Bike Lanes to be Painted on Centre from South Street to the VFW Parkway

The city plans to paint bike lanes along Centre Street from the Monument to the VFW Parkway.

The new bike lanes would be painted in August, according to a presentation civil engineer Michelle Langone Danila gave to the on Tuesday night.

Last year the city painted bike lanes and "sharrows," or sections of roadway designated to be shared by bikes and cars, along Centre and South streets.

There would not be a bike lane, however, around the big rotary where Centre meets the Arborway. Danila said the city encourages bicyclists actually to use the sidewalk to get around the rotary. Generally, bikes are not allowed on sidewalks. She said the field of traffic engineering is still grappling with how bike lanes might be added to rotaries.

One Neighborhood Council member, Michael Reiskind, criticized the plan as not linking up with existing bike paths along the Jamaicaway and Southwest Corridor Park. He said the city had clearly promised to make those links before striping the new section along Centre. Those links will be made in time, Danila said, as part of a longer-term project.

Reiskind also said the city's educational campaign, to be largely aimed at bike riders, isn't effective.

"I am still aghast at the 90 percent of bicyclists who go through red lights," Reiskind said. "I'm afraid when I walk, I'm afraid when I drive and I'm afraid for the bikers."

Danila said that that police have been and that the city has an ongoing education effort around bikes.

Reiskind said Brookline was doing a better job educating bicyclists with its "Same Roads, Same Rules" campaign.

For more information on the bike lanes, contact Nicole Freedman, bike programs director for the city, at 617-918-4456 or nicole.freedman.bra@cityofboston.gov.