On Tuesday morning, disgruntled pedestrians and bikers took to Cambridge Street in Allston to voice their concerns over lacking public safety measures in the area. Hosted by Walk Boston and Livable Streets Alliance, the event transpired in response to the lack of proposed safety features by the Massachusetts Department of Transportation and City of Boston, both of which are charged with overhauling the dangerous hotspot.
As it turns out, both MassDOT and the Boston Transportation Department are already working on making Cambridge Street more accommodating for those seeking alternatives to traditional transportation methods. But even still, it looks like it might take a while before ground is broken on a new project.
BostInno confirmed with BTD spokesperson Tracey Ganiatsos that the traffic signals in close proximity to the treacherous stretch of Cambridge St that spans above the Massachusetts Turnpike are all working fine, the pavement markings are okay and we can all expect upgraded bike lanes pending design approval.
Analysis of that section of Cambridge St isn’t expected to be completed until the end of August, Ganiatsos noted further, and bike lane designs and improvements will be contemplated even further.
MassDOT, however, is already at the point of conceptualizing designs for the area, as seen in the mockup above. This particular configuration, provided to BostInno by MassDOT spokesperson Michael Verseckes, shows two travel lanes going in each direction separated from each other by a fenced barrier in the middle, as well as a barrier separating a bike and pedestrian on each side of the street.
What you don’t see in this preliminary model is a mid-block crossing that will be installed at the pinnacle of the bridge, which is intended to alleviate the risk of crossing the street where it’s difficult to see vehicles cruising over the crest of the bridge.
MassDOT and the City of Boston will also be teaming up to conduct a road safety audit of the area “in the very near future.” The audit will examine two major improvement aspects, including the implementation of a five-foot temporary sidewalk on the side of the lane carrying traffic away from the Charles River and Cambridge towards Allston, among others.
The idea of this sidewalk feature is to reduce traffic speed as vehicles approach the mid-block by building it directly over the lane furthest to the right – not to mention the existing sidewalk has since been closed to due deterioration within the bridge deck.
The audit will also study the feasibility and effectiveness of installing a rectangular rapid-flash beacon next to the mid-block crossing in hopes of similarly curtailing vehicular speeds.
While all of this sounds great for improving Boston’s biking scene, there’s no hard timeline for any of it. The BTD will be releasing their findings sometime at the end of August, and it seems all renovation-talk will stem from there.
