Your StreetsblogMASS editor checked in at his empty downtown office Tuesday afternoon, mostly as an excuse to check out the new Silver Line bus lanes and bike lanes that have been installed on Washington Street and Stuart Street.

In a project that was originally announced last fall, the City of Boston has reconfigured Washington Street in Chinatown and Downtown Crossing from a three-lane traffic jam into this:

A bus lane hugs the curb on the right side of the street, while on the left side, a new bike lane gives cyclists a protected route into Downtown Crossing. There were a handful of illegally parked vehicles in the bike lane on Tuesday afternoon, but the city plans to install protective flex posts “soon,” according to an MBTA press release.

Nearby, as part of a repaving project, the city has also created a short but crucial protected bike lane connection along Stuart Street, between Arlington and Washington: