Prospect Street reconfiguration causes traffic jams
Jimmy
Street north of Central Square. It used to be two lanes northbound
and one southbound. Now it has one lane each way, with bike lanes and
wider sidewalks.
This has seriously screwed up northbound traffic. There's often a
backup from the light at Bishop Allen all the way past Mass Ave. Even
after rush hour is long over, after 8 pm, traffic backs up past
Franklin Street. There's also a backup turning right from Mass Ave
westbound onto Prospect northbound.
While I'm all for designing roads with bikes and pedestrians in mind,
having a permanent traffic jam helps nobody, least of all bus
passengers, since buses can't take an alternate route. This jam has
the potential to cause cars to get stuck and block crosswalks, or
block the box on Mass Ave, and will encourage traffic to divert to
smaller streets which aren't designed for it. A jam approaching Mass
Ave is also a problem for bikes, since there are narrow lanes and no
bike lanes between Franlkin and Mass Ave thanks to the extra-wide
sidewalk.
I'm not sure how to fix this, but it might be as easy as retiming the
light at Prospect and Bishop Allen.
Jimmy
Richard Cobbe
Jimmy <JimmyG...@mailinator.com> writes:
> Over the summer, Cambridge redesigned the first block of Prospect
> Street north of Central Square. It used to be two lanes northbound
> and one southbound. Now it has one lane each way, with bike lanes and
> wider sidewalks.
>
> This has seriously screwed up northbound traffic. There's often a
> backup from the light at Bishop Allen all the way past Mass Ave. Even
> after rush hour is long over, after 8 pm, traffic backs up past
> Franklin Street. There's also a backup turning right from Mass Ave
> westbound onto Prospect northbound.
Yeah, I live right in the area, and it's a real pain.
> I'm not sure how to fix this, but it might be as easy as retiming the
> light at Prospect and Bishop Allen.
Better signage might help. I think that the first indication that the
right lane of River St is now right-turn-only onto Mass Ave is an arrow on
the pavement right by the bus depot, just a few yards from the
intersection. I often see people who are surprised by this trying to get
over at the last minute, which can't help throughput.
Richard
Jass
remember those sidewalks being way too small, so Im glad they grew.
Robert Winters
> I havent been there recently, so I dont know how bad it is, but I do
> remember those sidewalks being way too small, so Im glad they grew.
If The Field (bar on Prospect Street) has its way, the sidewalk
will narrow significantly during the warmer months. On the Agenda for
the Nov 2, 2009 Cambridge City Council meeting:
APPLICATIONS AND PETITIONS
2. An application was received from The Field Restaurant, requesting
permission for twelve tables and twenty-four chairs for restaurant
seating in front of premises numbered 20 Prospect Street.
Seems like a bad idea to me.
Robert Winters
> Robert Winters <Rob...@rwinters.com> wrote:
> > If The Field (bar on Prospect Street) has its way, the sidewalk
> > will narrow significantly during the warmer months. On the Agenda for
> > the Nov 2, 2009 Cambridge City Council meeting:
>
REFERRED TO THE CITY MANAGER WITH POWER
I believe this means that the City Council has put the matter into the
hands of the City Manager and, presumably, the Traffic Department and
Public Works, and other City departments to either permit this
activity, modify it, or not permit it. What happens next is anyone's
guess.
Jimmy
> Over the summer, Cambridge redesigned the first block of Prospect
> Street north of Central Square. It used to be two lanes northbound
> and one southbound. Now it has one lane each way, with bike lanes and
> wider sidewalks.
>
> This has seriously screwed up northbound traffic. There's often a
> backup from the light at Bishop Allen all the way past Mass Ave. Even
> after rush hour is long over, after 8 pm, traffic backs up past
> Franklin Street. There's also a backup turning right from Mass Ave
> westbound onto Prospect northbound.
They made some more changes. They got rid of the bike lanes on
Prospect, and added left turn lanes for both directions of Prospect at
Bishop Allen. I'm not sure if they retimed the traffic lights.
I haven't been by during busy times, so I'm not sure if things are
better now.
Meanwhile, over in Harvard Square, the reconfiguration of the main
crosswalk has narrowed northbound traffic to one lane plus a bike
lane. But it's so narrow that every single vehicle ignores the bike
lane and uses it to take the curve. It would be hard to respect the
bike lane even if you wanted to, since the huge brick crosswalks at
that curve have no lane lines on them. It was a little scary waiting
to cross while the 66 bus zoomed by inches away (though I usually try
to wait a bit back from the curb anyway -- it doesn't help me to be
close to fast-moving cars).
Jimmy
Jass
I was in Harvard Square today and was thinking that something was
different, but I wasnt sure.
Jimmy
> Jimmy <JimmyGeldb...@mailinator.com> wrote:
> > Meanwhile, over in Harvard Square, the reconfiguration of the main
> > crosswalk has narrowed northbound traffic to one lane plus a bike
> > lane. But it's so narrow that every single vehicle ignores the bike
> > lane and uses it to take the curve.
>
> different, but I wasnt sure.
They made a whole bunch of minor changes about a year ago -- a bigger
main crosswalk, making Palmer Street even weirder, a new island that
blocks the movement from Linden Street to Holyoke Place (and has
bushes blocking visibility turning onto Mt. Auburn), closing Winthrop
Street between 11 AM and 2 AM so drunk bar customers can stand around
and yell, a new crosswalk light and useless bike jughandle at Johnston
Gate, and widening the sidewalks by removing half the parking on
Church Street.
Jimmy
David Z Maze
> useless bike jughandle at Johnston Gate
I never totally got the one at Porter, either. I guess it's there for
bicyclists ballsy enough to ride on Mass. Ave., but too timid to cut
over into the left-turn lanes on to Somerville Ave.? And gives a
supported traffic pattern that's really basically equivalent to "use the
crosswalk", except I suppose it's legal to ride instead of walk?
(If I'm coming back from the Minuteman, going up Broadway from Arlington
Center towards Davis is shorter and the traffic patterns are less
annoying, assuming you don't mind climbing Clarendon Hill.)
--dzm
Jass
Yeah, it's to make left turns easier for casual riders. I think its a
good idea.
It's essentially a substitute for a bike box. Considering how quickly
paint disappears around here, it's probably more effective too.
Joe Fineman
> They made a whole bunch of minor changes about a year ago -- a
> bigger main crosswalk, making Palmer Street even weirder, a new
> island that blocks the movement from Linden Street to Holyoke Place
> (and has bushes blocking visibility turning onto Mt. Auburn),
> closing Winthrop Street between 11 AM
I suppose you mean 1 AM? or 11 PM?
> and 2 AM so drunk bar customers can stand around and yell, a new
> crosswalk light and useless bike jughandle at Johnston Gate, and
> widening the sidewalks by removing half the parking on Church
> Street.
Hoo bloody ray for the last-mentioned change. I had wished for it for
many years, but supposed it was politically impossible. The narrow
sidewalk was obstructed by many signs & (often) by queues for the
movie house. It was usually a pain to negotiate it.
I would also applaud the opportunity to be drunk & noisy on Winthrop
Street at those hours, but alas, it would give me scant time to get
home on the T.
--
--- Joe Fineman jo...@verizon.net
||: Often we correct ourselves as stupidly as we correct :||
||: others. :||
Jass
I was looking at all these changes in google maps.
It appears that the satellite image is somewhat recent, and shows all
the changes EXCEPT for the larger crosswalks at harvard square itself.
I think the image is from early 2009. The streetview, from 2006,
provides a good comparison.
David Chesler
> I was looking at all these changes in google maps.
>
> It appears that the satellite image is somewhat recent, and shows all
> the changes EXCEPT for the larger crosswalks at harvard square itself.
> I think the image is from early 2009. The streetview, from 2006,
> provides a good comparison.
Is there a way to get old satellite and streetview images? How do you
determine when the images were taken?
--
- David Chesler <che...@post.harvard.edu>
New York's home, but it ain't mine no more
Jimmy
>
> I suppose you mean 1 AM? or 11 PM?
>
> > and 2 AM so drunk bar customers can stand around and yell,
I did mean 11 AM. It's only open from 2 AM to 11 AM, presumably so
the restaurants can get deliveries.
I'll admit that I don't know who, if anyone, uses it between 11 AM and
when the drunks show up, since I'm usually in Harvard Square at night.
Jimmy
Jimmy
> David Z Maze <dm...@mit.edu> wrote:
> > Jimmy <JimmyGeldb...@mailinator.com> writes:
> > > useless bike jughandle at Johnston Gate
> > I never totally got the one at Porter, either. I guess it's there for
> > bicyclists ballsy enough to ride on Mass. Ave., but too timid to cut
> > over into the left-turn lanes on to Somerville Ave.? And gives a
> > supported traffic pattern that's really basically equivalent to "use the
> > crosswalk", except I suppose it's legal to ride instead of walk?
>
> good idea.
In theory, I think it's a good idea to add road features that make
specific intersection movements easier for bikes. But I have plenty
of complaints about the Harvard (and Porter) jughandle.
The bike signal is not at all synchronized with the previous traffic
light, so law-abiding bicyclists have to waste a lot of time waiting
for a green at the jughandle, and once it does change, the cyclist
then faces a stop sign at the southbound side of Mass Ave, right when
a bunch of cars are released from their previous traffic light. The
skinny path has a very sharp curve. The divider island takes away
space from bicyclists going straight ahead on northbound Mass Ave.
It's not plowed in winter, and is often blocked by piles of snow.
And the Harvard jughandle took away a very important loading zone.
More than 1000 people live in Harvard Yard, which means vehicles need
a place to stop for drop-offs and deliveries. And when this change
was made, the Harvard shuttle buses were kicked out of that bus stop,
which was the post popular stop for people heading to the Radcliffe
Quad. So a lot of people are being inconvenienced to make room for a
jughandle I've never seen anyone use.
Jimmy
Robert Coe
wrote:
: Jass <jamesincl...@yahoo.com> wrote:
: > David Z Maze <dm...@mit.edu> wrote:
: > > Jimmy <JimmyGeldb...@mailinator.com> writes:
: > > > useless bike jughandle at Johnston Gate
: > > I never totally got the one at Porter, either. �I guess it's there for
: > > bicyclists ballsy enough to ride on Mass. Ave., but too timid to cut
: > > over into the left-turn lanes on to Somerville Ave.? �And gives a
: > > supported traffic pattern that's really basically equivalent to "use the
: > > crosswalk", except I suppose it's legal to ride instead of walk?
: >
: > Yeah, it's to make left turns easier for casual riders. I think its a
: > good idea.
:
: In theory, I think it's a good idea to add road features that make
: specific intersection movements easier for bikes. But I have plenty
: of complaints about the Harvard (and Porter) jughandle.
:
: The bike signal is not at all synchronized with the previous traffic
: light, so law-abiding bicyclists have to waste a lot of time waiting
: for a green at the jughandle, and once it does change, the cyclist
: then faces a stop sign at the southbound side of Mass Ave, right when
I've worked in Cambridge for more than 14 years, and I've rarely seen a biker
obey either a red traffic light or a stop sign.
Bob
Jass
> On Sun, 13 Dec 2009 21:48:16 -0800 (PST), Jimmy <JimmyGeldb...@mailinator.com>
Pedestrians jay walk all the time, should we stop painting crosswalks?
John F. Carr
Jass <jamesi...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>Pedestrians jay walk all the time, should we stop painting crosswalks?
Yes. See: "naked streets."
Commonly disobeyed traffic rules are worse than useless.
--
John Carr (j...@mit.edu)
Robert Coe
: Pedestrians jay walk all the time, should we stop painting crosswalks?
Are you making a late bid for the "Non-Sequitur of the Year" award?
Bob