Tag: sidepath

  • The Boston Globe’s photo album

    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…

  • Commonwealth Avenue victory?

    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…

  • Narrow-Gauge Rail Trail, Bedford: safer to walk across the street?

    The photo below, from summer 2011, is a cylindrical panorama: Hillside Road, at the right, is at a right angle to Route 4-225 (the Great Road) at the left. The Narrow Gauge Rail Trail runs from front to rear in the photo, alongside Hillside Road and (at the rear) Bacon Street. (Google map of the…

  • 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…

  • 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 —…

  • 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…

  • 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…

  • A longer response to Egan

    [Note, December 28, 2024: Link rot is appalling but the Internet Archive has preserved almost every citation in this post.] This is a more extended response to the letter from Boston’s Chief Civil Engineer responding to my comments about the Connect Historic Boston project. My comments are at https://john-s-allen.com/pdfs/CHB_Comments.pdf and https://john-s-allen.com/pdfs/CHB_2014-03_comments.pdf Mr. Egan’s reply to…

  • My Comments on the Cambridge Street Bridge project

    My comment letter may be found at this URL. It is a PDF file. I agree with many of the suggestions made by other commenters, though not all, and I made some additional suggestions.

  • About Bob Zeeb’s crash

    Bob Zeeb was a teacher in the Newton Public Schools, a colleague of my wife’s. I feel compelled to set the record straight about his unfortunate death in a bicycle crash on November 10, 2009. From an e-mail message sent out today by Livable Streets: Bike4Life was founded by the Zeeb family in memory of…