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StreetNEWS (June 30)

Submitted by Charlie Denison on Mon, 06/30/2008 - 8:23am.

Highlights
  • Mass. Ave. reconstruction back on track (South End News)
    A state urban planning board approved a reconstruction plan for the stretch of Massachusetts Avenue between St. Boltolph and Albany streets, voting against an alternative plan that could have delayed construction for as much as a year on June 26. [...] Greenman-Pedersen, Inc., the firm designing the project, presented an alternative plan to South End residents at a community meeting June 24. The redesign would have eliminated 12 left-turn-only lanes in exchange for wider sidewalks, as well as create separate lanes for bicycles and cars.
    Related:     Mass. Ave. reconstruction may see delay (South End News)
  • Two lanes closed on Longfellow Bridge (Boston Globe, Boston Herald, Universal Hub)
    Federal highway officials, dissatisfied with the state's oversight of truck restrictions on the deteriorated Longfellow Bridge, shut down two lanes effective today, narrowing a major thoroughfare between Boston and Cambridge. The Federal Highway Administration also asked the state to ban large trucks from the bridge completely - rather than barring them only from the inner lanes.

  • JP paves way for life after trolley (Boston Herald)
    After more than 20 years of debate over whether to bring back the Jamaica Plain trolley, city officials have settled the matter once and for all - by paving over the tracks. The project cost $1 million, but the paving may last only about five years - still a bargain, city officials say, compared to the millions more it would have cost to dig up the tracks.

  • Popular trail gets better with time (Boston Globe)
    It's the view not seen from the roadway. Under a canopy of trees, the 11-mile Minuteman Bikeway runs through Cambridge, Arlington, Lexington, and Bedford, skirting backyards, school ball fields, hidden parks and ponds, crossing bridges, and even passing over Route 128. This season brings a few new features to the Minuteman: bike racks at several spots, a new rest area in Bedford, and a set of signs trumpeting the path in Arlington. And there are some steps toward new spurs linking the Minuteman to other recreational spots, a potential boon to many of the estimated 2 million users who take to the path each year for transit or recreation.

  • The Shaper of Things to Come (Boston Globe)
    If you're wondering what Boston will look and feel like in 10 years - the shape of our skyline, the boldness of our buildings, the run of our streets - you need to know Kairos Shen.

  • Car-Free Streets, a Colombian Export, Inspire Debate (New York Times)
    When the crowds stream down Park Avenue and bicyclists have taken over Lafayette Street, the question may strike even the most ardent ambler: Whose idea was this, anyway? Summer Streets — New York City’s recreational experiment that will convert 6.9 miles of Manhattan into a car-free park during parts of three Saturdays in August — originated in the Andes. It was born 32 years ago in Bogotá, Colombia, as the Ciclovía, or bicycle pathway, now a 70-mile route through the heart of the city that each Sunday attracts more than one million people on two wheels and two legs.
    Related: Bedford Avenue to Go Car-Free Four Saturdays This Summer (Streetsblog)
    Related: Thousands of smiles mark success of Sunday Parkways (Bike Portland, Streetfilms)

  • The Battle Over Central Park (New York Magazine)
    It’s shortly before six on a recent morning in Central Park. Dogs frolic, off-leash, through meadows. Joggers breeze along the roadways. In the half-lit hours just past dawn, the park is the urban idyll that its founders, Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux, envisioned at the park’s birth, 150 years ago.
"Streets"
Walking
  • Letter: Now, in Roslindale Village, it's a pleasure to shop on foot (Boston Globe)
Bicycling
Transit
Cars/Parking
Parks
Development projects
Transportation financing/Government
Out-of-state
National trends
  • If Your ZipCar Is Costing More, The Taxman May Be to Blame (Wall Street Journal)
  • Travelers Shift To Rail as Cost of Fuel Rises (New York Times)
  • Fuel Prices Shift Math for Life in Far Suburbs (New York Times)
  • Amtrak Ridership Swells in Rural and Urban Areas (NPR)
  • National Park(ing) Day Returns Sept. 19 (AScribe)
  • The cracks are showing (Economist)
  • Distracting Miss Daisy: Why stop signs and speed limits endanger Americans (The Atlantic)
  • Electro-Shock Therapy (The Atlantic)
International news
  • Honda rolls out fuel cell car (CNN)
  • Paris plans help-yourself green car hire (The Guardian)
  • Two wheels (The Guardian)
  • Back in the saddle: Why the Government wants more children cycling to school (The Independent)
  • The Big Question: Is Britain really getting on its bike and turning into a nation of cyclists (The Independent)
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