A number of changes are underway on Washington Street, primarily, the addition of a single, one-direction, protected bike lane. This is exciting and it’s about time, but there is a bit more to this story.
Let’s go back to the Washington Street Vision Plan, in which it was suggested that we put the four-lane road on a diet. The consultants showed images of a reconfigured roadway with better sidewalks and protected bike lanes. This dream, they told us, could be tested for very little money. Put out some planters and some paint, try out a new configuration, and do the full design later once we see how it works in real-world conditions.
The city agreed to this concept and allocated $400,000 to the road diet trial. But, then back in May, The DPW reallocated that money to pay for hot-in-place repaving for the area between Walnut St. and Chestnut St. The DPW claimed that if they didn’t do this repaving now, the road would need to have been reconstructed at great expense. The city had already put aside $350,000 through the paving budget for Washington Street, but the DPW said it needed to add the rest to ensure that the project got done. This $750,000 project was underway last I looked, but there’s a catch. The road work happened before anyone fixed the various gas leaks that have already been identified along the road, so it’s likely to be dug up and patched in the near future.
So when might the road diet happen? Well, that’s a great question. So far the only answer I got was that it will happen at some unspecified time in the future when economic times are better. There is no budget, no benchmarks, no plan.
What is happening, however, is a protected bike lane on the westbound side of the road, pushed up against the highway (it’s replacing curbside parking) between West Newton and Lowell Street. This is part of the safe routes to school program, though with the changes happening to the city’s Covid education program, it’s anyone’s guess when students may use the lane for its intended purpose. I’ll say that a protected lane on this road is desperately needed. One student described her daily trip up this road to me as “emotionally exhausting,” and that’s no way for a kid to start the school day.
This kind of accommodation was also called for in the vision plan, which states “Infrastructure for residents who bike also requires consideration. With no dedicated space for cyclists, conflict with drivers is frequent and those conflicts have the potential to be deadly.”
While these changes are wonderful and welcome, they’re not nearly enough. First, there is no westbound protected bike lane. A westbound bike lane would not only get the students home safely, but it would also provide cycling access to the commerce that only happens on one side of that road. Second, while other cities and towns around the state and the country are rethinking their infrastructure to open up to more uses; both Waltham and North Adams come to mind, we have managed very few transportation changes here. Instead of a true network to help people get around safely without a car, we have a single one-way protected lane pushed up against a six-lane highway and a railroad. Every day I see people moving around my neighborhood on foot, by bike, riding electric scooters, and even on those one-wheel balance boards. These aren’t just kids either! Just this morning a guy on an electric scooter, wearing a backpack looking like he was headed off to work, came by me and scooted down North Street toward Waltham. We need to give our neighbors a way to do more than just use these recreationally.
A key problem remains that intersection between drivers who speed down the road and the cyclists and pedestrians who also occupy the same space. Despite a 35mph speed limit on Washington Street, the wide straightaway means people move much faster. Traffic studies show cars regularly traveling at 45 and 50 mph in both directions.
We have an opportunity to make big, bold changes to our city that can have positive impacts on a number of different levels, including giving our children safe ways to move around. This isn’t just about Washington Street, but about all of Newton. Remember, even most high schoolers don’t drive to school; they’re either underaged, haven’t gotten their license, or don’t have a spare car at their disposal. Having pedestrian and bike access enables them to get to school without needing a parent to drive them.
We can make these changes, but we need to look beyond the windshield.
Keep at it, Chuck! I was riding my bike east on Washington Street between Walnut and Church this week at 10am, and it was a truly frightening experience. There is no protected lane, and traffic was whizzing by well above the speed limit at a very close distance. A major thoroughfare like that street warrants protected lanes in both directions.
This blog underscores the need for more aggressive reconfiguration of our major roadways to make them safer for cyclists and pedestrians. The successful experiment on Nonantum Street should point the way. Space was created for safe cycling and walking by reducing the number of lanes and increasing the number of turning lanes. Traffic moves just about as fast as before, and far more safely.
Washington Street is dangerous for everyone who traverses it, including drivers, cyclists, and pedestrians. The city must take steps to slow down the through traffic; protect pedestrians as they struggle cross the street; make room for cyclists to share the road.
In recent years Brookline and Boston have taken bold measures to improve traffic safety and to create conditions for safe cycling. How about it, Newton? Time to catch up.
By the way, here’s a prime example where our “Green” city administration and Councilors have failed to follow through. It’s easy to hire a developer to put solar cells on parking lots, but there’s a lack of attention to examples like this where people’s lives can be improved and energy efficiencies can be garnered every day.
I’m wondering how the bicyclists feel about the West Newton Square redesign. From my perspective as a driver, what seems to have happened is that when heading westbound on Washington Street the right hand turn lane onto Cherry St. has been eliminated, but it doesn’t look like a bike lane is being added, it just looks like the sidewalk has been widened. So now the westbound traffic regularly stacks up all the way from the Cherry St. intersection back past the police station and court all the way to the Waltham St. intersection. I can’t imagine how bad this redesign-caused traffic jam will be once the current lighter traffic returns to normal post-Covid. If there were a benefit to this backup, such as a bike lane heading westbound through the square, then that would perhaps provide a valid reason for this change, but instead the resulting traffic pattern has been made worse, seemingly for drivers and bikers alike, and nobody benefits, except maybe the handful of pedestrians who might walk that particular stretch on any given day. So what’s going on here?
Chuck, thank you for bringing attention to this issue. Certainly much better than no change, but I find myself frustrated when great ideas stagnate.
Gerry, as a bicyclist (and pedestrian, and driver) I’m a great supporter of the West Newton Square redesign, I attended the community meetings, etc. It’s under active construction, so most of the benefits don’t exist yet. For example, many protected segments are still missing, and there is no paint. You can see what the final design will look like here:
http://www.newtonma.gov/civicax/filebank/documents/86222
It is not perfect but in my opinion a huge improvement from the status quo.
How do cyclists feel about the West Newton Square design? They’re probably not too thrilled, since the best elements of the plan — parking-protected bike lanes — were reduced to almost nothing by the old police Chief and city councilors who followed old-school thinking that emergency response vehicles needed an extra lane of traffic, the more roadway the better. It’s a huge missed opportunity. Still, I think it’s dangerous to have discussions of a project mid-construction without looking at the plans. Let’s not make any assumptions.
Without any significant pre-covid investment in the Washington Street corridor outside West Newton Square, the city lacks the courage to build the road diet now in any meaningful form. It didn’t have to be this way. The stretch of road _between_ the village centers has always been under capacity, and a road diet has been discussed for years (much longer than that, actually). Reducing the road to one travel lane each way with channelized turn lanes at intersections could actually improve throughput, instead of the free-for-all we have now approaching intersections and changing lanes. That’s the proper context for bicycle infrastructure. It would provide enough room for proper cycle tracks throughout.
The other missed opportunity is that this concept could have been worked out in the block between Walnut and Lowell as part of the Orr Block redesign, sponsored by the developer under pre-covid conditions. That would have been a game changer and a model for the rest of the corridor. Indeed, the Jersey barriers they had in place demonstrated this and never should have been removed! Instead, to get the bicycle infrastructure checkbox on the project, a great deal of effort was poured into a bike lane around the corner for a short distance of Walnut Street north of Washington.
Gerry:
adam:
I said I would never come here again!
but
coming west bound at the police station
a bike lane is there between the
two sidewalks
by the bus stop
look close
its there
also I will never come back here
so goodbye
As someone who is comfortable on a bike on Washington outside the West Newton, Adams St and Circle of Death chokepoints (tho I know others are far less so), I still welcome the road diet- but this sounds like a far-less-than-half measure, to what end? Will it get finished, will it get started? When?
I would love to see more definites from the city.
Adam: It was a big disappoinment to lose much of the protected bike lanes. Trying to be optimistic, my understanding is this could be quickly and cheaply fixed with just paint. I hope this issue is revisited.
“The city agreed to this concept and allocated $400,000 to the road diet trial. But, then back in May, The DPW reallocated that money”
I’m sorry, what?
So the Mayor proposed a budget, approved by the City Council, to put $400k into a road diet trial. And someone at the DPW (commissioner, presumably?) was able to override our elected officials to do… what exactly? Repave the road that was already supposed to be repaved? Am I missing something?
@Doug,
As a cyclist, how do you like the bump outs in the road? My husband is an avid cyclist- dedicated bike commuter to Boston for the past 23 years except in the most bitter cold (below 20). He really dislikes many of the road changes as a cyclist because he feels that they put him closer to cars. He likes the bike lane on Beacon Street in Brookline, but really despises the west bound lane in Newton where it intersects with Summer Street.
Great piece! Washington Street needs protected bike lanes now. If you are upset about the slow pace of progress on this project and other bike projects in Newton, sign up for the Bike Newton mailing list.
An item has been docketed with Traffic Council to create a companion westbound lane. We’re hopeful that the Traffic Council will approve this soon. In the meantime, email the mayor and your city councilors (ward and at-large) and tell them why you want protected bike lanes on Washington Street.
Alicia Bowman, Jake Auchincloss and I filed the item to temporarily create bike lanes on both sides of Washington from Eddy to Lowell, as this is the highest-demand route to NNHS. With high schools now going all remote, the urgency is gone.
Several of us have advocated for pandemic bike lanes, and Washington is a key route. So far, we have not been successful.
As for the four-to-three pilot, it needs to happen when traffic is normal (not pandemic traffic), as a number of our colleagues are skeptical that it will work.
Yes, the gas lines are still not repaired under Washington (there are two), but NGrid kept saying they would do it soon, but the road needed a quick fix before it became a much more expensive job—Newton had already delayed 2 years in fixing this stretch. But the staff assures me that WHEN NGrid replaces these lines, they will be obligated to replace the entire surface, curb-to-curb.
Councilor Downs, a few questions:
1) We still need the bike lanes, will they still be going in? What about lanes on other routes?
2) What is the plan for returning the $400,000 to the four-to-three test? What are the benchmarks that need to be met to move forward with that?
3) Are there penalties for non-compliance if National Grid simply patches the roadway? I don’t believe there are any other locations in the city in which they do a curb-to-curb replacement. Though, I believe that Cambridge has such a requirement.
4) If DPW knew the road needed to be repaved, why did it not allocate the money prior to May?
@lisap, where I typically bike, the bumpouts I go by are:
– Walnut St (though I often bypass via Harvard and Cabot on my way out of Newton)
– Newton Center
– Weston Center
And I LOVE them. In those areas in particular, the idea is to slow traffic down, which means cyclists are generally going in traffic at similar speeds (sorry, people who like to go 35 through village centers. your time is up). I have no problem, even as a road cyclist, slowing down to make sure pedestrians safely cross if they are in the crosswalks. Traffic calming is not just for cars. But to the point, I am comfortable being in traffic there.
Tonight NatGrid started digging up Washington Street at Lowell.
W.R. Koss: National Grid might have been at Lowell Ave x Washington St. because this morning I reported a Grade 1 explosive gas leak in a manhole in the middle of the intersection. It was 26% gas, above the 4% gas level that constitutes a grade one hazardous level.
This was under new pavement, laid down over just the last few weeks. There remain gas leaks all along the newly paved section, despite Commissioner McGonagle stating in a May 29 memo to the City Council that National Grid was going to replace the leaking gas main prior to the City repaving.
So no promised bike lane, a $500k-taxpayer funded Principle Group “Hello Washington St” study ignored, and a huge, willful waste of city money since the road will need to be dug up again, which apparently already began today.
Here is a slide deck of our findings:
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1xganb93n7uKgu9mOIPrj2RH1VRaLWqszZZzXxFxKDl0/edit?usp=sharing
There is every indication this same willful neglect to repave over leaking gas mains will happen soon on Woodward St. between Lincoln St. and Rt. 9. It’s leaking now and no one seems to be doing anything about plans to pave over the leaking gas main.
On Mon, May 18, 2020 at 12:16 PM Ruthanne Fuller wrote:
Lucia,
With our revenues plummeting and the State’s as well, our goal of piloting the Wash St changes and then having the State pay for the work are dreams deferred for at least a few years. The condition of Wash St is so bad that we have to do some work to hold us over until revenues stabilize and we can do the important work of reconfiguring, upgrading, changing Wash St.
With a depression/recession upon us, revenues have taken a huge hit.
R
From: Lucia Dolan
Sent: Monday, May 18, 2020 12:05 PM
To: Ruthanne Fuller ; David A. Olson
Subject: Road Diet on WA St replaced with paving
[DO NOT OPEN links/attachments unless you are sure the content is safe. ]
Dear Mayor Fuller and City Council,
I just learned that the planned safety measures for WA St are not being trialed because of the COVID reduction in traffic. I am horrified to learn that these funds are going to be used to repave WA St are it currently exists.
There are bus stops all along WA St with NO safe crossing or waiting area. Cars regularly speed along this road – which has lanes wider than the Mass Pike, making not only crossing but biking along WA St. dangerous. There are also planned 40B developments along WA St. Low income people are more likely to use the bus and bike.
Repaving WA St as is does not support Climate Goals of reducing pavement (heat islands) or improving alternatives to single occupancy vehicles. And then there is the paving over known gas leaks…
Please do not do this,
Lucia
Thank you, Nathan, for both your community service and the “receipts” to show how critical this issue is to health and safety. I’m a neighbor in this W Newton zone. Clearly, this is about more than road conditions and cyclists. The discussion has shifted from bicycle safety, expanding to hazards that affect everyone. I hope this will spur action from city officials and utility companies, especially now that demolitions, and construction, are active all along Washington Street.
It seems that the four to three pilot plus dedicated bike lanes in both directions can be accomplished inexpensively with street paint and signs.
If not now, when?
(If traffic is lower now, then it’s a great time.)
Let’s focus on low cost interventions that create effective networks for bikes rather than on lavish but disconnected projects.
(Cases in point: West Newton Square and the proposed $5+ million improvements for four blocks at the west end of Comm Ave in Auburndale.)
Instead, let’s get inexpensive but effective end to end bike infrastructure on 3 miles of Washington Street and 6 miles of the carriage lane of Commonwealth Avenue (the so called Commonwealth Bikeway).
All we need is the political will.