Local news - Arlington introduces BRT system

If you have even wondered why public transport is so bad in your city, you may want to read this:

I have touched this topic here before. Basically, Americans worked very hard to destroy pretty decent public transport system (streetcars) they already had at the beginning of XX century, in order to replace them with highways and cars. That might have worked very early on, when few people owned cars, but after WWII, when everyone wanted a dream suburban house with a garage, everyone started to drive into the city - and this was the beginning of the end.

It's really quite simple. Cities are not made out of rubber and you can't stretch valuable real estate forever to make space for more and more cars. Turning vast surfaces in downtown into parking lots is clearly a very bad investment for the city (free parking lots don't pay city taxes), which took us way too long to understand (and some of us still don't get it).

But there is hope. More and more city governors and planners notice that situation is not improving, despite opening new roads, bridges, parking garages, etc. They finally started turning their focus to what they destroyed 80 years ago - public transport.

One good example how a city can quickly improve the situation without spending massive amounts of money (Because let's be clear - building a new streetcar line from scratch wouldn't be exactly inexpensive.) is BRT - bus rapid transport. In short, it's about giving buses dedicated lanes whenever possible, adjusting signals to prioritize buses over the rest of traffic and moving bus stops to avoid buses leaving and merging with the flow of traffic.

My town of Arlington played with this idea for a while and this October we will see the introduction of a pilot BRT program on our main street - Massachusetts Avenue. I'm really happy such initiatives turn into solutions - hopefully permanent, but there are a few bugs in this early design that I'd like to point out.

First of all, this BRT program has a very limited range, running only between Lake St and Alewife Brook Parkway - that's only 10 blocks/intersections, but since it's just a pilot, I can live with that.

Then, there are some major issues in the design of BRT bus route and I seriously hope that this is only temporary and should Arlington decide to keep the BRT forever (and they should!), these bugs will get fixed before we make anything permanent.

Just take a look at this route design near Henderson St. The third, bus-only lane is placed where some parking spots used to be. Unfortunately, the city decided to place bike lane on the wrong side of these parking spots and now, since BRT lane replaces those spots, cyclists will get squeezed between moving buses to the right and speeding cars to the left. Honestly, who would want to ride a bike in a lane like this? Obviously the right way to handle this is to move the bike lane all the way to the right - next to the curb, and place buses next to car traffic.

This is what we have - with bike lanes painted on the wrong side of parking lanes.

 This is what are getting for now - bicyclists will be squeezed into a space between buses and cars.

And that's what we should have - move bike lane behind bus stops. No need to for buses to move into/out of their BRT lane and safer for cyclists.

Similar problem is shown in the second picture from city's presentation. It looks like buses will have to cross the bike lane in order to reach bus stops, then cross it again to merge with the BRT lane. Again, this makes no sense. The correct way is to swap bike lane and BRT lane, placing bike lane closer to the sidewalk, ideally running it behind the bus stops. That makes it easier for everyone - car drivers don't need to worry about buses and bikes, bus drivers stay in their BRT lane all the time and cyclists are physically separated from all heavy car/bus traffic.

Let's wait until October to see BRT in action and then hopefully we will have a chance to address these problems and make it right before anything becomes permanent. For now, I'm being optimistic.

The Nahmakanta Tour - Day 3

Day 3 - Endless Lake to Pittsfield (126km/78mi) 

On day three, the sun woke me up early when it rose above the treeline. On these short bikepacking trips my daily routine changes quite a bit. I go to bed at sunset, since there isn't really much to do in darkness. This lets me get up at sunrise and maximize daylight usage for riding.

I tend to travel pretty light, which means no cooking equipment, not many clothes, no big supplies. As such, packing my camp in the morning takes me a little more than half an hour. By 6:45AM I was already rolling out.

The first part of my route was to cross Seboeis Land forest and reach shores of Schoodic Lake. Fortunately, the road was wide and empty and cool, cloudy morning presented perfect conditions for a bike ride.

I eventually reached Railroad Bed Rd, which is basically a wide, smooth, flat and straight highway in place of a former railroad (obviously!). It was a welcomed change from all rough ATV trails I visited day before. Rolling there was like riding on a high-quality pavement. So nice, so easy.

Logging industry is the mainstay of Maine's economy. In fact, I'd bet that it's not moose or bear who is bicyclist's biggest threat in these lands, but logging trucks.

In no time I reached Milo - a small town on Sebec River. My goal was to get to Dover-Foxcroft by noon and stop for lunch. Of course, I could've just followed Rt6 and be done with it but this would've been too easy and not fun enough. So I opted for River Rd, which is actually a dead end road ending somewhere deep in the forest with a concrete barrier - a serious problem if you're in a car but only a minor obstruction if you're on a bike.

I finally got to Dover-Foxcroft and stopped at The Mill Inn & Cafe, which I can certainly highly recommend. Their food is delicious and the only minus I would give them is for the lack of a bike rack in front of their building. I had to chain my bike to the railing of nearby bridge.

Next, I had to get back to my car in Pittsfield and conveniently there was a long off-road trail extending all the way from Dover-Foxcroft to Newport, which means I could stay off the main roads and ride through some quieter areas. At least that's what I hoped for.

Unfortunately, people in Maine have a bit different understanding what "recreational trail" is and Newport/Dover-Foxcroft Rail Trail turned out to be heavily used for Maine-type of recreation. That is - ATV riding. By noon, sun was out, it got drier, which means it was dusty. Like - very dusty. During the full 40km/25mi of the trail I encountered only one cyclist, one jogger and hordes of ATVs blowing clouds of dust in the air. This proved to be tiresome and I was happy to get off the trail in Newport and merging with a regular paved road. 

After getting back to Park & Ride in Pittsfield all I had left was to spend the next 3 hours driving back to Boston,... which welcomed me with hot and humid weather again. Argh..., I should've just stayed in Maine!

The Nahmakanta Tour - Day 2

Day 2 - Lily Bay State Park to Endless Lake (134km/83mi)

 
The next morning, I woke up early, packed up and was ready to hit the road by 7:20. I stopped briefly at the shore of Moosehead Lake, since I didn't have a chance to see it the previous day - it was already too dark when I got to my campsite.

A deer family didn't even look at me when I rode by. They were too busy consuming breakfast.

My first quick stop was in Kokadjo, which is a tiny settlement at the edge of First Roach Pond and also the last resupply stop for miles to come. From here, the vast forested areas of Nahmakanta Public Reserved Land swallowed me whole and gave me a solid workout.

Kokadjo Camps & Trading Post

I admit, I've never had a chance to explore remote National Forests in the West or Midwest. I live in New England where most land is highly urbanized and even if you enter countryside, distances between towns and residential areas are measured in minutes - even when you travel by bike.

The Nahmakanta Land was my first experience of being in a truly remote place. Yes, there were roads, although those roads were barely appropriate for trucks and locals use them mostly for ATVs in summer and snowmobiles in winter. Yes, I could see tire tracks in the ground, telling me that someone comes there once a while. But not knowing how old these tracks where and knowing that the next settlement is 40mi (60km) ahead, gave me some uneasy feeling. At least for a moment.

ITS86 was my main ATV "highway" I followed to Millinocket

Main Nahmakanta Land road. This one was really nice - few rocks and no mud.

So it was just me, my bike and... surprisingly few animals around. No mosquitoes, no moose, no bear, just a single porcupine. And the sound of wind.

But once I got to Nahmakanta Lake I saw a car with two people and a dog inside. They were equally surprised seeing me as I was seeing them. They asked where I came from and where I was heading. When I said "Millinocket", they seemed puzzled: "How the hell do you get to Millinocket from here?".

Good question. And a tough one to answer if you're in a car. But since bicycles are true freedom vehicles, they take you to places where cars don't go. As I found out - also to places where not even ATVs go.

One of my trails. This one was snowmobile-only, which explains lots of vegetation.

I knew where I wanted to go. But what I didn't know was that the next section of my trail was for snowmobiles only, which means that it was completely unused in summer. And that means it was so heavily overtaken by vegetation that for the first two miles I spent more time walking my bike or rather pushing it through, than riding it.

For a moment I thought that if something bad happens there, I could be in trouble. Not only no one is going to find me there in summer, but it's also questionable anyone would find me there in winter - once heavy snow comes and covers everything.

Fortunately, after a couple of miles the situation improved and the rest of the trail was actually usable. Once I got to the wide gravel Grant Brook Rd I knew the toughest part was behind me. From there I finally reached Millinocket where I stopped for late lunch.

Another burger and two more Allagash White later I was back on the road. My initial goal was to reach the edge of Seboeis Lake, which is a public reserved land and where camping is generally allowed for free.

It was getting late and I still had miles to go. I decided to abandon the ATV trail that runs along the main road (Rt11) since it would slow me down too much. Instead, I stayed on Rt11 and by 5:30PM I entered Seboeis Public Land.

There still was some daylight left so I figured that was an opportunity to push a bit more forward and camp further down my route - giving me a head start the next day.

This way I eventually reached Endless Lake with a picture-perfect camping spot right at the waterfront. After pitching my tent, I went for a swim. Water was surprisingly warm and refreshing. Could there be a better way to end the long day?

The Nahmakanta Tour - Day 1

This summer is just not going away! Since it's still too hot and too humid in Boston to enjoy outdoors, I decided to run away to central Maine, with my bike, obviously.

I rode the length of Maine coast all the way to Canada and back last summer and I visited many other places in Maine earlier with my family, but I never had a chance to see the interior of this most-forested state in USA. To fix this mistake, last Friday early morning I packed my bike, put it in the car and drove for 3 hours to Pittsfield, ME to begin a 3-day mini-tour of Moosehead Lake, Nahmakanta and Seboeis Lands and Piscataquis River valley.

This time was a bit different though than my other biketouring trips. First of all, I have a different bike. It's heavier but it's much more capable in tough terrain and as such, I planned my route to stay away from main roads as much as possible and include many unpaved roads and small trails.

Then, there was a matter of carrying the load: tent, mattress, sleeping bag, clothes, etc. In short, I gave up on a rear rack entirely. In fact, the only load over the rear wheel (except my body) was a tiny saddlebag with tools and spares. Everything else I carried weighed down the front wheel.

This, in general, turned out to be a pretty good idea. The front load didn't seem to affect performance of this bike in any significant way. Handling was still very stable and predictable. But now, I think that perhaps the next time I should leave some things packed over the rear wheel as well. That's because when climbing steep gravel roads while riding out-of-saddle, the rear tire had a tendency to slip too easily and weighing it down could help.

Day 1 - Pittsfield to Moosehead Lake (138km/86mi)

It's a pretty long drive to Pittsfield, ME so I left home early in the morning. I parked my car at one of Park & Ride lots where you can leave your car for free for several days and by 9:30AM I was on the bike. The first miles were maybe a bit boring, since I was going mostly through some farmland. On the other hand, the smell of fresh natural fertilizer wakes you up better than coffee...

The best thing about rolling through central Maine this time of the year was the temperature. It was cool at only 60F (16C) in the morning and then barely 72F (22C) in the late afternoon - a much needed relief from hot and humid Boston.

The fun started when I got to a 20km/12mi mark and entered Scott Rd - a wide, unpaved forest road. This way I eventually reached the town of Harmony - a stop for logging trucks.

Next, I made my way further north to Kingsbury Plantation and then continued on a rocky ATV trail (Old Stage Coach Rd) towards wind power generators on the hilltop. Unfortunately, here is where my navigational skills failed me and I found out that the road that exists on map, doesn't in real life. I ended up riding all the way back down to Rt16 and then taking Happy Corner Rd back north towards Blanchard.

Duh!

Rocks - this (and mud) is what most ATV "highways" in Maine are made of

These things are huuuge up close!

Right after passing Blanchard I was supposed to merge with another ATV trail going north, but it turned out to be closed due to "saturated soils", which is a nice way to say that you will likely either drown in mud or water. I decided not to try that and took the main road to Shirley Mills.

The good thing was that from there it was a straight shot along a wide gravel road (and a former railroad bed) to Greenville. The bad thing was that it was already pretty late and I didn't have much daylight left to enjoy.

 

I stopped for a dinner at Stress Free Moose Pub & Cafe, which as it turns out, serves very decent burgers and has a good selection of beers. Two Allagash White later, I was back on the road making my way north to Lily Bay State Park. Unfortunately, it got completely dark and I spent riding the last miles, as well as pitching my tent, in darkness. Yes, I made a big mistake not taking a flashlight with me.

The park turned out to be a very nice place to stay for the night. Nothing beats a hot shower and a view of starry sky after a long ride.