Author: WalkMassachusetts

Allston I-90 – early August 2020 update

Allston I-90 – early August 2020 update

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Following an announcement of the potential alternatives to be included in the upcoming FHWA/MassDOT studies for a draft environmental impact statement (DEIS), 10+ organizations including WalkBoston sent in a letter that we hoped would help guide the writing that was to be included in a scope for the DEIS. The letter was not well-received by MassDOT and a response came quickly outlining why our letter was not going to have an effect on state/federal plans.

Shortly after these communications, the DEIS full document was distributed. It  has three alternatives for the Throat area, each of which will fail to meet the standards that are prescribed in the options MassDOT proposed to develop.

The two options our groups favor fail immediately because they cannot be constructed without either temporary or permanent fill in the Charles River, and the State’s Secretary of Environmental Affairs has stated that if any option stays out of the river it will necessarily become the chosen approach.

This isn’t just an Allston thing: the Worcester Regional Chamber of Commerce is also concerned about transit access along the corridor. The Boston Globe editorial board weighed in over the weekend, saying “The state and activists should compromise on a solution that is not a throwback to 1960s transportation projects but a vision for a thriving waterfront and transit corridor.”

We’ll make sure to keep you in the loop as things continue to move forward.
WalkBoston Comments on the South Boston Seaport Strategic Transit Plan

WalkBoston Comments on the South Boston Seaport Strategic Transit Plan

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July 24, 2020 | WalkBoston Comments on the South Boston Seaport Strategic Transit Plan

To:
Brian P. Golden, Director Boston Planning & Development Agency
Chris Osgood, Chief of Streets
Councilor Wu, Chair Planning, Development and Transportation
Councilor Flynn, District 2

WalkBoston appreciates the opportunity to comment on the plan and are glad to see that a broad set of options are under consideration. We also are glad that a diversity of perspectives is represented by the four criteria used: Expand, Rely, Respect and Equalize.

We offer the following comments and look forward to hearing from you with responses to our comments and the opportunity to comment again as the plan is advanced.

  1. We are pleased that Improving Pedestrian Connections has emerged as one of the top candidates for short term implementation and agree that this strategy will serve many people and improve transit access and use for a broad range of users and locations.
  2. After reviewing the options for short term strategies that are now under consideration, we believe that an evaluation that gives greater weight to Equalize as a value would better serve the needs of the District and of Boston as a whole.

The strategies with the highest Equalize ratings are:

  • Expand Off-Peak Transit Service 100 points
  • Dedicated Transit Corridors 70 points
  • North Station – South Station – South Boston Seaport Direct Bus or Shuttle Service 61 points
  • Bus or Shuttle connection from Nubian Square to South Boston Seaport Link via Broadway 60 points
  • Bus or Shuttle connection from Central Square to South Boston Seaport via LMA and Nubian Square 58 points

While we are pleased that Expanding Off-Peak Transit Service has been flagged as one of the top strategies, we are concerned that Extend Private and Consolidated Shuttles on A St to Broadway has also been given a top rating as this is the ONLY strategy among all of those evaluated that received a negative rating for Equalize, and that it actually increases travel time for many transit users.

We believe that the Bus or Shuttle connection from Nubian Square to South Boston Seaport Link via Broadway or the Bus or Shuttle connection from Central Square to South Boston Seaport via LMA and Nubian Square (# 2 and 3 in overall ratings) should be included as one of the strategies to be advanced. These two options also directly serve some of Boston’s neighborhoods with the greatest number and density of people of color.

  1. There seems to be a disconnect between this BPDA Plan and the work of the Public Works Department on the Northern Avenue Bridge. As WalkBoston and a number of our fellow advocates have commented, we strongly disagree with the plan to allow shuttle buses to use a new Northern Avenue Bridge because it will negatively impact people walking and biking on the bridge, will require that the bridge be very large and expensive, and because it provides very little benefit to shuttle users.

None of the numerous bus service improvements suggested and reviewed in the South Boston Seaport Strategic Transit Plan (short or long term) are shown to be using a future Northern Avenue Bridge. The bridge itself is called out as a strategy, but it is not incorporated into any of the other strategies – all of the routes that cross the Fort Point Channel are shown using the Summer Street or Congress Street Bridges. We urge the Public Works Department to look again at its proposal and eliminate the use of the bridge for shuttle buses.

WalkBoston looks forward to working with you as this plan progresses.

‘Safe driving during COVID-19’ PSA graphics

‘Safe driving during COVID-19’ PSA graphics

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Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, lower traffic volumes have led to dangerous driving speeds in communities across the Commonwealth. High driving speeds contributed to a doubled roadway fatality rate in the month of April in Massachusetts. Driver speeding affects all road users by making walking and rolling conditions unsafe and uncomfortable.

With the safer-at-home advisory still in place, increased numbers of people are walking, rolling, and running in their communities. To make roadways safe for all users, drivers must take responsibility to not exceed the posted speed limit and to yield to walkers and rollers who are using street space to maintain physical distance in areas with narrow sidewalks.

To support communities who are seeing dangerously high traffic speeds and unsafe driving behavior, WalkBoston partnered with the Massachusetts Department of Public Health Mass in Motion (MiM) and MORE Advertising to develop a social media campaign that MiM coordinators can use to raise awareness about safer pandemic driving behavior.

To broaden the reach of this important message, we invite all communities and individuals to use these graphics on your social media or other town communication platforms.

These graphics are set up for Facebook. Consider adding the following language as a comment to your social media post:

  • Keep our roads safe for everyone!
  • Safe driving is still important. Keep our roads safe for all.

Please consider every street a shared street and stay safe!

4 PSA graphic options (click for full size, and then right click to “save image as”):

 

WalkBoston 30th Annual Celebration – save the (new) date, Sept 23rd

WalkBoston 30th Annual Celebration – save the (new) date, Sept 23rd

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Please save the date, with more info & registration link to follow – on September 23rd at 5pm, we’ll gather on Zoom!

WalkBoston is celebrating 30 years of making Massachusetts safer and easier to walk. This year’s keynote speaker is Mark Fenton, a nationally recognized public health, planning, and transportation consultant, an advocate for active transportation, and former host of the “America’s Walking” series on PBS television.

This year’s celebration will recognize the following groups with Golden Shoe Awards:

  • Boston Public Library | Renovations that enhance walkability
  • Coalition for a Better Acre Walking Champions | Advocating for safer walking in Lowell
  • Tufts Health Plan Foundation & Boston Age Strong Commission | Advancing age-friendly walking throughout Massachusetts

Thank you for all your support over the years: we look forward to celebrating with you! Any questions, please send an email to info@walkboston.org

Joint Comment Letter – Recommendations for Boston’s Healthy Streets COVID Response

Joint Comment Letter – Recommendations for Boston’s Healthy Streets COVID Response

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Below is the letter Boston Cyclists Union, MassBike, LivableStreets Alliance and WalkBoston sent to Chief of Streets Chris Osgood regarding Boston’s Healthy Streets plan on June 16, 2020.

June 16, 2020
Chris Osgood, Chief of Streets
1 City Hall Square, Room 603
Boston, MA 02201

Dear Chief Osgood,

On May 12th, the Boston Transportation Department (BTD) presented a plan to the City Council for adapting streets for COVID-19 response and recovery. However, we are concerned about the focus and scope of the first phase of the Healthy Streets plan that the Transportation Department announced on May 30th, and want to ensure these issues are addressed before future phases of the plan are implemented:

Equity

The most glaring issue with the Healthy Streets plan is the lack of attention paid and investment made in the Black and brown neighborhoods that are disproportionately suffering from the health and economic impacts of the pandemic. As early as April, members of this group reached out to BTD staff with specific recommendations for tactical interventions in the most impacted communities. These recommendations came directly from community leaders and individuals in Mattapan, Hyde Park, Roxbury, and Dorchester. Almost none of these recommendations have been included in the first phase of the Healthy Streets plan.

Additionally, the City has offered no transparency or criteria for how they chose the first phase projects and no timeline or criteria for how they will choose and implement additional phases of the plan. This seemingly arbitrary approach has already compounded the pre-existing inequitable investment in streets in our communities of color, and will likely only exacerbate these existing inequities of investment if not addressed explicitly and immediately.

Bike Network

The Healthy Streets plan only includes implementation of bike lanes on downtown corridors. We know that a network of bike lanes are essential infrastructure for safe travel — at all times, as well as during this time of physical distancing. The recent death of a person biking on Cummins Highway on June 9, 2020 only underscores the urgency of building safe infrastructure in all neighborhoods, not just in the city’s core. While protected bike lanes on downtown streets are long overdue, the corridors laid out in the Healthy Streets plan do not build out the network that is required for people to travel safely throughout the city. Go Boston 2030 provides a clear plan for where interventions are needed. We recommend prioritizing these corridors for quick-build protected bike lanes in Phase 2 of the Healthy Streets plan:

  • Cummins Highway
  • Malcolm X Boulevard, from Nubian Square to the Southwest Corridor
  • Albany Street, from lower Roxbury to South Boston
  • Western Ave, in Allston and Brighton
  • Hyde Park Avenue
  • Dorchester Avenue
  • American Legion Highway
  • Columbus Ave, from Mass Ave to the Downtown Network
  • Columbia Road
  • Columbus Ave, in Roxbury
  • Cambridge Street in Allston, from Union Square to the Charles River
  • Commonwealth Ave from the BU Bridge to the Bowker Overpass
  • East Broadway and Summer Street, in South Boston

As street space is reconfigured to allow for outdoor dining and retail, it’s important that plans for protected bike lanes are incorporated into the new layouts. For example, Charles Street is a key corridor in the protected bike network, but the neighborhood civic association is calling for a lane reduction that only accommodates outdoor dining, not protected bike infrastructure. Neighborhood associations should not be given the power to supersede years of public process that identified the need to create a critical bike network link on a corridor like Charles Street. It is clear that both outdoor dining space and protected bike infrastructure could be achieved there.

Many Main Streets and business associations are in support of swiftly repurposing parking lanes into cafe seating (as was installed on Hanover Street in the North End), which leaves the travel lane to be repurposed for critical mobility access. Improving safety for people walking and biking to Main Streets and other commercial districts is a key goal of Go Boston 2030, and COVID-19 response and recovery plans must align with this goal.

Enforcement + Policing

We have already provided several recommendations to Mayor Walsh regarding the role of policing and enforcement on our streets (see attached for reference). As outlined in the general recommendations to follow, it’s important that any adaptations to streets for COVID-19 response and recovery do not require police enforcement. As has been made so apparent in the last several weeks, policing is not a solution for street safety in communities of color. It’s important that the City develop a plan for how these interventions can be maintained and enforced without a police presence. We recommend that the City facilitate a community-led program which can be maintained by local organizations and residents.

Pedestrian Experience

The City should prioritize automatic recall of WALK signals in low-income and communities of color which have been most impacted by COVID-19, as well as WALK signals that are close to the most heavily used bus stops (which are already highlighted on the City’s Healthy Streets map). This work should be included in Phase 1 and should begin now. It is a long overdue and basic adjustment to all signals in Boston.

We already recommended in mid-April that BTD automate WALK signals so pedestrians do not have to push buttons. It is one less surface to touch and potentially contract/spread disease. Brookline, Cambridge, and Somerville have already implemented this effort.

Lack of Engagement with Community Partners

We understand there are staff capacity limitations for rapid response and tactical implementations, especially due to COVID-19. As many other cities have done, we believe it is critical for the City to partner with Main Streets organizations, community groups, advocacy organizations, and other partners to implement, manage, and help communicate about these interventions.

We have offered, on numerous occasions, to deploy our own staff to act as a liaison to community groups and to engage with community members to help identify neighborhood needs. As you know, the City has already worked with us to conduct community outreach and support City-led efforts in the past. We have community trust and a track record of success. Without explicit collaboration with community partners, the City will not be able to implement and manage tactical streets interventions at the scale and pace needed.

Communication, Data Collection, and Measuring Success

While we support the concept of “the pilot is the process,” this does not mean implementing quick-build or tactical projects without a proper strategy to inform the community, collect feedback, and measure success.

Many other communities have strong, established strategies for communications and measurements of success for these projects that can be used as models for Boston efforts. The City should develop a strong plan for monitoring these interventions, including relying on staff, consultants, and volunteers to count people walking and biking (and collect gender and race data), and using automatic technology to measure vehicle speeds and volume. The City can coordinate with employers to better understand how workers are commuting.

In addition, clear coordination between BTD’s Transit Team and Active Transportation Team is critical to ensure that the needs of transit users are balanced with the safety needs of those who are walking and biking (and those who would if there was a connected network). The Transit Team is overdue in developing a clear bus network plan that is based on public process, data, and analysis that takes equity, safety, and mobility needs into account. The City must balance rapid response with adherence to long-standing network plans, and ensure that building out the bus priority network does not preclude a safe bike network and safe pedestrian infrastructure.

We look forward to working with the City to ensure that we adapt our streets as rapidly and effectively as possible to respond to the current health and economic challenges.

Sincerely,

Becca Wolfson, Boston Cyclists Union
Stacy Thompson, LivableStreets Alliance
Galen Mook, MassBike
Stacey Beuttell, WalkBoston

CC: Mayor Martin J. Walsh, Boston City Council