NYC-Styles 'Don't Block the Box' Campaign Comes to Boston
It's a $150 fine to clog up an intersection by moving into it when you can't get all the way across. The city has targeted 18 intersections for special enforcement.
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Tell us in the comments which intersections in Charlestown need this kind of treatment.
Anyone who has been to New York City will have seen the "Don't Block the Box" signs. Now Boston has picked up the campaign.
It was already illegal under state law to drive into an intersection when you can't get all the way across. But starting Thursday, Boston will be handing out tickets to motorists who clog intersections — even if they edged in while the light was green.
The city is targeting 18 intersections so far with signage and pavement markings. Most of them are in the Longwood Medical Area. They are listed below and shown on the map accompanying this post:
- Brookline Avenue and Francis Street
- Brookline Avenue and Deaconess Road/Jimmy Fund Way
- Brookline Avenue and Longwood Avenue
- Longwood Avenue and Binney Street
- Longwood Avenue and Blackfan Street
- Evans Way and Fenway/Louis Prang Street
- Huntington Avenue and Longwood Avenue
- Huntington Avenue and St. Albans Road/Mission Street
- Huntington Avenue and Fenwood Road
- Brigham Circle
- Huntington Avenue and Ruggles Street/Louis Prang Street
- Atlantic Avenue and Congress Street
- Atlantic Avenue and Seaport Boulevard
- Congress Street and Purchase Street
- Massachusetts Avenue and Albany Street
- Massachusetts Avenue and St. Botolph Street
- Boardman Street and Leyden Street
- Meridian Street and Monmouth Street
The city said it will add more intersections as needed.
Here is some of the text of the state law against blocking the box:
The driver of a motor vehicle shall not cross or enter an intersection, which it is unable to proceed through, without stopping and thereby blocking vehicles from travelling in a free direction. A green light is no defense to blocking the intersection. The driver must wait another cycle of the signal light, if necessary.
The crackdown is being done in partnership with MASCO, a non-profit that works for the interests of the Longwood Medical Area.
So far, Charlestown is not included in the city's plans, but what Charlestown intersections do you think are in most need of this treatment?
Megaphone Hammer
9:23 am on Tuesday, September 4, 2012
It's just another means to fine, fee and exact money from the public. In Boston it is nearly impossible for this not to happen--unintentionally blocking an intersection. The traffic lights are poorly timed and not syncronized. There are too many vehicles in a town that is very small--It grew out of a cow pasture with its associated winding roads, unlike NYC's grid system. When pedestrian, that ignore the lights and rational flow of traffic (that's what the streets are designed for) simply walk into a crosswalk regardless because they have immunity because they have been given it by an inconceived law, they block traffic, leaving cars in the middle of and intersection. Automobiles and their licensed operators are an easy target for all kinds of fees and fines--you're a sitting duck, you have a registration and a plate number-so it's easy to assign violations! How about giving fines to J walkers or those that weave in and out of traffic on bikes, scooters and skateboards. You can be sure the police unions have or would balk at that assignment! Too hard to do, no visible plate, no way of exacting the fee along with the late fee and charges to a pair of feet- what would they do, take away your shoes if you didn't pay!
Meggle
10:19 am on Tuesday, September 4, 2012
I'm happy to see this actually enforced. All this takes to follow is about one second of planning ahead rather than impulsively hitting the gas. Ask yourself: Is there enough space for you to clear the intersection? If not, don't move forward! It's a simple concept that it seems nobody in Boston can grasp. Not following this leads to more traffic headaches for everyone.
Louise Potter
11:19 am on Friday, September 7, 2012
Getting off the Mystic River Bridge