Redesign the Pleasant Street Corridor in Dorchester, MA from Hancock Street to Columbia Road (including Pond Street and East Cottage Street)

Table of Contents

Objectives of the Proposal

Eliminate a neighborhood corridor of through traffic

Create a low-stress bicycling route along the corridor

Introduction

The objective of this proposal is to transform Pleasant Street into a pleasant street for neighborhood residents! This will be achieved by decreasing the use of Pleasant Street as a cut-through road for non-local traffic, providing low-stress and safe bike infrastructure, and increasing the amount of available green space on the street. This proposal will not affect the ability for residents to access their homes, but will negatively affect traffic that cut through Pleasant Street to get in and out of Downtown Boston. Because of the decrease in overall traffic on Pleasant Street, the livability of the street will be improved, providing a more peaceful community to live in.

Through-traffic is motor vehicle traffic that does not originate or terminate in a certain neighborhood. This traffic does not serve the community it is moving through, does not contribute to any local businesses, and does not help to transport any members of said community. What through-traffic does bring to a community is noise and pollution, as well as the creation of dangerous roads which create barriers within a neighborhood.

Through-traffic is an unfortunately necessary aspect of our car-oriented transportation system, but it should not be present in the areas in which people live, work, or play. There should be roads which are designed to carry through traffic safely around neighborhoods, but these roads require a design that ensures the safety and wellbeing of the neighborhoods they run near. Certain provisions like ample safe crossings are necessary for roads designed for through traffic.

This is in contrast to a street upon which people live. These streets should primarily serve the local neighborhood and its people, not those originating and terminating from afar. Some characteristics of local streets are low travel speeds, low-stress bicycle facilities, and community areas, among others.

Low-stress bicycling facilities are infrastructure or pathways that provide a cycling connection with an experience that is free from unnecessary stressors. These stressors include: rapidly moving traffic without ample protection or separation, poor quality or uneven surfaces, unclear or ambiguous intended movements, or other environmental factors that induce a perceived unsafety for bicycling.

Low-stress bicycling facilities can come in many forms, dependent on the environment they will be placed in. For example, on low-traffic, residential streets with a slow travel speed, explicit cycling infrastructure is unnecessary. However, on a road with heavy, fast moving traffic, separated cycling infrastructure is extremely necessary to provide a low stress experience for its users.

The importance of low-stress bicycling facilities cannot be understated. As we proceed towards an energy and transportation transition to more sustainable systems, an increase in cycling for local trips is vital. In order to achieve this increase, we must provide infrastructure that works to encourage those less inclined to cycle. This type of infrastructure works for everyone who can cycle, from young children to those more senior. We must remove all barriers to cycling as a viable transportation option, and one of the largest obstacles to this is making sure all facets of the population feel extremely comfortable and safe while using the infrastructure we provide.

This project will benefit Boston citizens because there will be less vehicles that speed through the neighborhood and serve as cut-through traffic. Because cut-through traffic creates unnecessary congestion, noise, and pollution, transforming Pleasant Street into a quiet neighborhood street would significantly improve the quality of life for residents. This neighborhood is very car-centric and continues to have limited mobility opportunities, which is tied to the national underinvestment of active transportation in historically marginalized communities. According to the US Census, Pleasant Street is situated in a neighborhood that is racially majority-minority, is diverse in age, and has a significant amount of families. By implementing better infrastructure for walking and biking here, it provides more transportation choices to better serve the diverse needs of the neighborhood, reduces the need to drive a car, and connects the neighborhood to other bike networks in the vicinity.

Diagonal Diverters

This is an example of the installation of diagonal dividers in The Hague. South of the canal is the intersection of Spinozstraat and Groenewegje. North of the canal is the intersection of Zuidwal, Dunne Birkade, and Paviljoensgracht. Hyperlink to the intersections on Google Maps here.

Here is a traffic circulation view of the intersections. Because of the diagonal diverters, vehicle traffic must turn away from the intersections while pedestrians and bicycles can pass through. Note that these streets were not originally designed this way! Rather, diagonal dividers were implemented there to discourage cars from cutting through this neighborhood to access other parts of The Hague. This helped beautify the neighborhood by making it quieter, less polluted, and safer for bikes and pedestrians, all while being close to the center and train station!

A street view of the diagonal dividers at the northern intersection of Zuidwal, Paviljoensgracht, and Dunne Bierkade. The immobile bollards prevents vehicles from passing through but makes the street easily permeable for pedestrians and cyclists. The mobile bollards in the top left are for emergency vehicles and local vehicles, which can be detected by a sensor scanning the license plates. 

A street view of the diagonal dividers at the southern intersection of Spinozastraat and Groenewegje. There are also mobile and immobile bollards that have the same functions as those at the northern intersection.

Advisory Lanes

The installation of advisory lanes along Westplantsoen and Weteringlaan made the neighborhoods more beautiful by slowing car traffic down and creating a low-stress environment for cyclists! 

Two-Way Streets

This is an example of the installation of advisory lanes on a two-way street using Westplantsoen in Delft.

Advisory lanes were implemented along this stretch of Westplantsoen because the street is not wide enough to accommodate two car lanes, two bikes lanes, and two parking lanes. The advisory lanes are designated for bicycles, can be used for cars when passing vehicles, and cannot be used for cars when passing bicycles. The central zone is the remaining space left over after implementing the advisory lanes and parking lanes, and can be used for cars. 

This is a demonstration of how cars and bikes would interact with each other when moving simultaneously along Westplantsoen. When cars want to pass bikes when cars are coming from the other direction, cars must slow down and stay behind bikes to let those passing cars go. Because of this, cyclists have the higher authority on the street and have low levels of stress when riding. 

One-Way Streets

This is an example of the installation of advisory lanes on a one-way street using Westplantsoen and Weteringlaan in Delft.

This one-way stretch of Westplantsoen has an advisory lane for bikes travelling in the same direction as the cars and a contraflow advisory lanes for bikes travelling in the opposite direction as the cars. This promotes bidirectional cycling in the neighborhood and better connects to the city-wide bicycle network.

This stretch of Weteringlaan has only a contraflow advisory lanes for bikes travelling in the opposite direction as the cars and a central zone. The central zone can be used by both cars and bikes travelling in the same direction, and cars are allowed to drive on the contraflow advisory lane when passing bikes if needed.

This shows the interaction between cars and cyclists on the contraflow advisory lane. Cars give plenty of space for the bike to pass safely and comfortably, and can also use the advisory lane to pass if needed.

Traffic Circulation Plan

The goal of our proposed traffic circulation plan is to turn Pleasant Street into a quiet, neighborhood street instead of a through road for north-south non-local traffic.

Vision

Currently, there is a big web of through roads in Uphams Corner, which includes Pleasant Street, Pond Street, and East Cottage Street. This makes the neighborhood noisy, polluted, and congested with unnecessary through-traffic! The vast majority of through traffic uses Pleasant Street to avoid Dorchester Avenue and to get to and from Downtown Boston. 

Our proposed plan would divert through/non-local traffic outside of the Pleasant Street area onto the surrounding existing through roads. This forms a ring road around the neighborhood, consisting of Dorchester Avenue, Hancock Street, and Columbia Road. Inside of the ring would be neighborhood streets that only residents would be interested in accessing. With this concept, the vast majority of north-south non-local traffic would be taken off Pleasant Street and placed onto the streets that form the ring. 

Treatments

The proposed treatments made on Pleasant Street and the surrounding area are the installation of two diagonal diverters and changes in street direction for five streets. The diagonal diverters would be placed at the southern end of the intersection of Pleasant Street and Stoughton Street, and the southern end of the intersection of Pleasant Street and East Cottage Street. There will be street direction changes on Willis Street, Mayfield Street, Victoria Street, Pearl Street, and Peverell Street.

Because the goal of the plan is to eliminate north-south cut-through traffic, the diagonal diverters alone would take care of this. This plan would not inconvenience the residents from getting in and out of the neighborhood, especially since Pleasant Street would remain as a two-way street. Additionally, installing the diagonal diverters would eliminate the need for signals at Stoughton Street and Savin Hill Avenue.

We also proposed reversing the direction of several streets because the current one-way layout of the streets is designed for cut-through traffic. We changed these streets to create a consistent circular traffic pattern that would disperse the traffic equally.

Treatment for Low-Stress Cycling

The existing stretch of Pleasant Street from Hancock Street to Columbia Road only offer sharrows to show that bicycles are allowed to travel on the street, which are known to be dangerous and induces high levels of stress for both cars and bikes. To make it worse, Pond Street and East Cottage Street have nothing for bikes!

To provide low-stress cycling along Pleasant Street, vehicles must travel slowly and be able to give ample space when passing bikes so that cyclists feel safe and comfortable. Because the two proposed diagonal diverters would eliminate the vast majority of high-speed through traffic on Pleasant Street, the only traffic in the neighborhood would be from residents who live in the neighborhood! Therefore, cyclists would feel much safer and comfortable to ride alongside the slow neighborhood traffic on Pleasant Street, Pond Street, and East Cottage Street in advisory bike lanes! Advisory lanes are necessary on these streets because the streets are not wide enough for two bikes and two cars to pass each other simultaneously.

Along the one-way streets of Pond Street and East Cottage Street, contraflow advisory bike lanes are proposed so that bikes can travel bidirectionally and have better connections to the Pleasant Street bike infrastructure. Additionally, because of the space reduction for car travel lanes and parking lanes, we proposed adding a tree zone along Pond Street to further beautify the street.

At the intersections where there are diagonal diverters, we designed them so that there are low-stress transitions between streets for bikes, and that cars cannot pass through them.

Along the diagonal diverter, there would be movable bollards so that emergency vehicles can pass through if needed.

Just like at the intersection of Pleasant Street, East Cottage Street, and Pond Street, at the diagonal diverter, movable bollards would be placed along the red dashed lines as shown above except at the green bike lanes.