JP Bikes

JPBikes will host a meeting of those interested in joining the effort to
get bike lanes on Centre and South St in Jamaica Plain. The meeting will
be at the Agassiz School at 7:00pm on Thursday.

The planners and consultants for the Centre/South CAC have said that it is
highly likely that bike lanes can be striped over a significant portion of
this corridor. However, without a strong message of support by the
community, they can not proceed with the detailed design of bicycle
accommodations that encourage safe cycling. Thursday’s meeting will be
focused on getting that public support in advance of the next CAC meeting,
which will be within the next few weeks. The current cycle-friendly
atmosphere in the city government may not last, so the time is now for
getting this done!

Meeting details:
What: JPBikes Meeting to plan efforts to get support for bike lanes on
Centre/South
Where: Aggasiz School, 20 Child St., Jamaica Plain
When: Thursday, Feb. 11, 7 pm

Hey everyone, JPBikes doesn’t have many meetings but this is likely as good of a reason as there ever will be.

Lauren Ockene, a JPBikes member, posted a message to our group about a week ago (see next post below) summarizing the most recent meeting of the Citizen’s Advisory Group for the Centre/South Street Transportation and Streetscape Action Plan. Lauren has been advocating tirelessly for improved bicycle accommodations in the streetscape plan, and as a result the consultants have been working bike-specific improvements (e.g. bike lanes on Centre and South, various traffic calming measures) into their proposals. As exciting as some of these proposals may be, only public support can ensure that they become reality.

JPBikes will host a meeting next Thursday the 11th to discuss a plan for gaining that public support and to train those interested in volunteering towards this effort (time and place TBA). The next Centre/South meeting is expected to within the next few weeks, so time is short.

Expect another email soon with the specific time and place (either Agassiz School or Curtis Hall probably).

Centre/South Street Transportation and Streetscape Action Plan
Citizens’ Advisory Group
Meeting, January 28, 2010

The process of redesigning Centre and South Streets in JP is becoming more interesting, and we need more and more bicyclists to show up! The next meeting date is not yet set, but should be in the end of February or beginning of March. I will post it on the JP Bikes Google group when I know. If you are interested in attending and/or helping with gathering support for bike lanes (maybe in the form of a petition and/or letters), please email me at lockene@mac.com.

At last night’s meeting the main questions were where and how (and if) bike lanes can exist between Forest Hills and Jackson Square, and which “nodes” along the Centre/ South corridor will get major redesigns.

The consultant group (MacMahon) and Vineet Gupta, chief planner for the BTD, are ready to put in bike lanes from Monument Square all the way to South Huntington, on both sides of the road. This is the stretch of Centre Street, fortunately long and central, where the road width is enough to accommodate the minimum standard of 10.5 feet for cars driving, 5 feet for bike lanes, and 7 feet for cars parked. There was some discussion of actually taking out one lane of parking so that we could have bike lanes as well as wider sidewalks. The question of taking out parking will be a big one for the ends of the corridor (the Monument to Forest Hills, and South Huntington to Jackson Square), where the road width is generally not enough for bike lanes given the current parking. The planners are going to show us proposals for these possibilities at the next meeting.

In general  bicyclists who have come to the meetings have supported bike lanes. Last night there was one bicyclist voicing dissent.

The question of giving up car parking in order to have bike lanes in these two areas, and possibly to have bike lanes and wider sidewalks in JP Center, is going to become heated. Many merchants are very concerned that less parking will mean less business (though there are studies showing otherwise in some areas), and they are concerned for their livelihoods. Similarly, many consumers and residents will come out to the meetings when they feel that their convenient parking is threatened. Therefore we will need as many advocates of non-automobile transit as possible to show up at the meetings this winter and spring!

The designers also laid out several possible plans for the two “nodes” that we approved last time, Hyde Square (the rotary) and Monument Square. In both cases they laid out drawings that shrink the asphalt acreage considerably, giving far more public space and trees, and shorter pedestrian crossings. The BRA will soon post the designs for comment at http://www.bostonredevelopmentauthority.org/Planning/PlanningInits.asp  (go to number 38).

The other two “nodes” they proposed were the Jackson Square Stop and Shop area up to Mozart Park, and JP Center. Several people suggested that instead of JP Center they should look at the vast asphalt space of Canary Square (by 7 – Eleven/South Huntington) and there was also discussion of South Street as a node to focus on for redesign. It sounds like they will show us plans for at least one of those areas, or possibly both, next time.

Expect to see article on this meeting in the JP Gazette and the Boston Bulletin, in their next editions.

Lauren Ockene

At-large Boston City Council Candidates Debate on Parks & Open Space – Thursday, October 22nd 6:30-8:00 pm at the Franklin Park Golf Clubhouse. Come hear the eight candidates talk about how they will promote and support greenspace if they are elected. There will be questions about funding, park management, bicycling, public safety in parks, green jobs for youth, arts and nature programs, the link to health and wellness, community gardens, and more. Half the program will be devoted to questions from the audience. Show the candidates how important parks and open space are to the quality of life for all Bostonians! The Golf Clubhouse is on Franklin Park Road in Dorchester and can be reached via the #16, 22, 29, or 14 buses – there’s also plenty of parking. Sponsored by Boston Park Advocates – for more information contact: debate@bostonparks.org or call 617-442-4141.

We had a big crew ride out to Sherborn on a sunny Sunday afternoon. We loaded up on McIntosh apples and were a bit heavier on the way back. The Dairy Queen in Natick gave us the energy to pull those apples home. There were riders on road bikes, hybrids, fixed gears, and even a family of four with kids in a trailer! Check out the pictures in the “Pictures” section, and I posted a link to the route in the “Maps and routes section”. Stay tuned for our fall foliage ride in October.

From Nicole Freedman, bike czar:

Olympians. National champions. We’re talking the country’s BEST pro cyclists pedaling by you so fast, you’ll feel the breeze! It’s the first annual TD Bank Mayor’s Cup Pro Race on Saturday, September 26th at Boston City Hall Plaza. It’s all FREE to spectators. The “Boloco Block Party” kicks off at 2pm. Then catch the pro races, a kids race, and a mascot race. It all wraps up with a free concert featuring Ultrasonic Rock Orchestra on The Plaza.

And if you’re adrenaline is still pumping on Sunday, come on out for the fifth annual Hub On Wheels citywide bike ride. All proceeds go to support Boston school kids. When you’re done, The Boloco Block Party will still be there waiting for you.

Check it out today and enter to win a free bicycle. www.tdbankcyclingweekend.com

JP Bikes is leading a ride to Dowse Orchards in Sherborn on Sunday, September 13. Meet at Ferris Wheels Bike Shop, 66 South St., opposite Harvest Co-op, at 9:45 a.m. (ride leaves at 10:00 a.m.) Moderately hilly route, relaxed pace; 35 miles round trip. Bike ride is free. Rain or shine (call first if torrential downpour). Bring money for apples; lunch; and a bag for apples that can be closed. Bags for transporting apples home may be available if you don’t have an easy way to do it yourself. Call 617-524-BIKE for more information.

JP Bikes rides to beautiful Farm Pond in Sherborn this Sunday August 23rd. Bring lunch and a suit so you can take a dip in the pond. It’s about 18 miles each way with some rolling hills too so this ride is more suited for those with some experience with longer distance rides. I expect we’ll average around 15 mph, so not too slow or too fast.

If you really want to go but are concerned with the speed or distance, the commuter rail stop in Natick is six miles from the pond and there are lots of good roads for biking in this area. Reply to this email if you’re interested in doing this and I’ll look into a good route.

Meet at Ferris Wheels at 10 am. -Bob

We’re a bit tapped out from the ROCK, Roll, and Ride planning, so Sunday’s ride to Blue Hills is postponed. It’s supposed to be a nice day so do get out and ride. If you need a recommendation on how to get down to the Blue Hills, where to ride, and what to do, send us an email (Contact Us link above).

Also, our Deer Island ride is being merged with the MassBike and Rozzie Bikes ride so is now on Saturday the 25th. See the link in our calendar to the right on this page.

Perhaps not unexpected given the weather in June, but our trip to Cape Ann was misty. But that’s OK since it’s still a very nice ride in the mist. Like Scotland I suppose (I’ve never been). And it never really rained so we were comfortable riding. Jeffrey Ferris even jumped in the ocean. We had five take the train to Rockport and then ride down to the beach in Manchester, and we had five riders ride to Manchester from Boston. The bike train was great, although we were all stumped on the correct usage of the Thule bike racks screwed to the ends of the bike car. All in all a great day, maybe we’ll do it again on a nice sunny day! Let us know if you want to go and I’m sure some will join you.

At the Manchester train station

The train home wasn’t a bike train, but there’s always a car with a bunch of space on one end for bikes, so we piled them up.