The Boston Globe from Boston, Massachusetts • 18

B2 THE BOSTON GLOBE MONDAY, JANUARY 17, 2000 StartscmcZStops THOMAS C. PALMER JR. Mayor's transportation study unlikely to cure many commuter ills from four to five lanes up south of the Northern Avenue ramp. Also, signals have been retimed buryport and Rockport Line has been relatively good. There were 1,654 train trips in December on the Newburyport Rockport Line.

Specifically, 96.13 percent were on time in December, 93.03 percent on time in November, 93.27 percent in October. Of the first 324 trips in January, 290 were on time. That's a record of 90 percent, but the figure may be adjusted upward, because some of the delays were weather-related, when wind knocked a tree onto the tracks. If Amtrak, which operates commuter-rail, couldn't control it, a delay doesn't count against its record. Weather, police actions, busy Fleet-Center events, and so forth.

"On time," by the way, is anything within five minutes of the scheduled stop or departure. (. ti 1- I serve. "What he found was kind of interesting," Ganiatsos said. "The loop detectors for the left arrow are under the ground in the left-hand lane.

"When cars don't sit in the left-hand lane, it's not going to turn on." What Aleman discovered, sitting out there for a couple of hours, was that traffic that wanted to turn left was kind of sloppily sitting in the middle lane, waiting for a green arrow that was never going to happen. The fix? "We're going to put better signage, directing drivers that the lane is exclusively for straight, and it's left-turn-only from the left lane." Ganiatsos said they are going to change the timing of the signal as well. The green arrow will stay on for varying lengths of time, depending on how much traffic is in the line waiting to turn left "The maximum 30 seconds for the green arrow stays at 30," she said. "But the minimum will change from 8 to 12 seconds." The point of all this is that the problems are out there, drivers notice them, the talent exists to fix things (or at least improve them) -but somebody has to bring it all together. Is a citywide transportation study going to do that? Somehow we think these important little things may fall below the radar.

How about a traffic team that doesn't wait for our call, but systematically analyzes the busiest intersections, as Aleman did these two? Here's another problem in that vicinity we tossed at Ganiatsos: Columbia Road outbound at Blue Hill Avenue, just before you cross Blue Hill to Franklin Park. There are four traffic lanes there. The right-hand lane is a no-parking curb lane that everybody parks in. That's an enforcement problem, which is another matter altogether. The second lane from the right is straight-ahead only.

The left two lanes are left turn only. You're not allowed to go straight from that middle traffic lane even though the street across Blue Hill, in front of the zoo, is one-way, with no opposing (inbound) traffic. With illegal parking and doubly illegal double-parking on the right sometimes no one who wants to drive through Franklin Park can get through during a full light cycle. "Well take a look at it," said Ganiatsos. It's an easy one.

No studies required. You asked Qn October, Mayor Thomas M. Menino announced a grand 10-month study of transportation in Boston in all its forms. We have nothing against ambitious undertakings that make good subjects for speeches at Faneuil Hall, but judging from the scores of letters and e-mails we're getting from you each week, what's needed is simple attention to the system that's out there. Take last week, when we noted Dick's complaint about the left-turn signal inbound on Blue Hill Avenue at American Legion Highway.

And Susan's comment about the traffic light at Edward Everett Square. We know that our readers are the best traffic engineers around, because you spend time analyzing the system. The problem is, you can't get out and fix or adjust the signals, or re-stripe the pavement And, obviously, there are competing interests among commuters, so somebody has to strike a balance. In Boston, it's usually the city transportation department and Tra-cey Ganiatsos of that agency said she would get someone out to those possible trouble spots based on our inquiries last week. As usual, she did.

Wilson Aleman, assistant traffic engineer in the department's signal division, went out last Monday, the day the column was published. He started with Blue Hill and American Legion, where Dick reported "only one and a half cars" get through that left-turn arrow before being hit, so to speak, by on-coming traffic. "He observed movements during the morning peak on Jan. 10, from 7:20 to 8:30 a.m." Ganiatsos said. "He witnessed two to four vehicles every cycle making the left turn without obstruction." The longest line he observed was eight vehicles.

"Five made it through, while the others waited for a break or had to wait for the next cycle." Ganiatsos said changes were made in the timing there last summer, because the traffic on American Legion Highway was backing up too much. "We feel right now it evens out," she said. "No one is waiting too long, and we really don't think it's a problem." Sorry, Dick. Competing interests and all that. Susan, however, will be happier.

At Edward Everett Square, Susan said, a left-turn light governing traffic onto Columbia Road was broken. Ganiatsos checked first with the operations division, which reported everything was working fine, including the under-the-pavement loop detector by which cars trigger the light to change. So she talked to the signal division, and Aleman went out to ob GLOBE STAFF PHOTO JONATHAN WIGGS parking garage will charge com-and $10 for those riding Amtrak. what happened to the little ersatz tree that was pinned to the billboard until recently, the one that was used to send the message that the Big Dig would be digging holes not just for tunnels but also for trees. "The tree is in storage," said Turnpike spokesman Bob Bliss.

"Youll see it again." By the way, Bliss said, regarding the new, US state-specific quarters, "We're not having any problem we're aware of." A reader had gone through the inbound toll booth from Cambridge, tossed in two quarters, and gotten a red light "Your friend there may have just hit a machine that was on the fritz," said Bliss. "More serious than many things you look into on behalf of commuters," wrote Christopher, "there now seems to be a distinct pattern of breakdowns and delays on in-bound morning trains from both the Newburyport and Rockport lines, resulting in consistently late arrival times." And another commuter, Bill from Salem, said there was "a real foul--up," on Tuesday with a huge crowd at Lynn for the 8:24 a.m. train, which was already packed. "We were told that the 7:44 train would be right behind that one. It was but it didn't stop to pick up any commuters." Christopher said these were not weather-related delays and come after years of consistently good performance.

He wondered whether these were "related to the union issues" the MBTA is involved in, namely the controversial effort to snitch contractors for commuter-rail equipment maintenance. That change, still in the works, has been pushed back a week, to March 8, we're told. But heavy negotiations are ongoing, and no one is talking about how they're going. Anyway, Pesaturo said labor dis The MBTA's new Route 128 Station muter rail users $3 per day to park holds more than 2,000 parking spaces, about 1,500 for regular commuters, with the bottom level reserved for Amtrak customers. Why, it occurred to us, are the people who will be going away for the longest parking closer to the ground, when the people who are in and out the same day required to drive to the upper levels? Pesaturo left us about a 45-min-ute message on this, the essence of which is: "We put a lot of thought into the parking design.

"The outbound Amtrak customers, who primarily will be waiting for an outbound train headed for New York or whatever, can park on the first floor and just step right outside the garage and they're right on the platform for southbound. "The customers have to get on the other side of the tracks to get inbound to Boston in the morning. There's a pedestrian bridge. Now the easiest thing for them to do is park on the second or third floor -the third floor, ideally, at the level of the pedestrian bridge. "So you don't have to climb any stairs or use the escaltor or elevator.

You're right there." By the way, they're still putting some finishing touches on the garage. And the top level of the lot is not open yet; it won't be, by agreement with Dedham and Westwood, until a better access ramp to Route 128 and Route 95 is built The Massachusetts Turnpike has a new, multiple-message billboard in place of that old one near the Dewey Square Tunnel that always advertised the Turnpike and the current governor's name. It's generating $15,000 a month for the authority, which is kicking in a couple of billion dollars toward the cost of the Big Dig. But Anthony wanted to know Late! to accommodate more through traffic on Atlantic Avenue at Congress Street the Moakley Bridge, and in front of Rowes Wharf. At the bridge, for example, At- I lantic Avenue traffic will get four extra seconds.

The Walk to the Sea, from Faneuil Hall and High Street across to Rowes Wharf, is being straightened! And, as it will make us feel bet- ter, Big Dig traffic man Glen Berkowitz said of the late Congress Street on-ramp: "Relatively speak- ing, that's the lightest used on-ramrj in downtown Boston." 1 We've carried maps and warn- ings in recent days, but the best ad-! vice is either to take the MBTA and avoid the ramp squeeze altogether, or use one of the other access points to the Central Artery and Interstate 93 northbound. Those include South Street North Street or the new Leverett Circle Connector, and the Charles-town Bridge. The bottom of the Callahan Tunnel is being modified to improve flow and reduce Artery backups, which hinder traffic on the Northern Avenue on-ramp. Avoid Atlantic Avenue if you can. Berkowitz said commuter eration will be required to make th work.

He stopped short of recom- mending you take the Mass. Pike to Route 128 and bypass Boston com-' pletely. On the bright side, the opening of the underground Central Artery at, the end of the Big Dig project will 't solve the problem. And that's only five years away. We answer as many inquiries each week as space allows.

Please, no phone calls. You can reach us on E-mail at startsglobe.com. The column is also on Globe Online at Bos ton.com, which can be found at httpv7www.boston.com. Use the keyword starts. Our mailing address is Starts Stops, P.O.

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Maine, N.H., Vermont 3-digit 539 4-digit 6515 1 Pit stops ichael of Boston called just to say he had renewed his license: "smooth as silk, a to tal of 15 minutes," at the Chinatown Registry of Motor Vehicles Menino and Cambridge City Manager Robert Healy will talk about creating safe and liveable communities tomorrow at a transportation seminar, 9 a.m.-l p.m., at the Cambridge Center Marriott. As you probably read, there's a new pedestrian bridge scheduled to replace the Old Northern Avenue Bridge, instead of a large retail development The fourth in a series of MBTA public meetings will be held at 5:30 p.m. tomorrow in the BRA Board Room of Boston City Hall. The topic is proposed improvements at Government Center Station and City Hall Plaza. You can't get there The Ted Williams Tunnel is open to all through 5 a.m.

tomorrow. The Martin Luther King Jr. Day schedule for the MBTA system today is: subways and streetcars will be on a Saturday schedule, as will the Ride; commuter-rail and Hingham and Hull boats will run on a weekday schedule; weekday service on the Inner Harbor Ferry Charlestown to Long Wharf; no service on Inner Harbor Ferry from Lovejoy Wharf. The McArdle Bridge, connecting Meridian Street in East Boston with Chelsea, will be closed middays for repairs. It will remain open daily 7-9 a.m.

and 4-6 p.m. The Fox Hill Bridge, Route 107, between Lynn and Saugus is being repaired, with traffic alternating in one lane and periodic closures. Work on the drawbridge will continue through the winter. It will be opened to boat traffic at 6 a.m. and 2 and 6 p.m.

daily as needed. As of Friday night the Congress Street ramp onto the Central Artery has closed permanently, making way for continuing Big Dig work in the area. These counts vary, but most of the approximately 750 cars per hour that now take the Congress Street ramp in the afternoon rush period will have to join the 1,250 already using the Northern Avenue on-ramp to the Central Artery. The first big test comes tomorrow, after today's lightly traveled Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.

Atlantic Avenue has been widened from two to three lanes south of the Evelyn Moakley Bridge, and Points! Closing Costs! i-ouu-easiwesi couldn't list all the people who have continued to ask about the new Route 128 Station parking lot that the MBTA has been building on the Dedham-Westwood line. It opens tomorrow. Joe Pesaturo of the says it t's Not Too putes are not a factor. "There has not been a pattern symptomatic of chronic mechanical failures," he said. "Have there been some isolated incidents? Yes.

There were a few instances this month in which the breakdown of a locomotive triggered a ripple effect, resulting in some delays." But Pesaturo said the overall performance of trains on the New 0 El No No 1 a Insurance regulations may be changing! If you need life insurance now is the time to buy! There's still time to lock in SBLI rock bottom rates on guaranteed level premium Term Insurance. Do it now, while you still can! Check Out SOU'S ROCK BOTTOM RATES! nl 3 Low Fixed RatesI "4 i apply online: www.eastwestmortgage.coni apply by phone: mi COUPON Offer expires 12400. One coupon per person. At participating Richdate stores. $300,000 Coverage $500,000 Coverage Age" 10 Year Term 15 Year Term 10 Year Terml5 Year Term 30 $13.05" $14.88 $18.27 "$21.32 35 $13.05 $15.14 $18.27 $21.75 40 $17.49 $20.36 $25.67 $30.45 45 $24.80 $30.02 $37.85 $46.55 in i-i i "I Monthly premiums available with SBLI's Electronic Funds Transfer.

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