Boylston Street (Jamaica Plain)
Boylston Street provides a direct link between the Southwest Corridor Bike Path and Centre Street. We added a contraflow bike lane and speed humps to provide an easy two-way bicycle connection. We also repaved Boylston Street and made accessibility upgrades.
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Still have questions? Contact:
Transportation
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1 City Hall Square
Room 721Boston, MA 02201-2026
December 2023 Update
Construction update
Construction activities on Boylston Street have concluded for the season. We finished repaving, curb ramps, major pavement markings, speed humps, signage, and flexible plastic bollards. Thank you for your patience while this work was underway.
Due to the onset of colder temperatures, we were not able to finish installing all pavement markings this season. We prioritized finishing major lane lines for street functionality. In Spring 2024, crews will return to complete installation of remaining pavement markings, including shared lane markings, green surfaces, bike lane symbols, and daylighting areas. View the final design plans.
Signal changes coming soon
We will re-time the signals at:
- Boylston Street, South Huntington Ave, Centre Street, and Moraine Street
- Boylston Street and Lamartine Street
- Boylston Street and Amory Street
Based on your feedback and on citywide mobility goals, we will:
- Prioritize safety
- Reduce pedestrian wait times and provide more opportunities to cross
- Ensure efficiency for MBTA buses
- Accommodate current levels of vehicle traffic
We aim to make these signal changes in the coming weeks. We'll share another update soon detailing the specific changes you can expect and an anticipated implementation date.
Talk with us
EventsView the design
Design summary
- Repave Boylston Street between Lamartine Street and Centre Street.
- Reconstruct the intersection of Boylston Street and Belmore Terrace to create accessible curb ramps. Last year, we rebuilt the other curb ramps along Boylston Street to be accessible.
- Add a contraflow bike lane going eastbound (towards Amory Street) between Centre Street and Amory Street. In the westbound direction (towards Centre Street), we'll add shared lane markings.
- Add signage on Boylston Street and side streets approaching Boylston Street indicating that two-way bike travel is allowed.
- Add seven new speed humps on Boylston Street between Amory Street and Centre Street.
- New speed humps will be located at 130 Boylston Street, 76 Boylston Street, 53 Boylston Street, 46 Boylston Street, 33 Boylston Street, 20 Boylston Street, and 11 Boylston Street.
- Change on-street parking:
- Add 12 new parking spaces on the north (even-numbered) side between Amory Street and the Stony Brook MBTA station. This parking will be regulated as 2-hour limit 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. Monday-Friday.
- Add a 15-minute limit zone in front of Stony Brook Wine & Spirits at 78 Boylston Street. On the west (odd-numbered) side of Danforth Street, we will add a 40 foot loading zone in front of 76 Boylston Street. The loading zone will be in effect from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday-Friday.
- Restrict 4 parking spaces just west of Danforth Street to improve visibility going around the bend.
- Move parking to the north (even-numbered) side between the Chestnut Ave and Centre Street. Keep parking on the north (even-numbered) side between Lamartine Street and Centre Street.
- Restrict parking between Adelaide Street and Belmore Terrace. The street is not wide enough on this block to fit a bike lane and retain parking. 15 unrestricted parking spaces are impacted by this change.
- After design changes, there are 66 parking spaces on Boylston Street between Amory Street and Centre Street. To get these numbers, we used a detailed method to count and configure parking spaces. These numbers may differ from previously published information.
Why Boylston Street
- Boylston Street is the only direct route between the Southwest Corridor, Centre Street, the new separated bike lane on South Huntington Avenue, and the Emerald Necklace. There’s no ramp to the Southwest Corridor bike path from Paul Gore Street. There’s no direct access to the Southwest Corridor bike path from Spring Park Ave, which ends at Chestnut Ave.
- People are already biking both ways on Boylston Street. 1 in 5 bicyclists ride contraflow near Danforth Street, the block approaching the Southwest Corridor.
- Vehicle volumes are moderate. We can make the street safer and more comfortable with speed humps.
Everyone in Boston deserves safe streets
This project is part of a bold plan for transforming Boston's streets to better serve people walking, rolling, and riding bikes. Over the next three years, we will expand our bike network so that 50% of residents will be a 3-minute walk from a safe and connected bike route.
Contraflow bike lanes
DIRECT ROUTES, BETTER ACCESS
One-way streets help manage the flow of vehicles. We might want to allow people to bike in both directions on one-way streets that:
- Provide access to a major destination, park, or trail access point, and/or,
- Help bicyclists avoid an obstacle, like a major hill or busy street with less comfortable biking conditions.
Contraflow bike lanes are a well-established design tool. They have seen decades of use around the U.S., the Boston area, and globally.
On moderate-volume streets like Boylston Street, we can add contraflow bike lanes with paint and signage. The lane is positioned so that bicyclists ride on the right side of the street in the direction they are traveling, just like on two-way streets.
Neighborhood context
We're completing other bike lane projects in Jamaica Plain in 2023 - 2024. Our goal with these projects is to help you to connect from the Southwest Corridor and Emerald Necklace paths to daily destinations on Centre Street, South Street, and points in between. Learn more about other projects in your neighborhood:
Project Updates
UpdatesWe are mailing postcards to let abutters know that construction is starting soon. Our list includes 1,245 addresses. We'll send postcards to every address on Boylston Street and some or all of the following nearby streets: Adelaide Street, Adelaide Terrace, Beecher Street, Belmore Terrace, Burr Street, Centre Street, Chestnut Avenue, Clive Street, Danforth Street, Dresden Street, Lamartine Street, Oakview Terrace, Paul Gore Street, Paul Gore Terrace, Rock Hill Road, Roseway Street, Roslyn Place, Saint Peter Street, Sheridan Street, and Spring Park Avenue.
We held in-person office hours at the Jamaica Plain and Connolly branches of the Boston Public Library to share more information and hear your feedback about the project. We set up from 4-7 p.m. on the following dates:
- Thursday, June 29 at the Jamaica Plain Branch
- Monday, July 24 at the Connolly Branch
- Thursday, August 17 at the Jamaica Plain Branch
We sent a reminder email before each session. At our sessions, we shared more information about all our JP projects for 2023 and answered questions from you. Thank you to everyone who attended and shared their thoughts with us. We look forward to continuing to work with you to get the details right.
We hosted two community walks on Boylston Street to share information and hear your feedback about the project. About 30 community members joined us on May 24. We held an additional community walk on June 8 because it rained during the first walk. About 40 community members joined us for the second walk. State Representative Sam Montaño and District 6 City Council Director of Constituent Services Mykel McMillen attended. Both walks started at the corner of Boylston Street and Lamartine near the Stony Brook MBTA Station at 6 p.m. We finished around 8 p.m. Spanish interpretation was provided.
To publicize the walks, we:
- Posted flyers on the doors of residences and on light posts and utility boxes along Boylston Street. We shared revised flyers on light posts and utility boxes to publicize the second walk.
- Sent an email to project email list before the first walk and a reminder email before the second walk. You can get updates by joining the list.
- Shared the information with community groups, neighborhood associations, Neighborhood Services, and the District 6 councilor's office. They spread the word to their networks.
Thank you to everyone who attended and shared their thoughts with us. We look forward to continuing to work with you to get the details right.
We hosted two open house meetings to share more information and hear your feedback about bike projects in Jamaica Plain. You were invited to drop in anytime between 6 and 8 p.m. Both open houses had the same content. We offered Spanish interpretation at both.
- Wednesday, May 3. Margarita Muniz Academy, 20 Child Street
- Thursday, May 11. Mary Curley School, 493 Centre Street
Thank you to everyone who attended and shared their thoughts with us. We look forward to continuing to work with you to get the details right.
We sent a follow up email to the project email list on May 16, 2023.
View the boards (English):
- We posted flyers on front doors on Boylston Street. We also posted flyers on light posts near Lamartine Street and Centre Street.
- We sent an email to the project list about upcoming in-person and virtual events.
- We hosted virtual office hours every other Wednesday. You shared your feedback on Better Bike Lanes projects. We also corresponded with you via email.
- We posted flyers on front doors on Boylston Street. We also posted flyers on light posts near Lamartine Street and Centre Street.
- We mailed 1,248 postcards to households on Boylston Street and the blocks nearby.
- We hosted virtual office hours every other Wednesday. You shared your feedback on Better Bike Lanes projects. We also corresponded with you via email.
- We hosted virtual office hours every other Wednesday. You shared your feedback on Better Bike Lanes projects. We also corresponded with you via email.
- We began planning for spring and summer 2023 outreach and community conversations.
To build on her commitment to create safe streets for all modes of transportation, Mayor Michelle Wu and the Boston Transportation Department (BTD) announced a 9.4 mile expansion of bike lanes providing key connections within the City’s existing bike network and the launch of a Citywide design process to bring safer streets to every neighborhood. To do this, Boston is expanding Bluebikes to accommodate rising demand, designing traffic-calmed streets by building speed humps and raised crosswalks, and hiring more staff to aid in the design process.
The announcement was covered by local news outlets.
In August 2023, the City provided a detailed response to constituents who had proposed alternative bike routing options to Boylston St.
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Still have questions? Contact:
Transportation
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1 City Hall Square
Room 721Boston, MA 02201-2026
