Bike Lanes, Parking Key Part Of City's Main Street Recommendation

MELROSE, MA — Permanent bike lanes are part of what the city is proposing in a reimagining of a commuter-heavy section of Main Street.

The city on Friday evening revealed its recommendations for the design of what it calls the South Main Street corridor. The recommendations include dedicated bike lanes from Mount Vernon Street to the Malden border, accessible crosswalks at all MBTA bus stops and enhanced intersection pavement markings to facilitate turning movements for everyone on the road.

The city had previously identified this stretch of Main Street as a critical way in need of upgrades. The line striping changes — essentially how the road is utilized — are coming after the road is repaved.

A key part of the project is the give-and-take between parking and the bike lanes. On the southbound side, parking will be permanently removed from just south of Mount Vernon Street to the Malden line. There will be parking on the northbound side, but it will be to the inside of cyclists rather than the outside — a change from the pilot.

The pilot saw parking move several feet from the curb, keeping vehicles on cyclists' left as they rode northbound from Malden. The city will recommend parking be moved back to the curb, leaving cyclists exposed to passing vehicles.

As to why the change from the pilot, the city cited concerns from abutters and public safety personnel. It also said there were cyclists who didn't like the configuration.

The results of a city survey last week showed the overwhelming majority of cyclists said their experience in the pilot was better than before the changes. Sixty-one percent of the 362 overall respondents felt the same way.

Half of all respondents pointed to protected bike lanes as a reason why, while more than half were favorable toward the parking outside the bike lane. About a third of respondents were unfavorable to parking outside the bike lane.

On the other side of Main Street, getting rid of most parking is necessary "to accommodate the new roadway layout which would not fit otherwise," according to the city's plan. The plan is to stripe Main Street's travel lanes at 11 feet each to help with traffic calming. (The city is also proposing two speed feedback signs on the street.)

But some advocates say when it comes to traffic calming, it's not the width of the lanes that matters as much as the width of the road. A protected bike lane — protected not necessarily with vehicles but with posts or curbing — would make the road more narrow.

The city said safe-hit posts — the white flexible ones that border some bike lanes in other communities — were deemed to much trouble for snow and ice removal and emergency vehicle responses.

There will also be more strongly defined traffic, turning and bike lanes at the Sylvan Street and Banks Place intersections with Main Street, including green painted bike lanes between the travel and turn lanes.

The city is also proposing adjusting the double-yellow center line from what it was in the pilot, allowing for cars to pull out more easily.

With the road having so many users, including residents, concerns about the pilot were split. More than half of respondents were worried about snow plowing and delivery vehicles, while about half were worried about safety at driveways and cyclist safety.

You can see the full line striping proposals from the city here. The city is making the recommendations to the Traffic Commission, which will have at least some support given that its chaired by Department of Public Works Director Elena Proakis Ellis.

The city is working on a tight timetable to get this done. A community meeting will take place Oct. 25 and a Traffic Commission hearing is scheduled for Oct. 28. Meanwhile, Main Street is scheduled to be milled and overlaid with asphalt from Mount Vernon Street to Sylvan Street next week.

Mike Carraggi can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @PatchCarraggi and Instagram at Melrose Happening. Subscribe to Melrose Patch for free local news and alerts and like us on Facebook.