E-Bike Library Lets Locals Take a Spin

 Bicycles and bike paths, March/April 2024  Comments Off on E-Bike Library Lets Locals Take a Spin
Mar 012024
 
E-Bike Library Lets Locals Take a Spin

By Sarah Firth Inae Hwang was torn: Should she buy a new electric bike? “I’ve been looking at e-bikes for six months straight, really looking to purchase one,” Hwang, a Belmont resident, said. Then, a friend referred her to the Camberville E-bike Lending Library, which Somerville resident Christopher Schmidt runs out of his Porter Square home. Hwang decided to take one of the e-bikes for a spin. “I was like, ‘Oh, I should totally borrow one because then I will know what it feels like, and how well it does or doesn’t work for me,’” she said. Hwang was hooked; [READ MORE]

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BCF Asks Path Experts Three Questions

 Bicycles and bike paths, Bike Paths, March/April 2024  Comments Off on BCF Asks Path Experts Three Questions
Mar 012024
 
BCF Asks Path Experts Three Questions

To prepare for the upcoming Design Public Hearing on Phase 1 of the Belmont Community Path, the BCF asked three Community Path experts about what they think about the Community Path project today. We spoke to Mark Paolillo, Select Board member; Holly Muson, chair of the Community Path Project Committee; and Will Brownsberger, Massachusetts state representative. BCF Since you succeeded Russ Leino as chair of the Community Path Project Committee (CPPC) last year, you have had a ringside seat as this project advances. What has most surprised you about the mechanics of advancing the project? Are there lessons from Phase [READ MORE]

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MassDOT Rep Discusses March 7 Path Hearing

 Bicycles and bike paths, Bike Paths, March/April 2024  Comments Off on MassDOT Rep Discusses March 7 Path Hearing
Mar 012024
 
MassDOT Rep Discusses March 7 Path Hearing

By Jarrod Goentzel The Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) will be hosting a Design Public Hearing on Phase 1 of the Belmont Community Path on Thursday, March 7, at 7PM at the Beech Street Center Multipurpose Room, 266 Beech Street, Belmont. You can watch the meeting at home on Belmont Media Center GovTV, Ch 8 Comcast or Ch 28 Verizon, or belmontmedia.org/govtv. Visit www.mass.gov/orgs/highway-division/events for more information. The project consists of a new paved shared-use path along the Fitchburg Commuter Rail and a new concrete underpass beneath the railroad tracks at Alexander Road to provide a connection from Channing Road [READ MORE]

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What’s in a Name? Walking and Biking

 Bicycles and bike paths, Bike Paths, January 2024, Newsletter  Comments Off on What’s in a Name? Walking and Biking
Jan 032024
 
What’s in a Name? Walking and Biking

By Vincent Stanton, Jr. Data from various retrospective observational studies show that bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure enhance residential property values (reviewed in the article “Impact of Bike Facilities on Residential Property Prices” and in Chapter 6 of the Belmont Community Path Advisory Committee report). However, some of the most persuasive evidence comes from the simple observation that real estate agents—who are paid to market properties effectively and knowledgeable about what works—consistently mention paths when they are nearby. The easiest way to measure that practice is to scan the 100 to 150 word property descriptions near the top of listings. An [READ MORE]

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Community Path Could Have Bridge, Box

 Bicycles and bike paths, Bike Paths, January 2024, Newsletter, Transit  Comments Off on Community Path Could Have Bridge, Box
Jan 032024
 
Community Path Could Have Bridge, Box

By Vincent Stanton, Jr. Last May, the consultants hired by Belmont to design Phase 2 of the Belmont Community Path (extending from the Clark Street Bridge to the Waltham border) recommended a final route to the Community Path Project Committee (CPPC), which endorsed the recommendation and sent it on to the Select Board (see “Belmont Community Path Route Takes Shape,”September/October 2023  Newsletter, for details). The Select Board asked for more details on the right of way, which is the focus of current work. The Pare Corporation-Toole Design team proposed two audacious Phase 2 design choices: a new bridge over the [READ MORE]

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Bike Cameras Could Make Riding Safer

 Bicycles and bike paths, Newsletter, November/December 2023  Comments Off on Bike Cameras Could Make Riding Safer
Nov 012023
 
Bike Cameras Could Make Riding Safer

By Sumner Brown Bicycling is not perfectly safe. Belmont’s approach to handling bicycles on roads is evolving, and some bicycle riders could improve their habits. But there is another problem that I have been thinking about after I spent three weeks in hospitals recovering from a hit-and-run bike incident: bicycle cameras. While I was confined to Spauldingz Rehabilitation Hospital in Charlestown, I concluded that my mistake was that I did not have a camera on my bicycle that could have recorded what happened and the license plate of my attacker. (Incidentally, you can tell you were attacked during road rage [READ MORE]

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Sep 012023
 
Letter to the Editor: Bike Safety

My home is in Waltham, and my dentist’s office is in Arlington. I have occasion to ride my bicycle through Belmont on the way there and back. Today (May 22, 2023) I was waiting for the red light at Cross and Brighton Streets when a car approaching in the opposite direction got a green light, but the light remained red for me.  I had to run the red light to get through the intersection and I had no way to know when the red light for the cross traffic would turn green. The same thing happened a second time on [READ MORE]

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Sep 012023
 
Belmont Community Path Route Takes Shape

By Vincent Stanton, Jr.  How should the Belmont Community Path get from the Clark Street Bridge to Waverley Square? How might it cross Waverley Square? How should it connect to residential neighborhoods? These and related questions have been under study for Phase 2 of the Belmont Community Path. In December 2022, Belmont hired Pare Corporation and Toole Design Group to design Phase 2, which extends from the Clark Street Bridge to Waverley Square. Amy Archer and Kathleen Fasser, the project leaders of the Pare-Toole team, led the 2016–2017 Belmont Community Path feasibility study, and more recently designed the Waltham segment [READ MORE]

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Belmont School Traffic Needs Attention

 Bicycles and bike paths, Parking, September/October 2023, Traffic  Comments Off on Belmont School Traffic Needs Attention
Aug 312023
 
Belmont School Traffic Needs Attention

By Larry Link The figures still catch my breath. A 2018–2019 pre-HS/MS construction study documented nearly 2,000 cars traveling down Concord Avenue from the snarl at the underpass (by most experienced hands, “unsolvable”) in Belmont Center to the High School-Middle School site opposite Goden Street, in just the morning 7 to 9 AM rush.  Of all vehicles clocked in that special Registry of Motor Vehicles (RMV) study using automated license plate reader information, 75% entered and left Belmont within 15 to 20 minutes but were registered/garaged in other towns! While we don’t have a new count yet, many Goden Street [READ MORE]

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Jun 302023
 
MBTA Rethinks Tunnel Construction

By Vincent Stanton, Jr. The MBTA recently changed its position regarding the preferred construction method for the new tunnel under the Fitchburg Commuter Rail Line at Alexander Avenue. Now the plan is to use “cut and cover” construction rather than tunnel jacking. The change will lower the cost of constructing the Belmont Community Path by an estimated $5 million, shorten the construction timeline, reduce the construction footprint, and be less disruptive for nearby residents, the Belmont middle-high school community, and Fitchburg Line riders.  The cut and cover approach will also permit a wider tunnel, which is preferable given the anticipated [READ MORE]

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