Screen grab of Waze traffic app on Monday, March 16, 2015
Transportation

Mayor Touts Waze App to Avoid Casey Mess

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It might come as little comfort to people who live near Jamaica Plain's version of the Big Dig, but Mayor Marty Walsh suggests downloading a socially-driven traffic app to navigate around the Casey Arborway project. The city recently entered a data-sharing agreement with Waze, a traffic app owned by Google. During a roundtable with local press last week, Walsh offered this advice about the Casey project: "Try to avoid it." Melina Schuler of the Mayor's Office followed up on Monday with more details, saying the city's Traffic Management Center "will be closely monitoring traffic in the area and making traffic signal adjustments to help offset congestion during demolition and construction." While the massive effort is a Massachusetts Department of Transportation project, it takes place on city streets.

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Transportation

Flashing Stoplights Add to Forest Hills Traffic Woes

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For at least the second time in a week, the stoplights around Forest Hills station were simply blinking on Wednesday morning. Transportation officials said an earlier outage was because of melting snow. Some of the lights around Forest Hills sta are just blinking: It's great for Washington St, awful for Hyde Park Ave. — Adam Gaffin (@universalhub) March 11, 2015

The wonky lights, combined with the beginnings of construction on the Casey Arborway, don't make it easier for traffic in an area that's often difficult to navigate via car. A resident brought up an outage at either end of New Washington Street at Monday's meeting with the Casey Arborway project team.

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Transportation

Hemmed-In 39 Bus Causes South Huntington Gridlock

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39 Bus got too close to parked car, traffic stopped both directions on South Huntington @universalhub @MBTA pic.twitter.com/eJxinJcKvS— Aidan Ackerman (@aidanackerman) March 10, 2015

Tuesday morning, a 39 Bus got stuck by a row of parked cars, causing a massive traffic tie-up. The incident happened on South Huntington, where parking spaces are taken up by snow and then parked cars block a travel lane. Residents complained for weeks of a similar situation on Hyde Park Avenue before the city finally brought in snow throwers to clear the roadway.

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Transportation

Egleston Seeks City’s Ear on Traffic, Pedestrian Improvements

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Two intersections two blocks apart in Egleston Square have two distinct problems. This was brought to the attention of Acting Boston Transportation Commissioner Jim Gillooly Tuesday afternoon. At a joint meeting of the Egleston Square Neighborhood Association and Egleston Square Main Street, the area was painted as a business district crossroads where traffic signals, vehicular turns, school children crossing to the library, pedestrians walking home and traffic back ups all come together. School Street

School Street, a residential cross-town street with three schools on it, has motorists rushing to catch the Washington Street light. That can endanger children and families who live on the street. "We have some key issues to look at," said Tim Reardon of the Neighborhood Association, who led the tour of residents, city transportation officials, Department of Neighborhood Development staffer Kara Miller and Police Officer Carlos Martinez.

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A Nissan Pathfinder wound up in a South Street yard on Thursday, May 8, 2014
Police and Fire

SUV Driver Panics, Winds Up In South Street Yard

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Boston Police say the driver of a Nissan Pathfinder panicked after an MBTA bus beeped. The driver hit the gas instead of the brakes and wound up crashing into a South Street yard. Minor injuries were reported in the 4:20 p.m. Thursday incident, according to Boston Police. Occupants of the SUV were taken to Boston Medical Center. The rush-hour incident snarled traffic even more than usual in the Forest Hills/South Street area.

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Gas main work on Centre Street begins in earnest the week of May 6, 2014.
Neighborhood Life

Gas Main Work Will Complicate Life in Hyde-Jackson for Four to Six Months

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The "test pit" phase of utility work along Centre Street is over. Which means we can get ready for the real headaches to begin. Starting this week — and continuing for four to six months — work begins in earnest on replacing the neighborhood's ancient cast-iron gas mains with plastic ones. What this means is plenty of disruption along Centre Street through Hyde and Jackson squares. National Grid will replace 2,100 feet of natural gas pipe along the south side of Centre from Sheridan to Wise.

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Proposed at-grade solution for Casey Overpass, including Shea Circle (right) being turned into Shea Square.
Development

Traffic Experts Defend Turning Shea Circle Into Shea Square

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Transportation officials want to make the traffic circle going from Forest Hills into Franklin Park into a square intersection with stoplights. It's part of the Casey Overpass project, in which the crumbling bridge is to be torn down and replaced with a network of streets. But there's a hold-up. The Massachusetts Historical Commission asked to review those plans in light of the fact that, believe it or not, the Shea Circle rotary is part of the Morton Street Historic District. The commission wants proof that destruction of the 1939 traffic circle is worth it in terms of increasing safety for pedestrians, bike riders and car drivers.

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Police Officer William Jones works a detail as test pits are dug Monday, Feb. 24 in the Hyde Square area.
Police and Fire

Test Pits Make Hyde Square Drives Tricky

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You've probably noticed the holes being dug in the streets of Hyde Square. Veteran JP beat cop William Jones, who was working a detail at the rotary in Hyde Square on Monday, explained that test pits are being dug for a utility replacement project. I'm reaching out to Feeney Brothers, who are doing the excavation work, for more details. When I find out, I'll update this post.

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