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StreetNEWS (June 9)

Submitted by Charlie Denison on Mon, 06/09/2008 - 4:42pm.

Highlights
  • Longfellow Bridge is off-limits July 4th (Boston Globe, WCVB, Cambridge Chronicle)
    State officials closed indefinitely one of the Longfellow Bridge's sidewalks yesterday and announced they would block spectators from the entire span on the Fourth of July, eliminating a fireworks viewing spot for thousands of pedestrians and raising already steep concerns about the bridge's integrity.

  • Record numbers of bicyclists on the roads (Boston Globe, Boston Metro)
    Drivers, clear a lane; bicyclists are taking to the road in record numbers in Massachusetts. In Cambridge, ridership has soared 70 percent in five years, the MBTA is launching a "Bike Coach" to let riders bring their bicycles to beaches this summer, and across the state bicycle shops are struggling to keep up with demand. With gas prices now topping $4 a gallon, the surge shows no signs of slowing.

  • Pickup Truck Rolls Over On Commonwealth Avenue (WBZ)
    A driver escaped a rollover on Commonwealth Avenue Wednesday morning. His pick-up skidded and flipped on the westbound side of the road near the Boston University bridge just after 6 a.m. The truck landed next to the Green Line tracks, but did not interfere with train service. The unidentified driver was not hurt. The rain and wet roads were said to be factors in the crash.

  • Ridership rising fast, MBTA announces (Boston Globe, Boston Metro)
    Commuters continued flocking to the MBTA at a record-setting pace in April, taking 5.5 percent more trips on public transit than they did a year ago, according to T officials. The agency also said there was a 6.1 percent increase in ridership over the first four months of this year, compared with same period last year. The numbers, which are also reflected nationally, confirm the move from cars to public transit as average gasoline prices jump to nearly $4 per gallon in Boston.

  • New Law Encourages [NYC] DOT to Set Traffic Reduction Targets (Streetsblog)
    Yesterday [6/3], Mayor Bloomberg signed into law Intro 199, a bill requiring New York City's Department of Transportation to collect and monitor data specifically aimed at helping the city "to reduce automobile traffic and encourage more sustainable means of transportation vital to combating congestion, pollution and improving the City’s long term economic health." The new law could signal a significant change for a city agency that has typically measured its own performance based on how many potholes it fills, street lamps it fixes and how well it keeps motor vehicle traffic flowing through the city's over-burdened street grid.

  • On Bicyclists (Planetizen)
    There are three types of bicyclists: Advanced Bicyclists, Intermediate Bicyclists and Beginner Bicyclists. We need to plan and build facilities to accommodate all of them. Those cities that do will, and are experiencing ridership numbers far above the national average.
"Streets"
Walking
Bicycling
Transit
Cars/Parking
Parks
Development projects
Transportation financing/Government
Out-of-state
  • Regions Bank: Cycling Will Set You Free (Streetsblog)
  • Lafayette Avenue traffic islands make feet safer on streets (Daily News)
  • New Law Encourages [NYC] DOT to Set Traffic Reduction Targets (Streetsblog)
  • SmartBike DC Tries to Catch a Green Wave (US News)
  • Passersby ignore man struck by car (Boston Globe)
National trends
International news
  • The Bike Counter (Copenhagenize.com)
  • Cyclists free to ride wrong way down one-way streets (Telegraph)
  • Building BRICs of growth: Record spending on infrastructure will help sustain rapid growth in emerging economies (Economist)
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