Perhaps 80 view and comment on Mass. Ave. plans April 4

No microphones, no testimony, and very little shouting were in evidence at the open house to present the latest plans for Mass. Ave., held at the Hardy School on the night of April 4.

A lively crowd at the open house.

This was not a hearing but an open house, drawings and photos spread on on tables and folks from the town available to answer questions. Participants were encouraged to write comments on little yellow cards but it is unclear how those comments will weigh on the result.

Small tweaks led to major changes in Mass. Ave. design

The Mass. Ave. design open house at the Hardy School on April 4

Sweeping amendments to the design for Mass. Ave. in East Arlington stemmed from two small technical changes instigated last summer, according to those involved.

The decision to add an unneeded travel lane to Mass. Ave. eastbound between Pond Lane and Linwood Street, and the removal of safety features from the Wyman St. pedestrian crossing there, began as a desire for extra queuing capacity for cars waiting at the Linwood signal.

Similarly, the consolidation of two pedestrian crossings in East Arlington into a single crossing with no pedestrian island is solely a consequence of a decision to honor a request by the owner of the Arlington Restaurant to move the proposed bus-stop location, freeing up two parking spaces in front of the diner.

These two minor changes had major consequences when the consulting engineers and the town’s Transportation Advisory Committee began to fit them into the existing design framework and philosophy.

Mass. Ave. loses safety features in abrupt design change

Both the pedestrian island (dark grey) and the flush median (crosshatched) are no longer in the plan for the Wyman St. crossing.

Arlington has changed its design for the western segment of the Mass. Ave. project, stripping the pedestrian crossing at Wyman St. of many safety features.

These include a pedestrian island that had been added in response to community concerns.

These changes allow for a second lane of inbound traffic that the Town’s consulting engineers had previously determined was not necessary.

Mass DOT takes comments

Advocates for and against the rebuilding of Mass. Ave. in East Arlington went into overdrive, and comments from the public went into overtime, at a sometimes-raucous project hearing at Town Hall on April 12.

Some 400 people came to the Department of Transportation hearing on the Town’s proposed design. 79 gave comments, and many more were turned away when the hearing adjourned at 10:40.

Arlington Town Hall on Tuesday night. Not quite to capacity, but very full.

Safety first

The front page of the Arlington Advocate for February 24 has a story on pedestrian safety and proposed improvements for Mass. Ave. The photo caption at the start of the story (not in the online edition) says it all:

While a back and forth about vehicles and bike lanes has dominated the Mass. Ave. Corridor Project debate, little has been said about proposed improvements for pedestrians.

Unsafe crosswalks

Crossing the street is risky. The longer the crossing distance, the greater the risk.

The greater the distance, the greater the risk

Mass. Highway, the state agency that will be ruling on whether the Town’s rebuild plan can go forward, has this to say about crossing the street:

Marked or unmarked, pedestrian crossings should be as short as possible. At all intersections, reducing the time pedestrians are in the crosswalk improves pedestrian safety and motor vehicle and bicycle movement. (Source: Highway Design Guide, p. 6-61)

Mass. Ave.’s crossings are all 66 feet or longer. How does that stack up?

Mass. Highway: Bigger bike lanes, scaled-back traffic signals

Foster St. signal (Source: Town of Arlington)

Wider bicycle lanes and changes to the Thorndike and Foster traffic signals are among the suggestions made to the Town this winter by state engineers at Mass. Highway.

The agency’s written comments to the Town’s proposed 25% plans for Mass. Ave. are generally supportive and include advice and many suggestions.

The Town’s response could include changes to its plans.

Redesign foes OK with lane widths after all

Since the summer of 2009, opponents of the plan to rebuild Mass. Ave. have criticized the 11-foot travel lanes proposed by the Town as too narrow.

Eleven feet, they say in their leaflet, would be so narrow as to “increase the likelihood of accidents:” a serious charge.

Last week, however, the group’s principal spokesperson, Eric Berger, endorsed 11-foot lanes.

When four lanes won’t fit

FDR

When the engineers hired by the Town assessed the feasibility of four striped lanes on Mass. Ave., they ran into a problem.

The lanes don’t quite fit, if parking is included.

When four lanes are two

Mass. Ave FDR

One of the most interesting bits in Arlington’s plan to rebuild Mass. Ave. is a discussion of how drivers actually behave today, and would be likely to behave under new road designs.

It turns out that you can’t just draw lines on asphalt, post signs, and expect people to do what you say.

Promised traffic improvements

Mass. Ave FDR

Four Mass. Ave. traffic intersections flunk out on a scale where A–D are good and E–F are not.

That assessment, in the project’s functional design report, evaluates level of service based primarily on seconds of delay per vehicle.

The Town’s consultants take this further by also grading the intersections in the future, assuming a steady growth in traffic volume, for (1) no design change (“no build”) versus (2) reconstruction as proposed by the Town.

No-Build (NB) vs. Plan Over Time (am/pm peak)

	Bates			Orvis			Lake			Rt. 16
	NB	Plan		NB	Plan		NB	Plan		NB	Plan
Today	F/F			F/F			F/F			E/E
2018	F/F	C/B		F/F	F/F		F/F	D/C		E/E	E/D
2028	F/F	C/B		F/F	F/F		F/F	E/D		F/E	E/E

Facts on the ground

Here’s Mass. Ave. at rush hour.

Zero seconds (8:08:47)

It’s a little after 8 a.m. on Thursday, December 2. The temperature is about 35°. I’m standing at the corner of Mass. Ave. and Henderson Street, looking more or less west.

Long shadows mark the bright clear morning. And there’s no traffic.