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How often do you get to go to a party for an overpass?
By adamg on Fri, 03/16/2012 - 9:00am
The Boston Cyclists Union is throwing a shindig tonight at JJ Foley's Fireside Tavern in Forest Hills to celebrate the state's decision on the Casey Overpass. Starts at 6 p.m., with free appetizers.
The state's decision was to replace the crumbling structure with expanded and reconfigured surface roads, but the union is hoping folks who wanted to see a new overpass will come as well:
We invite you to turn the page with us toward a new future for Forest Hills that will help small businesses, make a more inviting area for walkers and bicyclists, and reconnect this gap in the Emerald Necklace. This is a great opportunity also for people on both sides of the debate we all just came through to shake hands and strategize about how we can make this a project all of us will be proud of for the decades to come.
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Comments
I think the pro-car lobby
should have a shindig too.
Uh oh...
Someone, somewhere in JP is having fun. Cue the pro-overpass protest outside the bar in 5, 4, 3...
Seriously, have fun guys. A well-deserved victory toast that I'll definitely ride the Surly down for.
Pro-overpass protest
You mean, actually get out of the car and walk around with a sign?
So much easier to make fun of the "hippies with no jobs" who actually did the legwork to get what they wanted, no?
I bike farther n faster than
I bike farther n faster than you, and own a car, an am pro-bridge, and probably a bigger hippie than you, so cease your generalities. So I will make fun because it was fine the way it was with a bridge, but then again im not a graduate of the swrly school of urban planning n management
You do?
Really? You can prove this how?
Too bad you aren't brave enough to register and log in - we could test this theory of speed - as if it all mattered anyway. The point is getting places. Lots of people getting lots of places - not special self-annointed privileged gits in a big special hurry. If you want to race there are plenty of crits around and plenty of racers training between Somerville and North and Central Mass. Of course, that might make you non special - getting your arse kicked and all.
But, hey, I can ride my bike without holding the handlebars - around corners, too. So PBBBTHHHHHPBT!
I like how you assume im not,
I like how you assume im not, I doubt id ever see you at an alley cat lol
Meet me at forest hills, we'll race to jfk via Columbia rd on rush hour..
Have u forgotten already, its my world, yall are merely NPCs
And whats the point of registering, y would I want to appease you?
Swrrlyman has a nice ring to it......and hold those bars man, its the law, and u seem to be quite the law abiding square
I think I just threw up in my
I think I just threw up in my mouth a little
Once again.....
That area is not hard by any means to maneuver, the BCU merely represents the skittish, weak, meek cyclists out there that have no business riding. What a scary looming bridge, oh noes! maybe I ought to volunteer to hold their hands as they cross the roads.
I vote that the next BCU whine campaign be to bomb (flatten) the incline between CVS and Ros Square, we wouldnt want their skirts to get caught in their chains now.
Ugh, thanks for contributing to the traffic once construction begins. I hate winter for not rearing its snowy head, I was looking forward to a season without out pedal noobs. GTFO pansies, im sure it will be a nice circlejerk of "accomplishment" tonight
a real biker
Oh sweet Jesus...
Do we have to listen to another long rant about your Boston-bred manliness before you launch into a paean to the "big ass hill" you love to coast down on "Huntington Street?"
Then again, why am I surprised that a troll is saddened by the loss of a bridge to squat under?
besides the voices in your
besides the voices in your head, not at all since there isnt any audio or vocalizations in my post to "listen" to
surely I bunched your granny panties as I influenced you to respond.
+2 for your usage of "paean" surely you tickled yourself upon typing that.
Im flattered that my wonderful colloquialisms were imbedded upon your brain, nice to know I can leave my mark upon these impressionable souls.
So whats wrong with squatting? its a pretty ergonomic position, but you probably would not know that since flexibility probably isnt your forte.
Cycling
The term could mean riding a bike and/or the mood pattern of persons with untreated bipolar disorder.
too bad
daddy gaffin likes to censor mofos
I'm sorry that all you Lance
I'm sorry that all you Lance Armstrong & Bike Messenger wannabes have to share the road now with the unwashed masses. Perhaps you could find another hobby to compensate for your ego issues.
Party!
Hey, who knows, maybe I can "shake hands" with the “I’m on a mission from God” cyclist who came within ½ inch of sideswiping me as I walked over the Mass. Ave bridge the other night?*
*Brought to you by a former cyclist who now drives a car but maintains a rather sexy non-fat ass by running.
Maybe you should.
As a distinctly non-daredevilly cyclist, I also have little patience with the take-no-prisoners Quicksilver types. And yet, don't you wonder whether if the traffic and bike lanes on Mass. Ave were a little less terrifying for the average cyclist, there would be less of a reason for them to ride on the sidewalk? I know there's a bike lane there now, but it's still a bit of a mess, very potholey, full of debris, etc. Anyway, I think that's the goal of the Cyclist's Union, Livable Streets and other groups--a place for everyone and everyone in their place, leading to clearer "rules," and better, safer behavior from cyclists, pedestrians and drivers alike.
I agree yet ...
I just have a small irritation with those who clamor for city-wide bike lanes (especially on Mass. Ave.) and then don't use them!!
I walk over Mass Ave. bridge most nights and honestly, I can't tell you the number of times that I have been almost smacked by sidewalk riding cyclists going to fast and/or not paying attention. (And the bike lane going into Cambridge looks pretty clean and non-potholed to me.)
If a cyclist does not not feel safe and/or scared riding on any road he/she might want to consider taking a different route that is less scary. If no, than dismount and walk your bike when you have to use a sidewalk.
I really think it needs to be
I really think it needs to be made mandatory that bikes used in urban areas have active lighting. Reflectors simply aren't enough.
Lights are required
State law requires a headlight and tail light for bikes in the same hours that headlights are required for cars.
http://massbike.org/resourcesnew/bike-law/
Somerville and Cambridge are known to ticket cyclists for not having proper lighting.
http://www.malegislature.gov/
http://www.malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/Part... says you need a front light, and a rear light *or reflector*.
I'm surprised MassBike gets this wrong.
I take your point completely.
There's just no excuse for riding crazy on a sidewalk. Right now though, if you're coming up the ramp from the Esplanade, it shoots you right into the sidewalk, not the bike lane, so a lot of bikers, I think, feel as if they're in the right place. Some folks pick up their bikes and clamber over the guardrail, but that can be a little tricky in traffic, even if you don't have a 45-lb bike like mine. Anyway, I just hate to see these issues get stalled out in them vs. us hostilities. Most people who bike in Boston also drive cars and walk and we all know the phenomenon that when you're in a car, all the pedestrians seem like a**holes and when you're on foot, you can't believe what lunatics all the drivers are. I'd still maintain that the safer bicyclists feel on the road, the safer and more comfortable everyone will be.
Alternate route?
Cyclists taking the sidewalk over the Mass Ave bridge are likely doing so to avoid cars that go 50 or 60mph over it. Whereas you may be startled, and I would advise all cyclists to use a bell when traveling this way, a cyclist hit by a car at that speed is over 90 percent likely to die. Until we make the roads safe for all, pedestrians may have to share some of their space with those who choose to bike. All of us have the right to travel through the city, and to be safe while doing it, regardless of what mode of travel we use.
Point taken
Wrong-way joggers, sometimes two abreast, in the bike lanes on the Longfellow make me feel the same way.
I rarely use sidewalks on my bike, usually only when there are obstacles like construction, but I either dismount or I ride at walking speed when I do (which takes less room). Sidewalks are for pedestrians at 2-4mph.
If I want to go really fast, I get my road bike out and go someplace where I can go fast - not the city.
How do you know what the
How do you know what the people riding on the sidewalk on the Mass Ave bridge do or don't clamor for?
And why should the people who do advocate for bike lanes be forbidden from sometimes using legal alternatives which they find safe or convenient?
Oh dear, so much angst going
Oh dear, so much angst going on in this thread. When I used to ride, I enjoyed it... I certainly didn't hate the world because of it! How odd.
All hail the end of the Casey Overpass
I live right near this overpass, and have lived near it for 13 years now. It's loud, it's in constant disrepair, and from what I've seen as I'm walking down my hill, or on my bike on my way to work, it's constantly backed up during rush hour and heavy commuting times. So people who argue that getting rid of the overpass will cause massive back ups and is congestion obviously doesn't use the overpass during those times. It's a mess.
Also, as someone who has lived in this neighborhood for years, I'm excited to see this area improve. I welcome the open space that will result in taking down the overpass and am excited to have a more welcoming train station, more green space, better roads and pathways for cars, pedestrians and bikers alike.
And if it does result in traffic having to slow down and drivers' commutes being 2-5 minutes longer, so be it. Slower traffic means safer streets for everyone. Just because you have a car does not give you a license to have the most convenient commute at everyone else's expense. We all deserve better transportation options and nicer outdoor spaces.
... it's constantly backed up
So it's better to take that mess and meld it with another mess that's already going on beneath it?
This is another way to describe traffic congestion. Congestion creates more air pollution, more human frustration creating the potential for more bad interactions between auto drivers, cyclists and pedestrians all on top of a large bus station.
But the decisions been made, the party has been thrown - so time will tell.
Congestion
Yes, it appears to create more pollution. But it is completely perverse to suggest that widening the highway will make for less pollution. In the end, you just encourage more cars, and the same amount of congestion with more tailpipes pumping out pollution.
... it's constantly backed up
So it's better to take that mess and meld it with another mess that's already going on beneath it?
This is another way to describe traffic congestion. Congestion creates more air pollution, more human frustration creating the potential for more bad interactions between auto drivers, cyclists and pedestrians all on top of a large bus station.
But the decisions been made, the party has been thrown - so time will tell.
If you missed the overpass party
Next month will be a Passover party you can attend instead.