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Storrow re-routing background
Globe: Revived plan for detour on Esplanade stirs outrage.
Universal Hub: Shut Storrow Drive!
use Beacon Street as the detour
If you remove both lanes of parallel parking from Beacon Street, between Clarendon and Arlington Streets, that should be plenty of room to detour all the Storrow traffic for those two blocks.
This section of Beacon Street would become temporarily two-way. To reduce the number of times traffic has to cross itself, you could even make it British-style, with eastbound traffic on the north side and westbound traffic on the south. Sure it would be unusual, but Boston already has plenty of interesting non-standard roads....
...
the number of times traffic has to cross itself
The traffic is Catholic?
yeah, that sounded strange
What I meant was that if only eastbound Storrow traffic needs to be detoured onto Beacon, but westbound remains where it is, then it makes sense to put the detoured Storrow traffic on the north side of Beacon. Even if that's the "wrong" side.
Interesting suggestion. That
Interesting suggestion. That section of Beacon Street is already like an obstacle course due to cars, delivery trucks and contractor vans double-parked throughout the day. If all parallel parking were eliminated for two years, where would residents and people who conduct business in that area park? Glad I don't live there!
It basically sounds like a no-win situation.
On the one hand, yeah, the tunnel is badly in need of repairs. Yet, putting a road through the Esplanade, even if it were temporary, might turn out to be permanent, and, in either case, inflicting tons of damage to the Esplanade, which could be expensive to repair, if it got repaired at all.
On the other hand, re-routing vehicular traffic through the adjacent residential neighborhoods
(i. e. Back Bay & Beacon Hill), could/would undoubtedly stir virulent outrage, and possibly stiff resistance on the part of the residents of those two areas.
Ridiculous
Rerouting Storrow onto the Esplanade is a terrible idea. If they're concerned about fixing it quickly, they should just close that section of Storrow while they're fixing it. Heck, they should just close the whole road altogether as has been proposed on here before. It would sure make the parklands more enjoyable!
The real fear ...
The DCR would close Storrow and people would reroute and ... the road would prove itself to be somewhat useless. The tunnel is just the tip of the iceberg of the improvments and repairs that all the river roads desperately need in the next decade - try to pay some attention when driving them some times. The Mem Drive viaduct at BU alone rates 17 out of 100 for adequacy.
I still wonder why nobody has actually bothered to cost out the alternatives, but then I wonder why MA still lacks a comprehensive department of transportation to integrate the planning of moving people and stuff around the commonwealth and the best use of resources.
Think the two are related?
Aha ha!
Could be!
Great points
This really is as much a regional issue as it is a local one. I wonder what the MAPC thinks about it. They are supposed to be doing the regional planning.
http://www.mapc.org/
Yeah--go for it!
I'd love to see a dozen of those
Beacon Hill blueblood types chaining
themselves to trees, chanting "Stop the Arborcide!"
<>
They'll probably just pay their maids to do it
No, Rita. You must scream louder. In Inglessie, pour favorre!
Oh, Quentin, where's the gin? I'm getting hot!