Back Bay residents concerned about safety of proposed bike lanes
BOSTON - More bike lanes could be coming to the Back Bay, and it has garnered mixed reactions from people who live there.
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu has put a strong emphasis on expanding pedestrian and cyclist pathways. Part of her mission states the desire to have at least half of the city within a three-minute walk to a protected bike lane.
The latest proposals include new bike lanes on part of Boylston Street, one block of Beacon Street starting at Arlington Street, and the right side of Berkeley Street from Boylston to Beacon. That road is of most concern for Elliott Laffer who heads the Neighborhood Association of the Back Bay.
"When you get to rush hour, it becomes particularly congested," said Laffer. "When people are stuck in traffic, they don't always follow the rules."
Laffer said, as proposed, the new bike lanes on Beacon and Berkeley Streets would eliminate the parking on the right side of the street. Most of that is metered.
Laffer was quick to point out Berkeley Street points directly to Storrow Drive. The road is not open to cyclists. "There are better alternatives to what the city wants to do. We are not opposed to bike lanes, we are opposed to unsafe bike lanes," Laffer said. "I have said publicly before that if you put this lane in place someone will die. And that someone will be on a bike and that is a tragic outcome for everybody."
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu responded to the criticism Friday. "Our streets are built from a time when it was cow paths and pedestrians walking and they were not in a grid like cities that are much younger than us," said Mayor Wu. "The capacity of these streets is reaching the limit and as we continue to grow in terms of our population, we have to find ways to move more people in the same infrastructure."
The city canceled a public input session on these bike lanes that was planned for Saturday citing incoming rain. There has not been a rescheduled date announced.