Sunday, August 5, 2012
The 'Circle the City' series of summer street closures concludes Sunday, turning parts of State, Congress and the surface road along the Greenway into traffic-free pedestrian and bike havens.
The city's program of closing major streets off to traffic on summer Sundays comes to a close this weekend with the biggest event yet: Parts of State, Congress and the surface road along the Rose Kennedy Greenway will be car-free zones. The "Circle the City" initiative provides free outdoor fun, and is a collaboration between local organizations to connect people to parks and promote a healthy and active lifestyle. The Emerald Necklace Conservancy, the Boston Collaborative for Food and Fitness, LivableStreets Alliance, Franklin Park Coalition, the City of Boston, Boston Bikes, the EPA and the Rose Kennedy Greenway launched the program on June 24, and the final event is Sunday. Sunday's event runs from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. along the Rose …
42.36029
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North St & Congress St, Boston, MA
Beginning of street closures
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42.3588
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Congress St & State St, Boston, MA
Street closures continue
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42.35927
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Fitzgerald Surface Road and State, Boston, MA
Street closures continue
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42.356701
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1 International Pl, Boston, MA
End of street closures
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Wednesday, July 25, 2012
More bicyclists are on the streets of Boston. That's good for a lot of reasons. But will we start to see more bicyclists running into pedestrians?
Most of the recent news about bicycling in Boston is positive: More people are bicycling and the city is becoming an easier place to bike. But when you put more pedestrians and two-wheelers crossing the same streets and intersections, bad things could happen. Especially when one or both parties are flouting traffic rules. Boston pedestrians don't seem to pay much attention to whether the crossing light is red or green. And we've all seen bicyclists zoom through red lights. A recent infamous case comes out of San Francisco, where a bicyclist ran a red light and slammed into a pedestrian. The man fell and hit his head. He died a few days later. Atlantic Cities recently posted a round-up of cyclist-on-pedestrian incidents. They conclude it's …
Friday, March 30, 2012
While the state and supporters of a surface-only traffic pattern for the new Forest Hills urge moving on, there remains a group opposed to the decision.
At a state hearing that authorities aimed to be the last chapter in the "bridge versus at-grade debate," critics made it clear they aren't going away. Thursday night more than 100 people attended a public meeting about what the state is now calling the "Casey Arborway Project." The decrepit Casey Overpass will be torn down and a six-lane system of surface roads will move traffic instead. At a meeting of the Working Advisory Group last week, the state was calling the project the "Casey Parkway." Patch has reached out to Department of Transportation to find out what the official name is. At Thursday night's public meeting at English High, state officials started off by laying out the timeline for the rest of the project. An attached photo …
Thursday, March 29, 2012
Multi-lane streets can be divisive, or they can embody these inclusive qualities and be the backbone of a community—and the choice is ours.
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Thursday, March 29, 2012
[Editor's note: Thursday, March 29 at 6 p.m. at English High School there will be a community meeting about next steps in the Casey Overpass project.] When MassDOT selected an at-grade network of streets to replace the Casey Overpass, it gave us a once in a lifetime chance to redefine the neighborhood in the community’s vision. As we enter the design phase, it is our community’s responsibility to take full advantage of this opportunity. Frederick Law Olmsted first imagined Forest Hills as transportation hub surrounded by world-class parks. Since the 1950s, however, the neighborhood has been dominated by the now crumbling Casey Overpass, a legacy of an obsolete urban planning philosophy. To its credit, the neighborhood has managed to …
42.301665
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Washington St & Arborway, Jamaica Plain, MA
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Wednesday, March 21, 2012
State officials say the new six-lane road through Forest Hills will be named for Monsignor William J. Casey, for whom the to-be-demolished Casey Overpass is named.
CORRECTION, Monday, April 2: State officials say the final name for the road has not been set in stone. It has been given the working title "Casey Arborway Project." Future discussions with the city and other stakeholders could result in a different name, said Kate Fichter, a representative of the Mass. Department of Transportation. The Gazette issued a correction about the term "Casey Parkway" being chosen. Patch regrets not confirming this separately. The original text is below. This poll has been closed to further votes. ~~~~~ State officials plan to name the new six-lane road through the area under the Casey Overpass as "Casey Parkway," according to the Gazette. Do you like the sound of the name? It honors Monsignor William J. Casey, …
42.301665
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Washington St & Arborway, Jamaica Plain, MA
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42.30644
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St. Thomas Aquinas
97 South St, Jamaica Plain, MA
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42.294466
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Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church
38 Walk Hill St, Jamaica Plain, MA
The former St. Anthony Church, which was built by Monsignor Casey.
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“There will be no further discussion on a bridge,” a Transportation Department spokesman told the Gazette.
CORRECTION, Monday, April 2: State officials say the final name for the road has not been set in stone. It has been given the working title "Casey Arborway Project." Future discussions with the city and other stakeholders could result in a different name, said Kate Fichter, a representative of the Mass. Department of Transportation. The Gazette issued a correction about the term "Casey Parkway" being chosen. Patch regrets not confirming this separately. The headline of this article has been changed. The original text is below. ~~~~~ State officials laid out a timeline for the next steps in what will become the "Casey Parkway" at an advisory group meeting Tuesday night, according to the JP Gazette. A public meeting hosted by the state about…
42.301665
-71.11222
Washington St & Arborway, Jamaica Plain, MA
/articles/casey-overpass-area-to-be-renamed-casey-parkway
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Thursday, March 8, 2012
Responses range from very positive to "extremely disappointed." Add your own thoughts in the comment section.
The day's big news, that the state won't rebuild a bridge after it tears down the Casey Overpass, has Forest Hills residents and business owners elated and puzzled. It has one state representative "extremely disappointed." Klassy Kuts owner Bobby Smythwick, who was polishing his car outside his barber shop, had unanswered questions about the project. "We'll have to see. As it stands now, traffic really gets jammed up," Smythwick said. "Maybe making it six lanes will help." The new configuration will change his commute, coming from Columbia Road. To reach his Hyde Park Avenue barber shop, he'll no longer be able to make a left from Arborway. Instead, he'll drive all the way past the intersection with South and Washington, hang a left and go…
42.301665
-71.11222
Washington St & Arborway, Jamaica Plain, MA
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Transportation Secretary Richard Davey picked the "at-grade" option for after the Casey Overpass is torn down. He decided against building a new, lower bridge. How do you rate his decision?
It's arguably the biggest decision to impact Forest Hills since the Orange Line El was torn down in 1980s. The state has chosen not to rebuild any bridge after the decrepit Casey Overpass is torn down. Instead there will be a network of surface roads. In this poll, we ask residents to rate this decision.
42.301665
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Washington St & Arborway, Jamaica Plain, MA
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The state's Department of Transportation decided not to build a smaller, lower bridge in place of the crumbling Casey Overpass.
The state has made its choice about the configuration of Forest Hills once the Casey Overpass is torn down. It will be a network of streets without a bridge, according to a statement by the Massachusetts Department of Transportation. The decrepit Casey Overpass has been reduced to one lane in each direction for safety reasons. It will be torn down. The question was what will replace it. The state had originally said it would make its decision known in December, but delayed that for further traffic studies. The state had told State Rep. Liz Malia, D-Boston, that it would make a decision by the end of February. But it missed that deadline, too, while responding to questions from skeptics of the "at-grade" solution. The debate has divided …
42.301665
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Washington St & Arborway, Jamaica Plain, MA
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Tuesday, February 28, 2012
The state is about to miss its self-imposed deadline of the end of February for telling residents whether it has chosen to build a new bridge after the Casey Overpass is torn down, or to create a new at-grade traffic pattern.
The state is about to miss another self-imposed deadline in telling residents which configuration it will choose for the new Forest Hills — a new, lower bridge or an at-grade traffic pattern. "We've been using the past several weeks to do some additional work that stakeholders have asked us to do," said Michael Versecke, spokesman for the Mass Department of Transportation, in an email to Patch. "We plan on making a decision soon." The state had told State Rep. Liz Malia, D-Boston, that it would make a decision by the end of February. The decrepit Casey Overpass has been reduced to one lane in each direction for safety reasons. It will be torn down. The question is what will replace it. The state had originally said it would make its …
Chris Helms
12:51 pm on Monday, August 6, 2012
Here's a very interesting, well-informed take on this debate, arguing that bikes running red lights is illegal but ethical. Bonus points because it uses the Categorical Imperative: http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/05/opinion/sunday/if-kant-were-a-new-york-cyclist.html?_r=1 more ›