From time to time, specific street intersections come up for redesign and improvement to promote their safety. We understand that one such case is underway now for the intersection of South and Robert streets in the Longfellow Area Neighborhood Association‘s part of Roslindale, directly adjacent to Fallon Field. It’s an intersection that is used fairly frequently by folks on foot to access the playground and other facilities at Fallon, especially smaller children and their families. It also sports one of the more notorious slip lanes in the neighborhood, used by drivers to go from Robert onto South, with a stop sign that, based on this observer’s personal experience, is actually complied with less than 10% of the time. Thankfully, LANA have been advocating for many years for changes here and we understand that the Boston Transportation Department will be unveiling 25% design plans and seeking feedback this coming Monday evening, 14 March 2022, at LANA’s regular board meeting (which will also reportedly feature an appearance by new District 6 City Councilor Kendra Lara). You can sign up to attend the meeting HERE. Hope to see you there! mjl
Can we have for the first time a traffic calming measure in the city of boston that doesn’t go from one extreme (total chaos) to the other (absurdly over signaled and over controlled)? Drivers always blow the right from Robert to South. First, let’s acknowledge that it’s almost impossible to get a ticket driving in boston because the police never, ever, ever pull people over for traffic violations. Obviously that will never change so it would appear something needs to be done to change the slip lane. What SHOULD be done is to get rid of the slip lane, and make the intersection instead having left and right turn only lanes. Please please please DO NOT do what Boston always does and go from no regulation on right turns to having a “no turn on red” here. that would be completely stupid. I know you want to do it, this is what happens every single time something is done at a Boston intersection. Just get rid of the slip lane, tighten up the road width, and allow right on red after stop but with all traffic having to go thru a signalized intersection.
Also, it’s pretty rich that after all the traffic calming on Walter St got obliterated in about three months after construction in 2018, with zero repairs to the flex posts, we’re talking about this intersection as a problem when the speeds on Walter are the real issue? Maybe if the city actually tightened up the width of Robert Street and Walter Streets so they weren’t stupidly wide speedways, people wouldn’t feel entitled to blow thru the stop sign we’re talking about, huh?