An opportunity to remake a busy artery like Commonwealth Avenue (“Comm. Ave. project set to finish in Nov.,” March 20, p. 1) comes along very rarely. As the heart of our campus, how the street looks and functions is of utmost importance to students at Boston University. How is it then, that we’ve allowed our sidewalk to be slashed in half, creating a slow and tedious walk to class? Now that there’s no room to bike on the sidewalk, how is it that we’re only getting a bike lane as an afterthought when most cities are moving towards raised, traffic separated lanes?

Painting a line between speeding traffic and parked cars with opening doors does not improve safety, and this is an obvious act that designers in Manhattan and around the world have realized. The designers of the project seem to have not taken into account the reality of how the avenue is used, and instead the CAP has been approved based on the merit of new shrubs and fancy light posts.

The past year of construction has been a badly planned disappointment, and the way things are going, I’m looking forward to seeing the newly lain bricks (delivered right before construction was halted in the winter) ripped up to install ugly parking meters instead of electronic pay stations. Changes need to be made immediately, before even more money is spent on a design that reflects guidelines of suburban 1960 instead of the reality of our campus today.

James Sinclair

SMG ’09