I hope this doesn’t destroy Boylston St the way Tremont St has been mutilated. Horrendous and dangerous traffic congestion with delivery trucks that block the lanes requiring motorists to drive into the opposing lane of traffic, electric scooters, and door dashers speeding down the bike lanes ignoring lights and fewer parking spaces for shoppers with children or seniors with packages especially when the weather is inclement. Which in Boston is a year round condition. Who wants to ride a bike when it’s hot and muggy or cold, snowing, raining or icy? The bike lanes offer single rider benefits for only a small minority of citizens.
Thanks for your thoughts, Beverly. I think making the connection between the congestion of scooters and mopeds, needing their own space on this important thoroughfare is important.
We are having a hearing about the "Rules of the Road" on July 9th at 2PM. We are working diligently on this issue and the City of Boston will have some updates to share! We will be watching the implementation of these improvements.
Great post Councilor Durkan - BPI included this post in our 'Prepare for Week 8 of Boston's FY25 Budget Season' post! We also highlighted Councilor Flynn's community meeting on Wednesday night & the Herald's coverage of it and the Chief of Streets' appearance on Morning Edition - check it out for more: https://bostonpolicyinstitute.substack.com/p/prepare-for-week-8-of-bostons-fy25
Hi Sharon, My wife and I are constituents living at the corner of Marlborough and Hereford. We do not own a car, so walking is our only way around (besides the T). We both walk to work -- my wife to Trader Joe's on Boylston (the original one) -- so we rely heavily on Boylston Street.
We are very supportive of the bike lanes!
I would echo a couple of other thoughts to make walking safer in our neighborhood. First, the delivery scooters are an absolute menace. I worry that without enforcement, they will take over the protected bike lanes, rendering them much less useful. Senator Brownsberger asserts that current laws provide sufficient authority to City and State police to sanction scooter violators. It is essential that City police prioritize enforcement. Simply watch the Boylston Chic-fil-A!
Second, motorized and regular bikes will now have a protected bike lane. There is no good reason for them to ride on the sidewalks anymore. I'm not sure if some kind of mandatory education for Blue Bike users should be added? And / or, enforcement starting with warnings?
I support your goal to keep pedestrians, bikes, and motorized "things" separated from each other so that we can all co-exist safely. Thanks for sharing this news and continuing your work for us constituents.
NYC has experienced significant issues related to their "over expansion" of bike lanes on major thoroughfares that were not designed for this usage. Also, how exactly does this benefit your Beacon Hill constituents?
Hi JJ! The point of the substack was to outside some of what I think is positive and as the representative for neighborhoods (West End, Beacon Hill, Back Bay, Fenway and Mission Hill), I think this proposal is a really helpful connectivity proposal for my district.
The bike lane was actually supported by the Boston Globe Editorial Board, and I have heard support for it.
In my opinion, there were more questions about the bus lane, which through public feedback, changes were made to the timing (AM/PM Peak). In my opinion this has more to do with connecting the existing bike lane network than anything else. The bus lane also was initially created for a T diversion, and worked well.
I hope this doesn’t destroy Boylston St the way Tremont St has been mutilated. Horrendous and dangerous traffic congestion with delivery trucks that block the lanes requiring motorists to drive into the opposing lane of traffic, electric scooters, and door dashers speeding down the bike lanes ignoring lights and fewer parking spaces for shoppers with children or seniors with packages especially when the weather is inclement. Which in Boston is a year round condition. Who wants to ride a bike when it’s hot and muggy or cold, snowing, raining or icy? The bike lanes offer single rider benefits for only a small minority of citizens.
Thanks for your thoughts, Beverly. I think making the connection between the congestion of scooters and mopeds, needing their own space on this important thoroughfare is important.
We are having a hearing about the "Rules of the Road" on July 9th at 2PM. We are working diligently on this issue and the City of Boston will have some updates to share! We will be watching the implementation of these improvements.
Great post Councilor Durkan - BPI included this post in our 'Prepare for Week 8 of Boston's FY25 Budget Season' post! We also highlighted Councilor Flynn's community meeting on Wednesday night & the Herald's coverage of it and the Chief of Streets' appearance on Morning Edition - check it out for more: https://bostonpolicyinstitute.substack.com/p/prepare-for-week-8-of-bostons-fy25
Hi Sharon, My wife and I are constituents living at the corner of Marlborough and Hereford. We do not own a car, so walking is our only way around (besides the T). We both walk to work -- my wife to Trader Joe's on Boylston (the original one) -- so we rely heavily on Boylston Street.
We are very supportive of the bike lanes!
I would echo a couple of other thoughts to make walking safer in our neighborhood. First, the delivery scooters are an absolute menace. I worry that without enforcement, they will take over the protected bike lanes, rendering them much less useful. Senator Brownsberger asserts that current laws provide sufficient authority to City and State police to sanction scooter violators. It is essential that City police prioritize enforcement. Simply watch the Boylston Chic-fil-A!
Second, motorized and regular bikes will now have a protected bike lane. There is no good reason for them to ride on the sidewalks anymore. I'm not sure if some kind of mandatory education for Blue Bike users should be added? And / or, enforcement starting with warnings?
I support your goal to keep pedestrians, bikes, and motorized "things" separated from each other so that we can all co-exist safely. Thanks for sharing this news and continuing your work for us constituents.
Hi -
NYC has experienced significant issues related to their "over expansion" of bike lanes on major thoroughfares that were not designed for this usage. Also, how exactly does this benefit your Beacon Hill constituents?
Hi! 6 year Beacon Hill resident just chiming in that I mostly cycle to get around Boston so a protected bike lane helps me out quite a bit!
Hi JJ! The point of the substack was to outside some of what I think is positive and as the representative for neighborhoods (West End, Beacon Hill, Back Bay, Fenway and Mission Hill), I think this proposal is a really helpful connectivity proposal for my district.
The bike lane was actually supported by the Boston Globe Editorial Board, and I have heard support for it.
https://www.bostonglobe.com/2023/07/08/opinion/boylston-bike-lane-traffic-bottleneck/
In my opinion, there were more questions about the bus lane, which through public feedback, changes were made to the timing (AM/PM Peak). In my opinion this has more to do with connecting the existing bike lane network than anything else. The bus lane also was initially created for a T diversion, and worked well.