August 2, 2009

Spaghetti Junction
Proposed 23-lane 'Spaghetti Junction' in Louisville, KY (article)
(Photo courtesy 8664.org)

Highlights

  • Hub to beckon bikers with sharing program (Boston Globe)
    By David Filipov -- This is biking in Boston, city of clogged streets, minimal bike lanes, and drivers who often act as though two-wheeled vehicles have no right to the road. City planners want to change all that - by putting more bikers in the streets. They intend to roll out what would be the nation’s first citywide bike-sharing system next spring, making hundreds of bicycles at dozens of stations across Boston available to anyone who can swipe a credit card. If all goes as planned, Bostonians and visitors will ride these bikes to run errands, reach their workplaces, travel from tourist site to tourist site and from meeting to meeting. All of this, officials say, will make drivers and bikers more respectful of each other, and possibly take some cars off the city’s road ways.
    Related: How Boston's bike-sharing program might work (Boston Globe)
  • MBTA board made headlines in fight over Grabauskas's fate (Boston Globe)
    By Noah Bierman -- Members of Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority’s board of directors do not normally get much attention, but their open fight over whether to fire general manager Daniel A. Grabauskas put them in the headlines for most of last week.  [Also,] The Patrick administration took a lot of political heat last week for what looked like an attempt to force general manager Daniel A. Grabauskas out of his job. Many, including members of the Legislature, accused the governor of playing politics.
    Much more coverage below...
  • Getting to yes (CommonWealth Magazine)
    After months of talks, municipal officials and real estate developers have agreed to disagree on zoning reform. What comes next could hinge on the man in the middle, Greg Bialecki.
    By Gabrielle Gurley -- Plan ahead, people! That’s the mantra Greg Bialecki, the state’s secretary of housing and economic development, drums into his audiences when he goes on the road to talk about zoning reform. For nearly two years, he’s crisscrossed the state telling local officials that they’re not doing enough to plan where homes, schools, shops, and industrial plants get built — a lack of coordination that is hindering the state’s ability to attract jobs, build affordable homes, and keep residents from fleeing to more affordable climes.
    Related: State's Lack of Smart Growth Goals Potentially 'A Real Problem' (Banker and Tradesman)

  • In Historic Vote, City Council Passes Bicycle Access Bill (Streetsblog)
    By Ben Fried -- The New York City Council voted 46-1 this afternoon in favor of Intro 871, the Bicycle Access Bill, opening the door to significant gains in commuter cycling. Cyclists who do not commute by bike have long cited the lack of a secure place to lock up as the most important factor holding them back. Intro 871 will give thousands of them a new legal framework to petition for bicycle access at their places of work, but stops short of guaranteeing access to all buildings. All told, its passage marks the biggest legislative victory ever achieved by bicycle advocates in New York City.
  • A Seat on the Bus? (The Nation)
    By Ben Adler -- Recipients of the president's daily press releases have become accustomed to the constant trumpeting of transportation infrastructure projects put in motion by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. [...] As the administration is so fond of noting, the Recovery Act included an impressive $48.1 billion for roads and transit. The problem is that those funds are dedicated almost exclusively for new investments instead of supplementing existing operating funds. Alas, even while states and cities are laying train tracks and buying new buses, they are being forced to cut bus routes and raise subway fares. Mass transit lines are being eliminated and fares raised in cities across the country. And cost-cutting measures mean that transit employees are being laid off from Anchorage, Alaska, to Miami, Florida.
  • Rethinking the Street Space: Why Street Design Matters (Planetizen)
    Streets aren't just for driving, and cities are starting to realize it. Amber Hawkes and Georgia Sheridan explain why street design matters and where we are today in terms of designing the "street space."
    By Amber Hawkes and Georgia Sheridan -- From the UK to New York, New Zealand to Abu Dhabi, Bogota to Brighton, cities across the world are looking to makeover their public streets with progressive design manuals and toolkits that address "Livability." For the past century, street design has been geared towards the automobile. Design regulations have prioritized uniformity and speed over character and livability, leaving pedestrians, bicyclists, and transit users competing for the residual space.

"Streets"

Bicycling

Transit

Cars/Parking

Parks

Development projects

Land Use/Planning

Out-of-state

  • District's Move for Sidewalks Divides NW Neighborhood of Hawthorne (Washington Post)
  • Fighting to Take Back Louisville's Waterfront (Streetsblog)
  • Neglected National Mall languishes (AP)
  • MTA changes course, opening carpool lanes to solo drivers -- for a fee (Los Angeles Times)
  • Battle lines form over $4.6 billion I-270 expansion proposal (Baltimore Sun)
  • Many Failing Roads, Little Repair Money (New York Times)
  • Market Street poised for car restrictions (San Francisco Chronicle)
  • In Historic Vote, City Council Passes Bicycle Access Bill (Streetsblog)
  • Idaho Stop makes cyclists 14.5% Safer (TheWashCycle)
  • VIDEO: Scraper Bikes: "Bike 4 Life Ride" (Streetfilms)

National trends

International news