By John Allen

What is a Complete Street? And how well is the concept being applied?  As a cyclist, you need to know.

Complete Street Definition

A Complete Street is described in planning literature as one which is safe and practical, pleasant even, for modes of transportation up to a contextually appropriate limit of speed, traffic volume, and vehicle size. A Complete Street serves pedestrians and bicyclists well, and at least local motor traffic. 

The speed limit is low enough that pedestrians can safely cross the street. There are crosswalks, signalized where that is warranted. Restrictions on motor traffic work down from the largest vehicles to what is appropriate in context. That approach to vehicle types and sizes has been traditional on DCR parkways, quaintly limited to “pleasure vehicles only”, a definition which over the years has been pushed wider to cover passenger cars and small cargo vans.

Hammond Pond Parkway Reconstruction: A Complete Street?

On Thursday, June 13, I joined representatives of Bike Newton and the Central Transportation Planning Staff for a ride to visit special bicycle facilities in Newton. One was DCR’s Hammond Pond Parkway, now under reconstruction.

Hammond Pond Parkway was overbuilt in the mid 20th Century as a 4- lane speedway, reflecting car culture that turned parkways into highways. It would certainly not rate as bicycle-friendly, though I have ridden it, controlling the outside lane (and so demonstrating that the parkway was overbuilt, because motorists could always pass me without delay). The terrain is rolling, with a long, steep slope down to Route 9 at the southern end. 

The DCR is currently taking the mile-long segment of the Parkway between Beacon Street and Route 9 down to two lanes, installing a 12- foot wide shared-use path 15 feet from the roadway on the west side and a 4-foot wide sidewalk on the east side. The current project imagines Hammond Pond Parkway as a pleasant, park-like experience for bicyclists.

The segment: 

Go to the RidewithGPS version of this map, so you can change to Satellite View or Street View and explore more widely.

I commented on this project when it was in the planning stage. At that time, there was a discussion about making the roadway 28 feet wide, marginally wide enough for today’s “pleasure vehicles” to pass bicyclists. A bit wider would be nice, but that is in the nature of political compromise.  

So, what is the problem, then? How well will Hammond Pond Parkway meet the definition of a Complete Street?

Is it Really Complete?

The roadway will, as I found out during the expedition to Newton, have only two narrow travel lanes, with no shoulders – 22 or 24 feet, as you can see in the background of the photo below. The roadway will therefore work well only for someone in a motor vehicle that can hold the speed limit. The parallel path is conceived of as for everyone else. 

The DCR’s Dan Driscoll describes the reconstruction of Hammond Pond Parkway, now underway. A paved path will be in the strip behind the people listening. 

Let me be clear: I like the idea of a path for park access and a park experience. But -- the Parkway is not only a route in a park, it is a transportation route through a park. It connects Newton Center with the large Chestnut Hill shopping malls and residential areas beyond. Bicyclists, e-bike users and motor scooter operators will want to travel this segment end to end.  

Safety Issues

Safety is often raised as a rationale for paths. But faster bicyclists, e-bike and motor scooter users are a poor and unsafe fit on a path shared with pedestrians and family bicyclists. Problems become worse with steep slopes. Nationwide, governments are grappling with the safety issues of faster e-bike traffic on paths. A local example: 15 mph speed limit signs have been installed on the Minuteman Commuter Bikeway – which is flat, being a rail trail, and where faster traffic may use parallel Massachusetts Avenue. There is no such convenient alternative to Hammond Pond Parkway.

Proponents of the Hammond Pond Parkway project objected to adding a few feet of roadway width on the grounds that this would reduce spacing to the path and impede storm water infiltration. I contend that a few more feet of roadway width would hardly make a difference in the middle of hundreds of acres of parkland into which water could infiltrate.

Is it Practical for Bicycle Transportation? E-bikes? Motor Scooters? Year-round?

The path will cross parking-lot entrances and roads in crosswalks, adding delay and inconvenience. Traversal of multiple crosswalks will be needed at the Route 9 end of the segment. With such treatments, users become impatient and choose their own times and ways to cross, becoming unpredictable and increasing risk. If bicycles are to be competitive with motor vehicles and public transportation, they must not be subject to unnecessary delays, or held to low speeds.

The narrowed roadway is crowned and has storm drains. The proposed path, on the other hand, will be unusable or unsafe for weeks or months at a time in winter even if plowed, lacking drainage -- unless heavily salted (unhealthy for vegetation and bicycles).

So, the most practical solution in winter is to give up on the idea of bicycling and leave the path unplowed and unsalted for cross- country skiing and snowshoeing.

Years ago, the DCR applied the same configuration (a narrow, shoulderless roadway and parallel path) to Metropolitan Parkway in Waltham, shown in the following video: https://player.vimeo.com/video/117220059?h=71cf9423b4. Metropolitan Parkway is  very lightly traveled, so riding on the roadway is practical. Bicyclists on the roadway of Hammond Pond Parkway would have queues of cars behind them and would invite harassment.

Be Careful What You ask For -- and Just Be Careful

All in all, with Hammond Pond Parkway, the positive environmental and social goal of improving access to parkland has pushed aside the positive environmental and social goal of safe and convenient transportation other than in motor vehicles. The problem is worse for operators of motor scooters, whether electrically or gasoline powered. They are legal on roadways and in bike lanes, but prohibited from using paths. Don’t expect any ban or speed limit to be enforced, though, so be careful…

So much for the idea of a Complete Street.

I have applauded the efforts of the DCR and particularly Dan Driscoll in extending the paths along the Charles River upstream to Waltham. I have supported the reasonable narrowing of Charles River Road and Nonantum Road, as well as construction of the Cochituate Rail Trail, the Mass Central Rail Trail, Bruce Freeman Trail and other trail projects. Those projects all have improved bicycle access without compromising access on roads. The Hammond Pond Parkway project, on the other hand, proposes to forego much of the potential of the Parkway for bicycle, e-bike, and motor scooter transportation, and so is fundamentally different in its impact.

If you are going to ride Hammond Pond Parkway in its new configuration, please make sure that your brakes are in good working order, and be cautious!

If you see plans for a road reconfiguration project in your community, please make your voice heard to see that it is actually a Complete Street, properly accommodating all anticipated uses.

*For Reference:*

I rode the segment of Hammond Pond Parkway under discussion on November 25, 2021. My travel speeds ranged from 6.5 to 30 miles per hour southbound, and 5 to 21 miles per hour northbound.

Video of my ride southbound https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0AwlL2K4uME

Video of my ride northbound https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Oau5lQPno8