Boston Transportation Department

Following Orange Line Shutdown, City Announces Permanent Road Changes in Jamaica Plain

By |

The shutdown of the Orange Line gave the city an opportunity to see how some of its alternative temporary changes worked, and they liked them, so they're making some of them permanent. “We’re keeping in place some of the changes that have helped with traffic flow and transit access, so that commuters will see lasting benefit above ground even as the subway comes back online," said Mayor Michelle Wu. “The past 30 days provided an opportunity to create new ways to use our public spaces to ease how residents move within the City,” said Chief of Streets (and Jamaica Plain resident) Jascha Franklin-Hodge. “We look forward to working with the community to take the lessons learned and apply them to future infrastructure projects that will enhance public space and improve mobility for pedestrians, people on bikes, and transit riders.”

The following are local road changes:

Boylston Street one-way for vehicles: Closing part of Boylston Street (between Amory and Lamartine) to traffic throughout the shutdown has improved safety (collisions and near-misses) along the Southwest Corridor. Reopening this stretch as a one-way street from Amory to Lamartine for vehicles will support long-term bike connectivity plans, improve safety for all modes, and reduce conflict at the high crash intersection of Boylston and Lamartine Streets.

1,388 Views
Transportation

Help Improve Safety, Traffic in Egleston Square (Atherton, Beethoven, Copley and Arcardia Streets)

By |

The Boston Transportation Department is hosting three upcoming meetings to examine how to make safety and traffic improvements in the Egleston Square area, with a focus on several specific streets. BTD is looking for feedback on changes to particularly affect Atherton, Beethoven, Copley, and Arcadia streets. There will be several public sessions to provide feedback. There will be a popup meeting at Lawson Park (corner of Atherton and Washington streets) on Dec. 9 from 2-4 pm.

1,733 Views
Transportation

Temporary Parking Changes: Pickup Zones for Restaurants, No Tickets/Towing for Street Cleaning, and More

By |

The city is making some temporary parking enforcement changes due to the ongoing Coronavirus public health emergency, including 5-minute parking pickup zones in front of restaurants. "During this challenging time, we're doing all we can to keep our residents healthy and safe," said Mayor Marty Walsh via press release. "We understand transportation is a need and concern for residents and medical professionals, and these updated policies will help everyone during this ongoing public health crisis." Temporary pick up zones are being created in front of restaurants that are offering takeout and delivery only. Takeout food pickup zones will restrict parking to five minutes to increase convenience for the quick pickup and delivery of takeout food from restaurants while providing adequate room for social distancing of six feet or more.

2,537 Views
Environment

Four to Six Parking Spaces Becoming Electric Vehicle Charging Stations in Centre Street Lot

By |

As part of a city electric vehicle program, some municipal parking lots, including one on Centre Street, will have four to six parking spaces made into electric car charging stations. Boston has a stated goal of being carbon neutral by 2050, and transportation accounts for nearly a third of Boston's total carbon emissions, according to Boston.gov. Sixty-five percent of carbon emissions in Boston come from personal vehicles. As part of the Transportation Department's Recharge Boston program to support electric vehicles the city is encouraging drivers to use electric or zero emission vehicles. And most electric car owners charge their vehicles at home, but a city survey part of Boston's 2019 Climate Action Plan Update revealed that 45 percent of Bostonians would purchase an electric vehicle if they had access to a charger. But there aren't enough public electric car charging stations, so starting this winter and into the spring, the city will be installing four to six electric car charging stations in six lots.

2,371 Views
Neighborhood Life

What Do You Think Is Most Important to Centre/South Street Redesign?

By |

Businesses are being asked to offer their opinions on what they'd want to see if Centre/South Street were redesigned. The Boston Cyclists Union and JP Centre/South Main Streets are conducting a survey of businesses in the district, and will be sharing the survey's results with the Boston Transportation Department. The city's plans for the Centre/South redesign are on hold, but are expected to restart soon, according to the JPCSMS newsletter. It is part of the already completed redesign of Jackson Square and Hyde Square. The city has allocated more than $700,000 for the design alone, which would go from Hyde Square down Centre and South streets to the Arborway, said Ginger Brown, director of JPCSMS.

The survey asks business owners to rank seven options on what they feel is most important in a redesign: increased pedestrian/sidewalk space; improved bike infrastructure and bike parking; improved bus service; improved streetscape (like benches, lighting, greenery, public art); better signage for the business district; and increased parking for cars.

2,443 Views
Transportation

Stonybrook Neighborhood Slow Streets Meeting May 8

By |

There will be a community meeting to discuss the traffic diverter pilot project that was previously installed on Dungarven Road in the Stonybrook neighborhood on May 8. The Boston Transportation Department (BTD) installed the pilot traffic diverter on Dungarven Road, which was just south of the intersection with Gartland Street, on June 15, 2018 and removed in October 2018. At the upcoming meeting, the BTD will share a summary of data and observations collected before, during and after the traffic diverter was installed. Resident feedback that was collected will also be shared, and residents will be able to provide feedback at the meeting. The strategy of the diverter was supposed to:

Discourage people from driving the wrong way on Washington Street
Discourage drivers from cutting through Hatoff’s driveways
Discourage and eventually end wrong-way driving on Williams Street
Reduce the number of people navigating the low-visibility intersection of Dungarven/Kenton
Reduce the volume of thru traffic on Kenton Road

This public meeting will be at 6:30 pm on May 8 at English High School (144 McBride St.).

2,323 Views
City Services

How to Make Egleston Square More Pleasant Being Discussed at JP/Rox Transportation Action Plan Meeting on Oct. 23

By |

How can Egleston Square be a more pleasant place? That's a question that will be examined at the next JP/Rox Transportation Action Plan meeting on Oct. 23. At the meeting, the fourth on the topic of Egleston Square, Transportation Department personnel will discuss public feedback they received about two plans the city put forth to make the area safer to walk and travel through. A preview of actions items for the upcoming meeting will also be discussed, as well as priorities for the project.

2,550 Views
Transportation

Upcoming Pop-Ups for JP/Rox Transportation Action Plan; Feedback Wanted on Egleston Square Concepts

By |

The city is holding three pop-up sessions this week to solicit feedback about the JP/Rox Transportation Action Plan. If you can't make it to the sessions you can also participate in an online poll, as well as submit feedback by Sept. 15, about two concepts to improve Egleston Square. These are the scheduled dates, times and locations for this week's pop-ups. They are subject to change due to weather.

3,757 Views
Government

Pahk Smahtly: Boston Parking Tickets Going Up July 2nd

By |

Boston parking ticket fines are going up on July 2 for numerous violations, including parking in resident parking without being a resident, not paying a meter and being parked at a meter past the time limit. The good news is that some of the money collected will fund bike and pedestrian connections from the Roxbury-Fenway Connector linking the Southwest Corridor and the Emerald Necklace. Along with 11 parking tickets going up in price, the city will no longer tow vehicles parking in violation of posted overnight street cleaning programs where it begins at or after midnight and ends no later than 7 am. But those vehicles will be given a $90 parking ticket. “Parking regulations are a crucial component of urban transportation systems and abiding by them helps considerably to keep streets safe, functioning and equitable,” said Boston Transportation Department Commissioner Gina N. Fiandaca via press release.

2,123 Views
Transportation

3 Pop-Ups to Discuss JP/Rox Transportation Action Plan This Week

By |

Jamaica Plain and Roxbury residents will have three opportunities this week at pop-ups to provide feedback to the city about the JP/Rox Transportation Action Plan. The JP/Rox Transportation Action Plan will guide future development and improvements along the corridor of Roxbury and Jamaica Plain. The plan area encompasses Forest Hills, Egleston Square and Jackson Square, generally bounded by Washington Street, Columbus Avenue and Amory Street. Boston Transportation Department personnel will be on hand at the pop-ups to hear residents' suggestions about routes, challenges and their vision for the area. The Boston Transportation Department has created an interactive map in which users can add routes and points of concerns for accessibility, pedestrian access, bicyclist safety, transit rider issues, vehicle issues and more. Click here to see the interactive map. The comment period for the interactive map closes on June 15th.

2,278 Views