Mossland Street in Somerville is now a neighborway, a walk- and bike-friendly street designed to lower vehicle volumes and speeds while prioritizing the experience of local residents. The change came by turning its intersection with Elm Street into a dead end for personal motor vehicles: Cars can no longer enter or leave Mossland Street via Elm Street – only via Somerville Avenue at the other end of the block.
Pedestrians, cyclists, and emergency vehicles will continue to have access to both ends of Mossland Street.
It’s a key part of a project called the Elm-Beacon Connector that helps link Davis Square and Somerville’s Community Path to Beacon Street, Inman Square and beyond. The Community Path and Beacon Street are some of the most highly cycled routes; with projects such as the Linear Park Reconstruction, large parts of Cambridge and Somerville are connected.
Advocates say connectivity is important, and that protected routes are more useful when people can move between comfortable routes without high-stress gaps. The data reflects that too, with growth in biking activity faster than growth in the network itself.
“I am very psyched for this change. Avoiding the Porter Square shopping center parking lot on my reverse commute will be better for everyone,” said Christopher Schmidt, of Community Pedal Power and its e-bike lending library.
Another factor in increased ridership is safety. The project is part of the Somerville Bicycle Network Plan and driven by the city’s Vision Zero commitment to eliminate traffic fatalities and severe injuries. Somerville has now gone four years without suffering a fatal crash.
Other parts of the Elm-Beacon Connector have finished in recent weeks. Elm Street has flex posts. On Somerville Avenue, the bike lane is on the edge of the road instead of between car lanes, as in a previous configuration. There’s also a new parking lane and a no-turn-on-red sign added to the right turn to Beacon Street.
Cambridge now has a final design and has started construction for a Beech and Elm streets intersection that connects with this project. Preliminary designs show greatly shortened pedestrian crossings and a simplified intersection with a loading zone added between a bike lane and newly reclaimed noncar space.
New route for cars
The drivers that used Mossland – once the longest red light in the city – need to use alternatives. From its traffic study, Somerville found that 80 percent of cars using Mossland continued southward on Oxford or Beacon streets. Most drivers are expected to take the shortest diversion to stay on that route: Travel down Elm Street, take a right onto Somerville Avenue, then a left onto Beacon Street.
To accommodate new traffic patterns, Somerville is upgrading traffic signal equipment and adjusting timings. Timing changes start this week, and Somerville will finalize them by November after analysis.
Somerville will increase the green-light duration for turning left from Somerville Avenue to Beacon Street to handle the increased traffic, for example. Combined with adjustments for the corresponding decreased traffic from the other side of Somerville Avenue, the total cycle length is expected to stay the same, meaning pedestrians will not need to wait longer than they do today.
Bike activities calendar
Cafe Zing! Social Ride (recurring). Every Thursday, join friends and neighbors for a party-pace social ride. Meet at Cafe Zing, 25 White St., Porter Square, Cambridge, at 6:30 p.m. to mingle before the 7 p.m. ride.
E-Bike Adventure Rides with Casa Bikes (recurring). Every Saturday at 9:30 a.m., bring your own e-bike or borrow one of Casa’s. Free, but register.
Halloween Family Bike Ride. The 6th Annual Halloween Family Bike Ride is 9:30 a.m. Sunday. At 0.7 miles long, the ride may be especially suitable for self-propelled children. Free, donations appreciated.
Boston Cafe Bikers (recurring). Boston Cafe Bikers rides at 11 a.m. Sunday from Forest Hills station to Flat Black Coffee (Dorchester). Free.
Tour de Streets. Livable Streets Alliance hosts a fundraiser and leisurely ride for people of all abilities at 10:30 a.m. Oct 24. Join a team online and fundraise.
For more Boston bike events, see bostonbikeevents.net. (No affiliation with The Independent.)
