Skip to Content
Streetsblog Massachusetts home
Streetsblog Massachusetts home
Log In
Protected bike lanes

Rebuilt Summer Street in Boston’s Fort Point Is Very Nice and Very Short

A view of a sidewalk-level bike lane running alongside newly planted sidewalk trees through a neighborhood of historic brick buildings. In the distance a downtown Boston skyscraper is visible.

Summer Street in Fort Point. This 0.2-mile section of Summer Street was reconstructed in 2018 and 2019 to build wider sidewalks and protected bike lanes. In 2023, a 6-month pilot project will create shared curbside truck-and-bus lanes.

Downtown Boston has a new shining example of how a safe, complete street should be designed, as construction wraps on the first phase of reconstruction for Summer Street in the Fort Point neighborhood.

The project brings wider sidewalks, generous street furnishings, shorter and more visible crosswalks, and protected bike lanes to a short section of Summer Street between Fort Point Channel and the viaduct over the Boston Wharf Road.

It's a beautiful improvement and a signature example of how Boston's streets can live up to their potential as safe, attractive public spaces.

But it's also strikingly short: the reconstruction project spans only 1,000 feet of Summer Street, from Fort Point Channel to the west, and to the viaduct over the Boston Wharf Road at the edge of the historic warehouse district to the east. Beyond those extents, Summer Street remains a wide, motor-vehicle-oriented speedway, with only token accommodations for bikes and pedestrians.

And as users of the new bike lanes have observed, the transition from the protected bikeway to the unprotected shared lanes near the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center (BCEC) is frequently blocked by parked cars:

All this means that major destinations along Summer Street – including South Station and the Rose Kennedy Greenway downtown and the BCEC to the east – remain just out of reach of the current project's pleasant bikeways and sidewalks.

The route of the proposed Summer Street crosstown protected bike route, as envisioned in the GoBoston 2030 plan (page 175), would extend all the way from South Station to East 1st Street in South Boston. As of 2019, only a short section in Fort Point section (highlighted in yellow) has been completed.
The route of the proposed Summer Street crosstown protected bike route, as envisioned in the Go Boston 2030 plan (page 175), would extend all the way from South Station to East 1st Street in South Boston. As of 2019, only a short section in Fort Point section (highlighted in yellow) has been completed.
The route of the proposed Summer Street crosstown protected bike route, as envisioned in the GoBoston 2030 plan (page 175), would extend all the way from South Station to East 1st Street in South Boston. As of 2019, only a short section in Fort Point section (highlighted in yellow) has been completed.

The Go Boston 2030 plan, adopted in 2017, highlighted Summer Street as a short-term project that could improve crosstown mobility from South Station through the Seaport district to South Boston. With that goal in mind, a line in the city's most recent capital budget shows additional money in the budget for a second phase, which "will extend from BCEC towards South Boston."

Additional work may be done in conjunction with the planned "Seaport Square" project, which would build new high-rise buildings on the adjacent parking lots between Boston Wharf Road and the BCEC.

In an email message, Tracey Ganiatsos, a spokesperson for the Boston Transportation Department, confirmed that "the plan is still in the public process stage and further discussion with stakeholders will be taking place."

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog Massachusetts

Massachusetts Gasoline Consumption Continued to Increase in 2024

Gasoline consumption and air travel in Massachusetts produced about 27 million metric tons of greenhouse pollutants in 2024, making it unlikely that the Healey administration will meet targets that Governor Baker set in the state's official climate plan.

February 10, 2025

MeVa Study Finds Benefits of Axing Fares ‘Far Exceed’ Lost Revenue

The MeVa Advisory Board voted on Thursday to adopt a "permanent" fare-free policy on all its routes.

February 6, 2025
See all posts