Printer-friendly versionSend to friend

June 8, 2009

Woodrow Wilson Bridge
New pedestrian/bicycle path along Woodrow Wilson Bridge
(Photo courtesy Washington Post)

Highlights

  • The SE Expressway: Asphalt roadblock to the sea (Dorchester Reporter)
    By Pete Stidman -- It may seem far-fetched, particularly when the federal and state governments will have spent a staggering $22 billion in costs and interest on the Big Dig when all is said and done, but demolishing highways to build parks and foster development is a burgeoning fad in the new green world. When the Southeast Expressway was built, it created an effective wall between Dorchester and the sea, turning many coastal neighborhoods into inland neighborhoods overnight, and thus preventing the kind of waterfront development boom that has characterized the modern city, and even a number of other neighborhoods in Boston.
     
  • In transportation, its back to the future (Dorchester Reporter)
    By Pete Stidman -- In many ways the future of urban transportation is also its past. The cities around the country that are now hailed for their bicycle-friendly streets and well-used mass transit systems are often the same ones who took an off-beat path in the 1950s, 60s and 70s when highways were given out like candy on Halloween by the federal government. Cities like Portland, Oregon, which said no to I-505 and the Mount Hood Freeway, and Boston, which said no to the Southwest Expressway and the Inner Beltway managed to funnel money into mass transit instead, preserving neighborhoods.
     
  • New signs show bicyclists the way from the river to Minuteman Bikeway (Cambridge Chronicle)
    Have you noticed some new street signs around Cambridge? This winter, the city posted signs guiding the way for people to bike from the Charles River and Harvard Square to the Minuteman Bikeway and back. The goal of the signs is to show people a direct yet pleasant route between these popular bicycling destinations, using mostly quiet local streets and off-street paths.
     
  • After 90 years, Arlington T station becomes accessible to disabled riders (Boston Globe)
    The construction of three new elevators has made Arlington Station on the Green Line accessible to disabled riders for the first time in its 90-year history. The elevators are being unveiled today as a part of a larger modernization project, which includes electronic message boards, surveillance cameras, large neighborhood maps on the walls, new fare collection equipment, and the first public restrooms on the Green Line.
     
  • T warns fares may rise by up to 20% (Boston Globe, Boston Herald, Boston Metro)
    Service cuts could limit any increase
    By Noah Bierman -- The MBTA expects to increase fares by at least 15 percent to 20 percent beginning this fall, Patrick administration officials announced yesterday, raising the specter that transit riders will have to pay both higher taxes and more for their CharlieCards by year's end as part of the state's efforts to fix its transportation systems. The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority will also propose a series of service cuts that could possibly limit, but not eliminate, the fare increase.
     
  • Wilson Bridge Bike Path Gets Rolling (Washington Post)
    By Tara Bahrampour -- Shortly after noon yesterday, about 100 cyclists pedaled through the streets of Old Town Alexandria to do something they had never been able to do before: Bike the 1.1-mile span of the Woodrow Wilson Bridge into Maryland. "To the bridge!" cried an elderly bystander, pumping his fist at the convoy as bystanders snapped photos of the event. The bridge's bike and pedestrian trail was inaugurated yesterday morning, in time for National Trails Day. Politicians and cycling advocates made the trip from Alexandria to a new overpass on the Maryland side, near National Harbor. They cut ribbons, gave speeches and ate ice cream to mark an achievement that spanned 15 years of collaboration by Maryland, Virginia and the District.
     
  • GM filing alters the landscape (Boston Globe, Wall Street Journal)
    State could lose 2,000 jobs in restructuring; Obama says US ownership stake is vital to automaker's future
    By Erin Ailworth -- President Obama said yesterday the government's majority stake in General Motors Corp. will help create a leaner, more competitive automaker, hours after the company filed for bankruptcy and unveiled plans for a radical restructuring that in Massachusetts could cost at least 2,000 jobs.

"Streets"

Bicycling

Transit

Cars/Parking

Transportation financing/Government

Parks

Development projects

Land Use/Zoning

Out-of-state

  • The Lion in Winter: Interview with Norman Mineta (DC Velocity)
  • Louisville: A Tale of Two Cities (The Urbanophile)
  • Houston's hope: Easier to catch a train (Houston Chronicle)
  • Meridian, Mississippi: What Trains Can Do for a City (Streetsblog)
  • High-speed rail: Biden praises Midwest plan to enhance passenger train system (Chicago Tribune)
  • NYC Releases 2009 Street Design Manual (Planetizen)
  • Wilson Bridge Bike Path Gets Rolling (Washington Post)
  • Riverfront park's debut stirs spirit of renewal in ailing East St. Louis (Boston Globe)

National trends

International news

  • Police target cyclists with 'information tickets' (Vancouver Sun)