Author: jsallen
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Boston Police tactics at the December 13, 2014 protest
I express my appreciation to the Boston Police for crowd control without excessive force at December 13’s Black Lives Matter protest march. Anything less would have been very unfortunate, particularly in connection with a peaceful march protesting use of force and police immunity from prosecution. But there’s a different issue with police conduct at the…
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People’s Pike or People’s Pillar to Post?
How would I like to think of the People’s Pike? I want to see a bicycle path and an adjacent footpath which avoid crossing and turning conflicts, passing under the ramps to the Turnpike and to the proposed West Station, with connections up to the overpasses to get to West Station and beyond, to Packard’s…
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Honked at again
I was bicycling home from church on a Sunday afternoon recently. The church I attend, First Parish in Waltham, has a parking lot on either side, but also the public school parking lot across the street doesn’t get much use on a Sunday, and handles any overflow. As I rode home, I headed south on…
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Commonwealth Avenue and the BU campus
The Boston Cyclists Union and Livable Streets are promoting cycle tracks for Commonwealth Avenue. The bicycle industry’s Astroturf advocacy organization, Peoplefor Bikes, is asking people to sign a petition in support of them. Not a good idea. Cycle tracks on Commonwealth Avenue won’t prevent the most common car-bike crashes (crossing and turning collisions, doorings —…
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Bike Lane Goes Under
[Note: Google Street View preserves views of the same location at different times, very helpful in tracing the history of road projects. I have provided links to Street View to verify the images I have downloaded and let you move the view around. But on mobile devices, Street View brings up different and apparently recent…
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I-90 Interchange project announcement
Governor Deval Patrick announces commitment to a major expansion in the I-90 Interchange project, 2:40 PM, September 18, 2014, Beacon Yards, Allston section of Boston, Massachusetts. The abandoned rail yards are now a 22-acre wasteland in the middle of the City of Boston. Funding, 1/3 from the Commonwealth, 1/3 from Harvard University and 1/3 from…
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Massachusetts low-speed motor vehicle law
It is legal to operate a farm tractor, horsedrawn carriage, construction equipment, bicycle or motorized bicycle (moped) on any public way in the Commonwealth except for limited-access and express state highways. The rules for low-speed motor vehicles are far, far more restrictive, making these unusable for many trips even including short trips. The law is…
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A British study clarifies the problem with trucks
I thank Bob Shanteau, California traffic engineer and cyclist, for this link. The paper, from the U.K., puts numbers on the problem with bicyclist and pedestrian fatalities in collisions with large trucks. A quote: Lorries are involved in around 4,200 fatal accidents in Europe every year, according to the European Transport Safety Council. In Belgium,…
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Report on Route 9 reconstruction in Natick
On Sunday, August 24, Natick residents Dick and Jill Miller and I had a look at the Route 9 project, which extends either side of the Oak Street intersection. We drove the length of the project in both directions, and I shot video of it. We parked just west of Oak Street. I walked west…
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Boston’s Western Avenue Cycle Track — correcting the public record
According to official and published sources, Boston’s Western Avenue cycle track: In reality, In more detail: An 0.1 mile segment, only on the south side, was installed in November, 2010, but parking adjacent to it was only allowed later, perhaps as late as October, 2011. This segment was removed sometime before June 7, 2012. This…