StreetNEWS (September 30)

New "Bikes Stop" marking in Portland, Oregon

• Community Supports Boylston St. Redesign (Boston Courant [pdf])
  The Boston Transportation Department (BTD) has the green light to finalize plans for the redesign of Boylston Street in the Fenway. The plans, which BTD has been developing with the community for 11 months, includes bike lanes, sidewalk and street realignment, and a new road connecting Boylston Street to Beacon Street. A crowd of approximately 50 gathered to hear BTD's proposal at a public meeting last Wednesday.
  
  
• MassHighway set to begin Commonwealth Avenue beautification (Allston-Brighton TAB)
  MassHighway cleared the final hurdle earlier this month to begin $12 million in renovations and beautification to Commonwealth Avenue, paving the way for a more scenic and less bumpy ride down one of the city’s main roads. The project aims to improve a 1.7-mile stretch of the road between Warren/Kelton and Lake streets, and is similar to the recently completed renovations to Commonwealth Ave. along Boston University’s campus, according to Nick Martin, a spokesperson for Mayor Thomas Menino.
  
  
• Cyclists pedal into arms of the law (Boston Globe)
  Cambridge riders find rules of road apply to them too
  By Michael Levenson -- He looked as carefree as can be, pedaling on his silver 18-speed mountain bike, wearing designer jeans and a black sport coat, a butterscotch leather handbag in his bicycle rack. He had no idea that two Cambridge police officers were watching him from the side of the road with pads of tickets in their hands, waiting for him to break the law.
  
  
• Call made for Big Dig burden to be shared (Boston Globe)
  By Andrea Estes -- Lawmakers from Boston's western suburbs yesterday called for an increase in the state's gas tax or new tolls on the Central Artery to stabilize state transportation budgets and take some of the burden off Massachusetts Turnpike commuters, who once again are facing big toll increases to pay for the Big Dig. "We have to look at everything," said Representative David Linsky, a Democrat from Natick. "If the gas tax were raised 3 or 4 cents per gallon, we could eliminate the tolls on the Massachusetts Turnpike."
  
  
• Cities rethinking '50s-era parking standards (MSNBC)
  Will forgoing parking lead to transit-friendly development or headaches?
  WASHINGTON -- Alice and Jeff Speck didn't have a car and didn't want one. But District of Columbia zoning regulations required them to carve out a place to park one at the house they were building. It would have eaten up precious space on their odd-shaped lot and marred the aesthetics of their neighborhood, dominated by historic row houses. The Specks succeeded in getting a waiver, even though it took nine months.
  
  
• The Truth About Cars, the Potential of Cities (WorldChanging)
  By Alex Steffen -- From the author: Today's cars are costly, dangerous and an ecological nightmare. What if the solution to the problems they create, though, has more to do with where we live than what we drive? This is a rough draft of a long essay about why I believe building compact communities should be one of America's highest environmental priorities, and why, in fact, our obsession with building greener cars may be obscuring some fundamental aspects of the problem and some of the benefits of using land-use change as a primary sustainability solution.

• Parking Space a Park for Day (Harvard Crimson)
• MassHighway set to begin Commonwealth Avenue beautification (Allston-Brighton TAB)
• Traffic Worries for Allston Residents (Harvard Crimson, Allston-Brighton TAB, Allston-Brighton Community Blog)
• More roadwork ahead for Brookline's Beacon Street (Brookline TAB)
• Critics call for halt to antenna plan (Jamaica Plain Gazette)
• Tracing one root of I-495, Pike woes (Boston Globe)
• Community Supports Boylston St. Redesign (Boston Courant [pdf])
• Transformation of Boston (Dave Writes)
• Dutch cycling treats (Boston Globe)
• Searching for Subversion in Boston (Planetizen)
• Cycling advocates fume [Mass Ave] (Boston Globe)
• Storrow tunnel to be closed at night (Boston Metro, Cambridge Chronicle)
• Letter: Traffic 'fix' just makes bottleneck worse (Boston Globe)
• Keep the street lights burning [Belmont] (Boston Globe)

• Into Boston's past, on foot (Boston Globe)

• Wheels turn for Hub technology (Boston Herald, Boston Globe)
• Cyclists pedal into arms of the law (Boston Globe)

• MBTA unveils new bike parking cages at Alewife (WHDH)
• Ferry plan to link parks (Boston Globe)
• T loses bid to expand security grants (Boston Globe, Boston Herald)
• Rider's trip lined with aggravation (Boston Herald)
• Tough times for disabled (Boston Herald)
• Next stop: 21st century in Fields Corner (Dorchester Reporter)
• Will Assembly Square be left out of the Urban Ring (Somerville News)
• MBTA blasts trolley driver's kid stuff (Boston Herald)
• The View From Prospect Hill [Urban Ring] (Somerville News)
• Slippery tracks (Boston Globe)

• Queuing conundrums (Economist)

• Greenway pillars heighten objections (Boston Herald)
• Discuss parks and Somerville Wednesday (Somerville Journal)

• Viewing 20 Somerset in a new light: Building could have LED displays (Beacon Hill Times)
• Public hearing for BC master plan postponed (Allston-Brighton TAB)
• Guidelines process done (Jamaica Plain Gazette)

• Unions lose on police details (Boston Globe)
• Editorial: On details, who's insensitive? (Boston Globe)
• Dozens protest bid to move City Hall (Boston Globe, Boston Metro)
• Toll hikes debated at Mass Turnpike (Boston Globe, Boston Herald, Allston-Brighton TAB, Blue Mass Group)
• Call made for Big Dig burden to be shared (Boston Globe)
• Pike pushes wider use of Fast Lane (Boston Globe)

• Broadway broadens pedestrian access (USA Today)
• From Parking Space to People Place (Gotham Gazette)
• Entrepreneur finds niche with temporary bike parking (BikePortland)
• One Tunnel, Two Views of the Future (New York Times, Second Ave Sagas)
• Google Says Its New Program May Boost Transit Ridership (New York Sun)
• Eyes on the Street: Bikes Welcome Here (Streetsblog)
• Not your grandpa's bus service (Chicago Tribune)
• Gary Toth: Reinventing Transportation Planning as Community Development (Streetfilms)
• SLC leaders say streetcars desired after transit tour (Salt Lake Tribune)
• With new markings, PDOT hopes 'Bikes stop' (BikePortland)
• Ramping up in Atlanta (How We Drive)

• Suddenly, It's Cool to Take the Bus (BusinessWeek)
• Cities rethinking '50s-era parking standards (MSNBC)
• Out Of The Enclave: Latinos Adapt, And Adapt To, The American City (Planetizen)
• Editorial: U.S. Automakers get their buyout (BikePortland)
• The Truth About Cars, the Potential of Cities (WorldChanging)
• Where They Stand: Obama and McCain on Transportation (Streetsblog)
• Programs that invest in cities can be key to economic growth (Detroit Free Press)

• Westminster City Council juices up electric cars (SmartPlanet, BBC News)
• Montreal rolls out bike-sharing plan (Globe and Mail)
• 2010 Olympic tickets will include free transit (Vancouver Sun)