Though it’s across the street from City Hall, it is was included in the City Hall Sidewalk Restoration Project. We’re glad it was!
New sidewalks, new bollards, new ADA curbs wide enough for wheelchairs, runners and bicyclists to safely head both east and west at the same time.
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:
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:
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.
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:
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.):
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.
Recently we put in a request to add a pedestrian cross walk here. Due to regulatory requirements, that request could not be fulfilled at that time, but engineer Isaac Prizant worked with the Traffic Coordinator to add additional signs 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.)
All along the Carriage Road, the stop signs, and the stop lines, were 20-23 feet away from the intersection. Often the stop signs were located before a band of cobbles. Westbound drivers would stop before the stop sign and then roll right through the intersection, never really stopping. This was incredibly dangerous for those not in motor vehicles, as well as those in motor vehicles. It was also dangerous for drivers on the cross roads heading north and south.
In 2018, I eventually realized the problem, and set about finding a solution. Going through 311, I requested, and achieved, having the following stop signs moved to be closer to the actual intersection.
Note: Councilor Andreae Downs was especially helpful in having this particular stop sign moved closer to the intersection.
It didn’t take very long for westbound drivers to drive much more safely. We were one step closer to to a safer experience on the road for pedestrians, bicyclists and drivers. Intersection by intersection, drivers would come to a complete stop right before the intersection, where they could see left, right and straight ahead, and where drivers at the crossroads could have clear visibility of any vehicle – bicycles included – heading west and about to enter the intersection.
With attention paid to things like this, we can be incrementally and inexpensively making it safer for pedestrians, cyclists and drivers.
September, 2021: Phil and I met with Chief Carmichael, Cpt. Boudreau and Lt. McMains.
Thanks to Chief Carmichael and engineer Isaac Prizant for agreeing to and implementing these important safety modifications.
