A MassDOT spokesperson reports the city told MBTA directors today it's ready to seriously map out how to get a dedicated bus lane on the narrow Washington Street between Forest Hills and Roslindale Square:

Public outreach for idea planned in the Spring.

In the past, city planners have looked at the idea of a reversible lane for both T buses and bicyclists that would run towards Forest Hills in the morning and towards Roslindale Square in the evening. The move would require the elimination of some parking on the street - but officials have said studies have shown most of the people who park on that stretch of Washington Street are commuters trying to get to Forest Hills from elsewhere, rather than residents of the street.

The stretch of Washington Street has become a chokehold for bus service to and from areas south of Forest Hills both because pretty much every bus line to Roslindale and West Roxbury uses it, often leading to conga lines of buses that sit in traffic, exacerbated of late by the Arborway and Forest Hills road and T-stop construction.

The Boston 2030 transportation plan, released in May, also calls for installing new traffic signals that would give priority to buses.