Below are my comments on planned changes at Charlesgate and the Bowker Overpass in Boston. To summarize, I support most of the planned work, but I would like to see a more direct connection between the segments of Newbury Street either side of Charlesgate., and the replacement of the narrow two-way bikeway next to Charlesgate west with bike lanes. Also see my earlier post about Charlesgate on this blog. Unfortunately, I got in late with comments — these were in response to the July 11, 2024 public meeting.
Carrie Lavallee, P.E. Chief Engineer
MassDOT
10 Park Plaza
Boston, MA 02116
Attn: Major Projects, PROJECT FILE NO. 606496
Email: MassDOTMajorProjects@dot.state.ma.us
I agree with Sen. Brownsberger in support of most of this project. I am pleased with the daylighting of the Muddy River, the restored parkland, and the extension of Charlesgate West and a 14-foot-wide shared-use path from Commonwealth Avenue to Boylston Street. However, one thing stands out for me as a serious mistake: a 10-foot-wide barrier-separated two-way bikeway shoehorned in alongside Charlesgate West, in addition to the path making the same connection. This bikeway was explained in the online meeting as being for faster bicyclists. A 10-foot wide bikeway is too narrow to allow safe overtaking in the face of oncoming bicycle traffic — its effective width will be even narrower due to the barrier — and so it will in fact often be as slow as the slowest users. The bikeway will place bicyclists and motorists on the wrong side of each other, in the glare of each other’s headlights, it brings on snow removal problems both for itself and the adjacent street, and it paves what would otherwise be parkland without providing any improvement beyond that supplied by the parallel path. Faster bicyclists including e-bike riders are likely to avoid the bikeway, because the shared-use path will be more pleasant, more ample and more convenient.
Nobody in the online meeting explained just how six streams of traffic in alternating directions would negotiate the intersections. Reducing that count to the normal four — two for the street, two for the path — would reduce complication and improve safety. The same space for the bikeway could instead be used for bike lanes on Charlesgate West, which would allow normal traffic movements at the intersections and to which faster bicyclists an e-bikers should be directed.
MassDot list of project documents
October 26, 2023 public hearing documents
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