Due to water main work, the striping through intersections of the Commonwealth Avenue Carriage Road and Manet Road, and the Carriage Road and Mt. Alvernia could not be done. We are pleased that the water main work has been complete and DPW has completed the required green paint for the eastbound bike lanes.
Legally, this is the eastern terminus of the Two-Way for Bicycles.
The two-way for bicycles do not legally extend east past Mt. Alvernia. Bicyclists are asked to take the footpath to Commonwealth Avenue and proceed east from there.
We are working on extending the two-way past Mt. Alvernia to Boston and Boston College.
The legendary course began in Hopkinton, MA and ended 26 miles later on Boylston Street in Boston, MA but the legendary HEARTBREAK HILL is in the heart of the City of Newton! Thousands of Newtoners came out to Commonwealth Avenue to cheer on the runners. Come see some images from the 2025 and the 2024 marathons as the runners made their way along miles 16 to 21, some of the most difficult of the entire 26-mile route of the famed Boston marathon.
Emergency Vehicle? NO Parking by the Berm!
The Beauty of Bristol Mini-Park (between Chestnut and Bristol)
2025’s Lead Men (Approaching Cedar St)
Talkin’ about Our Generation
Some repose, exactly as Frederick Law Olmstead designed it!
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.
The idea for this goes back to 2015, when the City was struggling to stop the number of 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. But the crashes continued, as drivers along the Carriage Road violated that restriction, and drove straight across Chestnut.
Realizing 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 before Traffic Council. It passed unanimously.
In November 2022, Parks and Recreation planted fourteen 4C trees (Capture Carbon Commemorate COVID-19) in the berm here. These beautiful flowering trees, Syringa Reticulata, Syringa Snowcap, Prunus Sargentii Spring Wonder and Prunus Sargenti Rancho, are now thriving and we look forward to pink and white blooms next season, and in subsequent years.
Parks, Recreation and Culture under Commissioner Banks located beautiful large boulders at the entrance to this mini-park in 2023. We hope this will be a template for future decoration 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!
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 Citizens’ Commission on Energy, 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.
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.
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.
