The City of Boston is transferring ahead with plans so as to add bike lanes and reconfigure streets in two neighborhoods, regardless of heavy opposition from residents.
Two heated group conferences and a flurry of emails shared with the Herald level to security issues amongst residents residing in each Back Bay and West Roxbury, the place plans to put in bike lanes on Berkeley, Beacon and Boylston streets, and Centre Street, respectively, had been introduced previously a number of weeks.
“We understand and support the concept of a system of bike paths connecting all parts of the city,” wrote Elliott Laffer, chair of the Neighborhood Association of the Back Bay, in a single such e mail. “However, we imagine it might be irresponsible to implement such a plan in an space the place an unsuspecting bike rider or pedestrian can be positioned in peril.
“The proposed routes on Berkeley and Beacon streets would be deadly. We ask reconsideration of this deeply flawed plan.”
Another resident, Judy Settana, wrote that she and her husband had been against the mayor’s plan to revamp Centre Street in West Roxbury, as a result of they felt it might be “very dangerous for us older folks.”
She mentioned they had been nervous in regards to the time it might take for a hearth truck or ambulance to achieve them in an emergency scenario.
City Councilor Erin Murphy mentioned there are “definitely neighborhoods that are pushing back more” than the Wu administration anticipated. Another councilor, Michael Flaherty, mentioned the loudest opposition is coming from “more active and civically engaged folks, and that gets politically dicey if you don’t listen.”
Flaherty mentioned the opposition is fierce sufficient to halt or change the tasks. A spokesperson for the mayor’s workplace mentioned this week, nonetheless, that plans “have not been paused” and are nonetheless being managed by the Streets Department, which is overseen by Chief of Streets Jascha Franklin-Hodge.
The lack of bend from the town has been famous by opponents to the mission, notably those that have spoken on the prior group conferences and have left feeling like their issues fell on deaf ears.
Michael Weingarten, who has issues with a metropolis proposal to create a one-way separated bike lane on Berkeley and a two-way lane on A/B Beacon, despatched a 25-page memo to Franklin-Hodge, the mayor’s workplace and different metropolis officers, however famous within the e mail that his ideas in all probability gained’t be thought of.
“It’s important to avoid making plans without first seeking productive discourse where community input is valued,” Weingarten wrote. “I have been informed that the (Boston Transportation Department) has already decided to implement the plan by September and there is no room for alterations, but I hope that my concerns will be seriously considered.”
Flaherty mentioned this strategy from the town has “led to residents feeling ignored by the Transportation Department. They feel like it’s being done to them, not with and for them.”
State Rep. Jay Livingstone, who represents Back Bay, mentioned he’s working with Mayor Michelle Wu to get his personal issues addressed, which pertain to security and the disruption of placing a motorbike lane on Berkeley Street.
“It’s a continuing discussion that we’re still having,” Livingstone instructed the Herald. “I think the mayor wants a safe set of bike lanes that make sense for Boston, and is considering all public comments in a way that I would expect.”
Stacy Thompson, government director of LivableStreets, mentioned opposition is to be anticipated.
“There’s almost no bus or bike project that happens in the metro Boston region that there isn’t some group that believes it will somehow cause more congestion or make it harder for them to get around,” Thompson mentioned. “It’s part of a bigger backlash that we see in Boston, and frankly, cities around the country.”
Thompson mentioned her group favors each tasks. She described the West Roxbury plan, which pre-dates the Wu administration and goes again a number of years, as well-vetted, and the 2 plans for the Back Bay as “no-brainers.”
According to a metropolis description, the Wu administration is working to make Centre Street in West Roxbury safer for all by redesigning the road to calm site visitors between LaGrange Street and West Roxbury Parkway.
The space, positioned within the coronary heart of the West Roxbury Main Streets district, has a historical past of dashing and crashes which have resulted in dying and harm, the town web site states.
Murphy opposes the plan, describing it in an announcement as a so-called “road diet” that will “impinge emergency rescue vehicle access, choke residential neighborhoods with spillover traffic, squeeze four lanes down to two with a middle lane for turns at some intersections, harm local businesses by restricting customer access, and add bike lanes.”
Thompson and the mayor’s workplace disagree.
“I think they’re trying to make the bike lanes a boogeyman when the real central purpose of that plan is about making it safer to cross the streets,” Thompson mentioned.
In an announcement, a spokesperson for the mayor’s workplace mentioned, “The Centre Street project is focused on safety, especially for pedestrians,” and added that the town believes the protection information makes clear that the road design should change.
“The current four-lane road configuration has resulted in a high number of injury crashes, and creates conditions where thousands of motorists per day drive at unsafe speeds through a busy neighborhood business district,” the spokesperson mentioned.
“Over the past four years, the city has conducted extensive engineering analysis to develop a design that provides major safety benefits while accommodating traffic volumes and preserving parking.”
The metropolis can be including separated bike lanes on Berkeley Street and Beacon Street to attach the South End to the Back Bay, and to convey individuals from each neighborhoods to the Esplanade.
A 3rd plan transferring ahead is so as to add a one-way separated bike lane on Boylston Street from Massachusetts Avenue to Arlington Street, and a bus lane from Ring Road to Arlington Street, the town web site states.
A Wu spokesperson famous that the adjustments on Berkeley and Beacon Street don’t require the removing of any journey lanes and won’t enhance site visitors or cut back highway capability.
“Berkeley, Beacon and Boylston streets are all busy streets, and research shows the best way to keep people on bikes safe is by creating dedicated, protected space for them to ride,” the spokesperson mentioned. “The city has reached out to people who live, work, and travel along these streets and has worked to incorporate their feedback into the design.”
Source: www.bostonherald.com”