South End Engaged, an initiative coordinated by the United Way of Greater New Bedford, hosted a walk assessment to further the group’s vision for the South End: All residents of the South End of New Bedford are safe, healthy, and have the knowledge and skills to thrive.
Read the full article here:
WalkBoston-SouthEndNeighborhoodWalkAudit-NewBedford
In the summer of 2016, Urban Edge and WalkBoston initiated a conversation about scheduling a walk assessment for the Egleston Square area to examine pedestrian infrastructure conditions in this highly trafficked Main Streets corridor. Concurrently, the Boston Planning and Development Agency (BPDA – formerly the Boston Redevelopment Authority) was pursuing (and continues to pursue) its PLAN: JP/Rox planning and development study for the Washington Street corridor. This area includes Egleston Square as well as Stonybrook, which has been designated a “Neighborhood Slow Streets” pilot as part of the City’s Vision Zero efforts to eliminate traffic fatalities and serious injuries. Urban Edge’s push for a walk assessment and BPDA staff’s interest in applying innovations from the Slow Streets pilot more broadly both highlight a strong desire for transportation infrastructure that accommodates all road users, whether they are walking, bicycling, driving or taking transit.
Read the full report here:
WalkBoston-EglestonSquareWalkAudit
September 30, 2016
Matthew Beaton, Secretary
Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs
Attn: MEPA Office, Alex Strysky
100 Cambridge Street, Suite 900
Boston, MA 02114
Re: General Electric Headquarters Project EA 15547
Dear Mr. Beaton,
WalkBoston has reviewed the Expanded Environmental Notification Form for this project and we
offer our comments below.
We are excited that GE is locating its headquarters in Boston, and is proposing a project that has such an urban plan where the great majority of trips to the site will be by people walking – about 70% if both walking and transit/walking trips are included. Ensuring that walking connections to the site are convenient, accessible and attractive will be critical to welcoming the public and GE staff to the headquarters.
We think there are several aspects of the site that are exciting for pedestrian access, and where great attention to the details of the walking environment will provide important access benefits.
1. The Fort Point Channel setting – The public realm improvements associated with the project are substantial and will take advantage of the waterside site for its many users.
• The project will include a major building entrance facing a widened 18-foot Harborwalk. On the water’s edge overlooks are provided to heighten contact with the Channel and its water views. A seating zone along the Harborwalk is provided as an extension of the central plaza between Brick Buildings and the New Building. We hope that GE will include site programming that takes advantage of the waterfront portion of the site.
• A path network connects the site with the Harborwalk, including accessible paths. It is likely that many pedestrians will use the stairway from Summer Street to the Harborwalk as this is the most direct route between the site and South Station. The route should be well marked with pedestrian wayfinding signs.
• We recommend adding shade trees along the Harborwalk, and amenity that is mentioned quite often in walkers’ comments.
2. Site entrance on Necco Street – Compared with the Harborwalk entrance, the Necco Street entrance design seems less well developed in the EENF. However, this will be the principal entrance to the site for residents arriving from the Fort Point and Seaport Districts, South Boston, and for people driving to the site. Also, Necco Street will of necessity be the route for people with disabilities because the Harborwalk access is via a stairway from Summer Street and the site.
• The Necco Street entrance should be designed to be as important and attractive as the Harborwalk entrance. The sidewalk is shown as widened to 12’, but is narrowed to carve out a lengthy vehicle drop-off lane along much of the site’s frontage. The sidewalk also accommodates the loading zone and garage entries, and bicycle storage on the sidewalk is also suggested. In combination, this mix of service uses would diminish the quality and functionality of the Necco Street sidewalk. We request that the proponent re-examine the sidewalk design to provide a gracious and welcoming entrance along Necco Street.
• Necco Street should be designed as a tree-lined street. In the 100 Acres Plan (2007) that includes this site, Necco Street is proposed to provide walking access to the proposed parkland that extends from the Fort Point Channel to the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center. The street is privately owned, suggesting the possibility for joint action with neighboring properties to improve it. The street right-of-way is nearly 60’ wide which could readily incorporate a design that accommodates two 10-foot travel lanes, two 7-foot parking lanes, and a wide tree-lined sidewalk along the site that also includes
benches and additional landscaping.
• The sidewalk at the main entrance to the buildings should have additional width to accommodate the many potential users. A compelling and elegant front door might be incorporated into the plans for reconfiguring the Brick Buildings.
• A Necco Street crosswalk should be provided at Necco Court to accommodate safe crossing from the large Necco Street Parking Garage across the street.
3. Off-site approaches to the Necco Street site entrance – The existing walking route from Summer Street (and thus South Station) to the boundary of the site is difficult for persons with disabilities to travel. The proponent should take the lead in ensuring that walking improvements are made to this route. This may require significant coordination with the City and with neighboring landowners, but will result in improved access for all users of the neighborhood.
• There is no curb ramp provided from Dorchester Avenue onto the Summer Street Bridge (south/GE side of the bridge). A curb ramp should be provided.
• Accessible access to GE from Summer Street will need to be provided via Melcher Street. However, the sidewalk along the south side of Melcher Street appears appears to have an excessive cross slope that is hazardous for persons with disabilities, and difficult for anyone pushing a stroller or pulling a suitcase. This cross slope will need to be fixed.
• Between Melcher Street and Necco Court on the west side of Necco Street, the sidewalk appears to be 8’ wide, but curb ramps are not provided where driveways cross the street. The sidewalk should be rebuilt to meet ADA requirements and provide a gracious walking route between GE and South Station.
4. Winter weather conditions and general maintenance –
• Management and operations planning should ensure good snow clearance between the site and South Station along the Harborwalk and the sidewalks of Necco and Melcher Streets. The proponent should work with adjacent property owners and business associations to assure good access to its site under winter weather conditions.
• The proponent should explore a greater degree of enclosure and a weather-resistant design for the GE Plaza walkway, a portion of which will be covered by a translucent canopy suspended between Brick Buildings and New Building. The current plan appears to work primarily in warm months, and multi-season use will add interest and vitality to the site.
5. Off-site issues – We urge the proponent to work with the city and the neighboring property owners to bring all nearby pedestrian facilities up to date.
• For example, the sidewalk at the bend of Necco Street (just south of the proponent’s site) needs to be completed, and there are uneven and heaved bricks in the Necco Street sidewalk from the bend to A Street. In addition several areas of the A Street sidewalk toward the Broadway Red Line station are not ADA compliant, because they are too narrow or have missing or insufficient curb ramps.
• The proponent should work with the City to ensure that traffic signal timing works well for pedestrians at intersections near the site.
We appreciate your consideration of our comments and your responses to them, and we look forward to working with GE, the City and other Fort Point community members on this exciting project.
Please feel free to contact WalkBoston with questions you may have.
Sincerely,
Wendy Landman
Executive Director
Cc Peter Cavanaugh, GE Ecosystem Transformation Leader
September 19, 2016
Mayor Martin Walsh, Boston
Mayor Denise Simmons, Cambridge
Stephanie Pollack, Massachusetts Secretary of Transportation
Tom Tinlin, Massachusetts Highway Administrator
Leo Roy, Massachusetts Commissioner, Department of Conservation and Recreation
Monica Bharel, Massachusetts Commissioner, Department of Public Health
Re: A proposal for the Massachusetts Avenue Bridge
Dear Friends:
Boston and Cambridge have declared themselves Vision Zero cities. The Healthy Transportation Compact has united our state agencies in concerted efforts to increase active transportation and improve safety for walking and bicycling.
DCR is on track to add a new Charlesgate Path and a signalized pedestrian/bike crossing of the Mass Ave Bridge to connect the Esplanade with the Back Bay/Kenmore neighborhoods (the crosswalk will be located where the Mass Ave. Bridge crosses the open space between inbound and outbound Storrow Drive). The new Charlesgate path, and the enhanced connection between the Esplanade and Charlesgate via the new crosswalk will generate significant new use by people walking and biking.
These are wonderful developments for people from across Massachusetts and the world who commute, amble and sightsee on the Esplanade, along Memorial Drive, and across the Massachusetts Avenue Bridge! And, they are all leading to more people on foot and bike on the bridge.
As we see the increase in people walking and biking, the lack of safe biking accommodation on the Mass Ave Bridge is leading to large numbers of bicycles on the sidewalks of the Bridge – an unsafe and uncomfortable situation.
We ask that MassDOT, DCR, Boston and Cambridge explore the re-purposing one of the outbound Mass Ave Bridge vehicle travel lanes to provide space for a protected bike lane on each side of the bridge, with access provided from the Esplanade and Charlesgate paths that will connect to the Bridge.
Based on a very preliminary look at the traffic volumes and lane use on the Bridge, we believe that improving the network by adding low-stress, protected bicycle lanes could be accomplished without significant impacts to vehicle operations. Providing protected bike lanes will both improve the safety of people on bikes and improve the safety of pedestrians by removing bicycles from the Bridge sidewalks.
We look forward to working with you and your staff to explore this suggestion.
Best regards,
Wendy Landman, Executive Director, WalkBoston
Tani Marinovich, Executive Director, The Esplanade Association
Cc Senator Will Brownsberger
Senator Joseph A. Boncore
Representative Jay Livingstone
Chris Osgood, Chief of Streets, City of Boston
Gina Fiandaca, Boston Commissioner of Transportation
Joe Barr, Director of Traffic, Parking, and Transportation, City of Cambridge
Becca Wolfson, Executive Director, Boston Cyclists Union
Stacy Thompson, Executive Director, LivableStreets Alliance
Richard Fries, Executive Director, MassBike
Herb Nolan, Solomon Fund
Renata von Tscharner, Charles River Conservancy
Peter Furth, Northeastern University
Suzanne Walmsley, Boston Athletic Association
September 9, 2016
Principal Lina DeJesus
Abraham Lincoln Elementary School
445 Ashley Boulevard
New Bedford, MA 02745
Dear Principal DeJesus:
As part of the ongoing efforts to improve the safety of students walking to the Lincoln School, Kim Ferreira asked that WalkBoston evaluate the Ashley Boulevard/Nash Road intersection and recommend strategies to improve pedestrian safety at this intersection and along the Ashley Boulevard corridor.
On Thursday, September 1, I observed school dismissal from the Lincoln School and walked the Ashley Boulevard corridor from the school to the Ashley Boulevard/Nash Road intersection. While I saw some students walking from the school south down Ashley Boulevard, the majority of students were met by their parents or caregivers on the school grounds and then walked to their cars parked on the neighboring streets. Given that this was the first day of school, dismissal patterns may not be indicative of a typical day.
Below is a summary of my observations and short and long term recommendations for pedestrian safety improvements.
Ashley Boulevard and Nash Road Intersection
Description:
The Ashley Boulevard and Nash Road intersection has crosswalks and pedestrian countdown traffic signals on all four approaches. The traffic signals are push button-activated and on an exclusive phase, which means vehicular traffic is stopped in all directions when the WALK light is illuminated. At least two of the countdown signals are not working properly due to blown bulbs or some other mechanical failure. The walk time given to pedestrians is sufficient to cross the street before the DON’T WALK signal is fully illuminated. “No Right Turn on Red” signs are posted on all four corners. Parallel parking is allowed on both sides of the street on both Ashley Boulevard and Nash Road.
Nash Road connects Pleasant Street to Belleville Avenue across New Bedford, and is the only complete east-west connection between Tarkin Hill Road and Sawyer Street. Given this link, the road may carry higher volumes of traffic (SRPEDD or the City of New Bedford may have traffic volume data).
Traffic speeds were not excessive during the observed timeframe, although we have heard that traffic speeds are high along this corridor during off peak times. Driving behavior during the on peak time included accelerating to beat the red light and exhibiting frustration due to slow-moving traffic.
Short-term:
Long-term:
School Dismissal
Dismissal was a typical demonstration of the controlled chaos that exists between drivers and walkers on elementary school grounds. According to the Lincoln School’s arrival and dismissal routines described in the student handbook, students in grades K-2 are dismissed on the Glennon Street side of the school. Students in grades 3-5 are dismissed on the Query Street side at the edge of the playfield. Parents/caregivers are expected to park and walk over to pick up their child.
Cars were parked on all the neighborhood streets around the Lincoln School and on both sides of Ashley Boulevard. Parents/care givers walk to the school, retrieve their children and walk back to their cars or to their homes. Both Query Street and Glennon Street are one-way streets with traffic flowing east toward Ashley Boulevard.
I did not observe dismissal along Glennon Street, but there were students at the school’s entrance waiting to be picked up by cars entering the school grounds from Ashley Boulevard. This location was one of the two most congested locations during dismissal. Drivers formed two lanes; some drivers parked along the curb and got out to meet their child. All of this traffic exited the school grounds onto Glennon Street. Glennon Street was backed up due to traffic coming from the east and high volumes of traffic on Ashley Boulevard.
The second most congested location was at the Query Street dismissal location. Drivers park along the north side of the street and cross over through the traffic to reach the dismissal location. Walking between cars is dangerous and was done frequently with and without children. There is an extra pull-off lane along the playfield for drivers to park and pick up their child. Once in this pull-off lane it was difficult for drivers to get out to allow another person to pull into the space. Traffic from Query Street is also trying to get onto or across Ashley Boulevard.
There were no crossing guards on Ashley Boulevard either at the intersection of Query and Ashley, or at Glennon Street and Ashley Boulevard. Neither intersection is signalized. Given the high traffic volumes on Ashley Boulevard during school dismissal, people walk between cars (usually in the crosswalks) to cross the street. This behavior is dangerous particularly for children who are not as easily seen as adults.
Short-term Recommendation:
Without more information on typical dismissal issues and policies, and additional days to observe dismissal, any additional recommendations made would be most likely be inaccurate or unhelpful. If you would like us to review dismissal procedures and make additional recommendations, then we can come back and meet with school staff and observe additional dismissals.
I would be happy to answer any questions you have about the information presented here. Feel free to give me a call at (617) 367-9255 or email me at sbeuttell@dev.walkboston.org.
Thank you. I wish you all the best for the 2016-2017 Academic Year.
Stacey Beuttell
WalkBoston, Program Director