George Kirby from the Newton Bicycle/Pedestrian Task Force has put together an interesting proposal for bringing the HubWay bike-sharing system to the soon-to-be-built Upper Falls Greenway bike trail. The general idea is to install Hubway stations at the Needham Highlands T stop, Needham St and possibly the Needham Business Center. This would give T riders, a fast, easy and safe route to the Needham St commercial district using the mile long dedicated bike trail that will run behind Needham St.
George’s proposal is in part a response to an alternative plan recently explored by the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC). MAPC released a report in March that explored the idea of using the Greenway route as a shared path for bikes and pedestrians and shuttle buses to the Needham Business Center. The MAPC study indicates that shifting the existing shuttle buses from Needham St on to the Greenway’s dedicated right-of-way would yield minimal savings in travel time and a negligible increase in ridership – and it would involve great expense.
George Kirby’s Hubway-on-the-Greenway plan has the potential to reduce travel time more than the shuttle buses. Better yet, it could underwrite the entire infrastructure of the Hubway system and operate it for three years for the same cost as just the feasibility study of the shuttle-bus-on-the-Greenway plan.
This makes sense for Newton and Needham Street but it would make even more sense for Needham and their Business Center. We’re hoping the proposal piques Needham’s interest and spurs their interest in extending the Upper Falls Greenway trail over the Charles River and into Needham.
These was a share a bike set up in Cambridge last year on Memorial Drive, at the intersection of Dewolfe St. (at the Weeks Bridge). I have not seen in back this year (yet).
What’s a safe route across Route 128 from Needham Heights to the Upper Falls Greenway??
Well, that’s exactly the problem Bob. Crossing 128 via Highland Ave/Needham St on a bicycle is not for the feint of heart. With the coming widening of 128 and reconstruction of that exit, nobody’s expecting it to get any easier.
At the moment, the only reasonably bicycle-friendly 128 crossing is a mile or more to the south at Kendrick St. A new 128 exit is planned there, so it will soon become equally treacherous.
Given all that, extending the Upper Falls Greenway into Needham is the only hope of a reasonable bicycle/pedestrian route. Given the state Department of Transportation’s much ballyhoo’ed Bicycle Accommodation Policy, I would have thought that the DOT would have been climbing all over that idea. So far though, both the DOT and the town of Needham seem relatively apathetic about the fact that the Greenway’s crossing over 128 (old railroad bridge) will be dismantled as part of the 128 Add-A-Lane project.
Despite the fact that the DOT will be severing this valuable right-of-way, there is no concrete plan on the table to replace it. When pressed, the DOT has issued reassuring sounding statements about being “responsible” for the bridge’s eventual replacement. Given that there is no specific plan, no allocated budget, and no obvious pressure from the town of Needham, I worry whether it will ever be replaced.
@Jerry. That’s exactly what occurred to me.
I wouldn’t hold my breath on this happening any time soon. Everything Hubway does is based upon density: both the proximity of stations to one another and the setting (residential, office, college, etc.) in which they are located. This is so they can ensure that their trips are short and their bikes are constantly turning over. Take a look at their station map:
http://www.thehubway.com/stations
The distance from Upper Falls to the nearest existing station is further than the existing east to west limits of today’s network. It just doesn’t seem reasonable that the network will ever begin stretching that far west when there are so many more densely built neighborhoods (South Boston, Allston, Brighton, Brookline, JP, Roxbury, Dorchester) that don’t have the service today and are already adjacent to the existing system. Three stations out on an island of their own doesn’t make sense from a network connectivity standpoint or for station and bike maintenance purposes.
Some day maybe, but not until much more of the system gets built out.
@Yim Yames – George Kirby has already spoken to Hubway about this idea. While they certainly made no promises or commitments they didn’t seem to think it was an unreasonable plan.
Everything you say is true today, but this is a plan for a few years down the road (so we won’t hold our breath till then ). Hubway already has Newton on its roadmap for 2015/2016, expanding from Cleveland Circle, to BC, to Newton Centre. Before the Hubway could come to the Greenway, there are various other non-Hubway issues that would have to be dealt with first. First off, the Greenway has to get built (Oct 2013), access from Easy St to Winchester St would need to be worked out, possible Greenway extension along a railroad spur line to Needham St, etc.
So George’s Kirby plan is definitely just the first step in a many year, many step process. That’s what George is good at though, envisioning a plan that may not be obvious to others, and then methodically working at it until its obvious to everyone.
@ Yim: we are on our way to that connectivity, as the Bicycle Coordinator (Lois Levin), Transportation Director (Bill Paille) and Mayor are negotiating to get stations in the western part of the City–Reservoir should get a station next year, and the Transportation Advisory Group is hoping to find sponsors for stations at BC and Newton Centre. The Highlands is the next logical step–so if a greenway hubway is also scheduled, it will be one big leap into Needham’s lap (if only Needham will say yes)
Would the next logical step be the Highlands? The central idea behind Hubway is providing access from transit stations to areas that don’t have direct or regular transit access. The bikes aren’t meant to be stopped at any place except for the stations. If all of the stations are planned for locations that are already adjacent to D line stops then you’re only competing with the T instead of working with it.
The Hubway stations that are located at MBTA stations should be thought of as a hub, with spokes going out to other non-MBTA spots. Otherwise the system becomes redundant.
@Yim Yames – The “Hubway on the Greenway” idea follows that model. Newton Highlands would be the hub and Needham St (and possibly the Needham Business Center) would be spokes.
As for Newton Centre/NewtonHighlands that’s not at all unusual on their map today e.g. Hubway stations at consecutive stops on a transit line, so long as there are other Hubway stations spread out around them.
@Jerry Reilly – And that brings me back to my original point about density. You need both density of stations and non-MBTA locations to make it work.
You have a bit of a chicken and an egg scenario. If the Greenway was adjacent to the existing Hubway network then it’d be a perfect candidate. However, it can’t survive alone on morning and evening commuter trips only to survive. There’s got to be other trips that can overlap with it. The only way to achieve that is to build out radially instead of in a straight line that mirrors the T.
If a station(s) goes into Newton Centre the next step shouldn’t be the Highlands, it should be to locations to the north and south that aren’t served by the Green Line. The BC Law campus, Newton Corner, Oak Sq., Watertown Sq., etc. Once that ring is set then it makes sense to go to the Highlands and follow in a similar expansion pattern.
@Yim Yames – Absolutely right there. That’s the Hubway way. We all hope that by the time we’re ready for Hubway on the Greenway, a substantial portion of the network you described has reached Newton … and Hubway and the city clearly seems to be moving in that direction.
NEwtonville would be a logical choice. It would be terrific to connect the Green line with the Commuter rail and the express bus.And Washington Street, City Hall/Library. Newton Highlands and Newton Corner would be awesome as well.