livedarklions

Boston and environs have so many of these five-way intersections, and they're utterly confusing to people who don't drive/ride them every day. Often, the turn lanes are not clearly marked and it's hard to tell which signal corresponds to which lane.

Jim from Boston

The accident described in the OP was indeed at a confusing intersection. The one I just described was at a regular intersection as shown in the above stock photo.

As you probably know, the Back Bay neighborhood is laid out on a grid pattern, the only one in Boston.

MikeyMK

I've said it before and I'll say it again - you're either on a road or you're not. Your so called cycle lanes are doing nothing but giving you a false sense of security. Our cycle lanes aren't on our roads. You are being short changed.

Jim from Boston

That accident happened at the unusual time of 3:30 AM. On the boulevard in the photo being ridden by the cyclist, Commonwealth Ave, there are bike lanes on the road to the left of parked cars.

On the first accident reported in the OP, with photograph of the crazy intersection, there are no bike-specific lanes, just traffic lanes and pedestrian cross-walks.

Personally, I ride where I want to go, bike lane or not, But I have posted:

livedarklions

Yeah, I was referring to the accident in the OP, and I should have been clear about that.

The reason I put an emphasis on the weird intersections is that it's a feature of Boston area traffic that most American cities don't have. And as you know, the "no grid" issue doesn't end at the city limits. City streets merging at oblique angles and crazy intersections that confuse drivers make hyper-vigilance a necessary skill for bicyclists in the area.

I've been driving a fair amount in the Watertown/Newton area, and one thing that amazes me is there will be two left turn lanes, marked only by paint on the pavement. The left-most is usually obvious, but you can't see the paint if there's a car ahead of you, so a bunch of drivers are scurrying to the right to get out of the turn lanes right at the intersection. It creates a really dangerous situation.

Jim from Boston

Hi @livedarklions,

Thanks for that reply. When I wrote there are no grids, other than Back Bay, I considered saying "in Metro Boston," and indeed I can't think of any.

I know you have posted previously about Watertown Center. I have considered that as the "Gateway to the West" (bucolic, rideable western suburbs like Lexington, Concord, Lincoln). However, I usually pass through Watertown on early Saturday mornings from Kenmore Square.

livedarklions

I'm usually there Saturday late morning or early afternoon. With the multidirectional intersections and the bus turnaround there, it's really difficult in high traffic. Part of the problem is one of those absurdly marked left turn lanes I mentioned--people are constantly using it to go straight or pushing to the right to get out of it. I've been told it has really bad statistics for accidents.

Another 5-way beauty is the Trapelo-Common-other street whose name I forget intersection in Belmont. I never do that one on my bike because it's easy to avoid, but driving it is interesting. The left hand turn from Common to Trapelo gets a green light exactly at the same time as the traffic going straight in the other direction on Common, so the signal and the lane markings tell you to cross right into oncoming traffic. It's worse than it sounds because if you don't know the signal pattern, you're going to be surprised by the oncoming traffic. I understand that the intersection is so bad that attempts to adjust the lanes and signals have actually made it worse, and they reverted to the old pattern.

JoeyBike

Is there no reasonable alternative to that intersection? There is one particular intersection/interchange in my city that I go over a mile out of my way to avoid on a bike. Mostly I can go one or two blocks around a risky spot. I realize some places it is just not possible to avoid.

THIS is my no-go intersection. S. Carrollton is the surface street a cyclist would have to use.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/S+...!4d-90.1172672

livedarklions

You have to go a very long way out of your way to avoid it because it's right at the end of a very heavily trafficked bridge. Because of that, three main thoroughfares converge with some side streets and bike paths and a trolley bus turnaround in a space of about a half block. I don't like riding through it, but I actually find driving through it even more difficult. Confusion over the turn lanes makes other drivers very unpredictable.

This doesn't quite do it justice, because it is probably less traffic than I've ever seen there, but this is what I'm talking about:

https://www.google.com/maps/@42.3652...thumbfov%3D100

JoeyBike

Like a giant starfish with a lot of lanes and 5 arteries converging. I might be tempted to dismount and use the walk/don't walk sidewalks during peak hours there given your advice about motorist confusion and last minute lane changes.

livedarklions

There's really no good way to cross, the crosswalks aren't much help.
A few months back, a woman and her adult son were crossing on foot there, and she was killed by a truck. The son went berserk and stabbed the driver multiple times. The driver lived, but just barely.

You can't see it from the picture, but the bus turnaround surprises a lot of pedestrians because it basically exits right where they cross one of the feeder intersections.

JoeyBike

Does he need an alibi? I'm pretty sure I was playing cards with him at that time.

Notso_fastLane

I see a potential money making 'service' here.

livedarklions

I'm not going to pretend I find that funny. The stabbing was horrible and compounded the tragedy.