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Citizen complaint of the day: People shouldn't be forced to make a break for it in Allston
By adamg on Thu, 08/16/2012 - 9:02pm
A winded citizen reports from Cambridge Street by the turnpike:
Temporary concrete construction barriers are completely blocking access between Cambridge Street and the bridge over the MassPike. People are forced to climb over the barriers to cross the street. This is especially inconvenient because it blocks access to the Cambridge Street @ Linden Street MBTA bus station. Please restore the normal crossing as soon as possible. Thank you. (as a bonus, you could mark the crosswalk at this location).
Neighborhoods:
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Comments
Those concrete barriers have
Those concrete barriers have been along Cambridge Street for quite some time. Not sure if they've added more or moved some.
BTD simply doesn't give a shit about Allston residents, so they've left the area a mess for years.
Although they did show up with a proposal one time to make Cambridge St 4 lanes all the way to Union Square. That would probably end up killing Union Square just like the fairly desolate North Harvard intersection, as an on-ramp to the Pike. Just the way BTD likes it.
First the came for the
First the came for the A-line, now they are coming for pedestrians and buses. The car is still king in certain parts of Boston and BTD is willing to murder all other forms of transportation to keep King Car merrily on the throne.
I submitted this!
Wow - Uhub famous!
These specific barriers are new within the last couple weeks. They are at the end of the bike/ped bridge and connect to the existing 4ft chain link fence on one end and the existing barriers on the other end. There have never been barriers here in the ~7 years I've lived in the neighborhood.
-Joe
Cambridge Street barriers
Yes, there have been barriers in place around the middle of the bridge section of Cambridge Street for quite some time. About 2 weeks ago the barriers were extended all the way down to meet the chain-link fence that runs along the edge of the sidewalk.
I normally cross Cambridge from Linden Street to the side with the barrier & fence to get to the bus stop at Cambridge & Franklin every morning, and it's definitely been an inconvenience to have to walk down to Cambridge & Harvard and wait for the full 4-way pedestrian walk light, particularly since that's an intersection much used by bicyclists who believe that sidewalks, crosswalks, and pedestrian lights belong to them. However, there is no crosswalk across Cambridge Street at Linden. Crossing there is totally jaywalking, and done at your own risk, particularly since visibility for traffic headed towards Union Square is limited by the rise of the road.
unmarked crosswalk
There is an unmarked crosswalk at every intersection - including this one. Users of unmarked crosswalks are not jaywalking.
Jaywalking
There may be a legally-defined unmarked crosswalk at Linden Street, but crossing Cambridge Street there is quite dangerous. Westbound traffic on Cambridge Street is coming up a rise and can't see pedestrians in time.
The next intersection down, at Highgate Street, is blocked by the chain-link fence on the opposite side of Cambridge Street (which is 5 lanes across there - 2 lanes eastbound and 3 lanes westbound, with no center divider at that point.) The fence and barrier are there precisely to prevent pedestrians from crossing Cambridge Street along that stretch.
The person in the photo who is clambering over the barrier is not at either of those intersections and most certainly is jaywalking - in the dark, no less.
Huh?
Are they kidding? There's never been a crosswalk there. This is just another clown who is too lazy to walk 100 yards down to the Harvard/Cambridge intersection to cross. Instead they scramble to the island, playing frogger with four lanes of speeding traffic.
It's maybe...
...50 yards at best.
You'd think those tight hipster jeans would be more of an obstacle than the jersey barriers.
it's about 250' per google
it's about 250' per google maps... so round trip you're looking at walking 500 feet out of your way (more than some of the drivers whizzing past will walk in a day) plus waiting at the crosswalk. That's pretty annoying when you're trying to catch the bus.
All parties seem to agree it is a high demand spot, at the terminus of pedestrian bridge and across from a corner with a bus stop. Put in a crosswalk and then they don't have to play frogger.
There is no shortage of precedent for crosswalks closer than 250' in this city. Look at Centre Street in JP, or even take cambridge street further into brighton.
A whole...
...500 feet? Say it aint so!
It would be even more convenient if we just put a crosswalk across the Pike. That might save you from the extra steps you have to burden yourself with just to get over the road where those evil, non-pedestrian motorists spend all their time.
For someone bitching about how little motorists walk you sure are complaining a lot about walking.
So it is lost on you that the
So it is lost on you that the resin this is busy is that it is at the foot of what is essentially a crosswalk over the park. Thankfully while joke, others do
Wouldn't work
There's no reasonable way to put a crosswalk there because traffic is coming over the bridge and would never see a pedestrian in time there. Those people are idiots and it's surprising more people don't get hit there more often.
Make it a raised crosswalk, like on Rindge Avenue in Cambridge
Then motorists will have to *slow down*, and they'll be able to see pedestrians in time.
Might not be as simple as raising the crosswalk
I think that Kaz is onto something there - I think that the crosswalk would have to be raised to something higher than curb height for vehicles traveling westbound on Cambridge St. to see people in a crosswalk over the peak of the bridge, but I can't say for sure and will check it out later. Obviously people would learn to slow down after a while if there were a raised crosswalk, but before that learning curve was complete, it would be pretty dangerous.
One way to mitigate that danger, however, would be to install pedestrian-activated overhead lights at the crosswalk (similar to those that Brookline installed on Beacon St. between Coolidge Corner and Washington Sq.). Those would definitely be visible to westbound drivers.
I think that a raised crosswalk there would also require drainage improvements (poking additional holes in the state's already holey bridge), so there would have to be coordination and more $$$. The railroad would probably have to be involved too.
All of this probably explains, at least in part, why that area is such a debacle.
Its an intersection, doesnt
Its an intersection, doesnt that mean there are unmarked crosswalks there?
nope...
It's not an intersection. At all. On one side is where the pike footbridge meets Cambridge Street. On the other is the bus stop. In the middle is four lanes and a traffic island. This is just a matter of lazy, impatient people who want to be able to get to the bus stop or Linden St. without spending a couple minutes using a crosswalk that already exists, within sight.
There's no way a new crosswalk there would work - as someone mentioned above, cars coming down Cambridge from the river wouldn't be able to see the crosswalk in time to do anything, due to the incline of the road over the Pike.
Alternatively
You might say it's a case of lazy impatient drivers who can't hold up a minute to let someone cross. Why is their minute worth so much more than the five minute walkaround required of pedestrians? Is it because you believe drivers are inherently more worthwhile people?
It's bad enough that BTD and MassDOT screw over North Allston residents, between the decrepit highway crossing and the blighting of Cambridge Street near the Pike. It's really sad that a bunch of folks on this site support that type of thinking.
Thank you!
Thanks why I suggested they mark the crosswalk instead of barricading the existing unmarked one.
Fantasy
There is no existing, unmarked one. There never was one there, and there never will be one there. Every intersection does not have a crosswalk and if you try to cross there you can be arrested for jaywalking - or get run over by someone who doesn't expect anyone to be walking there.
If you want to use that bus stop you need to walk down to Harvard and use the existing, marked crosswalk. Alternatively, after crossing at Harvard you could just get on the bus there at that stop. Or rather than backtracking to catch a bus, just don't cross the pike at all, and catch the bus in Lower Allston on North Harvard.
Arrested for Jaywalking
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!
Right.
Where you from darlin? We all know that people only get arrested for jaywalking if they are black in Virginia.
Catching the bus
I was puzzled as to why anyone would come up from LA to catch the 66 when there are several stops along North Harvard, but then realized that folks may be coming over to catch the 64 to Central Square.
Not to mention
All the people who are on their way to Brighton Ave. to catch the 57, and/or Comm. Ave. to catch the B Line.
57/B Line
But there's no reason for people who want to catch the 57 or the B Line to cross from the footbridge to Linden Street rather than crossing with the lights at Harvard.
You're right
Oh, I agree with you that they don't necessarily need to go that way; I'm just saying that, in reality, I think that is part of what's happening.
The bottom line is that lots of people are crossing there now, and as the jersey barriers don't seem to be enough of a deterrent, they will continue to cross there. I can't think of any way to stop that from being a hazard without actually implementing a crosswalk there - or, I suppose, without snuffing it out entirely with a full-on big-ass fence all the way up and down that stretch. Which, who knows? It may be in the works.
By the way, does anyone know if they are actually moving to make the repairs to this overpass, and if so what the schedule is?
70?
If going to Central square they would be better off getting the 70 on Western Ave.
70 indeed
Good point - that bus runs much more frequently than the crappy 64.
So really, I can't figure out why anyone making that crossing (from the footbridge across the Pike towards the Linden Street/Harvard Avenue side of Cambridge Street) would need to risk their life just to get to the bus stop on Cambridge at Linden.
There are several reasons to
There are several reasons to cross here:
1) Franklin and Lincoln to the northbound 66 stop is a .1 mile walk via the overpass. To the nearest stop on North Harvard, it's .4 miles.
2) Heading from North Allston to the Linden neighborhood (and beyond)
3) Getting off the north/eastbound 64 or 66 and heading to North Allston
I'm glad I live in a part of the city where I can cross basically anywhere, as long as I wait a few seconds for a gap in traffic. That's what makes for a pleasant neighborhood.
On barriers, repairs, and crosswalks
Hi all,
Yes, that section of Cambridge St. is a hot mess with all the barriers - and has been so for almost exactly two years, if this article is to be believed:
http://www.universalhub.com/2010/cambridge-street-...
Honestly, it feels like it's been longer than that, but there you have it.
The thing I'm desperately trying to remember is that I could have sworn I saw a follow-up post saying that the bridge was "scheduled for repairs in..." And this is the part I can't remember. Was it 2011? 2012? I can't find the post in search anywhere. Did I make it up in my head? In any case, it doesn't look like it's going to happen anytime soon. A few weeks ago there was a flatbed truck at this location with a couple of jersey barriers on it, and I was like, "Sweet, they are finally getting around to this repair." Instead, the next day there were simply more jersey barriers in the way and people jumping over them. Sad trombone noise, wah wahhhhhhhh.
Anyway, as far as crosswalks go: no, I don't believe there's ever been an actual crosswalk there, presumably because of the visibility issues mentioned. However I'm not sure they they couldn't manage one: it's almost 350 feet from the high point of that overpass, at the spot right over the middle of the Pike, to the spot where the footbridge is. Is that not enough room? Having driven on this road many times, looking at the street view in Google Maps it seems like plenty of room to stop for a pedestrian, but I don't know what the regulations say.
Anyway the point is that this is a high-traffic pedestrian crossing point for people coming from Lower Allston, and it would be great if there were some more formalized traffic redesign there. I personally think it's worth taking a look at, rather than just saying, "Just go around!" when the bus stop is almost directly across the street. People gots to get to work and there's got to be a better, more realistic way to deliver them from one side of the street to the other without them having to play frogger.
call DOT and ask them to fix it
It has been like this for more than 2 years, and I have heard a variety of vague statement from DOT and others about when it will be fixed (next year, year after, etc).
Call MassDOT (617-973-7800) and your elected state officials and maybe it can get fixed sooner and better.
http://boston.cbslocal.com/2010/08/12/cambridge-st...
I feel like this intersection
I feel like this intersection and the one by between Naples St and Alcorn (Packards Corners at the Star Market) deserve some kind of crosswalk or other attention simply because the prevalence of so many people crossing these dangerous intersections indicates they need a crossing there.