Car lanes dropped for bikes, buses

Boston tries to boost green travel options

Two long-awaited projects on busy roadways will trade car travel lanes for other modes of transportation — one along the Blue Hill Avenue corridor, the other on the Harvard Bridge connecting Boston to Cambridge.

The more ambitious of the two is the Blue Hill Avenue Corridor Multimodal Project, for which U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley and Rep. Stephen Lynch recently secured $15 million from the U.S. Department of Transportation.

It potentially would add bike lanes and center-running bus lanes.

The corridor provides access to and from the city’s major employment centers for Roxbury, Dorchester and Mattapan residents, many of whom are people of color. It also has the MBTA’S highest daily ridership — about 20,000. But commute times for those riders are among the longest of any in the city, Mayor Michelle Wu said.

“Transit justice is racial and economic justice, which is why I’ve fought hard to support projects that address the inequities in our transportation systems and create healthier, safer and more connected communities in the Massachusetts 7th (District),” Pressley said in a statement.

For those disproportionately reliant on public transit, the project will make it more reliable, climate resilient and safer for cars, buses and bikes, while connecting people in Dorchester, Roxbury and Mattapan to jobs, food and essential services like education and health care, she said.

“Design and implementation details … are taking place now,” said Lisa Battiston, an MBTA spokeswoman. “Given the importance of the project and the history of the corridor, the MBTA will be very intentional about engaging the public before moving forward.”

For now at least, pedestrian-friendly crossings and sidewalks, bike-share stations, a healthy tree canopy and attractive public spaces with art by local artists are all incorporated in the preliminary design, Pressley said.

The second transportation project will be in place by 5 a.m. Monday on the Harvard Bridge, weather permitting.

Under a bicycle-safety pilot program, the Massachusetts Department of Transportation will reduce the number of vehicle lanes in each direction and increase the width of the bicycle lane to add more buffer space between the two.

“As we work to promote low-carbon travel options, our city needs to move urgently to protect the safety of our commuters and residents,” Wu said.

The pilot will run through the winter while engineers and bicycle advocates evaluate safety and crash data, traffic and bicycle volumes and travel time of the MBTA’S Harvard Square-to-nubian Square bus.