Biking in Boston


That is shockingly dumb. Now we know why people continue to block the bike lanes. So Let's be clear about one thing, the BPPA is not an actual union and does not claim to be. I have nothing against them, they just aren't the people who "brought you the weekend" and fought for marriage equality. A real union would not openly belittle others by calling them a "meter maid" when that is not their job title and would never suggest that it's members or the members of another union not do their job because in the real world they would get fired
 
Broadway reconstruction in Cambridge is moving along swiftly. In the area today and section B is largely complete with flex posts going in right now, with section C resurfacing/restriping under way. The section by cambridge library is getting some floating curb bus stops (not just quick build) with a 2-way bikeway that connects to cambridge st. Significant removal of parking (50-75% spots removed) with a fully connected protected bikeway all the way from kendall square to harvard square, despite having a parallel (heavily used) separated bikeway on mass ave. It also includes some flexpost daylighting at intersections. Bravo CSO.

www.cambridgema.gov

Broadway Safety Improvement Project

We are installing separated bike lanes on Broadway between Quincy St and Portland St.
www.cambridgema.gov www.cambridgema.gov
 
DAVE said:
ugh honestly can't help but feel a tinge of jealousy as Cambridge continues to lead on bike lanes as Boston seems to just fully plateau and even fall back on ours. Even with our supposed pro bike mayor it just is so frustrating. Do we even have any bike lanes in the works right now? I haven't heard anything in forever.
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I'm sure there's something, somewhere, but progress has really ground to a halt. The lack of a master plan for the network in Boston is mind boggling to me.
 
cubbe8 said:
mass.streetsblog.org

MIT Professor Dies of Injuries Sustained In Previously Unreported Crash On Memorial Drive - Streetsblog Massachusetts

State Police, who are responsible for investigating fatal crashes and homicides on state-controlled roadways like Memorial Drive, have not released any information about Rose's death or the crash that caused it.
mass.streetsblog.org mass.streetsblog.org
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It has been a terrible couple of days: https://www.bostonglobe.com/2026/09...lynn-cyclist-killed-by-truck-driver-revealed/
 
cubbe8 said:
mass.streetsblog.org

MIT Professor Dies of Injuries Sustained In Previously Unreported Crash On Memorial Drive - Streetsblog Massachusetts

State Police, who are responsible for investigating fatal crashes and homicides on state-controlled roadways like Memorial Drive, have not released any information about Rose's death or the crash that caused it.
mass.streetsblog.org mass.streetsblog.org
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What is a little frustrating is that so little circumstances are known about this case. It would be great to know the circumstances so advocates can focus on the right things here. Was it the street design? Was it another under-a-truck collision?
 
Here's a pretty good write-up on the bike infrastructure changes in the most recent Blue Hill Ave plan, compared to the prior version.

mass.streetsblog.org

What's Changed, And What Hasn't, In Boston's New Blue Hill Avenue Busway Plan - Streetsblog Massachusetts

Late last week, the City of Boston and the MBTA released yet another revised design for the Blue Hill Avenue busway project, which aims to speed up Route 28 and 23 buses between Mattapan Square and Grove Hall with a dedicated center-running busway with new stations and amenities for riders.
mass.streetsblog.org mass.streetsblog.org
 
HenryAlan said:
Here's a pretty good write-up on the bike infrastructure changes in the most recent Blue Hill Ave plan, compared to the prior version.

mass.streetsblog.org

What's Changed, And What Hasn't, In Boston's New Blue Hill Avenue Busway Plan - Streetsblog Massachusetts

Late last week, the City of Boston and the MBTA released yet another revised design for the Blue Hill Avenue busway project, which aims to speed up Route 28 and 23 buses between Mattapan Square and Grove Hall with a dedicated center-running busway with new stations and amenities for riders.
mass.streetsblog.org mass.streetsblog.org
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In the new 2026 plan, the half-mile gap in the protected bike network on Blue Hill Ave through Mattapan Square is there to provide room for angled parking on both sides of the street (see plan below). Change that to parallel parking on both sides of the street, and there'd be room for bike lanes.

1788999575419.png
 
Charlie_mta said:
In the new 2026 plan, the half-mile gap in the protected bike network on Blue Hill Ave through Mattapan Square is there to provide room for angled parking on both sides of the street (see plan below). Change that to parallel parking on both sides of the street, and there'd be room for bike lanes.

View attachment 75557
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Ugh, this is just a classic watering down of designs that repeatedly holds boston's bike network back. Spend millions designing and implementing a full-depth reconstruction, only to cut its utility in half just so 20 people a day can park their car for free, a mere blocks away from a major transit hub.
 
sneijder said:
Ugh, this is just a classic watering down of designs that repeatedly holds boston's bike network back. Spend millions designing and implementing a full-depth reconstruction, only to cut its utility in half just so 20 people a day can park their car for free, a mere blocks away from a major transit hub.
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It likely means fewer people on bike will patronize Mattapan Square businesses, but at least in terms of network connectivity, it isn't terrible. Riders on Blue Hill Ave will be able to connect with the Cummins Hwy bike lanes via Woodhaven, which from what I hear, is also going to get some sort of bike infrastructure in a separate project. Connectivity to the Neponset trail is a bit trickier, but I've always done that via Babson St, which will also be available to bike riders on this plan. My bigger concern is at the other end. The cycle track will end at American Legion, and then bike riders will be routed onto a theoretical mixed use path along the edge of Franklin Park. No guarantee this path is actually going to exist, so we can assume the reality is that bike riders are dumped off onto sidewalks and car lanes at that point, with only high stress routes from there to connect with anything decent further into town.
 
HenryAlan said:
It likely means fewer people on bike will patronize Mattapan Square businesses, but at least in terms of network connectivity, it isn't terrible. Riders on Blue Hill Ave will be able to connect with the Cummins Hwy bike lanes via Woodhaven, which from what I hear, is also going to get some sort of bike infrastructure in a separate project. Connectivity to the Neponset trail is a bit trickier, but I've always done that via Babson St, which will also be available to bike riders on this plan. My bigger concern is at the other end. The cycle track will end at American Legion, and then bike riders will be routed onto a theoretical mixed use path along the edge of Franklin Park. No guarantee this path is actually going to exist, so we can assume the reality is that bike riders are dumped off onto sidewalks and car lanes at that point, with only high stress routes from there to connect with anything decent further into town.
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I somewhat agree with this assessment. Babson Street is useful and my personal go-to for connecting to the Neponset River Greenway, which is great and what I've used for:
  • recreational riding along the Neponset River.
  • transportation to Neponset-adjacent areas (Milton Village, Lower Mills, Cedar Grove, Adams Village, Neponset, Port Norfolk, Marina Bay, Squantum, North Quincy).
  • longer-distance transportation to coastal South Shore areas (Quincy Center, Merrymount, Houghs Neck, Quincy Point, Hingham, Hull, Cohasset, etc).
The problem is that Babson Street is inadequate for three major types of trips:
  1. Southbound trips to areas further inland, like:
    • Brush Hill
    • Milton Center
    • Milton Hill
    • East Milton
    • West Quincy
    • Braintree
    • Randolph
    • Canton
    • etc.
  2. Northbound trips from those inland points.
  3. Northbound trips from the Neponset River Greenway, Neponset-adjacent areas, and coastal South Shore areas.
Those three groups each have their own infrastructure solution:
  1. Southbound trips to areas further inland:
    • Better bicycle accomodations southbound on Blue Hill Ave through Mattapan Square. I take Blue Hill Ave through Mattapan Square to Blue Hills Parkway, because that is the best bicycle route for southbound travel out of the city to the inland South Shore and Southern Suburbs. This project is a missed opportunity to fill the gap on what will be the worst part of the inland southbound bicycle trunk out of the city (Blue Hill Ave -> Blue Hills Parkway -> Unquity Road).
  2. Northbound trips from those inland points:
    • Better bicycle accomodations northbound on Blue Hill Ave through Mattapan Square. I take Blue Hills Parkway to Blue Hill Ave. This project is a missed opportunity to fill the gap on what will be the worst part of the inland northbound bicycle trunk into the city (Blue Hills Parkway -> Blue Hill Ave).
  3. Northbound trips from the Neponset River Greenway, Neponset-adjacent areas, and coastal South Shore areas:
    • A contraflow lane on Babson St between Norfolk St and Blue Hill Ave. I don't ride the wrong-way down one-way streets, and mapping apps don't generally route cyclists to ride the wrong-way, so I and others often take Blue Hill Ave for routes that would be much better served by simply adding a single block of contraflow bicycle travel.
If a contraflow lane were added on that one block of Babson St, I'd call this project very good for cyclists. At present, it's still good for cyclists, but with some frustratingly low-hanging missed opportunities.
 
bigeman312 said:
I somewhat agree with this assessment. Babson Street is useful and my personal go-to for connecting to the Neponset River Greenway, which is great and what I've used for:
  • recreational riding along the Neponset River.
  • transportation to Neponset-adjacent areas (Milton Village, Lower Mills, Cedar Grove, Adams Village, Neponset, Port Norfolk, Marina Bay, Squantum, North Quincy).
  • longer-distance transportation to coastal South Shore areas (Quincy Center, Merrymount, Houghs Neck, Quincy Point, Hingham, Hull, Cohasset, etc).
The problem is that Babson Street is inadequate for three major types of trips:
  1. Southbound trips to areas further inland, like:
    • Brush Hill
    • Milton Center
    • Milton Hill
    • East Milton
    • West Quincy
    • Braintree
    • Randolph
    • Canton
    • etc.
  2. Northbound trips from those inland points.
  3. Northbound trips from the Neponset River Greenway, Neponset-adjacent areas, and coastal South Shore areas.
Those three groups each have their own infrastructure solution:
  1. Southbound trips to areas further inland:
    • Better bicycle accomodations southbound on Blue Hill Ave through Mattapan Square. I take Blue Hill Ave through Mattapan Square to Blue Hills Parkway, because that is the best bicycle route for southbound travel out of the city to the inland South Shore and Southern Suburbs. This project is a missed opportunity to fill the gap on what will be the worst part of the inland southbound bicycle trunk out of the city (Blue Hill Ave -> Blue Hills Parkway -> Unquity Road).
  2. Northbound trips from those inland points:
    • Better bicycle accomodations northbound on Blue Hill Ave through Mattapan Square. I take Blue Hills Parkway to Blue Hill Ave. This project is a missed opportunity to fill the gap on what will be the worst part of the inland northbound bicycle trunk into the city (Blue Hills Parkway -> Blue Hill Ave).
  3. Northbound trips from the Neponset River Greenway, Neponset-adjacent areas, and coastal South Shore areas:
    • A contraflow lane on Babson St between Norfolk St and Blue Hill Ave. I don't ride the wrong-way down one-way streets, and mapping apps don't generally route cyclists to ride the wrong-way, so I and others often take Blue Hill Ave for routes that would be much better served by simply adding a single block of contraflow bicycle travel.
If a contraflow lane were added on that one block of Babson St, I'd call this project very good for cyclists. At present, it's still good for cyclists, but with some frustratingly low-hanging missed opportunities.
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A very thorough analysis! And I agree with all of what you say. I do have some good news on point 2, though. The new River's Edge path is open, which right now is really only useful for recreational purposes, but will eventually have a bike/ped bridge crossing the river to connect with the Truman Hwy extension of the Neponset path. Southbound riders will be able to divert onto Woodhaven, to Cummins, to the new path, then proceed to Truman Hwy from there. To be clear, I'd rather a more direct route, but this will at least be something that makes a mostly protected route for those points South that you've listed.
 
HenryAlan said:
A very thorough analysis! And I agree with all of what you say. I do have some good news on point 2, though. The new River's Edge path is open, which right now is really only useful for recreational purposes, but will eventually have a bike/ped bridge crossing the river to connect with the Truman Hwy extension of the Neponset path. Southbound riders will be able to divert onto Woodhaven, to Cummins, to the new path, then proceed to Truman Hwy from there. To be clear, I'd rather a more direct route, but this will at least be something that makes a mostly protected route for those points South that you've listed.
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Great news about the "Edgewater Greenway."

Definitely a positive development. I agree that it is really only useful for recreational purposes right now. Still, having walked that section of river in prior years (on the City Walking Trail), I'm very happy to see this development.

Once the bike/ped bridge over the Neponset is built, it will become part of the transportation network, but I'm not quite as bullish on its importance for north-south bicycle traffic (ie BHA cyclists). It will be especially helpful for Neponset River Greenway cyclists, both recreational and transportation, for example Dorchester <-> Hyde Park.

For north-south cycling trips, it could help cyclists avoid the Neponset River crossing on Blue Hill(s) Ave/Parkway for trips to/from Neponset-adjacent parts of Hyde Park and Milton, but won't do much for most of the points I mentioned (Brush Hill, Milton Center, Milton Hill, East Milton, West Quincy, Braintree, Randolph, Canton, etc.). It will still be quicker, more convenient, and more direct to take Blue Hills Parkway - Blue Hill Ave, rather than that detour.
 
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Apparently after Louisa was killed in Roxbury, people unaffiliated with the city added a paint "protected" intersection that has recently caught a lot of controversy. Allegedly (from reddit) a driver running a red struck someone on a scooter in the exact same spot, which some are blaming the new striping for causing "confusion".
www.bostonherald.com

Boston bike lane chaos ensues after citizen vigilantes paint their own lines in the city

After a person on a scooter was struck by a car near the same intersection where a city worker was killed on a bicycle, City Councilor Erin Murphy questioned whether an unauthorized traffic redesign by activists led to the crash.
www.bostonherald.com www.bostonherald.com

Do we really have to call this action "citizen vigilantes"? FFS they just added a couple white stripes on the ground that are merely a suggestion to cars anyway.

1789663875861.png
 
The driver who struck the scooter ran a red light, so I'm pretty sure the tactical urbanism didn't cause the accident, particularly because it doesn't interfere with the car lane at all. I agree, vigilantism is completely the wrong word, this was an action by safety minded citizens who rightly believe the city is moving too slowly on safe streets measures.
 
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I do think that 'vigilante' is the right word for this though. It's extra-legal, because the authorities aren't doing what they're supposed to do, and on the peaceful side of vigilantism.
 
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