Author: Jane Hanser

Bristol Mini-park

Posted By: Jane HanserPosted On:

Have you driven by, biked, run or walked on the Carriage Road between Bristol and Chestnut? This area, now called Bristol Mini-park, was officially created on Feb. 24, 2021, when this proposal passed Traffic Council unanimously. It is the permanent closure of this 330′ of roadway to motorized vehicles. From now on, it is open only to pedestrians, runners, and bicyclists.

My idea for this goes back to 2015. The City was struggling to stop the number of vehicular crashes occurring at the intersection of the Carriage Road and Chestnut St. For several years Traffic Council had tried to solve this by passing a “Right Turn Only” at the corner of the CR and Chestnut. But the crashes continued, as drivers along the Carriage Road violated that restriction, and drove straight across Chestnut.

I realized the solution was to close this stretch of road to motor vehicles, which was possible as there were no driveways this entire block. I suggested this idea of closure to Councilor Andreae Downs, who then docketed this (TC161-20) before Traffic Council. It passed unanimously.

My having connected with Parks and Recreation, in November 2022, Parks and Recreation planted fourteen beautiful flowering 4C trees (Capture Carbon Commemorate COVID-19) in the berm here. These trees, Syringa Reticulata, Syringa Snowcap, Prunus Sargentii Spring Wonder and Prunus Sargenti Rancho, are now thriving and adding gentle pink and white blooms, to continue next season, and in subsequent years.

Next, Parks, Recreation and Culture under Commissioner Nicole Banks located beautiful large boulders at the entrance to this mini-park in 2023. We hope this will be a template for future decoration or theme of the park entrances, both at Bristol and at Chestnut.

Our first official event in this mini-park, the Bicycle Lights Giveaway at Bristol Mini-Park, took place on Sunday, October 15, 2023. A highly successful event, it was co-sponsored by BikeNewton and MassBike. The MassBikes Lights Brigade aims to brighten up cyclists across Massachusetts by distributing sets of front and rear bike lights. and this was the first ever such event in Newton!


We look forward to the development of this area as a place of rest and repose, shade, and reflection, and more special events like the Bicycle Lights Giveaway to keep cyclists and others safe when cycling, running or walking in the dark.

For additional coverage of this topic, please click HERE.

Cobbles Removed

Posted By: Jane HanserPosted On:

DPW removed the cobbles along the Carriage Road.  While some bemoaned the loss of the cobbles with their mystique, this is a tremendous improvement for public safety. The Carriage Road is now safer for pedestrians, runners, people with disabilities, and bicyclists (whose tires sometimes could get stuck in between the cobbles). Some day we hope for funding to add flowers and foliage in the berm to further adorn the Carriage Road.

Before:

Current:

Legal Two-Way Non-motorized Bicycle Travel on Commonwealth Ave Carriage Lane “North Drive” Passes Traffic Council 5-0 TC112-20

Posted By: Jane HanserPosted On:

There are several landmark projects occurring in the City of Newton. One is called the “Commonwealth Avenue Carriageway Redesign” project. It is not to be confused with the “Commonwealth Avenue Two-way for Bicycles.” Information about the “Commonwealth Avenue Carriageway Redesign” can be found : here: Commonwealth Avenue Carriageway Redesign. It’s fully funded through MassDOT’s Bicycle and Pedestrian Program, and construction is supposed to begin in 2023.

TC112-50 Passes Traffic Council

TC112-50, which requested action to allow legal two-way bicycle travel on the Commonwealth Avenue Carriage Lane between Woodbine Street and Mt. Alvernia Road, passed last night, Thursday March 17, 2020. Support among the five members of Traffic Council was unanimous. The mandatory 20-day appeal period, ending April 6, came and went with no appeals. This project is also known as Commonwealth Avenue Carriageway – 2-way Bike Travel.

The measure was co-docketed by Councilors Andreae Downs, Jake Auchincloss, Alicia Bowman, Andrea Kelley, Mark Laredo, Marty Markiewitz, Emily Norton, Pam Wright, Vicky Danberg, Josh Krintzman, Maria Scibelli Greenberg, and Rick Lipof.

Impact of This Historic Vote

This historic vote will have far-reaching impact. It will positively impact bicycle and pedestrian safety. It will help Newton reach its Climate Action goals. It will:

  • Help fulfill Frederick Law Olmstead’s goal of a linear park along Commonwealth Avenue “to which people may easily go when the day’s work is done, and where they may stroll for an hour, seeing, hearing, and feeling nothing of the bustle and jar of the streets where they shall, in effect, find the city put far away.. “;
  • Support the Safe Routes to School (SRTS) Task Force’s mission of providing safe routes for school children to get to and from school;
  • Make life more pleasant for all who walk, run, or bicycle along the Carriage Road, whether eastbound or westbound;
  • Help fulfill the Carriage Road’s potential as the unique resource that it is.

The five voting members of Traffic Council were Newton Transportation Coordinator David Koses; City Councilor Alicia Bowman; representing the Police Dept, Sgt. Wade; citizen representative Jeremy Freudberg; and from Newton’s Dept. of Public Works, Transportation Engineer Isaac Prizant.

Newton residents and community leaders Scott Oran, James Purdy from the Newton Energy Commission, Jenn Martin from SRTS, and Jerry Reilly from Village14 and Newton Nomadic Theater all spoke eloquently to support passage of this motion. I am grateful to each.

With the 20-day appeal period now in the past, with no appeals, the City will begin making the street signs, such as the smaller STOP signs for the bicyclists heading east.

Thanks go out to all who played a part in this momentous vote.

Jane Hanser

2nd Public Discussion “Commonwealth Avenue Carriageway – 2-Way Bike Travel” Thursday Nov. 4, 2021

Posted By: Jane HanserPosted On:

Mayor Fuller approved the commission of a consultants’ report on the Commonwealth Avenue Carriage Way 2-way for bicycling. This report is now complete and was submitted to the DPW Engineers. That report is available to the public on the Transportation Planning web page. That report was discussed by, and has the support of the Complete Streets Working Group, and the Transportation Advisory Group (TAG), and representatives from Safe Routes to Schools Task Force and BikeNewton. I will be providing my own comments to DPW and Transportation Planning tomorrow, 11/25.

The 2nd Public Meeting is scheduled to be led by Nicole Freedman of the Planning Department, on Thursday, November 4, 2021, 5:30-7pm via ZOOM.

You can download the flyer here.

Please come out and support this project! We know our children and others ride legally eastbound. And they need to be able to return home safely, the same way.

Carriage Road 2 Way Bike Travel: Transportation Dept Public Outreach

Posted By: Jane HanserPosted On:

Did you miss the Sept. 29 2020 public meeting? If you did, not only are you not alone, but you can now read or listen to what you missed.

The Transportation Planning Dept now has a web page devoted to the project.

On this page, Commonwealth Avenue Carriageway – 2 Way Bike Travel, you can find links to:

* the design plan presented at that meeting, and to
* the audio recording of the meeting.

Stay tuned for more news.

Signs? Striping? See What We Are Proposing for Two-Way

Posted By: Jane HanserPosted On:

You may be asking yourself, “What’s this I hear about the proposed two-way bicycle travel on the Carriage Lane?” People of course want to visualize what our proposed changes to the Carriage Lane will be. We want to make it easy for you. Whether you are a driver, a walker, a dog-walker, a bicyclists or a runner, we also want you to feel safer with these modifications.

We have provided you two downloadable documents; see the links below. Read what the major modifications proposed will be, and why, and what they will not be:

  • NO changes to vehicle direction of travel
  • NO parking removal
  • Signage and occasional paint added, generally only at intersections, to ensure safe travel for all users.
  • NO white stripe down the middle of the Carriage Lane

1) You can download a .pdf of the PowerPoint presentation which Phil and I made at that meeting. You can put yourself in the point of view of a bicyclists or pedestrian, or a driver. Please note these are not official Dept of Transportation drawings, but Phil’s and my rendering of approximately what the signs and striping would look like. Final decisions are of course made by the Transportation Dept. engineers in compliance with State law.

2) The Transportation Engineer of the Transportation Dept made a presentation (downloadable) which is from a transportation engineer’s point of view. Most of the images are aerial.

The current phase of this two-way bicycling plan excludes signalized and other large intersections.

The two-way would end, on the east, at Mt. Alvernia St. When CIP funding can be obtained to make these intersections safe for eastbound bicycle traffic, other sections and intersections will be discussed one by one.

Whether you are a driver, a pedestrian, a bicyclists, a runner or a dog-walker, the changes we propose will be low budget and safer for all.

Major Announcement: Public Information Session: Monday Oct 19, 2020

Posted By: Jane HanserPosted On:

Do you like to walk, run or bike along the Carriage Road? Do you want to feel safer when you do? We are thrilled to invite you to now come learn about the proposal to create two-way bike travel on the Carriageway. Yes, the Planning Department has scheduled a public information session. After this public session, the proposal will be tweaked and heads on over to the Traffic Council.

The public session will be held MONDAY OCTOBER 19, 2020, from 5:30-7PM via Zoom.

To download the flyer, click here.

The session will be headed by Nicole Freedman, Director of Transportation Planning of the City of Newton.

Learn about a new proposal to allow for two way bike travel on the Carriageway.

•No changes to vehicle direction of travel

•No parking removal

•Signage and occasional paint added to ensure safe travel for all users.

Monday October 19, 20205:30-7:00 PM Via Zoomhttps://us02web.zoom.us/j/81304556425Meeting ID: 813 0455 6425

One tap mobile+16465588656,,81304556425# US (New York)

Bullough Park and the Carriage Lane

Posted By: Jane HanserPosted On:

This section is a special case: As Bulloughs Park approaches Commonwealth Avenue, it bisects a section of the Carriage Lane on the east that is open to EB driving, and a section of Carriage Lane on the west that is a footpath only, and closed to motor vehicles.

It is also a very popular section: Drivers get a view of Bulloughs Pond on their right, and also get to bypass the traffic light at Walnut Street.

This design however has presented several dangers. We identified a few problems and a few solutions and below you will see how these have turned out.

First, in 2012 at our request, DPW added an “EXCEPT BIKES” sign to the bottom of the “Do Not Enter” – which had previously not had any such signage at all – where the footpath begins, for those heading west:

Footpath between Bullough Park and Walnut St: View west toward Walnut Street

Another problem was the cobbled area immediately east of the intersection. The cobbles were seriously coming apart, with gaps as wide as 8 inches, and this presented a serious tripping hazard to the thousands who walked and ran here.

It took some time, but in the autumn of 2017 DPW removed the cobbles and replaced them with a new experimental surface.The Dept of Public Works was so proud of their work that they even tweeted about it (The Tweet has since been deleted, as the DPW isn’t carrying Tweets earlier than 2018 now.):

Carriage Lane before Bulloughs Park, after

With the rise in the popularity of walking on the Carriage Lane, we noticed that people started parking their cars on Bullough Park, very close to the intersection with the footpath, and this would block a southbound driver’s ability to see a pedestrian or bicyclists exiting the footpath area. Councilor Downs agreed to docket regulations that prohibited parking for some distance north of that footpath.

Potential Danger!
Once again, thank you to Councilor Downs for docketing this new signage.

Recently we put in a request to add a pedestrian crosswalk here. Due to regulatory requirements, that request could not be fulfilled, but engineer Isaac Prizant worked with the Traffic Coordinator to add additional signage here, to awaken, and warn, drivers to the existence of bicyclists and pedestrians using this area as a crossing along the Carriage Lane. (The original diamond-shaped signs were added in 2015 by Transportation Zach Bosch (at our request) at various locations up and down the Carriage Lane.)

view north (for drivers just leaving Commonwealth Avenue and turning onto Bulloughs Park.
View south toward Commonwealth Avenue. Note new sign on the right.

More recently, Traffic Council approved a parking restriction and added, all new signage on existing poles to ensure visibility of exiting runners.