Hey! Hey! I'm Walking Here! - How New York (and Other Big Cities) Should Solve the Traffic Problem - New York Times
Interesting article about transportation attitudes and suggestions for New York, many of which would be applicable here in Boston.
The Boston Transportation Department's website has some relevant information such as "Access Boston 2000 - 2010, Boston's Citywide Transportation Plan". The Allston and Brighton profile is here and has some factoids like 30,000 people each day use the Green Line, 11,000 use the route 66 bus, and the busiest roads are Storrow Drive, Soldiers Field Road, Cambridge Street, and North Beacon Street.
At last week's Harvard Allston Task Force, there was a request by the Task Force that the BTD prevent parking on North Harvard Street north of Western Ave on weekdays between 7-9 a.m. and 4-6 p.m. as a simple and feasible way to relieve some of the traffic crunch in the neighborhood. BTD will present a plan at the Sept 27 meeting (6:30 at the Honan Library).
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Is the proposal to turn the extra space into another travel lane? If so, I think this is a poor solution. Doing so would eliminate any sharable space for bicyclists and eliminate the buffer between pedestians and the traffic. Adding lane capacity does not solve traffic problems... it merely creates more.
ReplyDeleteOne goal is prevent cars from being parked in the same space for several days or weeks, depriving others of use of the space. These spaces are a great option for people willing to walk a short distance to Harvard Sq and it is also one of the few places around where someone can leave a car for months at a time.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the theory that adding more highway capacity attracts more cars which creates more traffic and may not solve the problem you started out to solve. In my experience, eliminating some parking during rush hour to create an extra travel lane works well in the Back Bay (for example on Arlington St alongside the Public Garden).
In this location, having a right turn only lane at the north end of the street could help traffic move more smoothly. I agree that making space for bikes is important and the road will also need to handle the increased shuttle service that will exist between Cambridge and Allston.
We'll see on the 27th how BTD thinks this could work or not work.