Wu explains what occurred to some Boston bike lane boundaries
Politics
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu signaled a have to reevaluate some bike infrastructure and create everlasting lanes “the place it is working.”
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu addressed why a few of the versatile posts that separate bike lanes from busy streets have been lately eliminated with out public discover.
Flexposts that separate inexperienced bike lanes alongside Arlington Road within the Again Bay, on Massachusetts Avenue within the space of Newmarket Sq., and on Summer season Road within the Seaport have been eliminated, The Boston Globe reported final week.
On the time, town mentioned the Arlington Road posts have been eliminated for routine upkeep after winter storms, whereas the Mass. Ave. ones “have been eliminated in response to suggestions from group members,” in accordance with the Globe.
“To be clear, this isn’t about eliminating bike lanes. This isn’t about saying we don’t want bike lanes. We very a lot want protected, protected infrastructure for extra individuals to make use of our streets in each manner,” Wu mentioned throughout her common look on “Boston Public Radio” Tuesday.
When requested why a few of the posts have been eliminated with out warning to the general public or why a alternative barrier wasn’t put in to guard bikers, Wu mentioned some have been eliminated for “routine upkeep” however declined to debate any particular hall.
Wu calls flexposts her ‘pet peeve,’ says stability is required with drivers
Wu known as the flexposts her “private pet peeve,” stating that they often turn into “gross wanting crumpled plastic far and wide as a result of automobiles and vans are operating over the posts.
“The separation is essential, and they’re undoubtedly the quickest, most cost-effective option to create a motorcycle lane that feels such as you’re not going to place your life in danger,” Wu mentioned. “However in some unspecified time in the future, when a flexpost has been there, defining a motorcycle lane for a yr now, three years now… in some unspecified time in the future we now have to determine, is it working or not?”
If the flexposts are engaged on a selected avenue, Wu elaborated, the bike lane ought to turn into everlasting with a separate curb, or elevated, which might hold automobiles and vans out of the lane.
“With out some mixture of extra everlasting infrastructure, which can price extra and require extra useful resource planning, we simply can’t keep caught on this kind of momentary interval,” Wu mentioned, emphasizing a necessity for “stability” between pedestrians, supply vans, cyclists, and commuters.
Wu makes use of Boylston Road bus lane as instance of eradicating infrastructure that hasn’t labored
Throughout the dialogue, Wu introduced up her workplace’s choice to take away the devoted bus lane on Boylston Road within the Again Bay.
“This bus lane, for instance, it wasn’t getting used as a bus lane on the finish of the day,” Wu mentioned.
Its removing comes as the road, which additionally has separated bike lanes, has been criticized by Councilor Ed Flynn and mayor-hopeful Josh Kraft. The lane was first put in on in July 2024 and will probably be repaved earlier than the Boston Marathon, Wu mentioned.
Wu mentioned on “Boston Public Radio” that the bus lane is an instance of reviewing if new infrastructure is definitely working, implying within the dialog that some bike lanes must be reviewed.
“The objective is the place [bike lanes are] working, hold it, transfer it into one thing that’s everlasting, that’s lovely, that’s becoming of how all of our avenue customers ought to really feel once they’re on the road,” Wu mentioned. “There’s actual evaluation and analysis that needs to be finished [about whether] it even working the way it was supposed.”
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