Politics
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu signaled a need to reevaluate some bike infrastructure and create permanent lanes “where it’s working.”
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu addressed why some of the flexible posts that separate bike lanes from busy streets were recently removed without public notice.
Flexposts that separate green bike lanes along Arlington Street in the Back Bay, on Massachusetts Avenue in the area of Newmarket Square, and on Summer Street in the Seaport were removed, The Boston Globe reported last week.
At the time, the city said the Arlington Street posts were removed for routine maintenance after winter storms, while the Mass. Ave. ones “were removed in response to feedback from community members,” according to the Globe.
“To be clear, this is not about eliminating bike lanes. This is not about saying we don’t need bike lanes. We very much need safe, protected infrastructure for more people to use our streets in every way,” Wu said during her regular appearance on “Boston Public Radio” Tuesday.
When asked why some of the posts were removed without warning to the public or why a replacement barrier wasn’t put in to protect bikers, Wu said some were removed for “routine maintenance” but declined to discuss any specific corridor.
Wu calls flexposts her ‘pet peeve,’ says balance is needed with drivers
Wu called the flexposts her “personal pet peeve,” pointing out that they sometimes become “gross looking crumpled plastic all over the place because cars and trucks are running over the posts.
“The separation is important, and they are definitely the fastest, cheapest way to create a bike lane that feels like you’re not going to put your life at risk,” Wu said. “But at some point, when a flexpost has been there, defining a bike lane for a year now, three years now… at some point we have to decide, is it working or not?”
If the flexposts are working on a specific street, Wu elaborated, the bike lane should become permanent with a separate curb, or elevated, which would keep cars and trucks out of the lane.
“Without some combination of more permanent infrastructure, which will cost more and require more resource planning, we just can’t stay stuck in this sort of temporary period,” Wu said, emphasizing a need for “balance” between pedestrians, delivery trucks, cyclists, and commuters.
Wu uses Boylston Street bus lane as example of removing infrastructure that hasn’t worked
During the discussion, Wu brought up her office’s decision to remove the dedicated bus lane on Boylston Street in the Back Bay.
“This bus lane, for example, it wasn’t being used as a bus lane at the end of the day,” Wu said.
Its removal comes as the street, which also has separated bike lanes, has been criticized by Councilor Ed Flynn and mayor-hopeful Josh Kraft. The lane was first installed on in July 2024 and will be repaved before the Boston Marathon, Wu said.
Wu said on “Boston Public Radio” that the bus lane is an example of reviewing if new infrastructure is actually working, implying in the conversation that some bike lanes would have to be reviewed.
“The goal is where [bike lanes are] working, keep it, move it into something that is permanent, that is beautiful, that is fitting of how all of our street users should feel when they’re on the street,” Wu said. “There’s real analysis and evaluation that has to be done [about whether] it even working how it was intended.”
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