Clarendon at Tremont Street Intersection: Too Dangerous?
Some residents say both lanes should not be able to turn in both directions. What do you think?
In a previous, "You Ask, Patch Answers," column, several South End residents brought up the intersection of Clarendon Street at Tremont Street near the Boston Center for the Arts, and the confusion that occurs there on a regular basis about which lane can turn in which direction.
Reader Jim Smith said he's concerned about the fact that it is legal for both lanes to turn in both directions onto Tremont.
"I think there's a huge amount of confusion when most folks in the left lane on Clarendon are preparing to turn right onto Waltham and sometimes the right lane from Clarendon turning left onto Tremont attempts to go straight toward Berkeley Street causing a near collision," Smith said. "I think that signs and street marking should be installed indication "right lane must turn right" and "left lane must turn left" from Clarendon but haven't made any headway. I'm wondering if others have had the same thought/experience there."
Others quickly chimed in, including Roberto Rovenolt, who said he lives next to the interstion and has seen many near collisions.
"If I hear a loud cacophony of car horns at rush hour, I can be pretty certain of the cause," he said.
Since this wasn't really a question and was more of a suggestion, for this week's column, I wanted to turn it over to you, South End residents. Should the city put a sign reading: Right lane must turn right? Left lane must turn left? Do you think the intersection works fine the way it is, or is it too dangerous?
Got a question about the neighborhood you want answered? Submit it in the comments below. Each week Patch will pick a question to research and answer the following week. Add your question today!
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Ruth Goran
10:46 am on Monday, February 25, 2013
The intersection should definitely have signs that say left lane for left turn only and right lane for right turn only. I have only lived in the South End since August and have almost been hit a few times.
Jean Lucey
12:24 pm on Monday, February 25, 2013
I completely agree that it should be "left lane, left turn" and "right lane, right turn". That said, my closest call arose when I had turned left onto Tremont and was turning right onto Waltham and a bicyclist was heading downtown on Tremont, having run a red light.
Raphael
1:51 pm on Monday, February 25, 2013
This intersection MUST have signs placed stating....left lane must turn ....and....right lane must turn right....I fail to see why the city will not do this........
JMc
8:43 am on Tuesday, February 26, 2013
the city "fails" to do this because no one tells them. There are THOUSANDS of intersections in the city, and you can't expect government to monitor each and every one. Have you called the mayors hotline? Used citizens connect? Contacted the two abutting neighborhood associations? Called your city councilor?
Have you done anything to let the city know this is an issue?
Jim Smith
10:57 am on Monday, March 4, 2013
Thanks everyone. And to JMc's comment... in fact I have done some of those things, but probably not as much as I could. Last year about this time, I contacted the leadership of the Ellis association and I got a very nice reply that they were going to discuss it at the Executive Committee meeting and get back to me. However, I never heard back. I probably should have pressed them but admittedly didn't... my fault for not following up. At the same time I followed their suggestion to call DPW who referred me to the city transportation department and they told me to submit a "complaint". I did that via Citizen's connect and received the following response on 12/5/12 which kind of took the wind out of my sails for a bit. "The Boston Transportation Department - Traffic Division reported to us this case was resolved on 12/5/2012 1:38 PM, noting: Case Resolved
The double left or right move is permitted as Tremont Street is 2 lanes in each direction."
So, I posted this question on SE Patch to see where that would lead and I am enormously grateful to find that there are others out there with the same concern. Thanks SE Patch! My plan is now to take this article and the comments back to Ellis and the City to see if this may help move this along. I welcome other suggestions of how to gain support and move this through the city system. I've never done anything like this so could use all the help I can get! Thanks folks.
Charlie Denison
4:34 pm on Monday, March 4, 2013
"The double left or right move is permitted as Tremont Street is 2 lanes in each direction." I can't believe the Transportation Dept said this! What do they expect to happen if the driver in the left lane is going right and the driver in the right lane is going left?
JMc
5:12 pm on Monday, March 4, 2013
Charlie, perhaps the reason to encourage them to re-evaluate the intersection. :)
David
12:17 pm on Tuesday, March 5, 2013
I agree. I've seen cars in the left-hand lane and cars in the right -hand lane nearly collide because they both turn left and both want to go down Waltham. Right-hand and left-hand signs would make the intersection safer.
RobC
9:28 am on Wednesday, March 6, 2013
Hitch too, is, the majority of folks think it, but when you approach the city, one-by-one, it often gets dismissed one-by-one, like Mr. Smith's inquiry with the transportation department. Somebody looks at it, thinks "there's nothing broken there, and we've got lots of broken stuff to get to" -- and he gets an auto-reply to that effect. And I know his communication doesn't get linked with the next gal's effort to bring attention to it. Until there's a groundswell. Perhaps this article, and the responses, will help Mr. Smith shows there's widespread support for having this particular intersection reevaluated. I'm not knocking government, but while JMc brings up a good point -- there ARE thousands of intersections, and thousands of streetlights with bulbs that need to be changed (altho the city does a fairly good job of responding to those when alerted), countless things to monitor -- the reality is, when Joe Public gets in touch to say "this generally isn't working" -- it gets lost, and people get discouraged about putting in that effort. So, it's a catch-22. City can't fix it if they don't know; people don't bother because they're often met with an auto-reply.
Until somebody starts the ball rolling. So, good for all of you, Sara, Ruth, Jean, Raphael, JMc, Jim, Charlie and David!! And here's where lazy Rob jumps in: I applaud all of you, but I'm adding my voice!
Oh, and that intersection? TOTALLY should be right only and left only lanes. Recipe for disaster as is.
Sara Jacobi
10:54 am on Wednesday, March 6, 2013
I would be extremely excited and honored if this discussion helped to promote change at this intersection. Please keep me posted! And if there are other similar issues elsewhere in the neighborhood, I'm also happy to help facilitate those neighborhood-wide discussions on here too. Just reach out anytime.
Washington Gateway Main Street
12:24 pm on Wednesday, March 6, 2013
Waltham and Washington!
RobC
12:32 pm on Wednesday, March 6, 2013
Washington Gateway: YES! Could use a light there, and move the crosswalk down to the little bend, sorta from the entrance of Wilkes Passage to 7-11. Or at the entrance to the dog park. Looooong stretch with no crosswalk, and lots of foot traffic to/from the park, and folks coming down Rollins from Boston Sports Club, etc. We all should go to Waltham St, but we all know not everybody does.....