Photos: Boston Advocates Form ‘People-Protected’ Bike Lane

A crowd of over 100 street safety advocates formed a people-protected bike lane in one of Boston's parks.

11:15 AM GMT-0700 on July 17, 2019

Photos: Boston Advocates Form ‘People-Protected’ Bike Lane

A crowd of over 100 street safety advocates spent a pleasant morning in one of Boston’s Olmsted parks (albeit one that’s largely been paved over to give drivers more places to get stuck in traffic) as they created a “people-protected bike lane” on Fenway and Brookline Avenue during the morning rush hour.

As reported previously, the state Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) recently repaved and restriped Fenway and Park Drive in the vicinity of Brookline Avenue near the Landmark Center to add short sections of new bike lanes that extend roughly one thousand feet south of Brookline Avenue on Park Drive and Fenway.

Street safety advocates, most prominently the Boston Cyclists Union, have criticized the street design for neglecting physical separation for cyclists, in a location where where a truck driver killed Paula Sharaga in February.

We can do better than just paint. This morning, we are giving commuters what they should have everyday – physical separation from cars. @MassDCR can help us have this all the time. #ProtectedBikeLanesSaveLives #bospoli #mapoli pic.twitter.com/NJNxbviwZr

— BostonCyclistsUnion (@bostonbikeunion) July 11, 2019

A ghost bike memorializes Paula Sharaga, the former children’s librarian at the Coolidge Corner Library, who was killed by a truck driver at the intersection of Park Drive and Brookline Avenue. The intersection, which marks the northern edge of a recent repaving project by the Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR), features crowded sidewalks, long crosswalk wait times and inadequate bike facilities.

Safety advocates line Brookline Avenue (foreground) and Fenway (behind) on the morning of July 11, 2019.

Advocates also lined the right-turn lane of Brookline Avenue between Park Drive and the Fenway, a prominent gap in the City of Boston's bike route network. The city recently installed a high-quality protected bike lane on Brookline Avenue, but it ends at Fenway, without connections east into the Fenway and Kenmore Square neighborhoods. — Advocates also lined the right-turn lane of Brookline Avenue between Park Drive and the Fenway, a prominent gap in the City of Boston’s bike route network. The city recently installed a high-quality protected bike lane on Brookline Avenue, but it ends at Fenway, without connections east into the Fenway and Kenmore Square neighborhoods.

The Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) has painted new bike lanes on Fenway south of Brookline Avenue. The lanes have been criticized for their lack of physical protection, and for their poor design at intersections. During the morning rush hour on July 11, 2019, dozens of safety advocates lined the new bike lanes to create a "people-protected" barrier, holding signs that read "Paint ≠ Protection" and "DCR, keep me safe on your roads." — The Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) has painted new bike lanes on Fenway south of Brookline Avenue. The lanes have been criticized for their lack of physical protection, and for their poor design at intersections. During the morning rush hour on July 11, 2019, dozens of safety advocates lined the new bike lanes to create a “people-protected” barrier, holding signs that read “Paint ≠ Protection” and “DCR, keep me safe on your roads.”

The Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) has painted new bike lanes on Fenway near Simmons University. The lanes have been criticized for their lack of physical protection, and for their poor design at intersections. Here, the southbound bike lane dead-ends in a right-turn-only lane at Avenue Louis Pasteur.

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