Governor Andrew Cuomo of New York recently declared that though his state’s rates of Covid infections and deaths have fallen precipitously, he expects them to rise again. So many parts of the country are spiking that he views an increase as inevitable.
I fear the same in Newton and Massachusetts, but for another reason: some residents are getting lax in wearing masks and keeping social distance. I worry in particular about the groups of young people I pass, aged fifteen through twenty-five, who congregate in Centre Playground and by Crystal Lake. They sometimes arrive by bicycle, pleasing to see. Yet they huddle together as if nothing has changed in the world. Though they may be asymptomatic or resistant to infection, their parents and grandparents may not be. Governor Baker noted a few weeks ago that demonstrations in support of Black Lives Matter led to no upsurge of cases in the Commonwealth. We may need similar luck in regards to our youth, many of whom would have been at camp or abroad but for the pandemic
I also worry about the tight fit of adults in some of the outdoor dining venues. Lord knows we all want our local restaurants to survive and prosper. But what about four people occupying a table only a few feet from another table? Yes, everyone is outside, far safer than indoors. For now, though, my wife and I will probably stick to ordering out.
It thrills me that so many residents, including parents and kids, have taken to bikes. Sales are booming at our local bike shops, and it’s tough to scour up a bike on the internet. If you want your bicycle tuned up, you will have to schedule an appointment several weeks in advance.
What will hold back biking in the long run is not the lack of bikes but the danger of our main roads. Biking down Beacon Street or Washington Street just doesn’t feel safe, probably because it often isn’t. Ideally, Newton ought to have dedicated bike lanes on all the main thoroughfares. Most European cities have reengineered their streets to create such separation. Boston, Brookline, and Brighton have done wonders placing bike lanes next to curbs, with automobiles parked between bikes and traffic. In Newton, the best we have done is draw bike lanes on the road surface in paint. When the road is too narrow, then a Sharrow sign gets painted on the road to indicate that both autos and bikes belong.
Recently, city councilors, Newton’s department of Transportation, and interested citizens met online to consider expanding bike lanes on Beacon Street. Presently, a bike lane or a Sharrow runs from Newton Centre to the Brookline border. Bike Newton, of which I am a member, would like to see bike lanes all the way from Washington Street to the Centre. It won’t be easy. Many staff members of Angier Elementary School park on Beacon Street, and intersections may need reconfiguration. Crossing Chestnut and Walnut Streets, for example, can be harrowing for inexperienced cyclists.
These obstacles notwithstanding, the city ought to make plans now to promote bicycles. As the pandemic continues, commuters remain wary of boarding buses and subway cars, a potentially high-risk endeavor. Some already commute on bike, but more would do so if streets were safer. If we want students to ride their bikes to school, as I often did in my youth, then passage must be less daunting. Veteran bikers like me should not be the only residents pedaling to Star Market or Whole Foods to shop.
Let’s seize the moment and nurture the resurgence of cycling: a healthy family activity, a great form of exercise, and a viable form of transportation to work and to shop.
Yes, yes to more and better bike lanes! And how about sheltered, safe bike cages at T and commuter rail stops so that those who can’t bike all the way to downtown jobs can at least bike to the T instead of driving into town? And safely locked bike cages at our schools rather than only parking spaces? Giving up just three parking places could shelter dozens of bikes for students and staff alike.
Biking is a wonderful thing….for the environment; for health, etc.
But there are constraints to year round riding – extreme heat (i.e. the last couple of afternoons), the extreme cold of winter months, rain and snow, etc.
You can’t carry a family’s worth of weekly groceries on a bike, nor 4 bags of mulch from the Needham Garden Center. Lastly, not everyone is at the same fitness level.
This is not say that we should not strive for greater bike use; because we should. But let’s be realistic on what we should or can do. Specifically, does it make sense to further restricting the volume of traffic our streets can handle but creating bike lanes that will not be used? Extreme weather and other constraints will remain, regardless of bike lanes.
Short of thoroughfares like Route 9, Soldiers Field Road and Storrow Drive, biked and vehicles can safely coexist on most roads. Familiarity and practice will increase comfort levels.
Is the lack of bicycle lanes an issue of cost or excessive red tape.
I assume many homeowners will loose the ability to park in front of their house but gets the “luxury” of biking from their house to school … door to door
Ie why can’t it be approved next week? What if it was on November ballot?
Can there be temporary dividers which are removed each winter as a compromise?
I’m confused with this post.
It the issue lack of bike lanes?
People dining outside too close to each other
Young people congregating w/o masks
All these things: thoughts that came to me while biking through the streets of the Garden City. The coronavirus is interconnected with bike lanes in that biking will be a temptation for commuters of a certain age who would rather not take the T.
Bob-
I will support your idea when there are sidewalks on both sides of Nahanton St beginning at the corner of Dedham St & Nahanton St all the way to the stop light at Angino Farm. For many years, and especially during the early days of the pandemic, I’ve been walking a circuit that includes this road, and while there are newly marked and generously spaced bike lanes there, the sidewalks are non existent or woefully inadequate. The road has always been popular for bicyclists, but the surge of bicycles that the pandemic has brought has made the road even more dangerous for pedestrians that get forced out into the bike lanes because of lousy or non existent sidewalks. Most serious bicyclists that pass through this area are in full on Lance Armstrong mode as it is a real good area to really open up, which is great as the road is well paved and well marked, but it shouldn’t be at the risk to walkers that must use the bike lanes absent the presence of sidewalks.
Sidewalks are essential to any well designed infrastructure, and there need to be excellent, walkable ones on Nahanton Street before that area focuses on the needs of bikers.
The city of Newton CPA spent 5 million dollars on Angino Farm, and probably hundreds of thousands of dollars more improving and updating the structures on the farm. In addition, the city spent thousands repaving the driveway and onsite parking spaces at Angino farm, and demarcated handicapped access with signage and handicapped parking spaces. The path or rut that passes for a sidewalk at the edge of the beautifully paved Angino driveway looks like something you would find in a third world country. Sidewalks first please.
Thank you very much!
PS – I’m not an anti bike guy.
I didn’t have the requisite minimum of thousand dollars for an entry level bike at my disposal, so I had Landry’s bikes refurbish my beater bike, and I’ve been
enjoying that as well. It won’t get me invited to any cocktail parties or end up as a feature in high end bike mags, but it still gives the legs and lungs a good workout!
I am not a spandex guy myself, just a neighborhood biker, as you are becoming. I am also a walker, and I completely agree that pedestrians deserve safe passage as well. Our causes run together, so to speak.
Matt Lai says: “You can’t carry a family’s worth of weekly groceries on a bike, nor 4 bags of mulch…”
No, but you can do delivery of these things. The pandemic has shown that delivery is a viable option for many tasks and many people. When you have delivery for big stuff, it becomes possible to do smaller trips, possibly more frequently as need be.
The whole “bikes are impractical because not everyone can take every trip by bike all year round” is a canard. Every mile of every trip every day not taken by car is a win for the whole community, drivers included. People want options. Newton’s village system is distributed density is ideal to support these kinds of short trips. We just need maintain viable villages with businesses and services people need, and plan so that new developments maximize transportation choices, including walking and biking, for everyone.
I don’t expect many people to be car free in Newton, at least in the near term. But with support from the city, people can drive less or hold off buying an additional car. Figuring out how to get fewer kids driving to high school every day would be amazing.
“…not everyone is at the same fitness level.” Not everyone has the same ability to own a car or drive either. So offer more viable choices, not for every trip every day, but for some trips some days. Also, ebikes change everything. They are the hottest part of the exploding bike sales market, and they make hills and longer trips a non-issue. Prices are rapidly falling.
“Specifically, does it make sense to further restricting the volume of traffic our streets can handle but creating bike lanes that will not be used?” I am not aware of locations where Newton has restricted the volume of traffic on our streets to add bike lanes. As far as I know, Washington Street is the only street it has even been discussed, and there are compelling safety reasons to reduce the number of lanes on Washington St. independent of bike lanes.
The major impediment to more bike lanes in Newton is parking, whether it is used frequently, occasionally, or sporadically. That, and money to study, design, and build separated bike facilities. And political will.
I think political will comes from people realizing how important livable streets are for our neighborhoods and communities. Livable streets offer safe sidewalks for evening strolls. They encourage kids to independently bike to their friend’s houses and go on safe adventures. They bridge neighbors across the street, they don’t divide them. They bind neighborhoods to villages where thriving businesses support more locals without the need for more parking. They create a sense of place, local identity, and pride. They enable more people with a greater range of economic and family circumstances to live and grow and become part of a larger, vibrant community.
This isn’t about bikes in isolation. This is about realizing that our dependence on the car as the way most people travel most of the time has shaped our city in ways that aren’t always positive, and that we can do better. Perhaps our time at home has helped us realize just how important our livable streets are to us.
While I don’t take enough performance-enhancing drugs to ever be in Lance Armstrong mode, I am one of those somewhat-faster road bikers, and I know that stretch of Nahanton- In fact, I had a bad crash there one year (no serious hurt or damage fortunately), but I got intimate with the condition of the sidewalks there.
In all, I agree, societal/pandemic conditions seem to mean more biking the vast majority of which will be the non-spandex* kind), which should beget more bike lanes and bike-friendly infrastructure – but I also agree pedestrians should not be left behind either, as roads are re-thought for community getting-around.
I can’t speak to the gatherings, as I tend to be out in early morning hours, and in Newton at least, people are generally wearing masks. Needham? They could do much better to be honest, at least to my observation.
*I have come across a hilarious acronym: MAMiLs (Middle-Aged Men in Spandex).
Mike, grocery delivery is prohibitively expensive for some – my family included. The prices are not the same, they charge a delivery fee, and then you tip the driver and should do so generously. We did a few deliveries during the surge and as soon as our numbers improved I had to stop because we just couldn’t continue to afford the extra cost, especially because our finances have been an issue in particular due to a furlough and other loss of income due to the pandemic.
In truth, you can carry groceries for a family on a bike. The catch is that most people haven’t focused the bikes they purchase nor their riding on that kind of activity. It isn’t difficult and may mean purchasing a different (or second) bike. A basket on the front of an old garage sale find can do wonders to getting to and from the grocery store. A couple of old beatup panniers bought on Craigslist can fit produce for a family five. Mine do each week.
Not every trip needs to be by bike and not every trip needs to go from end to end on a bike. And not everyone needs to be on a bike for everyone to benefit. If we can increase the cyclist numbers just a bit it reduces the cars on the road and makes life better for everyone.
As for why it hasn’t happened I’m just going to offer up this anecdote. When I was working on the N-Squared project I had a discussion with a Needham official about the potential for an off-street bike and pedestrian connection between Needham and Newton. Even though this official cycled and had helped establish other bike trails, they couldn’t see why we would spend transportation dollars on this kind of connection. I realized that the issue wasn’t that they didn’t like bikes, but they viewed bikes only as recreation, not as transportation. It’s a pretty fundamental thing.
If your view is that bikes are something fun to do on the weekend, then you’re going to see bike lanes as taking away from the transportation infrastructure. But cities around the world have discovered that bikes make for great transportation. Once we can get our collectives heads around that concept, we will start making substantive changes. Until that happens, we’ll continue to have to fight for just a few feet of paint and never have bike and pedestrian infrastructure that can make Newton a much more liveable city.
MMQC, completely agree. Delivery can be expensive, and depending on what is being delivered, it can be expensive for both business and recipient. Some people will prefer to shop in person for a variety of reasons.
However, that’s some people, some of the time, for some things (and I’m saying “some”, but not meaning necessarily a small group). If the tradeoff can really be one less family car, then that’s money that can be spent on delivery sometime, or on a nice electric bike. Other people may have the luxury (or lack thereof) of a different time/money/control tradeoff. Or maybe we can come up with another solution for the people otherwise left out.
If we can get local businesses that are closer to more people, perhaps we can help drive the cost of delivery down. For example, why couldn’t a Dunstan East scale development have grocery delivery from Shaws every other day? Seems like everybody wins. We gain opportunities with density, ones we haven’t had a chance to explore before. Perhaps we simply need to think creatively about it.
Thank you Bob for this thread. I agree that we need to move forward on creating a more bike friendly community for everyone. I am one of those people who bikes for exercise and I also use my bike as much as I can for transportation. Just last week I carried a full weeks worth of groceries for my family of 5 home from the store in my rear trailer. I also drove to Muzi in Needham to leave my car to be serviced and biked back to Newton Centre. It was a nice ride and would have been way easier if we had been able to get the UF Greenway extended through to Needham and over 128. Bike friendly streets and paths give people options. Bike infrastructure can also be used by people in wheelchairs, runners and pedestrians. Yesterday on the esplanade I saw a gentleman fishing from his wheelchair which had a FIREFLY attachment. It is a game changer for mobility. https://www.amazon.com/Firefly-Electric-Attachable-Handcycle-Wheelchair/dp/B004WLMNTY And if you still won’t be biking even if Newton someday looks like the Netherlands, know driving will be more pleasant then too as there will be fewer cars and bikes will be separated from drivers.
Alicia
Could you summarize red tape behind getting a bicycle lane approved?
Does it depend on public hearings? Recommendations fron traffic department? Ultimately, is needed to push proposal from street X to Y?
Thanks for raising the topic. In my mind, there should be a significant re-organization of City Streets to accommodate non-vehicle traffic.
– Reduce speed limit on all streets except main streets to 10 mph
– limit most streets to residential/essential traffic
– Reduce vehicle lanes on four-lane roads – create dedicated non vehicle lanes on these streets. For example, Washington Street. Comm Ave.
Car traffic is way down – we don’t need all the road space. Make it safer to move about without a car by formalizing what is already happening.
Boston, Newton, Cambridge, Brookline are all taking these kinds of steps. Would be great if Newton can do so as well.
I am not Alicia but I can describe my perception of the time it took for the city to add some bike lanes near my house, on the northernmost section of Waltham St from Crafts St. to the Waltham line. There was a fear that, with this stretch being repaved, already-high traffic speeds would get even worse. So traffic calming, not bike lanes, was the primary motivation. But coincidentally the lane narrowing from bike lanes fit well with the plan.
The planning department came up with a design. It was more complex than just bike lanes — involved removing parking on alternate sides (on a section of road where it was basically unsafe to park due to speeds) — and so required quite a bit of process.
They wrote it up, designed in detail where parking would be allowed, where bus stops are, width of the bike lanes & travel lanes, etc. and presented to the City Council.
It went through the normal City Council process of being approved by the Traffic Council, which is a public hearing with required notice periods, etc. I can’t remember if it had to go before the whole council due to parking being removed. There was opposition from some neighbors who feared losing parking immediately in front of their homes, and others fearing that slower cars would back up. But the city council approved it the first time.
The decision was appealed by some residents, as was their right. Waiting for their hearing took some more time. Ultimately the residents presented their case and their opposition was heard, but the city decided to proceed anyway because it’s just paint and could be undone if bad effects came to pass (which they have not).
Then the paving contractor failed to follow the city’s detailed plan, instead painting standard fog lines bike-line-distance from the curb. So that had to be undone and redone.
In all it took from May to December of 2018 from when I first heard of the proposal (at which time that detailed plan already existed) to when the bike lanes were done. If you search for “chicane” on Village14 you may find more info.
@Bugek I’m sure that Alicia will provide a solid answer, but having been through this I can tell you that it’s not always as simple as “red tape.” I’ve seen protected bike lanes put on drawings for areas and then be eliminated because the police felt there wasn’t enough room for emergency vehicles. Their objections won even through the engineers insisted that there was, in fact, enough room. It became a question of which battle to fight.
One of the key suggestions of the Washington Street Vision Plan was to test out protected bike lanes by using temporary pieces (planters, flex posts, paint, etc.) but that still hasn’t happened, and I’m not sure where it stands in terms of planning. Why? Well, when a city councilor declares, to great applause that “Newton is a driving city,” the ability and will to push through that kind of change just sort of evaporates.
Adding on to what @DougL wrote above, I also live in that neighborhood and the design presented in 2018 also included updated painted lanes on Crafts Street from Waltham to Walnut. That work just started in late June.
In my comments, I neglected to say I wholeheartedly support more, contiguous, and universally accessible sidewalks.
It is expensive and time-consuming to add them where they don’t exist, but they are an essential part of our transportation infrastructure and our commitment to neighborhood schools.
Doug, chuck
It has always baffled me why we dont have protected bike lanes to at least the 2 high schools
Which parent would not prefer their teens to ride in a car/bus vs using a safe protected bike lane in good weather…
If that can’t get pushed through, then there is no real appetite for any bike lane expansion in Newton
@Bugek I entirely agree about the need to have bike lanes to the two high schools. My son biked almost every day for four years and my other two bike occasionally (one preferred to walk, the other takes the MBTA bus). The number of bikes at Newton North is amazing and it makes clear the need for lanes.
Bugek, one of the issues with building protected bike lanes is building them where they need to go. Getting them to the high schools means connecting them to places where kids need to ride. Protected lanes in a built environment also offer challenges with driveways and cross streets. It has to be engineered carefully and deliberately.
That said, I will note that the new Walnut Street enhancements don’t even include contiguous bike lanes from Washington Street to NNHS, much less protected ones. The lanes drop in the business district. There was opposition during the planning meetings. The sidewalks were widened to their maximum extend instead. The only bike accommodation in that area is sharrows on narrowed travel lanes, hopefully to slow vehicles speeds down.
Let’s ask Newton resident Dan Rea to use his radio show to promote biking!
Could temporary (May to Sept) safe protected bike lanes into major roads leading to high schools get on the November ballot?
Primary purpose is for teens to get to school independently, no lance armstrong types or groceries.
Eg for NNHS, it would strictly only be along walnut and maybe crafts.
Someone could do a study on how much pollution could be saved during the summer.
Where is the leadership?
Waltham is able to shut down much of Moody Street to cars and, with all of the available redundant paths on adjacent streets, people are still able to drive to their destinations. It seems that with a little bit of effort Newton could make most streets weighted toward vehicles and still have some that are focused toward bikes. For example, Newton North is flanked by Walnut and Lowell Streets. Why not set up Lowell as a “Bypass” of Newtonville and Newton North for the majority of through traffic?
I’m sure there are many other places in Newton where there are similar opportunities. Also, I’m sure cyclists (as opposed to drivers) would have no issues going a little bit out of their way to ride on a bike focused road or path.