Updated 23:39, August the 5th, 2008
Mayor gives nod, lanes to Boston’s bicyclists
BOSTON. Bicyclists gained ground in the battle for road space yesterday as the city announced that bike lanes have been created along Commonwealth Avenue in Allston and the American Legion Highway in Roslindale.
“I want to make Boston a more bike-friendly city,” Mayor Thomas Menino said after telling the crowd that he’d been on his own bike at 5 a.m. that morning.
The new bike lanes, along with the placement of 250 bike racks citywide, is part of Menino’s Boston Bikes initiative, which began 10 months ago in an effort to make Boston a “world-class bicycling city.” Menino cited high gas prices, environmental concerns and health benefits as reasons for a surge in bike riders in the city.
MassBike Executive Director David Watson said that when bicyclists, automobiles, and pedestrians are vying for space in an urban environment, bike lanes are particularly important for beginning cyclists, and that he hopes to educate students who will be pouring into the city in the fall.
Menino said the Boston Bikes initiative hopes to include even more lanes to the city, along with promoting a bike sharing program, which would include bike rentals with multiple pick-up and drop-off locations.
