Don’t mess with Tremont St., Marty
The city of Boston is proposing to reduce Tremont Street in the South End down to just one lane in each direction. My neighbors and I agree … this is our street. And this is a terrible idea.
The design now in the works would include one lane of traffic in each direction, floating bus stops, a bike lane in each direction and parking along the corridor between Massachusetts Avenue and Herald Street.
A few weeks ago, the city held a public hearing to talk about the plan to make Tremont Street more safe. The street is a racetrack and very dangerous. That’s not in dispute. A pedestrian was hit and killed in 2017, and I have witnessed countless close calls where drivers don’t stop at crosswalks. This is why I will use a crosswalk only if it has a traffic light.
But instead of taking away a lane and giving it to the bikes, the city should add more traffic lights to slow the cars down and provide more safe places for people to cross.
The city’s plan will just boost congestion, not least because the floating bus stops — in the middle of the street, beyond the sidewalk and the bike lane — would put T riders out in the street, dodging bicyclists and hoping cars don’t hit them. It would mean buses stopping traffic to let riders get on.
Union Park Neighborhood Association President Jamie Foxx hopes the city will scratch this plan.
“I’m really concerned about reducing Tremont to one travel lane on each side, especially for the more congested areas. The backup of cars behind a bus that is stopped while taking on passengers replenishing Charlie Cards or stopped while a rider in a wheelchair is strapped in by the driver, behind a car trying to parallel park, or behind a police car stopped to give a ticket or make an arrest will be extensive, especially at rush hour.
Boston Transportation Department spokeswoman Tracey C. Ganiatsos said, “BTD’s Planning Division has spent significant time with community members to understand their preferences and concerns for Tremont Street. A thorough community process is important, particularly for the more visionary plan that has been coming together over the last few months. Any change to Tremont Street will need to improve curb management, so we are currently focused on examining and proposing changes to the regulations along this corridor.”
Ganiatsos said Mayor Martin Walsh is hoping for work to begin in 2020.
Hopefully, with community pressure, the city will go back to the drawing board before then. This plan helps bikers, but it will back up traffic and won’t make Tremont Street safer.