Construction is about to begin on the $30 million dollar renovation of the Needham Street corridor: starting at the junction of Winchester Street and Route 9 in Newton and extending down Needham Street, across the Charles River onto the Fire Station on Highland Avenue in Needham. Here’s the guest column I wrote about it this week for the TAB.
My favorite addition will be the new smart traffic lights that can give priority to MBTA buses, as well as Northland’s proposed free electric shuttles, making bus ridership more attractive. It’s important to note that the state will not be making Needham Street wider. Studies show that adding lanes doesn’t actually improve traffic flow; it attracts more cars. Instead, this is about making Needham Street safer for residents, shoppers and workers, no matter which mode of transportation we choose.
Construction underway! I’m pleased to be able to offer a daily progress report:
– Two steel plates have been installed in the northbound roadway under Route 9. However, installation was evidently imprecise and they’re sinking in the middle. From the sound of the passing cars, quite a few car suspensions are likely to be eighty-sixed by the weekend.
– A couple of huge potholes simultaneously opened up in the southbound roadway and got filled up with bilge water which was splashed onto my new coat by the region’s extremely kind and eternally oblivious motorists.
Aside from these hiccups, this is a project that is long overdue and I look forward to the improvements it will bring.
It’s a shame that it isn’t being accompanied (and mitigated) by improved pedestrian/cyclist access over the old railroad tracks from Needham to link up to the fantastic Upper Falls Greenway, but chalk that up to the obstinacy, myopia, and overall cluelessness of the Needham Select Board.
How will these “smart traffic lights” prioritize MBTA buses and the Northland shuttle? Is this magic or some science behind it.
The rest are welcome improvements, prob won’t make too much of a dent in traffic (sadly). Hopefully the DOT will be done before Northland breaks ground or we’re taking t about many years of worse traffic before it gets better.
@Matt: In Memphis:
In NYC:
@Matt Lai:
Here’s a quote from the NYC DOT (NYC Dept. of Transportation) regarding the traffic light technology – or, as they call it, “Transit Signal Priority:”
“On average, TSP has reduced bus travel times about 14 percent during weekday peak morning and evening commuting periods. Results vary by corridor, direction and time of day with travel time savings ranging from less than 1 percent to up to 25 percent.”
And one more, which is pertinent to this situation:
“Where Does TSP Work Best?
-Two-way streets, where there is typically not an existing “green wave” signal progression;
-And streets that provide predictable bus travel times, such as streets that have bus lanes, so that the bus can correctly estimate how long it will take to arrive at an intersection.”
And here’s the source link for you, if you’d like to read about the *science.*
http://www.nyc.gov/html/brt/downloads/pdf/brt-transit-signal-priority-july2017.pdf
Having worked at Polaroid on Needham street for nearly 10 years (1991-2000) and dealing with the traffic congestion even back then, the proposed changes are welcome, albeit a little late.
Thanks @Greg and @Ben. Encouraging!
Back in 2017 the MBTA promised traffic light prioritization on the street-level Green Line branches (B/Comm Ave., C/Beacon St., and E/Huntington Ave.) – a basic technology that should have been implemented 25 years ago – but evidently nothing ever became of it. I frequently see Beacon St. trolleys stop at literally every intersection between Washington Square and Coolidge Corner. It’s a distance of slightly less than a mile, and you can walk faster than the trolley takes. Joggers, meanwhile, continue to easily beat the Beacon St. trolley along its entire above-ground distance from Cleveland Circle to St. Mary’s Street, which wouldn’t be possible if the trolleys were to have priority at the traffic lights – https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2016/09/23/footrace-against-story-men-and-glory/Sgpkm39hgoezcXRiL9atiJ/story.html
All this to say, I hope the MBTA does a better job implementing the prioritization technology at the three traffic lights on Needham Street than it has done on the Green Line. Since 59 buses are few and far between, the primary near-term beneficiaries of this technology will likely be TripAdvisor with its proprietary shuttle, as well as the shuttles of the 128 Business Council (whose executive director has been promoting bus prioritization via her position on the MassDOT Board of Directors and the Fiscal and Management Control Board, overseeing the MBTA – no conflict of interest there, of course).
A few smart traffic lights??? I guess $30 million doesn’t get you much anymore.
This money would have been much better spent on a new elementary school in Newton or increased service on the commuter rail or Green line. I’m surprised the “environmentalist” on this blog haven’t pointed that out yet. But then, they’re only environmentalists for big development.
Plus, all I hear from the pro-Northland folks is that there is no traffic issue on Needham Street so why waste our money-$30 million! there???
Wow. Arthur, you are the first person I’ve encountered who isn’t welcoming improvements on Needham Street. Sorry it doesn’t fit your narrative