-change shop*, a service station, a tire store, and a largish hardware store and lumber yard. Even the uses that could be part of a walkable commercial district are pedestrian-hostile, like the configuration of the New England Mobile Book Fair, International Bicycle Center, and Newbury Comics/Dunkin Donuts**. A drive-thru McDonald's is entirely consistent with the neighborhood.

On the other hand, with the addition of the Avalon apartments and the likely Northland mixed-use development at the west end, it's not just another stretch of strip malls. It's a residential neighborhood. It's now a place that could support -- and be revitalized by -- pedestrian-scaled, walkable commercial areas.

The whole length of Needham Street isn't going to turn into Newbury Street any time soon. But, the parcels nearest to Avalon should certainly be considered for the potential to support a retail streetscape. Adding a drive-thru would make such a streetscape all but impossible.

Again, it's a shame that there is not master plan for the corridor that would allow us to test the drive-thru against a shared vision for Needham Street.

* With another just around the corner on Winchester.

** One of the great missed opportunities in recent years was the failure to have Dunkin Donuts built with a shared parking lot with Newbury Comics. Instead, there are two separate, difficult to use lots with their own curb cuts.

Friday, August 20, 2010

McDonald's drive-thru on Needham Street

Let's start with the bottom line. There shouldn't be a drive-thru McDonald's on Needham Street.

As a general matter, a drive-thru McDonalds promotes driving and the eating of junk food. We want to reduce both. Arguably, the city shouldn't be in the business of regulating what people eat. But, unquestionably, the city has a role in discouraging bad transportation choices.

The more interesting questions involve the impact on Needham Street. It's troubling that there is no agreed-upon vision of Needham Street that would allow us to say, yes or no, a drive-thru is consistent or inconsistent with the vision. Without such a vision, a proposal like this gets addressed outside any context. And, it's context that makes a drive-thru more or less appropriate for Needham Street.

Drive-thru restaurants are inimical to a pedestrian-scaled, destination-type commercial district, with shared parking and clusters of walkable retail. A drive-thru guarantees a single restaurant surrounded by a sea of asphalt. The restaurant is permanently isolated from other retail establishments, making it unlikely that people will park in one place and shop in a few places. The traffic generated by a drive-thru will make the sidewalk less pedestrian-friendly. In short, a drive-thru restaurant, by design, can never be part of -- and discourages the transformation to -- a walkable commercial district.

To be sure, with a couple of minor exceptions, Needham Street is not a walkable commercial district. But, there is no reason it can't be. The immediate impact of adding a drive-thru is probably limited to additional traffic, provided that plans do not include an additional curb cut. After all, this McDonald's is already an island in a sea of asphalt. But, the long-term impact of a drive-thru is to postpone, probably for decades, any possibility that that stretch of Needham Street becomes a walkable commercial district. And, that's a shame.

Keep in mind this McDonald's neighbors: an enormous apartment complex to one side and an office complex to the other. This is an ideal part of the city for a bunch of dense retail. Imagine that, instead of this one McDonald's on this location, there were two restaurants, with a nice sidewalk (with seasonal outdoor seating) and shared parking. And, some retail in front of Avalon. And, ...

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Yup, free parking still costs too much

Economist Tyler Cowen isn't exactly an early-bird to the party, but he makes the case against free parking in a New York Times column:

Is this a serious economic issue? In fact, it’s a classic tale of how subsidies, use restrictions, and price controls can steer an economy in wrong directions. Car owners may not want to hear this, but we have way too much free parking.

Matt Yglesias had a different take on the problem, comparing free and underpriced parking to Soviet-style price controls:

People generally understand that there were shortages and long lines for things in the Soviet Union because goods weren’t priced according to supply and demand. And people generally understand that, in general, price controls will tend to lead to either gluts or shortages. And yet few people understand that this same principle applies to on-street parking. In many places, it’s hard to find and that’s because it’s not priced properly.

More food for thought.

Monday, August 16, 2010

Unsafe riding will get you killed

While it's not an open-and-shut case of reckless riding, first person accounts on Universal Hub of the crash that killed 24-year-old swim coach Marly Pineda in Brighton make it highly likely. Not for the feint of heart.

I was the 1st car at the red light looking to go straight onto Kelton Street. There were no cars at the red light coming from Kelton but one was driving from a distance. The light turned green, and just like anyone coming up to a green light, the car just proceeded to drive through the intersection as he should. Right when he got to the cross walk a biker (girl, mid-late 20's) FLEW through the intersection with no caution whatsoever and got SMOKED by the car!

Also here:

I saw it too. Was waiting at the red light on Comm Ave. The driver from Kelton Street didn't have a chance to react. The bicyclist came from nowhere, way too fast down the Comm. Ave hill, and ran the red light. The driver was not going fast, and the driver had the green light.

If these accounts are accurate, the young woman was riding at a good clip, didn't see anyone in a limited field of vision, and went through the intersection, which others describe as among the worst in Boston.

Does it really need to be said? If you're not careful on a bike in traffic you could get killed.

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