“Biking” to work this morning was awful, as the entire Charles
River bikepath upriver from the B.U. Bridge was entirely unplowed. It
was warm enough that the snow had slushed, and so the new studded tire
I was eager to test out was useless.
Sure, public clearing of roads isn’t perfect,
but at least they try, if only because it makes economic sense. The
problem with segregated bike paths is that when the budget ax falls, it
falls on second- and third-class commuters: cyclists. I’ll certainly be giving the MDC, er, DCR or whatever, a piece of my mind.
I’ll be taking the plowed streets home this evening, which I should have taken this morning to begin with.
Addendum: Some additional information about the DCR from the MassBike listserv:
The
DCR Urban Parks and Recreation Division is split into three regions.The
SW Corridor, which has been plowed, is in the Harbor Region; the
Charles River is in the North Region. Theoretically, the Regional
Deputy Commissioners (I think that’s their correct title) have
near-complete control over the DCR facilities in their region.
The DCR Urban Parks web site does not mention the regions (nor does it
mention the Southwest Corridor Park, which seems to be the only DCR
urban park without a web page, but they were only announced in early
December. The third region is the South region which includes the
Blue Hills and other reservations west and south of Boston (and in
southwestern Boston, too).
