Traffic-Intolerant Bicyclists and Boston’s Greenway Network Peter G. Furth Professor

1. Traffic-Intolerant Bicyclists and Boston’s Greenway Network Peter G. Furth Professor Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering Northeastern University

2. Bicycle Ridership Depends on Traffic Stress Low stress facility draws high ridership Riders Many improvements serve only traffic-tolerant riders Unimproved degree of traffic stress X3 X2 X1

3. A Test:Could we design a network for Brookline intended for traffic-intolerant cyclists?

4. Proposed Safe Routes Network, Brookline, MA • Accepted in 2007 as plan by Brookline Transportation Board

5. Expanding the Toolbox of Low-Stress Facility Types • Off-road path • Shared lane* • Wide outside lane • Bike lane* Contraflow lane No-Passing-Bikes zone Separated paths or “Cycle tracks” * New criteria developed for traffic-intolerant riders

6. BICYCLE CONTRAFLOW • One-way for cars, two-way for bikes • Excellent safety record • Bikes do it anyway!

7. Recommended Contraflow Site (observe contraflow cyclist)

8. Recommended No-Passing-Bikes Zone(Carlton St.) • Self-enforcing • Removes stress from cyclists • Removes pressure motorists feel to pass unsafely

9. Cycle Track or Separated Path Cycle track on Vassar St., Cambridge • Stress-free between intersections • Design for safe crossings and endpoints • Separation is vital on high-speed roads

10. Refuge Cycle Tracks Carry routes through dangerous intersections

11. Could We Design a “Safe Routes” Network for Brookline? YES. • Greenways • Quiet Local Streets, 15 of them with contraflow • 5 No-Passing-Bikes Zones • 4 Refuge Cycle Tracks at busy intersections • Separated paths along high speed arterials • Implementation Schedule???

12. Boston’s Developing Greenway Network

13. Arborway: 8 lanes of highway, no path Jamaica Pond Kelley Circle Arboretum Murray Circle

14. Engineering Students’ Design, 2008 Regional Traffic Concentrated in Inner Raodway Continuous Paths in East & West Side Medians Net New Greenspace = 4.45 Acres Newly Accessible Greenspace = 5.60 Acres

15. Community Path Earheart Dam / Bike to the Sea Fresh Pond Greenway Segments (2+ mi long?) Somerville Watertown Branch Missing Mile Bridges Charlestown Grand Junction Cambridge Watertown “Harbor-Ride” Downtown Boston Sears Rotary Charlesgate Path Brighton World Series Path South Boston Route 9 Crossing Brookline S. Bay / Harbor Trail Southampton & Old Colony UMass Boston Jamaica Pond Arborway Harbor Walk Forest Hills Dorchester

16. World Series PathSW Corridor (at Ruggles) to Back Bay Fens50% on NU campus

17. Huntington Ave MFA NU & first World Series site (1903) SW Corridor Ruggles Station

18. Mass.Ave. Charles River CHARLESGATE PATH Comm. Ave. Shifted median Mass. Pike Muddy River Back Bay Fens

19. Moving The Median Existing Conditions This is an image taken from the Bowker/Boylston Intersection looking at the southbound lanes of the Bowker Overpass. Proposed Conditions This is a rendering of what the southbound lanes of the Bowker Overpass will look like.

20. Ramp Narrowed to 1 lane for entering Bowker Overpass Signalized crossing, coordinated w/ Comm Ave No negative traffic impact ADA ramp to Charlesgate West and Newbury St. Down & Across the On-Ramp from Comm. Ave. Comm Ave

21. Coming down to Commonwealth Ave.

22. Shifted curb line on Beacon Street crossing the Muddy

23. Proposed Path Layout: Connections AND a New 2.5 - Acre Park

25. Harvard Sq E. Cambridge MIT MGH Allston/Bri Back Bay BU S Boston BMC LMA NU Roxbury U Mass JP

27. Boston’s Future Greenway Network (in part)! www.civ.neu.edu