Connect Downtown: Phase 1

In July, we introduced automatic Walk phases and "pop-up" bike lanes within the study area. These changes were informed by our work together before the pandemic -- and accelerated to provide opportunity for safe travel by workers and to better connect our downtown open spaces by foot and by bike.

Over the next two months, we will be making more changes to the ways our streets operate. You can see an overview in the map below. Further down, you will find specific information about the changes, including comparisons of existing conditions and the planned design.

The map below shows where we are making changes to Walk signals and where we are adding to the bike network.

Prioritize pedestrians. Use proven tools to improve safety for people of all ages and abilities. Dedicate more space and time to people crossing our streets.

Serve residents of all ages. Aim to create spaces where everyone can be safe and comfortable, from grandchildren to grandparents and everyone in-between.

Build ladders to opportunity. Design streets that connect people to essential destinations: job centers, schools, health care, and open space. Facilitate safe, affordable transportation options.

Design for today’s Boston. Use best-practice design tools that reflect changing transportation needs and enhance our historic public realm.

Walk signals operate differently at each intersection. Some locals have learned how they work, but many people find them confounding.

People feel unsafe because of speeding traffic on the multi-lane streets in the study area. These streets feel like barriers within and between neighborhoods.

Many residents want to bike but are scared of the streets and intersections in the study area. They would ride if there were bike facilities.

People who bike find intersections in the study area stressful because of turning and weaving traffic. To avoid conflicts with vehicles, some choose to go during the pedestrian phase. This action can startle people walking.

Busy curbsides should be better managed to reduce double parking. We need more space for commercial loading and passenger pick-up and drop-off.

You said we should try to make walk signals more predictable, like what you've seen in other cities.

For this project, we are using concurrent pedestrian signals wherever possible. This means that you will walk when traffic heading in the same direction has a green light. Where it makes sense, we have also added a pedestrian head start. People on foot will have a few seconds to move into the crosswalk before traffic is released.

At some intersections, the number of vehicles turning over a crosswalk could be a safety problem. Here, we have either made it so the turning vehicles don't have a green light until after the pedestrians have finished crossing (called lagging turns). Or, we made it so people on foot have an all-walk phase while all other traffic has a red light (also called an exclusive phase).

We heard you don't like it when bicyclists use all-walk phases. We have made it safer for bicyclists to go through intersections when they have a green light. Fewer people should feel that they have to bike through crosswalks, unless they are turning. This will make pedestrians feel more confident crossing the street, especially those with low vision, those who are blind, and those who are hard of hearing or d/Deaf.

You said we should use engineering design tools to keep drivers from speeding. Streets should be designed for easier crossing.

Our downtown streets have to serve lots of different vehicles every day: delivery trucks, tour buses, MBTA buses, construction trucks, personal vehicles, motorcycles, mopeds, bicycles, kick scooters, and more. On these kinds of busy streets, we can't add speed humps. Instead, we use other proven tools to make drivers feel less comfortable speeding.

We will reduce the number of travel lanes along most corridors. Traffic flow is constrained by signals and the pace of other drivers around you. With fewer lanes, traffic speeds are better controlled. This type of change has been studied in cities across the country. Reducing the number of travel lanes is proven to slow speeds and reduce the number serious crashes. At some intersections, we will provide additional through or turn-only lanes. This means more vehicles can proceed during each green light.

We will reallocate that space to creating separated bike lanes. A study of separated bike lanes in cities across North America reveals that not only do streets get safer for people on bikes, but they also are safer for people who are walking and for people who are in vehicles.

You said we should provide dedicated space for bicycling designed for families to ride together. Bike routes should connect destinations.

For this project, we are interested in installing separated bike lanes. This is space just for bicycling, separate from sidewalks and general travel lanes. Separated bike lanes are the most comfortable type of bike lane for the most people. While no one is required to use bike lanes, most people prefer to do so.

Many residential neighborhoods are in and near our study area. In order to best serve the families who live here, our bike lanes allow for side-by-side bicycling. All the planned bike lanes are at least 7 feet wide. People with bigger cargo bikes or riding adult tricycles also have more room to maneuver.

Our design changes the way traffic signals work. People on bikes will see new bike signals at four intersections. Otherwise, they will go or stop when the vehicle traffic is going or stopping. Where the number of turning vehicles is very high, we have made it so those turns happen separately from when people on bikes should be going through the intersections.

You said we should update parking regulations to better meet the growing need for quick stops along the curb.

More people receive regular deliveries from online shopping at merchants both large and small. Some people have found it easier to travel by hailing a car ride via a mobile app. These needs compete with longer-term parking on our streets. The result: double-parking and blocked travel lanes.

We can add more short-term parking spaces to better balance these needs. We can also change the hours for certain regulations so that use can change over the course of a day. For example, a commercial parking space during the day could become 5-minute stopping for pick-up and drop-off in the evening.

While we have observed real-life conditions, the COVID-19 pandemic may have changed curbside use in ways that may not continue. We look forward to working with residents, stores, and other businesses to make sensible changes in the coming year or more.

For most intersections, you can scroll to the right to see existing conditions and our planned changes.

For most intersections, you can scroll to the right to see existing conditions and our planned changes.

Our contractors will first begin changing the pavement markings. We will then install new signs. We will use barrels and cones to demarcate the bike lanes until flex posts are available to install.

Changes to signals will roll out over the rest of the fall. Until the signals are done, the Walk phase will continue to come up automatically every cycle. In some locations, people riding bikes will need to use the walk signal to proceed safely.

We welcome your thoughts and questions!

We offer weekly virtual "office hours" through October 2020. You will be able to meet with us, one-on-one virtually or via phone. Appointments are 15-minutes long.

If you prefer to write down your thoughts, please use our online form. We offer space for you to ask questions and to provide more general thoughts. You also can send an email to connect-downtown@boston.gov.

We will continue to work on the Connect Downtown project. We expect to talk with you about:

• Rebuilding some intersections so they work better for people walking. We will work with the Boston Parks and Recreation Department and the Boston Public Works Department, among others.
• Working with community members to look more closely at other streets in the study area, including Cambridge Street, Charles Street, and Columbus Avenue.
• Evaluating and changing parking regulations where it makes sense.
• More, based on your thoughts!