BOSTON (WHDH) - A city plan to add several new bike lanes has drawn pushback in Back Bay, where residents are now asking Boston officials to pump the brakes.
Under the plan, the city would put up barriers along Boylston Street, leaving just one lane for cars to travel in some spots.
Bikers have said the current layout, with three lanes of traffic in the area, is not safe for them.
Residents, though, have also said the plan is not taking everyone into consideration.
“You know, if someone swerved off the road in an accident, you’re still going to get killed,” said bicyclist Lucas Gruner.
Gruner bikes through Boston every day. He said Boston lacks consistent bike lane infrastructure.
Fellow biker Ben Katz shares Gruner’s concern.
“The issue is we don’t have a network,” Katz told 7NEWS. “You’ll be riding on a nice, lovely, safe street with nice protected bike lanes and, all of a sudden, it will end and you’re just thrown out into traffic.”
Katz rides his bike down Berkeley Street daily.
“I can’t tell you the amount of times I’ve almost got run over,” he said.
For that reason, the city of Boston is looking to ease congestion on city streets by offering ways for people to travel without needing their car.
“Our goal is to take the street space that we have because Boston is already so densely built out we don’t have unlimited land to keep expanding roadways,” Boston Mayor Michelle Wu said Thursday.
The city’s plan is to add separated bike lanes to busy roadways throughout Back Bay.
More than 500 people bike down Boylston Street each day.
In the last five years, the city says, there have been more than a dozen crashes resulting in injuries.
“The mix in how the street is organized is quite dangerous and chaotic and anyone who has been trying to shop there or get around there, you kind of know there’s cars flying all over the place, double parking,” Wu said.
Under the city’s plan, the city will have a protected bike lane and a dedicated bus lane while limiting the roadway to one lane for cars.
Back on Berkeley Street, those who live in the area have been voicing their concern, with some saying the bike lane addition will knock out resident parking.
“In lieu of being able to park, they’re going to double park on both sides,” said resident Michael Weingarten.
Boston Chief of Streets Jascha Franklin-Hodge responded.
“I appreciate that, if somebody is used to being able to park directly in front of their front door, that they won’t be able to do that if they’re on one of these blocks,” Franklin-Hodge said.
While residents along Beacon Street and Berkeley Street in Back Bay said they’re not against bike laws, they said they believe the city’s plan only serves bikers and won’t cut down congestion on their streets.
“It will make it worse,” resident Susan Schreiner said. “People will use cars and bikers will bike and it’s not gonna stop or change behavior.”
“I think you could potentially reduce that traffic,” Gruner said. “If you did take a lane of parking out to do bike lanes and you put in real bollards, the road narrows and people might drive a little slower.”
City officials said they’re working to increase the amount of resident parking in Back Bay.
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