"Bicycle advocates seek safety changes in Commonwealth Avenue" by Martine Powers | Globe Staff August 02, 2014
An aging stretch of Commonwealth Avenue is scheduled for a major overhaul, and many bike and pedestrian advocates hope that the grim numbers of bicycle accidents on the busy street in recent years justify sweeping changes to the layout, but plans for the thoroughfare show additional left-hand turn lanes for cars, narrowed sidewalks, and little improvement to bicycle infrastructure. The reason: federal requirements to widen the swath of land for the Green Line, which cuts through the middle of the street.
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Down goes Frazier!
Officials in the Boston Transportation Department say the plans for Commonwealth Avenue — which have been in the works for at least four years — aren’t set in stone, and they are considering concessions to bicycling advocates and other community members. But they also stress the need to move quickly to capitalize on federal funding that has been earmarked to pay for most of the $16 million project only until fall 2015.
Earmarked? By who?
Transportation commissioner James Gillooly has asked activists to understand the pressures the city faces, including the threat to funding, limited space on the street, and a need to accommodate the buses that also traverse the thoroughfare....
Bikers always finish last.
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Related:
"A 21-year-old bicyclist died after being struck by a car on Route 132 in Barnstable Wednesday night, officials said. The victim was from Kazakhstan and was here on a US State Department exchange program, said Sergeant Thomas Twomey of the Barnstable Police Department."
Why did Boston Marathon bombers just spring to mind?
