Harvard Street Repavement

The Transportation Division is undertaking a pavement preservation project on Harvard Street from the Boston line to School Street. The plans include a limited number of safety improvements, but fail to address the fundamental bicycle safety hazards: gaps in bike lanes that force cyclists into motor vehicle traffic, and unprotected lanes regularly obstructed by double parked cars.

Although several Transportation Board members expressed support for safer bike lanes at their last meeting, staff feedback at the most recent Bicycle Advisory Committee meeting indicates that no plans have been made to address the most pressing safety issues.

Omitting meaningful cycling safety improvements from this project contradicts Brookline's own Vision Zero Action Plan, which explicitly calls for integrating measures such as road surface marking changes into road maintenance projects and providing upgraded bike lane crossings and bike lane separation on Havard.

You can read more about this issue in this Brookline News article and in this letter from Biking Brookline to the Select Board and Transportation Board.