Top 5 Reasons that the 4th Street Bridge should have bike lanes

Written by Jon Ramos

1) Southie is an island

Southie is bound on all sides by ocean, the Channel, train tracks, & the expressway, which means that every single way in & out of Southie requires people to cross a bridge; none of which have a continuous or low-stress bike lane. The 4th Street Bridge is a direct connection to most other neighborhoods. Once you get over to the South End, you can get almost anywhere by bike easily.

2) There is enough space for everyone

On paper, the bridge is a 2 lane roadway, with one travel lane in each direction. But in reality, drivers often try to squeeze in two travel lanes when traffic starts to back up. This squeeze is a haphazard mess because it doesn’t work when larger trucks are in the mix. The result is a stressful situation where some cars are side by side, then a truck in the middle, then some more side by side cars… and nobody is quite sure how many lanes the road is really supposed to be. The bridge simply isn’t wide enough for 4 travel lanes, so the City & MassDOT left the layout as an exceedingly wide 2 lane road and we all just try to make the best of it. These lanes are over 17 feet wide, and to put that into perspective, the typical highway interstate lane is only 12 feet wide. And typical Boston arterial roads are 11 feet wide.

But there is a better option. There is enough space for a THREE lane road. Basically, when you turn onto the bridge it will have one lane, and then when you get halfway over the bridge the center-line shifts to add a second travel lane. This eliminates the squeeze, and better organizes the flow of traffic. And as an added bonus, there is just enough space left over for bike lanes on each side. (See attached diagram)

3) Separation + Predictability = Safety

Most people on bikes don’t want to ride in the car lane. Most people who drive cars don’t want bike riders in the car lane. So creating separation is a win-win. This makes sense because bikes & cars travel at different speeds and have differing abilities to go around obstacles. Generally speaking bike riders tend to go slower, but almost never get stuck in traffic, whereas car drivers have the ability to go faster, but often get stuck in gridlock. By separating these transportation types, it allows car drivers & bike riders to peacefully co-exist. Bike lanes also help drivers better anticipate where bike riders are likely to be riding (just like crosswalks help drivers better spot pedestrians). Whether you are a bike rider, car driver, or both, predictable behavior is safe behavior.

4) Bikes belong



Bikes are allowed to bike on all roadways in Boston, except highways. In fact, the City of Boston adopted a “Complete Streets” policy that includes improved on-street provisions for bicycles, and many other alternative transportation improvements. Additionally Boston just adopted our new “Vision Zero” policy, which is aimed at bringing the number of traffic related fatalities down to zero. Bikes are also important parts of MassDOT’s GreenDot program and a plethora of other healthy living, healthy communities, & pollution free policies that Massachusetts has adopted over the last decade. Adding bike lanes on the 4th Street Bridge will be in line with all of these practices & policies.

5) Reduce dependence on cars

The roads of Southie are getting more and more congested and parking is getting harder & harder to find. Not everyone can live “car-free” but a lot of us can. We are fortunate to live in a neighborhood that is rich in transportation options. We have ZipCar, taxis, Uber, MBTA, private shuttle services, plenty of fantastic shops within walking distance, and a bicycle network that has been slowly growing. Bikes are just one piece of the “car free” lifestyle. Nobody is saying that everyone in Southie needs to live car-free, but if we can encourage those who are willing & able to go car-free, then that certainly helps our more car-dependent neighbors.