Help me help you with Casey Overpass bike accomodations

[Bob Dizon]

Update 3: See my comment below asking for desired connections and "desire lines" within the Casey area. I need to provide this feedback at the Working Advisory Group meeting.

 

Update 2: The first public meeting discussing the replacement of the overpass is this Wednesday March 16th. See blog post below

Update 1: I've posted videos of riding through this area from most directions in the videos section of this site athttp://jpbikes.ning.com/video. There are photos as well in the "Casey overpass" album in the photos area herehttp://jpbikes.ning.com/photo/albums/casey-overpass-forest-hills.

 

Do you ride/walk/drive under or over the Casey overpass? Community meetings around the impending removal and replacement of that span are coming soon, so I'd like to use this blog post to solicit comments from JP Bikes members on how they feel about the current effectiveness and safety of that entire multi-road intersection. You are also welcome to comment on how it works as a pedestrian, driver, or transit user. Here are a few questions you can use to get started, but feel free to comment on whatever aspect of the project you want to. There's a comment box at the bottom of this page.

Do you ride through this intersection regularly? What time and how frequently? From where and to where are you typically going?

In what ways have you optimized your route or your schedule to avoid traffic or other inconvenience?

Do you ride on the sidewalk at any point?

Have you found it useful to ride over the overpass?

If you are going to/coming from the Southwest Corridor path, how do you get there?

Comment on where you see the most traffic backed up

Describe specific dangerous or confusing crossings

Describe any accidents you may have had

Please stay tuned for announcements about meetings. We expect there to be a lot of talk about car traffic and flow, so to advocate for bike accomodations and safety, we need input from as many actual users of that area as possible. Thanks!

 

Link to google Map of Casey overpass

[Bob Dizon]

Okay everybody, thanks for your input. To document what it's like to ride through here, I took my handlebar-mounted camera and a still camera out yesterday and took some videos and photos. You can find the videos and photos here:

http://jpbikes.ning.com/video

http://jpbikes.ning.com/photo/albums/casey-overpass-forest-hills

It was a Saturday afternoon, which isn't as bad as rush hour I'm sure, but there always seems to be backups around the T-station. In the descriptions, when I say Washington St I'm referring to the Washington St west of the T-station. I always thought Hyde Park Ave ended at New Washington. How confusing that they're all called Washington! 

 

I was especially appalled at the conditions on Washington Soutbound, so there is a disproportionate number of photos and videos in that area. That's one tough stretch. I would hope that the road conditions are about as bad as they can get given that the snow has just finally melted off of these spots and winter (this one especially) has really taken its toll. The sidewalk was as bad as the road. I would hope that the road crews will get out there eventually to clean and fill potholes but who knows when. I feel for all of you, I'm pretty brave but this area is pretty nasty. 

 

I've heard rumors about a meeting this week, although it's not clear if the meeting is public. I should have more info soon and will let everyone know.

[Brendan Ratner]

I live on Asticou Road, just across from the Forest Hills T stop and generally ride to and from Northeastern. Leaving my house I cross Washington St and bike over cracked sidewalk or the grass (love mountain bikes) to get towards the Southwest Corridor. Avoiding the Casey Overpass is a priority for me, that's why I'll cut across the T station.

What can i say about that intersection? It is a 6-way MESS that only a fool could have designed. The traffic backs up for hours and drivers get aggressive and frustrated while bikers become their lowest priority. I am fine with traffic and generally enjoy weaving through it, but the drivers at this point will speed up to 40mph to move forward a few hundred feet or less, it's ridiculous.

 

The sidewalks are in total disrepair and for an area with a major transportation hub you would expect a little work to be done. Even just walking to the Washington Street entrance to the Arboretum, let alone biking, is treacherous. The fact that there are 2 lanes/a bike lane certainly helps but during peak hours it is impossible to navigate safely. A bike path that continues from the Southwest Corridor, goes next to Forest Hills, and follows the T tracks further West would be amazing.

[jeremy]

Similar to others posting here, I ride almost every weekday to and from work [from the JP-Rozy line] and I, like others, ride on the sidewalks in this area [and no where else in Boston do I even consider doing this].  I appreciate the Southwest Corridor Bike Path [such as it is], but getting onto and off of it near Forest Hills T station has always been confusing + dangerous.  There is no real 'beginning' or 'end' to the path, so it's just safer [relatively speaking] to use the sidewalks to avoid angry drivers, poor road surface, road debris, et al.  Even though a drunk guy did wander out of some bushes and into my bike [stepping on my wheel, causing $40 repair + minor scrapes], I still consider riding on the sidewalks here much safer for everyone. 

[Todd Consentino]

I commute through this area twice daily on my way from Rozzie to Belmont. It is a hazardous place to ride a bike. I've driven my car on the overpass many times. I know it is straight. I know it is fast. I know that once I make it to the other side of the Casey overpass, in either direction, the vehicles are aggressive and the roads are too fast. You couldn't pay me to ride my bike over this overpass, as I value my life.

 

I navigate this area by taking the left hand lane of Hyde Park Ave from Walk Hill, taking the right hand lane of Ukraine, then taking the right hand lane on Washington. It's not an enjoyable task.

 

Ideally, I'd like to see the Casey overpass torn down and replaced with green space, which would connect to the existing green spaces on each end of the overpass.

[Matt]

I am so relieved to hear that I am not alone in my hatred and fear of this intersection. I ride from Westwood up through Dedham and along Washington St. in Roslindale to Forest Hills and then the Southwest Corridor into Boston, and finally across the Mass Ave bridge to MIT. By far the worst part of my commute is the intersection under the Casey overpass, especially coming home. I usually wait until after rush hour to head in (easy for me as a professor), and my coming-home time varies though I try to avoid rush hour in particular because of this intersection.

 

I sometimes ride on the sidewalk between the Forest Hills stop and the intersection with Ukraine because the two lane road is impassable. Cars are stacked up to turn left at Ukraine, and I don't like riding with folks on my rear wheel. The sharrows there do NOTHING to discourage motorists from aggressive behavior. So I sometimes ride on the sidewalk, though the southbound sidewalk is horrendously torn up. The road, however, isn't all that much better.

 

Getting onto the SWC path isn't so bad; I turn right at the intersection then get in the left lane to the light and then over the crosswalk. Coming back is a mess though. Once at the southern tip of the path, I have to get into the left lane and wait at the light. Then I have to get through the intersection behind cars (left lane), then move to the right lane and often go onto the sidewalk because cars are jammed in so tightly. 

 

No accidents thankfully! But I almost got left-hooked at Ukraine by someone who turned without looking. Luckily I have an AirZound horn on my bike!

 

 

 

[Annie]

I ride along Washington St (just east of FH station) to the SWC in the morning, and the opposite direction in the evening.  My total commute is 4.5 miles each way, and this one stretch is by far the worst of the whole commute.  The scariest part in both directions is right along the stretch of Washington st in front of the set of stores (Dogwood, etc), mostly because of the cars randomly pulling out from the drop-off area for the train station.  However, the intersection(s) under the overpass are also quite nerve-wracking, because there are so many streets crossing each other and it is difficult to have a sense of where cars are coming from.  The drop-off area on the st. under the Arborway just north of the T station is also treacherous.

 

To answer some of your questions:

I cannot avoid this intersection on my commute, and I generally commute 4x per week spring through fall.

I try to ride during hours that are not rush hour specifically because of this section.  Obviously this is not often possible, but it is preferable.

I almost always ride on the sidewalk from just north of the train station (across from the big parking lot) up to the street that runs under the Arborway, and then over to the SWC.  Please note that in my normal cycling I NEVER ride on the sidewalk, as I do not think it is safe (nor legal).  But in this case, it feels far safer than riding on the road. 

The whole stretch between Tower St and the Arborway is terrible, traffic-wise.  One particularly bad area is where northbound cars "exit" from Washington St to the Arborway "on ramp," because they often do so at ridiculously high speeds.  I have never had an accident in this area, but just this morning was aggressively honked at (horn held down for 5+ seconds) because I apparently slowed the guy's exit onto this ramp.  Ridiculous.

 

Thanks Sage for posting the map!  Very helpful.  And thanks JP bikes for collecting this info.  It is frustrating that this one section of my commute is literally the most hair-raising riding I ever do in Boston, and I do not get nervous easily when riding.

[Sage Radachowsky]

Thank you for doing this.

 

First I'll post a link to a map, to use compass directions, because every road there is called "Washington"

 

Map:   http://bit.ly/hFDeDK

 

I go through there all the time... it's a tangled mess. 

Biking south on Washington toward Roslindale, I've gotten a flat tire from the potholes and ridges in the road, and cars careen through... but the sidewalk is even worse and really lethal to bike tires.

Coming North toward JP on the Washington (west of the station), there are two lanes, and I often have to take a lane because near the curb the road is again lethal with potholes. Then there are the taxis and double-parked people dropping off at the station. Again, the sidewalk is unpassable as well. I get through, then take a right on New Washington, then take the left lane so I can go through the crosswalk onto the bike path. It's always an adventure. Just fixing the sidewalks and roads would go a long way toward safety. There are sharrows and I can deal with the cars.

 

I never rode over the overpass. Walked over it once, and saw a car fly in the air and land straddled on the barrier, but that apparently involved an empty bottle of vodka which the driver quickly threw over the side into the bushes below.

[William Furr]

Never been through there on my bike.  I'm scared to try.  The overpass is terrible, high speed, one-lane, clogged with cars.  The surrounding streets aren't much better, with the busways and ramps in every direction.

 

Every time I have walked through that area is has been unpleasant because of the speed and size of the crossing highways.

 

I think we would be best served to have the overpass torn down and not replaced.  Instead, a number of smaller intersections that are easier for pedestrians and cyclists to navigate and also serve to slow down traffic would be better.

 

If we have to have the overpass, it should have a separated bike lane and sidewalks at least wide enough for two persons abreast.