Northeast - Boston Bike Map - City wants your Feedback

Pulled directly from bostonbiker.org (http://bostonbiker.org/2009/01/21/go-tell-the-city-what-you-think-of-their-new-bike-map/):


The first complete Bike Map of Boston is ready to be unveiled. And the city wants your feedback.

Click here (http://www.cityofboston.gov/TridionImages/BikeMap_Jan09_tcm1-3455.pdf) to see the first complete bike map of Boston. The catch is that you can’t yet find this map in print. That’s because the city wants your feedback in order to make their bike map the best possible bike map for your needs.

This map is a compilation of what you in the community told the city are the best biking roads in Boston. It is therefore only fitting that they want you to tell them what needs to be changed or updated. So please, send them your feedback (http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=32_2f5JXAWyZzBwzspV3XLbQ_3d_3d)

I wonder why comm ave is labeled an "advanced" route; was the map designed before this summer when the bike lane was built or was the new bike lane just deemed too dangerous for beginners?

Also, IMO they need some nifty diagrams similar to the NYC bike map:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v225/thehum/bikesafety.jpg

In addition to "nifty diagrams" that use graphics to highlight laws and recommendations, one of the things I find invaluable about the NYC Cycling map are the inserts which show exactly how to find the path on bike accessible bridges.
http://www.transalt.org/files/resources/bridges/bridgif/map_brooklyn_m.gif

Boston does have bicycle friendly bridges, doesn't it?

Some bridges are good, most are not. It's a hot issue for a couple of Bridges now.
Anyone go to the BikeBoston meeting last night? I am hugely impressed with our new Bike Czar, Nicole Freedman and Liveable Streets campaign to evolve Boston into a bike city.

I'm trying to map a ride from my home in Norwood to my brother's place in Boston. On this Boston map there appears to be a green route running between Huntington and Columbus (around their intersections with Mass Ave) all the way down to the sign for Route 203. The only thing I can see are railroad tracks, but there isn't a trail running along those, is there? If there is a good riding stretch here that could work very well for me. My brother lives on Milford Street. I'll be coming from Norwood, but I'd like to ride into the Dover and Wellesley areas beforehand so that's the area I'd probably be coming from. I'm asking on this forum because I'm using this map. Thanks.

I'm trying to map a ride from my home in Norwood to my brother's place in Boston. On this Boston map there appears to be a green route running between Huntington and Columbus (around their intersections with Mass Ave) all the way down to the sign for Route 203. The only thing I can see are railroad tracks, but there isn't a trail running along those, is there? If there is a good riding stretch here that could work very well for me. My brother lives on Milford Street. I'll be coming from Norwood, but I'd like to ride into the Dover and Wellesley areas beforehand so that's the area I'd probably be coming from. I'm asking on this forum because I'm using this map. Thanks.

I commute from Kenmore Square to Norwood. I looked up Milford on mapquest and I found it in the South End. I didn't check out the Boston Bike map, but there is a bike path from Forest Hills (at Route 203) through Jamaica Plain to Columbus Ave, and then continues on to the Ruggles T station, and further on joins the bikepath at Mass Ave to the Back Bay T station in the South End. It parallels the Orange Line and is presumably the route you seek. IMO this seems like a pretty secure route, though I would not ride it at night, except the South End segment. I myself ride mostly on the streets. PM me with any more specific questions because I know Dover and Wellesley and routes into Boston fairly well also.

I commute from Kenmore Square to Norwood. I looked up Milford on mapquest and I found it in the South End. I didn't check out the Boston Bike map, but there is a bike path from Forest Hills (at Route 203) through Jamaica Plain to Columbus Ave, and then continues on to the Ruggles T station, and further on joins the bikepath at Mass Ave to the Back Bay T station in the South End. It parallels the Orange Line and is presumably the route you seek. IMO this seems like a pretty secure route, though I would not ride it at night, except the South End segment. I myself ride mostly on the streets. PM me with any more specific questions because I know Dover and Wellesley and routes into Boston fairly well also.

If this bikepath is the route that I recall, then I would not bother with it. It is slow with lots of intersections and uneven pavement.

I also feel the opposite of you. I would not bike the south end segment at night and I would feel much more comfortable at Forest Hills.

If this bikepath is the route that I recall, then I would not bother with it. It is slow with lots of intersections and uneven pavement.

I also feel the opposite of you. I would not bike the south end segment at night and I would feel much more comfortable at Forest Hills.

This is the Southwest Corridor / Lallement Bike Path. IMO it's OK, with kind of intersting scenery of the JP neighborhood. Actually Lamartine and Amory streets parallel the bike path for a couple miles and are pretty low volume streets. Those streets and the MUP are better alternatives to Centre Street.

The South End segment I ride is from Back Bay Station to Newton Street and there are usually some pedestrians, it's fairly well lit and passes through a pretty nice residential area. I like the Seven-Eleven conveniece store on Newton and St. Botolph, because it's easy to bring the bike into the store without blocking th entrance, if I need to pick something up

Thanks Dr. & Jim for responding. Jim when I get prepared to ride and begin mapping out a route, which'll probably be in about a month when I start a new job, I'll probably shoot you a PM.

I ride from Norwood into Bikes-not-Bombs on Amory St, J.P.(between the Green St & Stoney Brooks stations). I use the Southwest Corridor. I feel pretty comfortable riding there at night. The pavement is rough in places, but so is the street pavement. I like the "utility cycling" atmosphere on the paths. The BNB shop is right off the path next to the MSPCC building, good place to stop for parts. I have been very impressed by how cycle-aware the drivers are: far fewer right hooks there than riding in the suburbs. It is not a fast route, but it is a very usable route.

I don't like how they rate the routes by 'beginner, intermediate, and advanced.' That tells me nothing.

http://www.tempe.gov/tim/Bike/pdfs/BikeMap.pdf (http://www.tempe.gov/tim/Bike/pdfs/BikeMap.pdf)

I like how Tempe, AZ does it. They color code exactly what type of bike routes are on what street. Is there a bike lane, a MUP, a wide shoulder, no shoulder, etc? That is useful information; not beginner, intermediate, and advanced.

They need to highlight the routes where you better be packing heat if you ride there.

The problem is they need to have a few different markers for the roads:

1. Condition of the pavement (are there lot's of potholes, bumps from tree roots, etc)
2. The amount of room for a biker (and whether there's a bike lane)
3. The amount of traffic (the problem with this is it's diff. at diff. times, so you'd need a map for 5-7am, etc)
4. Whether it's a high % of stop lights/signs

Anything else I'm missing?