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Fall 2019 – Broadway after bus/bike lane restriping. The Holland St. and College Ave. plan will claim rush hour parking spots to be used as bus/bike only lanes. — Photo courtesy of Kittelson and Associates
By Denise Keniston
On Thursday, August 10, Somerville’s Transportation Mobility Planners held their second public meeting on the “Holland St. and College Ave. Mobility Improvements” project. In Spring 2021, the city will start resurfacing the roadways and sidewalks of Holland Street from Davis Street to Teele Square, and of College Avenue, from Davis Square to Powder House Circle.
The project focuses on prioritizing buses, bikes, and pedestrians with shared bus/bike lanes and other new surface roadway layouts and pavement markings. Justin Schreiber is a Transportation Mobility Department Planner. He says public input has been essential in the design phase.
“At different points on Holland St. and College Avenue on-street parking will be restricted during rush hour,” according to Schreiber. “From 6:00 to 9:00 p.m., buses heading in Davis Square will be permitted to use the parking lane to avoid traffic congestion. From 4:00 to 7:00 p.m., buses heading in Teele Square and Powder House Circle will be permitted to use the parking lane. Bikes will share the lane with buses during these hours.”
Resident feedback for the intersection of Cameron and Holland Streets: “Cameron and Holland (crosswalk) is dangerous for everyone.” — Photo courtesy of Google Maps
Last Fall, restriping for bus/bike only lanes on Broadway initially caused concerns for some motorists who say it had a negative impact on businesses and is a potential crash hazard. However, West Somerville homeowner Lena Webb says the changes are necessary.
Webb bikes, walks and rides the buses on Holland Street. She frequently takes either of the two major bus routes – the 87, which primarily serves West Somerville/Arlington connections to Davis, and the 88, which primarily serves West Somerville connections to Davis – together they carry over 7,610 riders over the course of a typical weekday.
“I think a lot of people consider the bus to be an unreliable mode of transit,” She says. “But I’m not sure how many see that the main reason a bus is delayed is because it’s stuck in car traffic. Dedicated bus lanes combined with the apps that allow you to track bus locations based on MBTA GPS signals will make the mode much more appealing.”
Tom Lamar, Chair of the Somerville Biking Committee, believes the committee is steering in the right direction, but the plan doesn’t go far enough. “One of my concerns is that this only includes a few hours a day and that’s the evening commute,” says Lamar, “I’d like to see more hours of the day dedicated to active bus lanes. I think we could accomplish a bigger, more ambitious step towards cutting down on motorist travel.”
The Holland St. and College Ave. Mobility Plan also calls for reconfiguring current crosswalks and adding new crosswalks that are safe and ADA compliant. Residents say the crosswalk on the corner of Holland and Cameron is especially treacherous. Resident feedback includes, “Cameron and Holland are dangerous for everyone” and “Cars take the turns from Holland onto Cameron really fast, without always watching for pedestrians crossing.”
Ward 6 Councilor Lance Davis says there are several good spots for improvement. “Initially, the streetscape was designed for and accommodated motor vehicles,” he says, “But, that’s not really who are now. From a safety, environmental and efficiency standpoint bike/bus lanes and safer crosswalks are necessary.”
A community meeting will be scheduled this fall to present the final design on the project. In Spring 2021, city contractor construction begins and final paving and restriping are anticipated by Spring 2022.
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“Initially, the streetscape was designed for and accommodated motor vehicles,” he says, “But, that’s not really who are now. From a safety, environmental and efficiency standpoint bike/bus lanes and safer crosswalks are necessary.”
That’s not who we are now? Have cars suddenly disappeared? Doesn’t look that way to me.
The truth is that Somerville is still a through point for traffic coming from Boston and Medford. Take a look around, and you will see constant streams of traffic flowing all over the city, no matter what time of day it is.
Like it or not, cars are and will continue to be here. I’m all for safety and making lanes dedicated to bikes, and keeping crosswalk areas safe for pedestrians. But if traffic slows down even more because of these changes, it will only make drivers more impatient and likely to speed through to get on their way as soon as possible.
Having every light become an automatic walk light has already slowed down traffic, because even if nobody is crossing, the light still delays changing until the timer runs out, which is easily close to 30 seconds. Add that to a four-way intersection, and you might be waiting for a while.
“Cars take the turns from Holland onto Cameron really fast, without always watching for pedestrians crossing.” When some drivers think they will have to wait longer to get where they’re going, this is probably the reason they’re doing stupid things like this. I don’t condone it, but I know there are some people who think only about themselves and their inconvenience.
I always obey speed limits in the city, and watch in all directions to make sure there is nobody crossing or on a bike. But on the highway, the fact that people will pass me no matter how fast I’m going says that there are a lot of folks who don’t like anyone in their way and will go as fast as they can to get ahead of them, and they don’t care if they’re on 93 or in Somerville. The side street I live on has frequently had cars speeding down the street because they don’t think anyone’s going to notice.
I agree that everyone needs to be safe, but leaving cars out of the equasion and focusing only on what’s good for bikes and pedestrians will not solve the problem. Traffic needs to be able to flow freely and efficiently to also minimize the risk of accidents. Making it harder for drivers will only make them more impatient and likely to cause an issue.
Somerville is an historic, old city with narrow streets, that never planned for cars back before they were invented. We can’t simply widen every street, so, there needs to be some better way to accommodate everyone. This may help, and I hope it does, but it’s not the cure for traffic issues.
Let’s keep it safe, but also realistic. There needs to be a balance among drivers, bikes and pedestrians if safety really comes first.
Sorry Linda, not going to happen. Almost every plan implemented here has been a disaster. This one already is one before it starts. If we can’t get people working for the city that use common sense in designing traffic patterns this is what we will keep getting. Broadway is an outrage, shared streets is a clown show. All failed programs. Broadway is backing up with those stupid bus lanes even with less people driving. In the near future at least a third of the people who took public transportation will be using their cars for safety. I know first hand many seniors I take to doctor appointments will not go if they can’t get someone to drive them. Even those who are capable of using the public transportation and have used it are no longer willing to. A lot of this will depend on how the virus goes. Right now we are having more traffic as people are going to other towns for services that 350 towns are supplying as we live in the one town that does not.
I find it offensive that there is never any consideration given to seniors, the disabled, and families. Most within these groups cannot easily walk to their destination and must drive. Why is it okay to overlook these groups and give anything to the bicycle committee that they ask for? For people who can’t walk or use public transportation or walk may take cabs. Traffic slowdowns will mean they will pay a fortune for cab rides in the city. Everyone gathers around the elderly when it is election season, but things like this prove that it is all hypocritical.
This is about bus lanes and making the bus work better for the people who rely on it or might want to try it. Seems everyone ignores that because they see the word “bicycle” in the article. I don’t get it.
Don’t you know? These bicycle lanes are a radical far left plot to help spread the China virus. Oh, and they prevent old people from walking around.
You are right to some degree som rez. Not everyone has an open mind on it. I have been the whole route as a former biker to now a disabled senior. And I can see where some people get upset as now I am excluded from business as I now have no access to them. The head of transportation here is a biker and I know he does not look at things and see if he can make it a fit for all. I have seen the poor designing implemented here and it does break ADA rules. These things have to be looked at from all angles. Obviously not. And you are living in a city that was not built to the type of road structure we would need to work out for everyone. We also live in a city where up to 800 cars are added to it each year, so driving is a priority here. And the city has not been business friendly which would be a big help in giving people the businesses that wouldn’t make them have to drive to another city for. There is a lot to this. These ideas have worked well in some places and others had to reverse them as it made it worse. One stretch of road in another city lost 155 businesses due to customer loss. I doubt if these is a fit all solution. But it could have been better here. Broadway Winter Hill is an example of really bad planning and a total failure. Right idea, wrong place.
Why are we preventing progress to protect all this parking? Davis Square should be accessible to people in the nearby neighborhoods – but when we prioritize parking, not only does it send the message that the city would prefer I drive my SUV the half-mile to Davis rather than bike, but also that we’re catering to people from far away, rather than our immediate neighbors who could come to Davis easily were bus and biking infrastructure reliable and safe. All that parking on the main street just slows traffic down (while people cruise for parking) and takes up valuable space that could be used to actually move people. Arterial streets shouldn’t have parking. That what parking lots are for (of which there are many in Davis). Give me an alternative to driving my SUV and just being another car in everyone else’s traffic.
Broadway is awful. I sit in traffic every time I am trying to get to my home on Sycamore Street. This doesn’t belong on most Streets in Somerville. I am not older but when I am, it doesn’t seem like I will be able to go anywhere with out riding a bike. I bike myself but taking hundreds of parking spots each year is ridiculous. Cars just idle on Broadway. It can take 10-15 minutes to get up Broadway and the traffic isn’t even back yet. The idling of cars is also not good for the environment or in front of my house because cars can’t turn onto Broadway.
When I went to a City Hall meeting on this, most residents didn’t like it. The people in favor of bikes don’t even live in Winter Hill. They were speaking and didn’t even live in Somerville. This is a plan that the City is jamming in regardless of residents opinions. The business impact is sad. I see the elderly or disabled trying to pull over in this bus/bike lane to be dropped off and it is scary. These plastic bollards: they are knocked down all the time. The money to replace them constantly? The City is also attempting to eminent domain the old Star Market property and 400 units will be put in there with less parking & 1 travel lane up and down the street?????? The people who live here should have more of a say,
The bike/bus lanes have been a huge benefit to the city – keep it up!
I’m reading a lot of whining and not much reading…
“Parking will be restricted during rush hour.” You know… when there is heavy traffic. Most of the street parking is NOT used by customers, it’s the retail workers. They can park a block away, or maybe take a bus.
There’s even somebody complaining that the Star Market blight might actually get bulldozed and turned into housing? Well… I guess if we make sure all the stores and homes are empty there won’t be any traffic at all!
PS – Post-covid, do you really want the elderly driving instead of using rideshares? And if you’re worried about elderly dropoffs… it means you want LESS parking and more dropoff spaces.
“Post-covid, do you really want the elderly driving instead of using rideshares?”
James, don’t assume that because someone is elderly they are automatically incompetent or incapable. Even more often than not, when hearing about accidents in the news, it’s caused by a drunk driver or someone much younger than an elderly driver.
Perhaps if the Mayor would stop allowing more living spaces to be built to draw even more people into the most densely-populated city in New England, there would be more room for cars to share the road. This is a problem that could have been mitigated a long time ago by being satisfied with the amount of people we already had, instead of packing us all in like sardines.
Stephanie G., progress means things get BETTER. There is nothing better about making streets even narrower for cars to share them with bikes and pedestrians. If we can make a dedicated bike lane, fine. If we can make more bike and pedestrian paths, fine. But if people driving through and in Somerville have to wind up driving an obstacle course, you know things are going to go south very quickly.
Streets need to be wide enough so that there is a separate bike lane that isn’t impeded by cars, and that just isn’t realistic in many parts of the city. How can anyone expect to drive and cycle in the same lane? That’s asking for trouble. Yet many of our main streets do just that. The city expects cars to just drive at a bike’s speed when traffic is high. What biker wants to put their life in their hands and ride while a car is two feet behind them? And what driver wants to contend with someone on a bike when they’re in a hurry? Nobody wins, yet many can lose.
Also, what business ONLY wants local customers? Every business wants to make as much money as they can, and if people come in from out of the city to buy from them, all the better, especially during a time when the city has become even more limited as to how much business can operate here. Has any business put up a sign saying “local customers only?” That’s why advertising exists, to get the word out and bring in as many customers as you can, not just those on the T routes or locally.
Don’t make it sound like there’s something wrong with cars and people wanting to drive here. Ask people if they would rather have a bike or a car, and I’m willing to bet that they would rather have what gives them the most freedom. And like it or not, a car is the ultimate freedom. I’ve seen many cars on the highway driving with bikes attached, so I think I’m not wrong. Bikes aren’t safer. They’re just cheaper and cleaner to run than a car. You can only go so far in them.
I had to take the T for the first 30 years of my life because my parents didn’t drive. You can believe that as soon as we moved and got our own house, I got my license and my first car. I couldn’t wait to stop having to depend on bus schedules and subway trains. I was able to go farther than I ever did before and come and go when I pleased. Do you think I would have been satisfied with a bike? Hell, no. Maybe it’s less confining than public transportation, but not quite as liberating as a car.
Even when I had a job that I could get to on the T, many times I parked in the T lot when the weather was bad, or I was feeling sick. It was nice to have an option. Driving isn’t a bad thing, it’s often a blessing.
If there are more places for cars to park, it allows the streets to be freed up from people driving all over the place trying to find a spot, plus it makes revenue for the city in parking fees. I bet if the city suddenly decided to make bike racks with a meter, or expect people to pay a license for their bicycles, you’d see how fast the attitudes would change here.
I want to see things easier for everyone, but catering to only one group or two and not being fair to every group is going to end up making things no better in the end. We need to come together, not take sides and act like one group is better than the others. None of them are going away, so there needs to be some way to figure this out.