Washington Street (Route 16) is heavily used by light and heavy vehicles, especially because the exit and entrance to the Mass Pike is not far away. As a result, the area where where Commonwealth Avenue crosses it in Newton creates unique dangers to all, particularly to bicyclists traveling west or east.
But this area has been especially notable: At Oldham Road, the Carriage Road is taken over by westbound Commonwealth Avenue traffic, so those lanes of traffic shift right (or north) to the Carriage Lane. For a distance, all lanes of Commonwealth Avenue north of the berm now are completely devoted to traffic heading east. Soon, one lane becomes devoted to right-turn only traffic, one straight ahead, and one left-turn only.
On many levels, the situation presents many dangers to bicyclists who, until now, have enjoyed a safe and “local traffic only” protected lane. Children, runners, anybody who has been enjoying the Carriage Lane is now fighting a for space with motor vehicles and trucks.
Here is a photo of this area, before the striping:
The situation is not rectified until Arapahoe, when motor vehicles are directed back onto Commonwealth Avenue, and where a barrier was erected to keep motor vehicles out of this portion of the Carriage Lane. Bicycles could get through the barriers, but the space between them was narrow so cyclists would have to dismount, walk through the barriers, then continue on. Additionally, there was no signage giving them permission to continue along the Carriage Lane. In winter, the opening might be entirely blocked by snow.
Many bicyclists, while passing through this intersection, were being cut off on their left by cars and trucks. Why? In 20XX, I realized that there was a big shift in travel to the right, as all westbound vehicles tried to shift to the right, and this made crossing this very large intersection exceedingly dangerous for bicyclists.
In the summer of 2018 I realized that bicyclists needed striping through this entire intersection. I contacted the Director of Transportation Planning Nicole Freedman, who gave this her attention: She created a striping plan, and a bike box. Next, Mayor Fuller’s office set up a meeting at the site between me, Director of Transportation Planning Nicole Freeman, City Engineer Lou Taverna, Councilor Downs, Director of Transportation Operations Jason Sobel. The result of that on-site meeting produced many solutions to the danger caused by the lane shift, and many ideas for a safer future.
See the results of our discussion below:
