Robinson left an indelible mark on the Back Bay

Frank Robinson’s death this week made me flash back to the first time

I met this charming gentleman.

It was summer of 1992. I was a wide-eyed reporter and he was long

a legend with the moniker “Godfather of the Back Bay.”

I didn’t know it then, but now I’d venture to guess that the

environmental fights Frank Robinson and his wife, Fran, took up in

the late 1960s against development was the precursor to Greenlight

and all the other environmental skirmishes over the four decades

since.

I was meeting Robinson that day after he called to discuss what he

believed was another menace that threatened the pristine and natural

settings of his beloved saltwater estuary -- bicyclists.

Or to be specific, speeding bicyclists along Back Bay Drive.

Robinson was concerned that Back Bay Drive had become a raceway on

the weekends, as biker after biker used the twisting, scenic route to

prepare for the Tour de France or something.

Robinson proposed that the speed limit on Back Bay Drive be

lowered from 25 mph to 15 mph for all vehicles, to slow people down.

But he knew he had a fight on his hands, maybe not as big as the

fight between he and the Irvine Co. over the fate of the Upper

Newport Bay, but a fight nonetheless.

“Bicyclists want the road to the themselves,” he told me as we

walked along Back Bay Drive that August day. “They found this

2.7-mile stretch of road with no stop signs. They are very adamant

that they don’t want any constraints. It’s going to be a donnybrook.”

The glut of cyclists, whom he called “spandex cowboys,” had put

pedestrians like himself in danger. Beyond that, the cyclists also

were traveling too fast for their own good, he said.

He cited the case of James Murphy, a Pacific Mutual insurance

salesman, who had slipped out of control on Back Bay Drive and was

severely injured. Murphy was not wearing a helmet and suffered brain

injuries.

Murphy ultimately won a case against the city to the tune of

nearly $3 million.

And as for Robinson, his legend and his knowledge of the Back Bay

prompted the council to take up his cause.

So just as he can be credited for saving the Back Bay, those who

travel along Back Bay Drive can also thank, or curse him under their

breath.

That’s because he was victorious. The speed limit on Back Bay

Drive is now 15 mph.