Recent Streetsblog MASS posts about MassDOT

A protected bike lane and 20 mph "safety zone" on Massachusetts Avenue in Cambridge. Courtesy of the City of Cambridge.

MassDOT Begins Reexamining Deadly Speed Limit Policies

By Christian MilNeil | May 21, 2020 | No Comments

Ultimately, the new policies should make it easier to implement traffic calming measures, and provide a data-driven process to prioritize speed reduction efforts.

To facilitate bus shuttles during a year-long closure of the Green Line between Lechmere and North Station, MassDOT is proposing to convert two lanes of Charles River Dam Road near the Boston Museum of Science to bus-only lanes. Image courtesy of MassDOT.

Bus-Only Lanes Coming to Charles River Dam Road

By Christian MilNeil | Apr 14, 2020 | No Comments

A year ago, Charles River Dam Road had no dedicated space for buses or bikes; when these new bus lanes open at the end of May, more than half of the roadway will have been set aside for sustainable modes of transportation.

A heat map of harsh braking incidents recorded by the City of Boston's "Safest Driver" app in 2019. Courtesy of the City of Boston.

‘Safest Driver’ Data Reveal Where Boston’s Most Dangerous Driving Is

By Christian MilNeil | Feb 20, 2020 | No Comments

Data collected from a city-sponsored safe driving competition reveal that Boston’s notoriously bad drivers are at their worst behavior on major high-speed state roadways that lie outside of the city’s direct control. In 2019, the City of Boston’s Office of New Urban Mechanics re-launched its “Boston’s Safest Driver” contest, an app-based competition that challenged travelers […]

A map of pedestrian routes (highlighted in red) through the junction of McGrath Highway and Mystic Ave. in Somerville, the city's most dangerous intersection for crashes.

State Proposes Modest Tweaks to Somerville's Deadliest Intersection

By Christian MilNeil | Feb 13, 2020 | No Comments

A $5 million safety improvement project for the dangerous intersection of Mystic Avenue and McGrath Highway will provide basic accessibility upgrades to sidewalks and crosswalks, but largely will not address the reckless, high-speed driving behavior that killed two people in hit-and-run crashes in the area over the past year, according to plans presented by MassDOT […]

An Amtrak Lake Shore Limited train passes through Chester, Mass. Photo by Benjamin Turon, licensed under the Creative Commons BY-SA 4.0 license.

Advocates Spotlight Strange Math In MassDOT East-West Rail Study

By Christian MilNeil | Feb 7, 2020 | No Comments

MassDOT believes that adding more passenger rail service between Springfield and Boston would cost more than twice as much – and attract fewer than one fifth as many riders – as a similar higher-speed rail upgrade on the Hartford Line between Springfield and New Haven.

MBTA workers replace rail inside the Haymarket Orange Line station. Courtesy of the MBTA.

The Green Line Is Taking A Summer Break

By Christian MilNeil | Feb 6, 2020 | No Comments

The C and E branches will each close for a month this summer to accelerate track work and intersection upgrades. Will MassDOT give buses the space they need to pick up the slack?

Show More Stories