Work is finally getting underway this spring on two major street safety projects on Tremont Street in the South End and on Ruggles Street in Roxbury near Nubian Square.
The Boston Transportation Department (BTD) had identified Tremont Street as a priority for safety improvements under the city’s “Vision Zero” policy after motorists killed pedestrians there in November 2015 and again in May 2017. A project to reduce the number of motor vehicle driving lanes from four to two, while also building physically-protected bike lanes and raised crosswalks at intersections, has been in the works since before the pandemic.
Work is now underway, and at the intersection of Tremont and West Springfield Street, near the southwestern end of the project, curbs have already been realigned into their new configuration, funneling northbound motor vehicles into a single lane and delineating space for the future curbside bike lane (see photo above).
At the same intersection, contractors have also installed new raised crosswalks across West Springfield Street:
When complete, the project will create a 0.8-mile protected bike route through the South End, from Massachusetts Avenue to Herald Street.
A few blocks away from this project, another construction crew is busy rebuilding Ruggles Street, a 0.4-mile link between Nubian Square and the Southwest Corridor near Northeastern University.
When complete, the new Ruggles Street will feature a sidewalk-level bike lane in the northbound direction, and a buffered southbound bike lane, and several raised intersections.
