Walk Your Bike and Use Bike Lanes Signage

This week, we began a pilot project to try out several new types of signage concerning bike riding on the Greenway.  Sadly, bike riding is not permitting on the Greenway and is a posted rule on official Greenway signage.  That said, with more people visiting the Greenway on a daily basis, we have seen and have heard about a number of accidents and near misses and we are working to get the word out.

You will see several stencils on portions of the Greenway,applied with temporary paint.   The first stencil is found at intersections and directs you to the nearest bike lanes – either on Atlantic Avenue or Surface Road.

The other bike stencil is found along paths and directs you to walk your bike on the Greenway.

Two factors have driven an increase in bike riding in and around the Greenway. The first is the installation of bike lanes running north along Atlantic Avenue from South Station to Armenian Heritage Park and south along Surface Road from Fanueil Hall Marketplace to Chinatown Park. The second reason is the introduction of Hubway two years ago, and the analysis released last December that showed the top two destinations are North and South Stations from South and North Stations.

The principal reason we don’t allow bike riding is that it was not accommodated in the design and construction of the Greenway parks, as a result, we don’t have adequate sight distances to see around bends on the greenway paths.  The second reason is that we have lots of people, children and dogs walking, strolling, eating and playing, especially in the height of the summer season with our fountains running, food vendors in multiple locations and our events and programs in full swing.  Sadly, we’ve had several reports of accidents and near-misses with bike riders and pedestrians, including one today.

We should also mention that the Boston Police Department is responsible for enforcing all park rules.

We have recently learned that in the latest revision of the City of Boston’s new long term Bike Plan, they have proposed cycletracks along Atlantic Avenue and along Commercial Street, where there are existing bike lanes.  A public meeting has been scheduled by the City of Boston Public Works Department to present a concept plan for Atlantic Avenue/Commercial Street between  Christopher Columbus Park and Hull St. on Wednesday, November 20th at 6 pm at the Nazzaro Community Center located at 30 North Bennett St. in the North End.  Visit BostonBikes.org for additional information.

A number of the Greenway staff are avid cyclists and commute by bicycle to and from the Greenway.  We also have several bicycles that we use for getting up and down the Greenway during working hours.  We are regular users of the bike lanes on Atlantic Avenue and Surface Road and encourage bikers to use these bike lanes as well.