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Another ghost bicycle to be placed on Huntington Avenue

Bicyclists gather at Huntington Avenue and Forsyth Street at 8 p.m. tonight to install a white "ghost bike" in memory of Kelsey Rennebohm, a BC grad student who died after a collision with an MBTA bus Friday night.

After the installation, bicyclists will go on a memorial ride to BC. More info and to RSVP.

In 2007, another bicyclist died in a collision at the same location.

Meanwhile, Daniel Sullivan, who regularly bikes on Huntington Avenue, says enough is enough - the city and residents need to do something about the dangerous stretch of road - especially now that there's a Hubway station at Brigham Circle, in the middle of an area with no bike lanes.

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Comments

I'm confident that the city will rise to the task of improving key roadways in the interest of cyclist safety. I'll just wait right here.

Waiting for Action

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People need to practice more self-defense in transportation around dangerous areas.

Don't think "Gee, this is dangerous and the city should fix this," and keep going there. The city WILL fix it- after you die there. Cities don't fix dangerous things until someone dies. Then, the intersection is fixed, but it doesn't bring that person back to life.

Don't be that sacrificial lamb, that sad dead person "who was so kind," "who was loved by the community," "who had a bright future."

Keep your bright future. Take a different route.

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When I bike commuted into the city in the 1980s, I would never ride down Huntington. It was too dangerous then and I can only imagine what it is like now.

If a intersection or road is dangerous, it can also be dangerous to car drivers as well as cyclists and walkers. Unfortunately, cyclists and walkers when hit by a multi ton vehicle usually do not fare as well as a car being hit by the same. Many times these areas can't be fixed due to existing logistical issues with the said intersection; sometimes they can. I live near two spots where multiple folks have been killed, all pedestrians. The areas were not "fixed." The issues are more complex, unfortunately.

So with that in mind, one should perhaps consider what city roads make the safest bike routes. How? Hint: If multiple folks have been killed on certain stretches of road, it might not be the best route to take.

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Huntington Ave. cuts through several college campuses, but it is such a nightmare of a ride that it is one of the few roads that I will not take unless I'm headed for a local address.

I ride through Manhattan on Broadway when on vacation for fun, and I avoid Huntington Ave from Mass Ave to Brigham Circle.

I used to work near Brigham Circle, and I wouldn't use Huntington - I tried it once or twice and it freaked me out. I found alternate routes.

This road needs to reflect the users of the road - including bicycles. I don't know what part of "urban college campus arterial" that Boston seems to fail to get again and again and again. The congestion, population, and density should drive the design of the road - not the needs of car commuters avoiding tolls on the pike.

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It was "redone" in 2004 with better lighting, wider sidewalks, better signals, eliminated on street parking at key intersections, and a vastly improved MBTA median. Of course no bike markings, no curb extensions, and no intersection reconfigurations took place.

So while it is nice to much nicer to continue down the length of Huntington Avenue in or outbound (unless you are on a bike thanks to the lack of markings), crossing the avenue, or any of the side streets off of it, is a NIGHTMARE. The continuous avenue, other than the lack of bike markings isn't the problem, the horrible intersections are!

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Widening sidewalks decrease safety in most projects. The space instead would save lives as raised median when there isn't any for pedestrians and giving cyclists more space in wide curb lanes or bike lanes (equal value). The same bad use of public land for transportation happened in Central Square in 1993. Enormous sidewalks were created while bike lanes are shoehorned in tightly with trucks, buses, and cars. Narrow lanes are thought to slow traffic, and they do congest it for sure, but they also make riding more dangerous and dooring more likely. Taxpayers should not be creating outdoor dining space for private businesses when safety and mobility suffer.

BTW, Sidewalks planned for Broadway in Somerville are to be wide enough for driving two buses down, side by side. Wow, have people gotten so wide that much width is needed? Actually the project is to gentrify the area so Brazilians can't afford the rents or new condos and move out.

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This is one of those roads where it should be uncontroversial for a bicyclist to take the lane and ride in the driver's side of the right-hand lane as a defense mechanism. If they can't pass you without moving fully into the left lane, then they are much less likely to run you over even if they're upset about having to go around you single-file.

Other roads that have wide right lanes and shoulders can support the kind of meek biking that lets drivers assume that you'll be "off to the side" and out of the way. But when the road is two high granite curbs surrounding two minimum width lanes, take the entire lane and don't be shy about it.

Granted that scooters have a lot more presence than a bike, but I never felt uncomfortable on Huntington at all and I always drove on the left half of the lane forcing anyone to pass me in the other lane.

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For that reason. Cyclists can use the right lane.

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But ... try to do it in reality and you get threatened by entitled motorists who are in a hurry to get to the next light 10 meters before you do.

I noticed when I went through Central Square in Cambridge that the new reconfiguration of Mass Ave made another area I typically avoid much safer to navigate on two wheels (and I've noticed this on 4 wheels as well). Huntington Ave through that section of Collegeland really needs to take a cue from Cambridge.

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And how are you enjoying the first hour of the first day day of your first visit to our fine city?

Seriously though, I read this over and over at UH: "Take the lane". I understand the reasoning behind it. I understand the law. I'm not a cyclist, so my reaction is based purely on hypotheticals, but somehow, it seems like a perfect recipe for being run down like a dog by some douchebag townie redneck. It doesn't make you any less wounded/maimed/dead to have the law on your side.

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I think that the notion is to exert some control over the actions of the guy behind you, while eliminating the possibility of the driver thinking "I can slide by". I realize it gives people fits, but sometimes its the only option to reasonably assure safety on a bike. As both a cyclist and a driver, I get that.

I sometimes employ the control technique while driving to avoid being rear-ended at the bottom of an exit ramp when coming off of a highway. I will drive slowly down the ramp to bring the people behind me closer to me, thereby forcing them to reduce their speed and keep me in sight, rather than zipping down to the end of the ramp (where I might be forced to stop because there is heavy traffic on the road onto which I am trying to merge) and leaving myself a sitting duck at the bottom of the ramp for the yahoo behind me who is texting, putting on makeup, etc. while coming around the sharp turn of the ramp with its attendant reduced visibility. If I get to the bottom of the ramp and I can merge, well, then I just smoke the sucker mc behind me and I'm on my way.

On my bike, I routinely take the lane when transiting Beacon St. through Newton Centre, because the people there throw open doors like no place else, and I'm always going at least as fast as the car traffic (usually faster). Since I'm going as fast as the cars and it's a short stretch of road, I don't get much static.

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I've been riding Hubway for the middle part of my commute recently, taking a bike at Harvard Stadium, and riding it all the way to the Broadway T station (there's a Hubway rack at Gillette).

If I want to be a good do-be, and not ride the length of Berkeley St. from the Esplanade to where it turns into 4th St. coming out of Southie in the wrong direction, my path takes me from Harrison to Herald to Traveler. I have to take the middle lane here because I'm turning right into traffic, then left, in a two-left-turn-lanes intersection. I take the whole lane, and have never had fewer than 2 cars honk at me in this .3 mile transition.

It's pretty infuriating, actually, and I have a tough time keeping my cool on the bike.

Not sure what to do about it other than nothing....

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Is that really faster than taking the Red Line? Google says 34 minutes biking vs 29 minutes for the T. Though I suppose it's healthier and avoids the possibility of random delays.

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.. It isn't, though not by much. The biggest problem for me is that I then walk from the Harvard Stadium to the Red Line again. I work in Davis...

That 10 or so minute walk is the biggest single change, time-wise, in my commute.

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Supposed to open up in a couple weeks. That should change things?

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Did you see a firm date somewhere? Somerville should be on the same or similar rollout schedule, at which point I'll make the ride all the way into Davis.

If only I could get them to give me the first 40 minutes free instead of 30, I'd be golden.

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http://www.boston.com/yourtown/news/cambridge/2012...

Dunno otherwise. I really could have used it the other day. Alas.

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I agree that it's probably preferable to letting the guy behind you think he can squeeze by on your left, but both of them seem like poor choices given the roads and drivers around here (one of the reasons I'm not a cyclist).

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As a cyclist but also sometimes driver, I agree that taking the lane is the best course of action when presented with no bike lane or shoulder and I've almost never had a problem when doing it. When I went to Northeastern, I unfortunately had no choice but to bike down Huntington a few blocks every single day. If you stay over to the right side of the lane, cars will try and pass you - 99.9% of drivers are not malicious and have no interest in attempted vehicular homicide, but a disturbing portion of drivers are have bad enough judgment that they will try to go around even if it's very questionable that they can do it safely. As a cyclist, you have to remove all doubt in their mind: there is absolutely no way they can safely get around you without going into the other lane.

That said, the key to that strategy is biking very fast in that situation. I'm probably traveling at 60-75% of the cars' speed. If I'm on a Hubway or riding with slower riders, it's very nerve wracking because the speed differential is so high for people coming up behind you that they don't have enough time to assess the situation accurately. In that case, it's really about avoiding those roads as much as possible.

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