By: Petru Sofio

For the past two years, MassBike has been advocating for safety improvements at the intersection of Massachusetts Avenue and Appleton Street following the tragic death of Charlie Proctor. After short-term improvements were installed, Arlington continued to work on a longer-term solution to improve safety for all along the corridor. At a recent Open House event, concept designs were released for the Mass Ave and Appleton corridor's long-term improvements.

At the event, Stantec presented concept designs for the corridor which include several key features MassBike has been advocating for. Most specifically, continuous separated bicycle lanes have been included in both directions. We're pleased to report that all design options include these sidewalk-level separated bike lanes to include safety along the corridor.

Other features including floating parking, pocket parks, new crossing opportunities, and new traffic signals at both Forest Street and Appleton Street will create a totally new corridor. The designs presented would make the Mass Ave and Appleton Corridor more people focused than any other in the town. The presentation from Stantec, as well as the full concept for the Mass/Appleton corridor, can be found on Arlington’s project website for Mass/Appleton.

By: Petru Sofio

Between September 7th and 10th 2022, I attended the National Association of City Transportation Officials conference in Boston, MA. Over the course of a week, I learned about best practices cities across the country are using for street design. But first, what is NACTO?

NACTO (National Association of City Transportation Officials) is a national organization formed by city transportation officials who felt that national guidance was not supporting their nuanced goals for multi-modal streets. Over the years, NACTO has grown to 91 member cities across North America. Each year, NACTO hosts a conference that allows city advocates, and elected/transportation officials to meet and share their experiences. NACTO chooses to host the conference in a different member city every year, and this year, NACTO was hosted in Boston, Cambridge, and Somerville, MA. 

When I learned NACTO was coming to the Boston region, I quickly asked if I would be able to represent MassBike at the conference, and was happy to hear that my request was approved. I wanted to attend the conference because I would be able to meet transportation professionals and learn about their best practices. I also was excited to attend the conference sessions about bikeway and transit design.

By: Petru Sofio

Arlington is currently planning to reconstruct the Massachusetts Avenue Corridor between Quinn Road and Richardson Avenue. Arlington’s consultant, Stantec, has opened an online open house that people can use to let the consultant know what they hope the new corridor may look like. Make your voice heard & let them know you want separated bicycle lanes! 

On this corridor, in 2020, Charlie Proctor, and his partner, Alison, were biking home when Charlie was struck by a left-turning driver who crossed in front of their path. The crash was fatal for Charlie. He died just three weeks before his 28th birthday. Because of this fatality, the town implemented a quick-build bicycle lane in this corridor. While the bike lane the town installed is an improvement, it’s not perfect as it isn’t continuous and doesn’t fully protect bicyclists.

The reconstruction of this corridor would allow the town to install sidewalk level dutch style separated bicycle facilities, that would be safe for all users. The town is also considering raised intersections and a brand new traffic signal with bicycle signals at Appleton Street. 

Please access the open house before the end of July, to let the town know what you’d want Massachusetts Avenue to look like in 2025. The last time this area was significantly reconstructed was in the 1960s, over 50 years ago. 

To access the board, you must create an account with Mural and sign in. 

Make Mural Account & then visit the open house here: Mass Ave/Appleton Street Safety+ Accessibility Coordidor Project Open House

• Add dots to ideas you like. 
• Add to the project goal lists, they will be used to create conceptual design plans that will be presented in the fall. 
• Make comments with sticky notes. We would ask you to make comments in support of continuous sidewalk level separated bicycle lanes (Cycle Tracks)  in both directions, with bicycle priority at intersections.

You can learn more about Stantec’s redesign proposal here: Stantec Hired to Design Safety Improvements for Mass Ave/Appleton and Chestnut Street

Belmont is currently considering installing parking-protected bicycle lanes on Concord Avenue. Your support is needed today to ensure these lanes can be installed with the planned repaving of Concord Avenue.

The bicycle lanes that currently exist discourage inexperienced riders from biking on Concord Avenue. They leave people on bikes between parked cars and the busy travel lane with buses. Right now, students who may be biking to school could experience blocked bike lanes, car doors opening into their bike lane, and other hazards as they are left unprotected. Parking protected bike lanes reduce the risk of dooring, eliminate the risk that vehicles can block the bike lane, prevent bicyclists from being passed too close, and invite riders of all ages and abilities to cycle. 

Progress on these plans was held back by neighbors concerned with the minimal parking loss these new lanes would create. The process is now starting again, but we need your support to make sure these lanes can be installed this year with the planned repaving of Concord Avenue. 

Take Action

• Attend the remote meeting on Monday April 25th at 7PM, to make sure that Belmont knows that there is strong support for these safer bike lanes. 
  • Learn more about the public meeting here: https://www.belmont-ma.gov/select-board/agenda/select-board-revised-24 
  • The zoom link for the public meeting is: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/84245176834
• Email the Select Board in support of this here: [email protected].
  • Write about how these separated bicycle lanes would improve your safety. A few personalized sentences can go a long way.

Cambridge is one of the most bike-friendly cities in the world because of the Cycling Safety Ordinance. This ordinance, created by our advocacy partner, Cambridge Bike Safety, requires 2-4 miles of separated bicycle lanes to be built every year on Cambridge streets with quick build materials. The network is set to be finished by 2026, but certain streets have stricter deadlines, like Porter Square.

Porter Square is popular for bicycle commuting, but it’s also dangerous.

The bike lanes that currently exist along Massachusetts avenue discourage inexperienced riders from biking on Massachusetts Avenue. They leave people on bikes between parked cars and the busy travel lane with buses and trucks. This area has a history of vehicle-bicycle conflicts, one in 2016 sadly resulted in a fatality. It is crucial that the bicycle lanes in Porter Square become separated. 

The intersection of Massachusetts Avenue and Appleton Street has always been an awkward one, born from 1960s engineering standards. As bicycle and pedestrian traffic has increased over the years, the intersection has become more crash-prone. Attempts to improve the intersection from a 2012 road safety audit failed, and the intersection has stayed mostly the same for over 60 years. As an Arlington High School student, I ride through this intersection every day, and it’s been terrifying. 

On May 5th, 2020, Charlie Proctor and his partner Allison were out on a bike ride, heading towards their Somerville home. As Charlie approached the intersection, a left-turning car from Massachusetts Avenue sped through the intersection and hit Charlie. Charlie Proctor was killed. 

Since then, several similar crashes with bicycles and left-turning vehicles have occurred, prompting Arlington to look to redesign the intersection. Throughout the redesign process, advocates have been pushing the city to quickly implement a design that improves safety for bicyclists to prevent another fatality or serious injury. Finally, this month, Arlington implemented some short-term measures to increase safety for people on bicycles. I feel so much safer on this new corridor. However, this almost didn’t happen.