bostonbiker

Category: Cambridge

  • Sparks Street

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    jsallen
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    Let’s have a look at Huron Avenue in Cambridge, Massachusetts as it crosses Sparks Street and Royal Avenue.This stretch is downhill right to left in the overhead view. The buffer is on the wrong side of the bike lane, placing it in the door zone. Faster bicyclists can travel as fast or nearly as fast…

  • Meng Jin, and Charles River Dam Road

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    jsallen
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    MIT student Meng Jin died as he rode up to and past the corner in a bike lane on Museum Way, to the right of a truck that turned right onto Charles River Dam Road. That tragedy has led to a call for barrier-separated bike lanes on Charles River Dam Road, a non sequitur, in…

  • Fatal crash of November 9, 2018 in Cambridge, Massachusetts

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    jsallen
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    This morning’s fatal crash was reported by State Police as another in the string of tragic right-hook collisions which have become the largest cause of bicyclist fatalities in the Boston area. Once again, a bicyclist was crushed by a large truck which turned right.[ Update: the cyclist was Meng Jin, a male graduate student at…

  • Sheet of ice draws praise from advocates

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    jsallen
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    The headline of the Boston Globe article with this picture is “Snowbank becomes accidental hero for area cyclists”. The shiny area in the bikeway is meltwater from said snowbank. When the temperature drops below freezing, the meltwater becomes a sheet of black ice. This problem is unavoidable with a street-level barrier-separated bikeway. I discussed it…

  • An Alternative to the Inman Square Peanut Proposal

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    jsallen
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    I have posted comments about the proposal for a “peanut roundabout” in Inman Square, and other proposals for the Square, on the Cambridge Civic Forum blog. I think that the City’s “bend Cambridge Street” proposal — with a minor modification to make bicycling safer and more convenient — is the best one which has any…

  • Pushback on Cambridge bicycle plans

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    jsallen
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    Cambridge Civic Journal blogger Robert Winters has posted a thoroughgoing critique of a proposal for a great expansion in the number and mileage of on-street, barrier-separated bikeways. City Councillor Craig Kelley also has raised questions on his blog (and sent out the same message to an e-mail subscription list).  

  • 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!

  • A British study clarifies the problem with trucks

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    jsallen
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    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,…

  • Is This Street Wide Enough?

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    jsallen
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    I have posted a video of a group of avid recreational cyclists riding on Hampshire Street in Cambridge, in the middle of the day. You may view it in glorious full-screen high definition here. Is This Two-Lane Street Wide Enough? from John Allen on Vimeo. The cyclists in this video are riding on a stretch…

  • Report on Longfellow Bridge public meeting, July 10, 2013

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    jsallen
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    I attended the Longfellow Bridge public meeting on July 10. The meeting started with an overview of the project by representatives of the consultants, then a description of Phase One of the project. Detour of outbound motor traffic is via Leverett Circle, where there will be signal timing and ped safety improvements. The route will…