Boston's bike lanes nearly set for riders
By Maddie Hanna, Globe Correspondent
In a city renowned for hair-raising traffic and teeming streams of pedestrians, Boston officials say they're ready to take the first steps toward making streets friendlier to bikes.
Mayor Thomas M. Menino, at a press conference outside Kenmore Square yesterday, said the first bike lanes on city streets - a mile stretch on Commonwealth Avenue near Boston University and a 2.2-mile section of the American Legion Highway by Franklin Park - are about ready for use.
The city has also begun installing about 250 bike racks around Boston, in what officials hope is a first phase of improvements to encourage bicycling.
"We put more people on bikes, we'll have less congestion," Menino said.
The bike lanes on Commonwealth Avenue, from Kenmore Square to the BU Bridge, and along the American Legion Highway, from Blue Hill Avenue to Cummins Highway, are expected to be completed this month, city officials said.
For years, Boston cyclists have battled traffic while navigating narrow streets.
In 1999, Bicycling magazine labeled Boston the least bicycle-friendly city in the country. Since then, the magazine has continued to rank Boston among its worst.
The state has installed several bike lanes on state roads in Boston, but the two announced yesterday are the first on city streets. The lanes along American Legion Highway cost $67,000, said Jennifer Mehigan, a spokeswoman in the mayor's office. She did not know the cost of the Commonwealth Avenue lanes.
Yesterday's announcement comes about 11 months after Menino said that he wanted to create a network of bike lanes throughout Boston and to add 250 bike racks across the city. To head the project, he appointed Nicole Freedman as the city's director of bicycle programs.
Yesterday, Freedman said the goal is "to make Boston a healthy, vibrant, livable city."
The city plans to install several miles of bike lanes a year but doesn't have a specific plan outlined for how extensive the network would become, Freedman said.
Officials intend to first install lanes where they would have the most impact, such as on Commonwealth Avenue, she said.
Freedman estimated the street, where Boston University is based, has the highest volume of bike traffic in the city.
The width of the lanes varies depending on the location: four feet along curbs, and five feet where there is parallel parking, Freedman said.
So far, the city has added about 40 bike racks and will finish distributing the rest by November, Freedman said.
She also plans to examine the feasibility of a bike-share program, which would allow people to pick up a bike at one location and drop it off at another. The city on Monday issued a Request for Information on the project, which Freedman said could be launched in spring 2010.
Menino said Boston must find ways to reduce car traffic to relieve congestion and reduce carbon emissions.
"With the environment being a number one issue, we have to be a part of that," the mayor said.
Cyclists and members of bike advocate groups who attended yesterday's press conference said they were pleased with the city's efforts. But they said they hope more lanes will follow.
"I think it's a great start," said Seth Davis, 28, who lives in Cambridge. "But having bike lanes just from the BU Bridge to Kenmore is a short stretch."
Davis, who is organizing next week's Bicycle Film Festival with showings at the Somerville Theatre and the Institute of Contemporary Art, said bike traffic has increased in Cambridge. He often sees five or six cyclists parked at a stoplight.
As biking becomes more popular, adding bike lanes and improving bike accessibility is increasingly important, said Chris Ditunno, who in May started Allston-Brighton Bikes, a community bike group.
Ditunno, who is 42 and lives in Brighton, described biking in Boston as "scary, but getting better very quickly."
Maddie Hanna can be reached at mhanna@globe.com.
Will Boston become a more liveable city, a better, safer spot for cyclists? Do you think this is money well spent? Have your say in our comments section below.
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It's a start, a small and cautious one typical of New England..but a start no less. After having just been to Holland and seeing how great it is there for bikes I wish the same for many cities in the US. Anyone who wants to do it right for bikes should go and spend considerable time traveling Holland and see how they do it. There is no reason for all these cars and nasty drivers in this or any city. BTW I haven't had a car for 30 years and have done just fine.
I agree - a small and cautious start. I expected to see more as The Mayor has often positioned Boston as a world class city. Cycling through Boston frequently, I would classify the relationship between autos, pedestrians and cyclists as less than world class - more like rolling skirmishes in a lesser developed part of the world.
In the suburbs, I see local police enforcing Stop Signs and Crosswalks for pedestrians. I'd like to see the same in Boston, if only to encourage drivers to slow down and pay more attention to pedestrians. (Cyclists dismount and walk, too.) Then, maybe cyclists would be more accepted (and tolerated.)
Let's face it, most of Boston's city streets are woefully narrow so adding bikes to the mix only worsens the problems for drivers. (Many cyclists own cars, too.) Once outside the City proper (and these bikes lane are outside the City), there's much more room for autos and cyclists to co-exist.
I would hope to see bike lanes on the inner city arteries soon: Boylston Street, Mass Ave, Tremont Street, Huntington Ave, Columbus Ave, Blue Hill ave, etc.
It's a start, but a lot more must be done to make drivers aware that bikes have rights to the road and to make cyclists adhere to the driving laws.
The previous commenter has it wrong. Dismounting and walking your bike is counter to the law. But that's why this education process has to be pervasive and effective.
While we're at it, let's also encourage free or reduced parking for vehicles that don't contribute to congestion and pollution.
Three or four scooters or motorcycles to a parking space should be standard practice. There should also be reduced parking for hybrids and other vehicles that are energy efficient.
I continue to find the concept of bike lane's (at least as they exist around here) curious. They do not solve any of the logistical problems that arise when bikers ride on the right, sandwiched between car traffic and parked cars...they simply create a stronger argument for the bikers to be there.
For example, as between a car making a right turn and a bike going straight through an intersection in the bike lane, who has the right of way? Should bikers be required to be aware of the car turning and avoid it to the left, or should drivers be required to pay attention to their side and rear view mirrors (a difficult task at night when trying to spot a bike) before making the right turn?
It's too bad a Holland-like solution where bike traffic is fully segregated isn't viable in Boston.
You don't have to go as far as Holland, try Colorado, particularly Boulder. Boulder is arguably the most bicycle friendly city in the country, proving that, yes Virginia, Americans can coexist with cyclists. There are bike lanes, bike paths and signage reminding drivers to "Share the Road". Cyclists and car drivers even successfully share highways and there are even lanes and paths that lead out to Denver International Airport.
While I support and encourage the idea of more commuter options I worry about executon. Boston paints a few white lines on the road, they inevitably fade after a few months and then the bike riders who depend upon the lanes are once again in a free for all with the rest of traffic. In NYC bike lanes are routinely ignored- trucks and autos double park blocking the lanes, leaving bikers swerving into swifter auto traffic lanes. Don't get me wrong- I'd like to see less auto congestion, too (I'm 'fortunate' enough to have purchased a home a 10 minute walk from my office) I just wonder if we're trying to make Boston something it won't be without a major undertaking in the reconfiguration of our infrastructure. Seattle, Portland and other top biker friedly metro areas work because they can separate bike and auto traffic in many areas-bikers have miles of dedicated 'rail trail' style pathways- and dense downtown areas have consistently marked, grid style road/bikeways that look familiar to vehicle drivers. We'll never be have that here...I'll be looking out for you when I have to take the occasional drive, bikers, but if you're doing it- PLEASE stop running the red llight in front of the Four Seasons on Boylston St. or I'm going to kill you with my car, and you will have ruined two lives...
I agree with Dave in #4. Bike lanes further add to the confusion of right-of-way laws for bicycles and cars. When I'm going down Commonwealth Ave. during rush hour I am much more comfortable riding down the center of a lane than staying to the right in a bike lane. I am also driver and it is counterintuitive to check your right for bikes. The law dictates that no one should be passing on that side, especially if you are in a "Right Turn Only" lane.
Remember: roads were initially paved to accommodate bicycles, not for automobile traffic. Automobiles were added later.
Although Boulder is very bike friendly, only a few miles away there is blatant and rampant hatred of cyclists. My wife (not a cyclist) just returned from a wedding in Denver where a local radio talk show was discussing how best to rid the roads of all the cyclists. Side topics included how foolish we all look in our tight outfits and many callers to the show spoke openly of running cyclists off the road. The host of the show promoted this prevailing attitude towards cyclists. The sheriff of Larimer County CO has even spoken publicly regarding his practice of stopping cyclists to ask for identification and jailing those who have none.
For naysayers about the possibilities, look at Paris. It has a mix of bike lanes for cyclists within the city as well as areas where you have to simply become part of the road traffic...they have built in to the stop lights (at cyclist eye level) the traffic signal for bikers. It is a major metropolitan city where drivers, IMHO, aren't much kinder than those in Boston, NYC, LA or anywhere else. But there are a fair number of cyclists. During my recent 3 person, 6 day, non supported ride from Heidelberg Germany to Paris, we had the opportunity to pedal through a wide variety of cities, including Paris. They are making an effort, as should every community, to make cycling more of an option, even though it has it's challenges. And education is key as well...to the individual who wrote "but a lot more must be done to make drivers aware that bikes have rights to the road and to make cyclists adhere to the driving laws." they are absolutely right. Most drivers have lost any sense of what the law is with regard to pedestrians and cyclists and many cyclists regularly do not follow the rules of the road. Rather than be defeatist, we should applaud Boston's efforts, do what we can to support them and try and help change our community, even if it's one stretch of bikepath at a time...
Bicycles? A grand idea for the greenest of green of the in city types that don't require a shower before work. Get serious. If you want to lower emmissions and reduce traffic congestion, the state might want to incent its citizens to use mopeds and motorcycles for commuting purposes. Transferring 20% of autos to mopeds/motorcycles for 8 months of the year will actually reduce the congestion both in and out of the city. A few "free" parking spaces is all the city would need to do with zero expense to the taxpayer. Forget painting streets and seperating traffic lanes. Are modeps and motorcycles risky? Yes they are. But doesn't all REAL change take risk?
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