When looking through the collaborative zoning map recently I was struck by a comment in my neighborhood. Someone had suggested turning a stretch of Albermarle Rd., which has no driveways, into parkland. It made complete sense since the one-block road is unnecessary. In fact, a few years ago the city made the left-hand turn there illegal because people were using it as a way to avoid a traffic light.
This also came to mind when I watched the video about Washington Street and saw how changes in the street can take areas back from cars and give them to pedestrians for public space. New York City has done this in places that, years ago, would seem crazy, like Times Square.
But there are other places in this city in which we can increase public greenery without greatly impacting traffic flow. Think about streets that are currently wide, but have a 25 mph or 30 mph speed limit. Consider roads that are underutilized or corners that can be closed off, like what the city did at Lowell St. and Watertown St.
So I’ve created a map and I invite people to add to it. You can find it here. I opened it to sharing, but sometimes Google makes these things tough to work with. If anyone has a better suggestion for a tool, I’m open to ideas.
I put up a couple of suggestions, but I’m curious to see what people come up with.
Which part of albemarle road are you talking about?
And just for the record, the “no left turn” sign does not stop people from taking a left. I don’t know who’s bright idea this was that you can’t take a left from Crafts St onto the short section of Albemarle Rd but you can go straight across Crafts St from the park side of Albemarle. Tons of accidents there….many cars crashing through the fence into the brook. Not well thought out.
Chuck,
Very interesting idea on albemarle, never noticed the driveway thing until you mentioned it
That intersection is notorious, especially given its on the school path.
A small park would be awesome but realistically given its only a block away from a gigantic park, its hard to justify from a cost perspective.
I know they are digging up water pipes for replacement on some roads.. would be awesome to roll into the same work
@bugek it doesn’t need to be much, just some greenery, a couple of trees and a path. It will force cars either straight (observing the no left turn) or right turn onto Crafts instead of the shoot across.
But I’m Curious to hear others. Click on the map!
There are a couple of great ideas on the map, like Clark St. in Newton Centre. It’s a traffic island that is already park-like. With a little cutting, shaving and a change at the intersection, it can increase more greenery, make the pedestrian crossings safer AND make for a more natural flow of traffic.
I added a bunch in Chuck 🙂
I love how a 1/3 mile section of Beacon Street has three completely unrelated complaints.