Recent Streetsblog MASS posts about Street Design

25% design plans for the Rutherford Avenue corridor, showing the reconfigured Sullivan Square. The current traffic circle would be replaced with a grid of streets, new developable lots, and an expansion of the Ryan Playground. Courtesy of MassDOT and the City of Boston.

Boston, MassDOT Reveal Plans to Reconfigure Sullivan Square By 2026

By Christian MilNeil | Jun 24, 2021 | No Comments

Although it would be narrower, with more crosswalks, wider sidewalks, and dedicated bike infrastructure, there's little doubt that the new Rutherford Avenue will still be a high-speed, multi-lane highway.

Walking from one side of McGrath Highway to the other along Mystic Avenue requires pedestrians to cross multiple highway ramps and and along a "sidewalk" in the middle of the highway.

Bowing to Pressure, MassDOT Will Fast-Track Traffic Calming in Somerville’s ‘Corridor of Death’

By Christian MilNeil | Jun 21, 2021 | No Comments

Under intense pressure from Somerville advocates and elected officials, MassDOT Highway Administrator Jonathan Gulliver reported on Monday afternoon that the agency would accelerate key safety improvements around the intersections of Mystic Avenue and the McGrath Highway ahead of a three-year highway viaduct repair project in the area. At Monday’s meeting of the MassDOT Board of […]

During the morning rush hour on July 11, 2019, dozens of safety advocates gathered to create a "people-protected" barrier for the painted bike lanes on Park Drive in Boston's Fenway neighborhood.

At Long Last, DCR Releases Master Plan for Safer Parkways

By Christian MilNeil | Jun 14, 2021 | No Comments

DCR also revealed Friday that the agency had created an "office of Green Transportation" to lead implementation of the Master Plan's recommendations.

Arlington Test-Drives Safer Intersection Designs At Mass. Ave. and Appleton

By Petru Sofio | Jun 3, 2021 | No Comments

One year after a driver struck and killed Charlie Proctor at the intersection of Appleton Street and Massachusetts Avenue, Arlington is testing short-term and long-term design solutions to slow down cars and improve safety.

Advocates and elected officials gathered at an abandoned gas station on May 26, 2021 to memorialize victims of traffic violence in the area and demand immediate safety improvements to nearby roadways, including Mystic Ave. and the McGrath Highway.

This Week: Two MassDOT Public Hearings on Safety Priorities in Somerville

By Christian MilNeil | Jun 1, 2021 | No Comments

"I'm so furious that after three deaths in two years MassDOT has done nothing for us. Nothing," said Mystic Avenue resident Emily Vides at the May 26 rally.

Department of Concealed Records: Why Is DCR Hiding Its ‘Parkways Study’?

By Christian MilNeil | May 13, 2021 | No Comments

In 2015, the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation initiated a $500,000 study to improve safety on its park roadways. But the study was never published, and six years later, the agency is stonewalling efforts to find out what happened.

Show More Stories