The new second option. The city's consultant on the project said the difference between northbound and southbound traffic is due to thousands of suburbanites ducking the tolls on the Tobin Bridge.

For the most part, the bike/ped path alongside Rutherford Street is preserved in the proposed hybrid, but the linear park surrounding the path would be reduced in width by around 15 feet, losing close to a third of an acre of open space over the span of the underpass. Even though the bike path is preserved, some cyclists and other residents in the neighborhood spoke out against the underpass, citing noise, high traffic speeds and the fact that a highway like underpass would continue to deter economic development on what are now several large parking lots nearby.

The city made it clear they would build either the underpass or the surface option depending on what the neighborhood desires, but the most revealing part of the Boston Transportation Department’s presentation on Wednesday night was the vast difference between inbound and outbound traffic on Rutherford. Traffic has dropped by as much as 33% overall on the road since 1997, Michael Hall of the consulting firm Tetra Tech told an audience of over 100 at the new Knights of Columbus hall, but traffic counts also indicated that inbound traffic flow was three times as heavy as outbound traffic. Hall explained that this was likely due to the one-way toll scheme on the nearby Tobin Bridge.

In other words, he said, when suburbanites north of Boston roll into town, a large number avoid paying $3 for the Tobin during rush hour by taking Rutherford, but on the way back home, the Tobin is free, and they prefer it.

The original design for the Rutherford Avenue and Austin Street intersection, which was approved in a well advertised community process that concluded in 2010. This "surface option" would handle the traffic easily and be less expensive, according to the Boston Transportation Department.

Hall stopped short of explaining this well known phenomenon among traffic engineers on Wednesday, but he did say that even if all 1,000 drivers decide to keep avoiding the $3 dollar a day fee and traffic levels remain the same, the underpass would still have an extra lane in each direction that isn’t needed to carry the traffic demand.

“It wouldn’t be safe at just one lane,” he said, referring to the need for a breakdown lane and access for emergency vehicles. The proposed underpass would have two lanes in either direction, though the traffic passing through would technically only require one, and could also be handled by the surface option, which was overwhelmingly approved by a group of community residents in 2010.

Charlestown is now divided on the issue. A large contingent commenting toward the “save the underpass” side sounded off on fears of traffic “backing up” and overrunning other streets in the neighborhood, and a smaller phalanx of residents united under the banner of the “Rutherford Corridor Improvement Coalition” cited the need for slower traffic for safety and noise improvements. Interestingly, the goal of groups on both sides of the issue is getting rid of traffic. The real difference lies in their beliefs in how traffic behaves. According to BTD Commissioner Thomas Tinlin, who was also present at the meeting, his agency will not move forward until some semblance of “consensus” is reached in the neighborhood.

To help inform the debate, the Union is hosting two nationally recognized experts on traffic calming and freeway removal at the MGH Charlestown Healthcare Center on 73 High Street this Tuesday night, May 15 at 6pm. Peter Park has served as planning director in Denver, Colo. and Milwaukee, Wis., and Ian Lockwood is a principal at AECOM, a Fortune 500 engineering firm. Both have had direct experience with projects similar to the Sullivan/Rutherford redesign. Their presentation will be followed by Q and A session.

Peter J. Park served as planning director for a total of 16 years in Milwaukee and Denver. His integrated approach to comprehensive planning, urban design, and development review resulted in clear visions for sustainable urban development, places of high quality design, and streamlined development permitting systems. He led the preparation of downtown plans, numerous neighborhood plans, and comprehensive zoning code updates in both cities. In Milwaukee, significant projects include the replacement of the elevated Park East freeway with an at-grade boulevard that catalyzes new downtown development and the Beerline B, a new mixed-use, mixed-income neighborhood along the Milwaukee River. Significant work in Denver includes redevelopment of Denver Union Station as the hub of Fastracks (the largest public transit project in the nation), several transit-oriented development (TOD) station area plans, and adoption of a new context and form-based zoning code applied citywide.

Boston Bikes Coordinator Nicole Freedman at one of her finest moments, the Hubway bike share launch in 2011.

The good news is we have an amazing and vibrant bicycling community and strong mayoral support that will continue through this transition. That support was communicated this morning when members of the Boston Bikes Advisory Group were introduced to Kris Carter, Samantha Herr and Alice Brown, all of whom will labor to fill Freedman’s shoes until a new candidate is chosen, with Carter assuming the lead role of interim bike coordinator.

It remains to be seen whether or not the city will conduct a high level nationwide search for a new coordinator, whether or not Freedman’s position will be institutionalized as a lasting separate budget line item position in the Mayor’s office, and whether or not other positions in her office, such as the coordinators of the Roll it Forward and Youth Cycling programs will also be made permanent and funded through the city’s budget rather than grants that cover six months at a time. The Union will be asking these questions and others in collaboration with other leading organizations, and we ask that our members and supporters give the city time to sort out the details and get a plan together.

It is also already clear that the transition will make for some bumps in the road. The first fallout from Freedman’s departure occurred the day it hit the newspapers, when the Bikes Belong Foundation announced that six cities, including Washington D.C., had been chosen to participate in the national Green Lanes Project–not Boston.

The Green Lanes Project–a program specifically geared to provide a variety of resources to ensure they successfully build their first cycletracks–was firmly in Boston’s grasp in the weeks before Freedman’s departure thanks to a strong application and support from the Union. But Boston’s sure-to-be-chosen status suffered when Freedman acknowledged there was not enough support, be it funding or otherwise, to complete three or four cycletracks by the end of 2012, a requirement of the grant, and then shortly thereafter announced her departure from city government.

The original concept for the grant included cycletracks for Malcolm X Boulevard, Charles Street, Boylston Street, and on a circumferential path around Boston’s Public Garden. Only the latter plan still seems viable for 2012 now that Freedman, the facility’s strongest internal advocate, has moved on. The other three may now be on two year timeframe.

Some of the city’s caution about cycletrack ambitions may have been related to the relatively higher cost of physically separate facilities compared to bike lanes. To be completely safe, cycletracks often require new construction of curbs and/or new traffic signals. While there is significant funding for bike infrastructure design and construction in the city budget this year, curbs and signals are far more expensive than bike lanes.

Cycletracks are also a focus of the Boston Cyclists Union’s new Connect the City program, which is aimed at building neighborhood support for a connective network of physically separate facilities. Freedman’s transition raises the bar for the public support Connect the City promises to achieve by promoting these safer bikeways, and the success of Connect the City in turn depends largely on Union membership dues and donations, as grants for this kind of work are few and far in between. Green Lanes would have brought national resources to bear on Boston’s ambitious ideas for cycletracks, but advocates can follow Washington D.C.’s progress in the program and take notes, and work together to build support for cycletracks in all of Boston’s neighborhoods.

Also on the up side, thanks to Freedman’s help and work cyclists now have far more friends in city government than they did before her arrival. Michael Kineavy, Mayor Thomas Menino’s chief of policy and one of the city’s most powerful internal bike advocates was of course there before Freedman, and helped hire her in 2008, but several other city employees have begun working with the needs of cyclists in mind thanks to Freedman’s infectious enthusiasm.

Several people at the Boston Public Health Commission have taken an interest in bicyclist injury reduction, including Anne McHugh, director of Chronic Disease Prevention and Control, who helps run a crash data task force the Union participates in, and Huy Nguyen, who is heading up another effort to develop a public education campaign around helmet use by bringing together an unprecedented collaboration of the medical community, advocates like the Bike Union, the police, Emergency Medical Services, and others.

The Boston Police Department’s Captain Jack Danilecki also became his department’s bike liaison thanks to Freedman’s doing (after the Union recommended him for the post), and helped create positive helmet encouragement campaigns and better access to crash data. Danilecki has already expressed to the Union his interest in continuing his good works.

Vineet Gupta, head of BTD’s planning department, and BTD Commissioner Tom Tinlin too have become advocates for biking in their own right during Freedman’s tenure, often taking their own initiative in recent years to make sure bicycles are addressed in all the projects they oversee, including those actually designed by the state.

Another great Freedman-era decision was to bring in Toole Design Group to work on the city’s bike infrastructure. Their office will of course remain an oft-used consultant on road design, helping to ensure continuity at least of the technical aspect of Nicole’s work. They will also now be contracted to manage the bike racks program and the creation of the city’s bike map. Their biggest project due this year is the Bike Network Master Plan currently in development, and projected to be released in July.

But even these great internal supporters of cycling are likely realizing that this summer will be something a test for Boston. Can we all pull together and carry the weight those slight but very strong shoulders held? Can her role and those of some of her employees and 12 interns become institutionalized to create more stability for the program?

The answers to these and other questions remain to be seen, but we at the Union are dedicated to taking on whatever work we can to help ensure a smooth transition. Please consider joining, or making a donation to help us ramp up for what promises to be an amazing summer, full of parties, street events, and more bikes on the streets than ever before.

New volunteers should definitely come but returning volunteers are also encouraged to attend.

When: Wednesday, June 6, 6:00-9:00pm
Where: Coming soon.
Food will be provided. Please RSVP to noelle@bostoncyclistsunion.org and please note any special dietary needs.

Questions? E-mail Noelle above or call 703 909 6525

Please share this information with everyone you know in the neighborhood!  

If you cannot make the meeting, please consider writing a thank you letter for the at-grade decision, and ask to move forward in the process. Here are the letter-writing instructions from MassDOT:

Written statements and other exhibits in place of, or in addition to, oral statements made at the Public Information Meeting regarding the proposed undertaking are to be submitted to Thomas F. Broderick, P.E., Chief Engineer, MassDOT, 10 Park Plaza, Boston, MA 02116, ATTN: (Paul King, Project File No. 605511). Such submissions will also be accepted at the meeting. Mailed statements and exhibits intended for inclusion in the public meeting transcript must be postmarked within ten (10) business days of this Public Information Meeting. Project inquiries may be emailed to dot.feedback.highway@state.ma.us

The March 20 Working Advisory Group meeting clearly indicated that a small group of those who wanted to build a bridge are planning to do everything they can to delay the project, which would jeopardize its funding under the Accelerated Bridge Program set to expire in mid-2016. A special act of the legislature, with broad support from across the state, would be needed to deal with Jamaica Plain’s problem if this deadline cannot be met, not to mention that a two-thirds majority of those who have already weighed in on this project with letters and comments support the at-grade plan. A representative from the Stonybrook neighborhood said that his neighborhood had “serious concerns” about the plan and wanted to revisit the decision, though a survey of the neighborhood association showed half the neighborhood supported at-grade.

At-grade supporters and some former bridge supporters are anxious to get through the next stage of planning, the 25% design, where decisions are made about where bike lanes and bike paths actually will go, what will occupy the new 2.5 acre park at the end of the SW Corridor, and several improvements for buses and traffic calming. This stage of the process has already been constrained by the previous delays, and will only span six months. Any delay of this process will mean less input from Jamaica Plain residents on that design. But delay is precisely what is on the agenda of “Bridging Forest Hills,” a group apparently run by Jeff Ferris of Ferris Wheels Bike Shop, which organized a meeting earlier this week at Bethel AME Church to discuss alternatives to at-grade. A flyer distributed by the group erroneously claims that there will be no pick-up and drop-off zones, and no left hand turns for cars and trucks. Where pick up and drop off zones go is an item that is scheduled for 25% design, so the delay Bridging Forest Hills is asking for will actually prevent them from being well planned. Left hand turns are only limited for cars on the Arborway, and are replaced by a bow-tie turn that will take just a little longer. There is a discussion scheduled for 25% design that may make that restriction only for peak hours, as it is on the Jamaicaway. But that discussion cannot happen if there is significant delay.

A view from under the Casey Overpass in Jamaica Plain.

This next public meeting is one of the most important meetings of the year. Please join us and forward widely.

An early draft of the at-grade solution for Casey Overpass. Note the two-acre park at the end of the SW Corridor.

Secretary of Transportation Rich Davey informed legislators and others yesterday and the story hit local news outlets today. Read details in the JP Gazette and JP Patch and stay tuned for a “Re-unite Jamaica Plain Party” organized by the Union — Save the Date — March 16! We’d like to celebrate re-uniting Forest Hills with the rest of Jamaica Plain but also re-uniting the two sides of this controversial issue to now shake hands and work on the 25 and 100 percent design processes together to make a final plan that everyone will be happy with for decades to come.

Here’s Secretary Davey’s official announcement:

The Massachusetts Department of Transportation has selected the at-grade alternative for the Casey Overpass, which carries Route 203 over Forest Hills in Jamaica Plain. The decision was made after an extensive public outreach campaign consisting of five public meeting and 12 Working Advisory Group meetings over a nine-month period.

The existing Casey Overpass is in the advanced stages of deterioration and is at the end of its serviceable life. Moving forward, the design process will undergo a series of steps to reach completion; MassDOT expects construction to begin in October 2013.