A map of the Harborline Bikeway, the first of five Bikeways for Everybody.
Bikeways for Everybody
The Boston Cyclists Union has been engaged in winning protected bike lanes since 2010, when Western Avenue became Boston’s first cycletrack after an ask from the Bike Union. But as we’ve helped win campaigns for cycletracks on Seaver St., Washington St. in Roslindale, Atlantic Ave, Commercial St., Route 9 (Gateway East) in Brookline, and Commonwealth Ave in Allston, our activists have become increasingly frustrated by the limits of these projects. None of these individual projects will protect someone on their entire commute, or even take them safely from their home to work or school.
Out of this need for connectivity comes the Bikeways for Everybody campaign. Begun in 2014, Bikeways for Everybody is reaching out to neighborhoods across the city to ask cyclists what roads they want to fix most of all, and compiling that into one big ask to build the essential routes of a new system of bikeways that are safe for people of all ages and abilities.
The first of what will become five crosstown routes is the Harborline Bikeway, a 15-mile combination of bike paths and cycletracks that connects Mattapan Square in Boston to Assembly Row in Somerville, with a little spur out to Castle Island in South Boston. The Harborline is comprised of 17 separate projects, 13 of which are already underway. With your support and that of local activists, 80 percent of the route could be complete by 2020, and 100 percent by 2025.
A rendering of the future cycletrack on Summer Street, created by the Boston Cyclists Union.
Four more bikeway concepts will be completed before the end of 2016, giving bike activists all over the city one big ask that would benefit everyone. At the same time, the Bike Union will continue to tackle projects all over the city, making sure that all road reconstructions include great bike infrastructure.
You can get involved in this activism by emailing the Bike Union at info@bostoncyclistsunion.org or calling 617-516-8877 and asking to join the "Activist Group."
The Bikeways for Everybody campaign is supported in part by a generous grant from the Helen & William Mazer Foundation.
Draw in Your Input for Better Bike Infrastructure
We want your input on where you want better infrastructure as well as other problematic locations you encounter while biking. Raphael, our Mapping and Data Intern, has been developing the online crowdsourcing map below to solicit community input. You can provide input by drawing in routes or placing pins at problematic locations using the map below. If you want to have a full page experience, you can click here.
After some processing (described here), you can see the aggregation of all these submissions in the map below (or here for full screen). The lines show where users have drawn in routes where they want better infrastructure, and the color lightens the more people submitted lines on any given segment. Circles show clusters where users have input a suggestion regarding a particular point with circles growing larger the more submissions in a particular area. You can click on any feature, line or point, to see the number of submissions and the comments people have made about that particular location.
If you want to do your own mapping you can download the data. Want to help with the coding of the Bikeways input map or bring it to your area? Have a look at the Bikeways Github Repository
