bostonbiker

Category: Boston

  • For a real People’s Pike

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    jsallen
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    “People’s Pike” is a group of citizens with concerns about the Massachusetts Department of Transportation’s I-90 Allston Interchange project, the main goal of which has  been to replace the deteriorating Massachusetts Turnpike viaduct. The People’s Pike group is concerned mostly with improvements to the project for local access. A new commuter rail and bus terminal…

  • The Globe Screws Up on Nighttime Safety

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    jsallen
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    The Boston Globe has published an article titled “Survival Guide for Running and Biking in the Dark.” This picture appeared with the article: you need it to understand my comments. The article addresses issues of retroreflector placement and motion, while not discussing when retroreflectors can work, or cannot work at all. The bicyclists in the…

  • The Boston Globe’s photo album

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    jsallen
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    Ah, the Boston Globe. On the one side we have conservative columnist Jeff Jacoby in the Globe of September 1, 2015, suggesting that bicyclists should all go for a nice ride in the park and stay off the streets. Though I’m a registered Democrat and liberal to centrist on most political issues, I often find…

  • Boston Globe Article Falls Flat

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    jsallen
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    My letter to the editor of the Globe today. To the editor: Yes, I know this is too long to publish, but I hope that you will find it informative. A major impediment to safe bicycling and good street design is lack of knowledge. In the feature article “Safer Passages”, on the cover of Globe…

  • New Product — ShelBroCo Magic Green Paint

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    jsallen
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    Here’s a high-tech product which deserves to be used in every new bicycle infrastructure project. The linked page gives a thorough description and videos!

  • Commonwealth Avenue victory?

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    jsallen
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    I submitted the following comments in response to a Boston Globe article reporting on proposed bikeways on Commonwealth Avenue. [archived] Real solutions to bicycle and pedestrian mobility in the Commonwealth Avenue corridor can be found by connecting parallel streets, an initiative which ties in well with the proposed Allston Turnpike Interchange Project. I have commented…

  • Boston Police bicycle training

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    jsallen
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    Are the Boston Police getting the training they need to be safe and effective on bicycles? I don’t think so. I don’t know how they train, but I have seen how they perform. In another post, I described how a participant in a protest march pushed a Boston bicycle patrol officer over — intentionally or…

  • Boston Police tactics at the December 13, 2014 protest

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    jsallen
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    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…

  • People’s Pike or People’s Pillar to Post?

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    jsallen
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    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…

  • Commonwealth Avenue and the BU campus

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    jsallen
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    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 —…