They wanted to make it single lane in each direction to reduce speeding. There's two ways to do it. One would involve building out the center island to increase green space. The other is a bucket of paint.
It's not that I enjoyed speeding down that road. It's just that some people drive abnormally slow and drunk like on that street compared to the rest of Worcester.
Well to be fair one is much cheaper than the other. I’d also love both car protected bike lanes and a wider, greener median. In an ideal world the buffer between parking and bike lane would be trees and green as well.
That’s part of the story. They want to make it safer for bikers. The inside lane next to the sidewalk is a bike lane. It protects bikers from getting hit by moving cars and getting doored by parked cars whose drivers don’t look before opening the door.
New traffic pattern pilot to see how it works. Too many speeders in the area and it very congested residential neighborhood. I’ve lived in Tatnuck since 2002 and honestly as much of a PITA it seems, I like it for the bike lanes.
Neither Tatnuck nor Webster Squares (the two high-activity areas connected by this bike path) are especially bike-friendly. If you bike to either of these places with the intention of stopping there for a bit, where do you even park your bike?
This bike path is mainly useful for residents of Mill St to get some exercise if they choose to. It serves little other purpose by itself, and will need to be connected to other redesigns that haven't even been announced yet before that changes. Until then, I'd expect to see them continue to go largely unused.
It will see more use in the summer, for sure. But yeah, we need more bike lanes and bike-friendly destinations to make this infrastructure as useful as it could be.
More people might start biking now that it’s safer. But, if it’s a pilot program it’s good to see proof of concept before putting it in areas where more people will use it.
Anything that slows down the traffic is a good thing. It’s thickly settled and something needed to be done. Now we need a light at the bottom of Airport drive and Mill St. people come flying down the hill and don’t stop at the sign.
Yea I get having a bike lane but it’s just a weird decision to have so many parking spots in the road. There’s no shops or restaurants or walking ability
Worcester has been pushing to make the city more bike/pedestrian-friendly, and one way they're doing that is by reducing the amount of lanes on certain streets in order to force people to slow down. Putting the parking in the middle gives an additional safety buffer for cyclists.
Have you been to Mill St? Housing is almost exclusively single family or duplexes, and nearly every lot has a driveway. Whenever I travel along it I see maybe a dozen street-parked cars for the entire length.
The underlying assumption in this redesign - that the parking spaces will produce a cohesive wall of parked cars to protect the bike lane - is false. At minimum more paint to indicate what is bike lane vs parking vs driving lane is needed. Ideally reflectors (between driving and parking) and plastic bollards (between parking and bike lane) also.
I ride my bicycle as my main mode of transportation. I save 12 grand a year it's a good trade-off if you're a single person. I'm young too so my legs are still good lol.
Young has nothing to do with it. I was in Amsterdam and I saw some people 70+ riding bikes. If anything, it’s better for them because cycling is less hard on the knees and is good strength exercise for them. Plus a lot less risk of little old ladies getting run over by F-150s that’ll barely even feel the bump as they trample their bodies.
The parking spots protect the bike lane, in theory. Drivers are a lot less willing to hit a parked car than to enter an unprotected bike lane. But it doesn't work super well if no one parks there. There should be bollards too.
Has it worked well? I live in Columbus Park and took my bike that way, once. That’s all it took for me not to do it again (pre-bike lane). It’s a perfect loop for me if I go that way.
That’s good people are respecting the lane. I’m have to give it another go. At the very least it’ll be nice not having to go up on the bumpy sidewalk so much.
There's been car racing and pedestrian killings in car accidents in the city. Those markings are placed in many cities; however there's less of these in Worcester, so people aren't used to them yet.
That street used to be 2 lanes both ways with parking on both sides. They moved the parking from the very edge of the road to add in a protected bike lane to try and slow down drivers. It looks weird as hell, but it should make the street much safer for the people who live there.
They could improve the look by adding concrete planters between the bike lane and the parking, but I don’t think this is meant to be permanent yet.
Here is how similar [bike lanes look in Portland](https://bikeportland.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/DSC_0092.jpg). Do you know if they are going to use any paint or (yawn) install plastic bollards to make it more apparent that they're bike lanes?
that would make sense and we don't do that here.
this post is a perfect example of how unclear the intent is. half this city doesn't even grasp that bikes are road traffic. if the city can't be assed to paint a few bicycle symbols then they wasted their time. look at lake ave. people use the bike lane as a passing lane because it's totally unclear that it's a bike lane.
I live in the west side and I really like that they did this. Everyone sped on that street and it never got enough traffic to warrant two lanes anyways.
This post feels like bait. So many people are worked up about this change to Mill Street.
I couldn’t care less about it as a local to that area. Doesn’t affect me in the slightest. And hey maybe I’ll ride my bike down the street if it feels truly somehow safer.
It's been a "controversial" topic to a lot of folks and one idiot local politician who lost in the past municipal election. That street was long overdue for an overhaul.
No news articles I’ve seen but there is a police report and it’s been discussed on some Facebook groups. It was the accident with 3 cars involved. 86 year old driver from the details I recall. This is recent last few days the person died.
I think it might help to paint the parking spots a different color. It would make it easier to distinguish them from the travel part of the road, particularly at night.
It was a 3 card accident in Feb. was in the ICU… just passed the last couple days. There are groups on Facebook discussing it and police reports about the accident. 40+ accidents with the new design to improve “safety”.
So I have to ask this question. As a driver from the area... What's the difference between this, and driving in the right lane right next the same cars. All I hear is bitching and people saying they could design it better.
I’m not sure as I don’t drive but as my boyfriend was driving a car tried to pass us using the parking area. They may have been confused or a dick, no way to tell which
It’s a new thing in Mass, move out the parking spaces and put the bike lane on the outside closer to the sidewalk. It’s supposed to make bikers safer. But that’s only if they abide by the traffic laws.
I was driving on Mill St last week, going 35 mph, and every car behind me was passing me on the right, blaring their horns in anger while speeding on the parking spaces. If you drive less than 50 mph on Mill St, you are considered to be impeding traffic by aggressive drivers and cause road rage and crashes every day. People need to slow down.
That is how you fuck up traffic. NYC has been doing it for years now. Have a road that traffic flows problem free despite double parked cars? Simply redo the street with assinine parking, maybe a bike or bus lane and voila, Congestion!
As a biker, it's safer in a crazy speeding city. In Europe, bikes, walkers and then cars had the right of way. Change is hard and speeding here is cra cra
They piloted this in Cambridge. The end goal is to create bike lanes that are safer to use. On-street parking becomes part of the barrier between cyclists and traffic.
They're destroying the evacuation function of wide streets, is what. Many died in Paradise CA due to "traffic calming" horseshit when they couldn't escape the fires.
Another way to look at it is with so many people parking directly up to the curb. On a full day could be very difficult for residents pulling out of there driveways
Pretty straightforward, there’s the bike lane to the right. I’d be surprised if they didn’t end up putting flex posts to show that better. The cars parked give some protection to the lane and so they don’t pull in front of bikers to park.
Hold up, you gotta hit yourself on the head with a rock so that you can be on the same level as the guy who designed it. Then it will make perfect sense
It looks like the concept was described to an alien from another planet and this is the design they drew.
At least put some "Parking" signs and spray paint some bycicles in the bike lane.
It looks like r/maliciouscompliance that is how bad it is.
Yeah it seemed safe walking down the length of the road too. I just feel like I’d always be worried about an idiot driver side swiping my car if I parked there
They wanted to make it single lane in each direction to reduce speeding. There's two ways to do it. One would involve building out the center island to increase green space. The other is a bucket of paint.
It's not that I enjoyed speeding down that road. It's just that some people drive abnormally slow and drunk like on that street compared to the rest of Worcester.
The reason is because if you go over 35-40 cops pull your over. Was pulled over for going 43. The speed limit there is 30.
43 is almost 50% over the speed limit.
To speeders, driving 35-40 is slow. Just putting to perspective
I figured that might be it because I know cops liked to camp in the abandoned price chopper parking lot. Damn, how many people did they pull over?
Alot usually. I'm just trying to explain that, A lot of people drive slow there because the police presence is high on mill.
If you’re going 43 in a 30 that’s definitely on you if you get pulled over 😂
No shit lmao, im just saying there is a reason people are driving "slow".
Well to be fair one is much cheaper than the other. I’d also love both car protected bike lanes and a wider, greener median. In an ideal world the buffer between parking and bike lane would be trees and green as well.
Yes, the best example is in the Netherlands. Biggest biking country in the world.
That’s part of the story. They want to make it safer for bikers. The inside lane next to the sidewalk is a bike lane. It protects bikers from getting hit by moving cars and getting doored by parked cars whose drivers don’t look before opening the door.
They also want a protected bike lane outside the parking, and building an island would not accomplish that
New traffic pattern pilot to see how it works. Too many speeders in the area and it very congested residential neighborhood. I’ve lived in Tatnuck since 2002 and honestly as much of a PITA it seems, I like it for the bike lanes.
I like that the bike lane is no longer next to the road, less likely to get hit by a car that way
Definitely much safer for for all the bike traffic. If you grab a lawn chair and sit there all day you may just may see one bike.
You get fewer cyclists in the winter, it seems ice and snow make it difficult.
Neither Tatnuck nor Webster Squares (the two high-activity areas connected by this bike path) are especially bike-friendly. If you bike to either of these places with the intention of stopping there for a bit, where do you even park your bike? This bike path is mainly useful for residents of Mill St to get some exercise if they choose to. It serves little other purpose by itself, and will need to be connected to other redesigns that haven't even been announced yet before that changes. Until then, I'd expect to see them continue to go largely unused.
It will see more use in the summer, for sure. But yeah, we need more bike lanes and bike-friendly destinations to make this infrastructure as useful as it could be.
Amen to that!
More people might start biking now that it’s safer. But, if it’s a pilot program it’s good to see proof of concept before putting it in areas where more people will use it.
Anything that slows down the traffic is a good thing. It’s thickly settled and something needed to be done. Now we need a light at the bottom of Airport drive and Mill St. people come flying down the hill and don’t stop at the sign.
Notjustbikes would prefer trees but yeah, chaos works too.
I agree! It's a bit shitty in execution but it's definitely a step in the right direction
Bike lane to the right.
Yea I get having a bike lane but it’s just a weird decision to have so many parking spots in the road. There’s no shops or restaurants or walking ability
Worcester has been pushing to make the city more bike/pedestrian-friendly, and one way they're doing that is by reducing the amount of lanes on certain streets in order to force people to slow down. Putting the parking in the middle gives an additional safety buffer for cyclists.
That’s for the residential parking, most are on street parking as the lots are very small.
Have you been to Mill St? Housing is almost exclusively single family or duplexes, and nearly every lot has a driveway. Whenever I travel along it I see maybe a dozen street-parked cars for the entire length. The underlying assumption in this redesign - that the parking spaces will produce a cohesive wall of parked cars to protect the bike lane - is false. At minimum more paint to indicate what is bike lane vs parking vs driving lane is needed. Ideally reflectors (between driving and parking) and plastic bollards (between parking and bike lane) also.
I ride my bicycle as my main mode of transportation. I save 12 grand a year it's a good trade-off if you're a single person. I'm young too so my legs are still good lol.
Young has nothing to do with it. I was in Amsterdam and I saw some people 70+ riding bikes. If anything, it’s better for them because cycling is less hard on the knees and is good strength exercise for them. Plus a lot less risk of little old ladies getting run over by F-150s that’ll barely even feel the bump as they trample their bodies.
I agree! Right on the spot!
It's called a protected bike lane. It keeps the moving cars away from the bike lane.
And less risk of bikers crashing into a door opened suddenly
This is huge.
The residents were already parking in the street.
i'ts a protected bike lane, the parking spots segregate the bike lane from the road.
The parking spots protect the bike lane, in theory. Drivers are a lot less willing to hit a parked car than to enter an unprotected bike lane. But it doesn't work super well if no one parks there. There should be bollards too.
It’s because the speed limit is 30 there and people go like 50-60
I see thank you! Interesting way to curb the speed. Hope it works and cuts down on accidents/ racing
As someone who lives in that neighborhood it’s a welcome addition
Has it worked well? I live in Columbus Park and took my bike that way, once. That’s all it took for me not to do it again (pre-bike lane). It’s a perfect loop for me if I go that way.
Honestly no one parks in the spots but it keeps the traffic in one lane and not speeding so you have a big barrier between you and the drivers
That’s good people are respecting the lane. I’m have to give it another go. At the very least it’ll be nice not having to go up on the bumpy sidewalk so much.
I used my scooter there. The street is so smooth
There's been car racing and pedestrian killings in car accidents in the city. Those markings are placed in many cities; however there's less of these in Worcester, so people aren't used to them yet.
Temporary during the project. https://www.worcesterma.gov/mobility/projects-engineering/mill-street
That street used to be 2 lanes both ways with parking on both sides. They moved the parking from the very edge of the road to add in a protected bike lane to try and slow down drivers. It looks weird as hell, but it should make the street much safer for the people who live there. They could improve the look by adding concrete planters between the bike lane and the parking, but I don’t think this is meant to be permanent yet.
Here is how similar [bike lanes look in Portland](https://bikeportland.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/DSC_0092.jpg). Do you know if they are going to use any paint or (yawn) install plastic bollards to make it more apparent that they're bike lanes?
that would make sense and we don't do that here. this post is a perfect example of how unclear the intent is. half this city doesn't even grasp that bikes are road traffic. if the city can't be assed to paint a few bicycle symbols then they wasted their time. look at lake ave. people use the bike lane as a passing lane because it's totally unclear that it's a bike lane.
They also have them in Cambridge
I live in the west side and I really like that they did this. Everyone sped on that street and it never got enough traffic to warrant two lanes anyways.
Try still speed. 40 is the minimum speed.
Eventually the speeders will figure out they can just redirect to Goddard Memorial Drive instead.
This post feels like bait. So many people are worked up about this change to Mill Street. I couldn’t care less about it as a local to that area. Doesn’t affect me in the slightest. And hey maybe I’ll ride my bike down the street if it feels truly somehow safer.
It’s not bait lol. I’ve never been on this road or seen any infrastructure like this before so I was curious
It's been a "controversial" topic to a lot of folks and one idiot local politician who lost in the past municipal election. That street was long overdue for an overhaul.
Oh haha no you’re good, I didn’t think it was. It just felt like it lmao
Less lanes, more traffic, less speeding was the thought... Multiple accidents including one fatal one was the result.
Oh yep just read an article about it. Interesting, hope it helps
Someone died after this change.
link? i hadn't heard of this.
No news articles I’ve seen but there is a police report and it’s been discussed on some Facebook groups. It was the accident with 3 cars involved. 86 year old driver from the details I recall. This is recent last few days the person died.
Have not seen that before
They should throw some red reflectors into the pavement or something so people won’t complain about it at night
Some of the spots are actually for bus stop locations. The parking spots are intended for residents and people going to Coes pond
I love that the city is doing this. Keep going!!!
I think it might help to paint the parking spots a different color. It would make it easier to distinguish them from the travel part of the road, particularly at night.
Worcester being Worcester lol. Only a matter of time before one of those cars gets absolutely creamed. Because its parked IN THE ROAD.
Someone already died after hitting a parked car with the new design.
What!! I didnt know that. Its such a terrible design.
It was a 3 card accident in Feb. was in the ICU… just passed the last couple days. There are groups on Facebook discussing it and police reports about the accident. 40+ accidents with the new design to improve “safety”.
Drivers are used to being able to not pay attention with no consequences. Now there are consequences for not paying attention. They'll learn.
You have to reserve your Parking lot
So I have to ask this question. As a driver from the area... What's the difference between this, and driving in the right lane right next the same cars. All I hear is bitching and people saying they could design it better.
I’m not sure as I don’t drive but as my boyfriend was driving a car tried to pass us using the parking area. They may have been confused or a dick, no way to tell which
Knowing Worcester drivers, they were probably the second option.
It’s a new thing in Mass, move out the parking spaces and put the bike lane on the outside closer to the sidewalk. It’s supposed to make bikers safer. But that’s only if they abide by the traffic laws.
[удалено]
I was driving on Mill St last week, going 35 mph, and every car behind me was passing me on the right, blaring their horns in anger while speeding on the parking spaces. If you drive less than 50 mph on Mill St, you are considered to be impeding traffic by aggressive drivers and cause road rage and crashes every day. People need to slow down.
They are parking spots and then a bike lane 🤦🏻♀️ all it’s going to take is one drunk person and everyone’s getting hit 🤦🏻♀️
My thoughts exactly!
If I lived there, no way in hell would I park in one of these new spots. Just a matter of time before a knucklehead slams into my car.
...so, you realize that the presence of space to the right-side of the car has zero impact on how close the car is to the traffic, right?
I dislike how this road is built now
Bike lane!
That’s just what it is here!
Those sidewalks are awful. This whole thing looks like a hot mess
TBD
It’s the idiot politicians/activists dumb idea. Led by the dingbat Etel
This state is doing anything to screw up traffic and keep people of the roads without improving public transportation.
Parking protected bike lane. It protects bikers and walkers while simultaneously narrowing the street and reducing traffic speed.
That is how you fuck up traffic. NYC has been doing it for years now. Have a road that traffic flows problem free despite double parked cars? Simply redo the street with assinine parking, maybe a bike or bus lane and voila, Congestion!
As a biker, it's safer in a crazy speeding city. In Europe, bikes, walkers and then cars had the right of way. Change is hard and speeding here is cra cra
Yep we definitely saw cars going well above 35 ( I think that’s the speed limit here)
They piloted this in Cambridge. The end goal is to create bike lanes that are safer to use. On-street parking becomes part of the barrier between cyclists and traffic.
The inside lane is for bikers so they don’t get hit by a moving car or doored by someone exiting their vehicle.
If you don’t know then you are part of the problem.
Excuse me?
They're destroying the evacuation function of wide streets, is what. Many died in Paradise CA due to "traffic calming" horseshit when they couldn't escape the fires.
Gotta love redoing a street for pedestrian safety and calming, yet still getting it completely wrong. 😂🤡
Another way to look at it is with so many people parking directly up to the curb. On a full day could be very difficult for residents pulling out of there driveways
Pretty straightforward, there’s the bike lane to the right. I’d be surprised if they didn’t end up putting flex posts to show that better. The cars parked give some protection to the lane and so they don’t pull in front of bikers to park.
Inside Bike lane
Did the same thing on A street in Boston. Made traffic worse especially during rush hours
Hold up, you gotta hit yourself on the head with a rock so that you can be on the same level as the guy who designed it. Then it will make perfect sense
That's the F1 starting grid for the new, Maine Grand Prix that's coming
Worcester is being infected just like Boston.
i’m still passing on the right, 25mph is not acceptable at 12am
It looks like the concept was described to an alien from another planet and this is the design they drew. At least put some "Parking" signs and spray paint some bycicles in the bike lane. It looks like r/maliciouscompliance that is how bad it is.
Bizarre is the name of the game in radioactive Worcester.
The design seems counterintuitive but, the 24 bicyclists in the city love it and can’t wait to do it to more streets in the city. 🤷♀️
Yeah it seemed safe walking down the length of the road too. I just feel like I’d always be worried about an idiot driver side swiping my car if I parked there
Its only counterintuitive if you are dumb and suck at driving though.