At the City of Springfield’s Complete Streets Demonstration Day on Saturday, June 30, volunteers transformed Chestnut Street into a “complete street” with bike lanes and enhanced crosswalks. The temporary street improvement ideas came from a walk audit WalkBoston conducted to improve pedestrian safety and promote walking to Lincoln School.
For more coverage of the event, watch this clip from Channel 22 News.
We will meet on the Malkin Athletic Center (MAC) steps that face the Lowell House construction site. To reach the MAC steps from Harvard Square, walk down Dunster Street, cross Mt. Auburn Street to Winthrop Street (one block south of Mt Auburn Street). Take a left onto Winthrop Street at a right onto Holyoke Street.
Joe Beggan, WalkBoston board member and Senior Manager for Transportation Planning at Harvard’s Allston Initiatives program will lead the tour from Cambridge to Allston.
In Cambridge Linda Kuczynski, Project Manager for Harvard’s House Renewal Program, will discuss the construction activities at Lowell House and the larger program that is transforming the University’s Neo-Georgian River Houses.
Once we leave the MAC, we will walk to the Weeks Bridge to take a moment to discuss the bridge and enjoy the river views. We will then cross the river and pass through the Business School Campus to the i-lab on Western Avenue. We will be joined in Allston by Ed Leflore, Principal and Founder of CSL Consultants, to talk about Harvard’s consultation projects in Allston including the new Science and Engineering Complex on Western Avenue.
Our next to last stop is the “Grove” at Barry’s Corner. We will finish the walk at Zone 3 Allston’s “Aeronaut Allston” summertime musical beer garden series for food, drink and conversation. EDIT: the beer garden closed for the chance of rain, so we’re ending at Our Fathers, the restaurant across from the Grove.
Handout on the history of the Charles River Throat area and recommendations for mitigation. This was distributed to members in advance of the Allston I-90 Task Force meeting on June 27, 2018.
BOSTON — The Massachusetts State Senate voted Thursday to pass legislation that aims to create safer streets for all road users. Developed in collaboration with a coalition of bicycle, pedestrian and transportation advocates, S.2570, An Act to reduce traffic fatalities, includes several measures to improve road safety, lessen the severity of crashes, and standardize the collection and analysis of crash data.
The bill classifies several groups, including pedestrians, utility workers, first responders and cyclists, as “vulnerable road users,” and requires motor vehicles to apply a “safe passing distance” of at least three feet when traveling 30 miles per hour or less with an additional foot of clearance required for every 10 miles per hour over 30 miles per hour. Current law only requires motor vehicle operators to pass at “a safe distance and at a reasonable and proper speed.” The bill would further require a vehicle that is overtaking a vulnerable road user to use all or part of the adjacent lane, crossing the center line if necessary, when it cannot pass at a safe distance in the same lane and only when it is safe to do so.
“We need to keep working year after year to achieve a future in which traffic fatalities get as close as possible to zero,” said Senator William N. Brownsberger (D-Belmont), lead sponsor of the bill in the Senate. “This bill will help us move in the right direction.”
“This legislation updates basic protections for pedestrians, cyclists and others who may be on the road, and is a common-sense policy to ensure safer roadways for pedestrians and drivers alike” said Senate President Harriette L. Chandler (D-Worcester). “I am very happy the Senate has passed this legislation.”
“This bill takes an important step in encouraging the use of multimodal transportation to relieve the congestion and reduce our state’s carbon footprint,” said Senator Joseph A. Boncore (D-Winthrop), who serves as the Senate Chair of the Joint Committee on Transportation, which advanced the legislative measure forward with a favorable recommendation earlier this year. “Ensuring that pedestrians and cyclists have more protections on shared roads is vital to that end.”
The bill would require certain large vehicles newly purchased, leased or operated pursuant to a contract with the Commonwealth to be equipped with lateral protective devices to eliminate a vehicle’s high ground clearance and the extraordinary risk posed to vulnerable road users, who are susceptible to slipping underneath large vehicles during accidents. Such large vehicles would also be required to utilize convex and cross-over mirrors to increase a driver’s ability to see around their vehicle. These provisions would apply to vehicles purchased or leased by the Commonwealth after January 1, 2019 and to vehicles operating pursuant to leases entered into January 1, 2020.
“MassBike congratulates the Senate on the passage of An Act to reduce traffic fatalities,” said Galen Mook, Executive Director of the Massachusetts Bicycle Coalition. “We have seen too many unnecessary and completely preventable fatalities on our roads, and MassBike believes this legislation provides distinct safety elements for cyclists across the Commonwealth, including defining that vehicles must pass cyclists at ‘a safe distance’ of at least three feet, and requiring sideguards on large vehicles to protect vulnerable road users from the dreaded ‘right hook.’ MassBike is grateful for the collaborative work of Senator Brownsberger and all of the advocacy organizations, and we thank everyone for the continued persistence to protect all cyclists and pedestrians across the state. Though we have not yet finished our work, this bill goes a long way toward the goal of zero deaths on our streets.”
The Executive Office of Public Safety and Security would be required to develop a standardized analysis tool to report crashes and incidents involving a vulnerable road user and maintain a publicly accessible database of such reports to help inform further efforts to reduce traffic fatalities.
“WalkBoston is thrilled that the Senate has passed An act to reduce traffic fatalities, which includes elements to immediately improve the safety of pedestrians, bicyclists and all vulnerable road users across the Commonwealth,” said Wendy Landman, Executive Director of WalkBoston. “The data collection and analysis requirement will help communities focus their road safety efforts on the places that need it the most.”
The bill would establish a 25 mile per hour speed limit on an unposted area of state highway or parkway inside a thickly settled or business district within a city or town that has accepted the 25 mile per hour local option, as lower vehicle speeds reduce the severity of crashes. While current law requires persons riding bicycles at night to use a front white light, this bill would also require use of both a red rear light and a red rear reflector when riding at night to improve the visibility of bicyclists.
The bill now moves to the House of Representatives for further consideration.
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Originally posted by Senator Brownsberger’s Office
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is seeking interested candidates in serving as public members on the Massachusetts Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Board (MABPAB). MABPAB public members volunteer their time for the benefit of advancing bicycle and pedestrian transportation across the Commonwealth. Nominated candidates will be appointed for a two-year volunteer term, beginning fall 2018. Official nominations will be made by the Governor of Massachusetts.
Legislatively established in 2004 and appointed by the Governor of Massachusetts, the Board’s purposes are to:
The Board meets six times a year, every other month during the day. Three of these meetings are held at the State Transportation Building in Boston and three are held at different locations across the Commonwealth. Advisory Board members are expected to attend every meeting in person.
Sample topics covered at Advisory Board meetings:
– Statewide Bicycle Plan
– Statewide Pedestrian Plan
– Safety
– Year-round Maintenance
– Monitoring and Evaluation
– Public Health
– Trails/Multi use paths
– Safe Routes to School
– Complete Streets
– Events and Outreach
– Access to Transit
– Accessibility
– Sustainable Mobility
– Planning and Design
– Education and Enforcement
The Board is made up of public members representing the following:
– Bicycling organization representatives
– Bicycling representatives
– Bicycle industry representative
– Pedestrian representatives
The Board also consists of designees from statewide bicycle and pedestrian advocacy organizations, WalkBoston and MassBike, and the following governmental agencies:
– Department of Transportation
– Department of Conservation & Recreation
– MBTA
– Department of Public Health
-Department of Energy and Environmental Affairs
– Representative from a Regional Planning Agency
– State Police
-Office of Travel & Tourism
Candidates should be residents of Massachusetts interested in serving as public members. Nominated candidates shall serve without compensation for a term of two years, beginning September 2018. Member-volunteers may be reappointed. All nominated individuals will be subject to a standard background check.
Interested candidates should email or send a resume and letter of interest to the Massachusetts Department of Transportation at mabpab@dot.state.ma.us or Att: MABPAB, State Transportation Building, 10 Park Plaza, Suite 4160, Boston, MA 02116. In your resume, please include contact information, including mailing address, email address and phone number where we can contact you. In your letter, please include what public seat you are applying for (i.e. bicycle organization representative, pedestrian representative); your background (work and/or life experience) that relates to the mission of the Board; what, if any, groups you will be formally representing while serving on the Board; what you would like to contribute to the Board; and any additional information for consideration. Please apply by June 25, 2018 to be considered.
If you have any questions about the Board, please contact MABPAB@dot.state.ma.us