Hubway Coming to Charlestown in More Ways Than One

It may be for the best that the city, the Charlestown Neighborhood Council and Hubway came to an agreement on bike stations within the town, because Hubway will literally live with the results.

Banker and Tradesman reported this week that Alta Bicycle, Hubway’s parent company, signed a lease on 29,000 square feet of space in Charlestown’s Sullivan Square.

“The 28,750-square-foot building… gives Hubway ample room to house, repair, import, and distribute their bicycles and bike stations,” the publication reported.

Last week, the council, the city and Hubway reached an agreement to install two stations in Charlestown this year in exchange for a promise to install a third station near Hayes Square in the spring.

That agreement followed a virally successful from resident Nathan Blanchet to move forward with the program despite a at a recent council hearing. Blanchet’s petition gathered more than 400 signatories by the time he sent a thank you note to the council earlier this week.

“I am thrilled to hear this news, Blanchet wrote. “Thank you for coming to this decision, and congratulations on finding a way to satisfy both the demand for immediate expansion of Hubway into Charlestown and the concern about extending Hubway across more of the neighborhood in the future.”

Blanchet added that he was surprised by the support his petition garnered, initially expecting just a couple dozen people to join him.

“I hope Charlestown's show of support for Hubway will help fuel the program's expansion across the Greater Boston area, as well as other plans to support bicycling as a primary means of transportation.”

Blanchet copied Charlestown Patch on the email so that his thanks could be made public.