Better biking ahead at Massachusetts Ave. crossing in Arlington

By Brock Parker, Town Correspondent

Town officials want to improve bicycle safety at the crossing of the Minuteman Bikeway and Massachusetts Avenue this summer.

The town will install more signs at the crossing in Arlington Center to remind cyclists not to ride their bikes on the sidewalks; it will also paint shared-lane markings on the roadway, said Scott Smith, a member of the town’s advisory committees on bicycle and transportation issues.

The shared-lane markings include arrows and a rendering of a bicycle on the street to remind motorists to share the road with cyclists, and to guide bicyclists to the correct place for them to ride.

While there have not been an exceptional number of bicycle accidents at the intersection, Smith said there have been several complaints about people riding bicycles on the sidewalk, especially on nice weekends.

Selectmen have approved the changes, and Smith said the town eventually hopes to make traffic signal changes and find a way to carve out a separate path, or possibly a bicycle lane, at the intersection.