One way streets in Somerville

I took a Zipcar out this morning to drive to the other side of town to pick up some paint at an Advance Auto Parts. I ended up going the wrong way on one way streets twice during the round trip (which lasted no more than 40 minutes total). I didn't go more than 50 feet either time before realizing it and turning around.

Now of course I like to think of myself as a halfway decent driver so it made for a frustrating morning. How did I manage to make this same mistake twice? The answer is that Somerville absolutely has TOO MANY ONE WAY STREETS.

Seeing as I have a decent idea of the layout of the city, I know that Broadway, Highland, Summer, Holland/Elm and Somerville are the primary NW-SE routes in the city. Occasionally people aren't either going towards Boston or away from Boston and need to go NE or SW. The primary streets that run NE-SW in Somerville are College, Willow, Cedar, Lowell, Central, School, Walnut and a couple others. The NE-SW streets are the main issue.

On my trip, I started going SW on Central St, thinking I could take it all the way to Somerville Ave (since it goes all the way to Somerville Ave). However it turns out that Central St. is one way in the wrong direction between Somerville and Summer. So wrong way on one way #1 was crossing straight over Summer St. to continue on Central. Ooops, but no big deal, just turn around and take a right on Summer instead.

Wrong way on one way #2 was taking a right turn from NW on Summer onto Cedar. Seemed logical, since my destination was AT THE OTHER END OF CEDAR and I know that Cedar is two ways (although I obviously forgot that it changes at Highland) in certain parts. Although the first two wrong moves were pretty low key no big deal events, in this case the person behind me laid on the horn on green (and I interpreted that to mean YOU'RE NOT STARTING FAST ENOUGH, since I had already gotten that beep once on the trip). In turning my head to look and wave hello, I missed the sign (I probably would have missed it anyway) and started down the street until some very nice walkers actually used the english language to inform me I was going the wrong way. While I know they were not impressed by me, I certainly appreciate that they yelled out.

So that was in while driving an automobile. Having to take a longer path isn't really a big deal in a car. However the frustration I experienced today was a good example of how one way streets generally make it more difficult to "get around". Shouldn't the major roads in the city get me where I want to go?

Now that was in a car. On a bike following the one way rules can be considerably more frustrating. From my apt. to the nearest 24 hour supermarket in a straight line is about six tenths of a mile. The google walking directions are pretty much direct and the trip becomes eight tenths of a mile. On a bike however it's complicated.

To get to the supermarket by bike, I can go in a fairly direct route. By going the wrong way on a quiet one way street for about two hundred feet, I can basically take the most direct path, 0.8 miles. I can even avoid going the wrong way on a one way street and it only adds a tenth of a mile to the trip. However I would then have to take Highland Ave, one of the main streets in the town and certainly the least bike friendly on this particular trip.

To get home, because of the one way streets, despite the many roads I really only have one route option. That option is basically an entirely different route than the one I take to get to the supermarket. It takes me on two primary, busy roads, Elm St and Willow St, neither of which are particularly friendly to newbies, slower or less confident bikers despite bike accommodations on both.

This combination of not being able to return the way I arrived and having to take bike unfriendly streets turns what should be an ideal bicycle shopping trip into one that is unlikely to be made by very many bikers.

Because of this, Somerville will not truly be bike friendly until more streets are available for safe two way biking.