There’s little question N2 Corridor businesses will be celebrating the (half) opening of the I-95 Kendrick Street exit. Needham officials are patting themselves on the back, but Newton officials sat quietly through meetings when the plans were approved a decade ago. Will this be a disaster for Newton? I’ve shared my thoughts on this before. I sincerely hope I’m wrong.
On the plus side, the add-a-lane project reluctantly added a few more lanes: there are now green bicycle lanes across the Kendrick exits, thanks to local activists, making the best of a bad situation for cyclists.
I’m glad that some will be celebrating, but I’m saddened and dismayed by the massive deforestation and carpet-paving that’s been going on along this section of Rte. 128 (Kendrick, Rte. 9). It’s looking more and more like Rte. 101 in San Jose. Some parts even look like the surface of the Moon or Mars, but maybe that’s just during construction. All those signs around the Rte. 9/Rte. 128 intersection that say “Wrong Way” really speak to me.
The new exit ramp at Kendrick should result in getting cars off of Needham Street and Highland Ave, which for anyone who has been stuck on the backups there — and worried about carbon emissions — has to consider a good thing.
I’m all for improved mass transit, bike lanes, better sidewalks, etc. etc. But people are still driving so why not make that experience better while also working provide alternatives?
Greg – induced demand is real.
Because there are no meaningful alternatives as part of this plan (or any that I could imagine happening) There is only induced demand, and with a regional highway system that is bottlenecked at Route 9, thanks to other short-sighted, business-oriented transportation “improvements” like Chestnut Hill Square, the induced demand could be significant. That’s doing a lot more harm than good.
I’m not going to justify decisions that were made one decade or two ago over decisions that I would have preferred — such as a Green Line Extension from the Highlands or Purple Line extension from Needham Heights — but that is indeed how long this exit ramp has taken.
Mayor Warren has said his transportation strategy will be released this fall. Here’s hoping it includes pragmatic strategies that allow us to address our other shortfalls.
Meanwhile the Kendrick Street ramp is good for economic development, job creation and, in turn, generating more local tax revenue. Let’s insist that we use those factors to advocate for the alternatives we also desperately need.
The way I see it, Needham is positioned to reap most of the benefits while Newton is positioned to take all of the risk.
We’re talking about regional problems, made worse, that Newton alone cannot fix. Even a green line extension would not mitigate cutting a new commuting path to Boston through Newton’s south residential neighborhoods. If we’re going to advocate for anything here, it should involve a proper fix to route 9. Route 9 congestion has significant environmental and economic impacts, far beyond the scope of the N2 corridor.
I took the downhill side of Kendrick today for the first time on my bicycle, and encountered a car entering. He looked right through me for motor traffic and then proceeded to attempt to drive right through me.
Many drivers have no idea what a YIELD sign means. Many drivers will assume that the green stripe there is like a crosswalk and that bikes must stay inside it.
A “BICYCLES MAY USE FULL LANE” sign would be a really good idea there. It would make it clear that bikes do not need to stay in the green, and is needed anyway forther down the hill where the bike lane disappears and is replaced with one tiny “sharrow” marker in the right lane.