WITH THE LONGFELLOW BRIDGE set to reopen next month, bicycle advocates presented a petition with more than 3,000 signatures asking state transportation officials to reconfigure the planned traffic design to provide protected bike lanes.
A number of bicyclists testified before a joint meeting of the boards overseeing the MBTA and the Department of Transportation that they don’t feel safe riding over the bridge with traffic so close by. The original traffic design called for 5½ foot bike lanes and state officials, after hearing concerns from bicyclists over the last few months, agreed to increase the size of the lanes to 6½ feet.
But Becca Wolfson, executive director of the Boston Cyclists Union, said bicyclists want a lot more space and some sort of physical barrier between them and cars, even if flexible posts are used. The current traffic configuration calls for one car lane headed from Boston to Cambridge and two lanes carrying traffic from Cambridge into Boston. Wolfson said her group is urging state officials to pare back to one lane the side of the bridge carrying cars coming from Cambridge into Boston, at least on the uphill section of the bridge, which would allow for an expanded, protected bike lane.
Many bicyclists testified that it’s dangerous to ride on the bridge and predicted someone is going to get injured or possibly killed unless the lanes are widened.
Transportation Secretary Stephanie Pollack didn’t address the fears of the bicyclists immediately, but later on in the meeting she indicated she was taking the concerns seriously. However, she said she was also concerned about reducing car lanes on the bridge at a time when a number of bridge repair projects to the north of Boston could increase traffic to the Longfellow Bridge.
Glynn not interested in airport access fee
The CEO of the Massachusetts Port Authority said on Monday that he is not interested in assessing an access fee on users of Logan International Airport.
As part of an agreement to win the support of the Conservation Law Foundation for an increase in parking spots at Logan, Massport agreed to conduct a study of whether it makes sense to assess a fee on cars driving to the airport. The fee would raise money for transportation initiatives and incentivize airport users to find other ways to get to Logan.
Glynn said he was concerned that many people already pay tolls if they come to the airport from the west on the Massachusetts Turnpike. He said most US airports that have studied airport access fees have rejected them. He said the only US airport that has implemented one is Dallas Fort-Worth, but he noted that airport is not a good comparison because it is so much bigger – the size of Manhattan.
“It hasn’t ever really caught on in the US,” he said. “I don’t think there’s any particular appetite at the moment to go forward with it.”
What was perhaps even more interesting is that Joseph Aiello, the chairman of the Fiscal and Management Control Board, raised the issue. Aiello has signaled that the control board will probably take up the issue of new revenues for transit later this year. He raised the issue of the airport access fee with Glynn and made clear that he was interested in harnessing the economic clout of the airport to raise revenues to address growing congestion in Boston.
Chelsea group not thrilled with SL3
Green Roots, which describes itself as an “environmental justice” group based in Chelsea, is not thrilled with the new Silver Line service that launched over the weekend running from South Station to Chelsea via the Seaport District and Logan International Airport.
Officials from the group said most residents will not be jumping on the new Silver Line service, which they said will most likely be catering to higher income residents who are gentrifying the neighborhood. The officials urged the two boards that oversee the MBTA and the Department of Transportation to address overcrowding on three regular bus routes currently used by many Chelsea residents.
