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1
Traffic-Intolerant Bicyclists
and
Boston’s Greenway Network
Peter G. Furth
Professor
Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering
Northeastern University
2
Bicycle Ridership Depends on Traffic Stress
degree of traffic stress
Rid
ers
Unimproved
Low stress facility draws high ridership
Many
improvements
serve only traffic-
tolerant riders
X3
X2X1
A Test:
Could we design a network for Brookline
intended for traffic-intolerant cyclists?
3
4
Proposed Safe Routes Network, Brookline, MA
• Accepted in 2007 as plan by Brookline Transportation Board
5
Expanding the Toolbox of Low-Stress Facility Types
* New criteria developed for
traffic-intolerant riders
5. Contraflow lane
6. No-Passing-Bikes zone
7. Separated paths or “Cycle tracks”
BICYCLE CONTRAFLOW• One-way for cars, two-way
for bikes
• Excellent safety record
• Bikes do it anyway!
Recommended Contraflow Site (observe contraflow cyclist)
7
8
Recommended No-Passing-Bikes Zone
(Carlton St.)
• Self-enforcing
• Removes stress from cyclists
• Removes pressure motorists feel to pass unsafely
9
Cycle Track or Separated Path
• Stress-free between intersections
• Design for safe crossings and endpoints
• Separation is vital on high-speed roads
Cycle track on Vassar St., Cambridge
Refuge Cycle TracksCarry routes through dangerous intersections
11
Could We Design a “Safe Routes” Network for Brookline? YES.
• Greenways
• Quiet Local Streets, 15 of them with contraflow
• 5 No-Passing-Bikes Zones
• 4 Refuge Cycle Tracks at busy intersections
• Separated paths along high speed arterials
• Implementation Schedule???
Boston’s Developing Greenway Network
Arborway: 8 lanes of highway, no path
13
Jamaica Pond
Kelley Circle
Murray Circle
Arboretum
Engineering Students’ Design, 2008
14
Regional Traffic Concentrated in Inner Raodway
Continuous Paths in East & West Side Medians
Net New Greenspace = 4.45 Acres
Newly Accessible Greenspace = 5.60 Acres
Greenway Segments (2+ mi long?)
Arborway
Route 9 Crossing
Sears Rotary
“Harbor-Ride”
S. Bay / Harbor Trail
Harbor Walk
Southampton & Old Colony
Watertown Branch
Community Path
Charlesgate Path World
Series Path
Grand Junction
Earheart Dam / Bike to the Sea
Downtown Boston
South Boston
UMass Boston
Dorchester
CambridgeWatertown
Somerville
Charlestown
Jamaica Pond
Brookline
Forest Hills
Brighton
Fresh Pond
Missing Mile Bridges
World Series Path
SW Corridor (at Ruggles) to Back Bay Fens
50% on NU campus
SW C
orridor
Ruggles Station
Huntington Ave
MFA
NU & first World Series site (1903)
Shifted median
Back Bay Fens
Mass. Pike
Charles River Mass.Ave.
Muddy River
Comm. Ave.
CHARLESGATE PATH
Proposed ConditionsThis is a rendering of what the southbound lanes of the
Bowker Overpass will look like.
Existing ConditionsThis is an image taken from the Bowker/Boylston
Intersection looking at the southbound lanes of the Bowker Overpass.
Moving The MedianMoving The Median
Down & Across the On-Ramp from Comm. Ave.
– Ramp Narrowed to 1 lane for entering Bowker Overpass
– Signalized crossing, coordinated w/ Comm Ave
– No negative traffic impact
– ADA ramp to Charlesgate West and Newbury St.
Comm Ave
Coming down to Commonwealth Ave.
Shifted curb line on Beacon Street crossing the Muddy
Proposed Path Layout: Connections AND a New 2.5 - Acre Park
LMA
MGH
E. Cambridge
BUBack Bay
NU
MIT
JP
BMC
Harvard Sq
Allston/Bri
U Mass
S Boston
Roxbury
Boston’s Future Greenway Network (in part)!
www.civ.neu.edu
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