Flynn Flam: City Councilor Complains Bike Lanes Make It Hard to Visit South End Library That’s Been Shuttered for 3 Years

In a Boston City Council meeting last week, District 2 Councilor Ed Flynn requested a public hearing to air his grievances about a 2022 construction project that made Tremont Street measurably safer through the South End.

“The removal of road space and visitor parking space has made it almost impossible for commercial and delivery vehicles, or patrons looking to park, visitors looking to go to the library,” complained Flynn at a March 19 City Council meeting.

The South End’s Tremont Street branch of the Boston Public Library has indeed been difficult to access recently – but for reasons that have nothing to do with bike lanes.

The neighborhood’s library has been closed altogether after a flood destroyed the building’s mechanical systems three years ago.

Councilor Sharon Durkan (whose district encompasses Beacon Hill, Back Bay, Fenway, and Mission Hill) expressed some frustration with Flynn’s efforts to foment a “culture war” against safer streets.

“With every bike lane that’s been built in this city, we’ve absolutely saved lives,” said Councilor Durkan.

The administration of Mayor Marty Walsh had identified Tremont Street as a serious hazard to safety after drivers killed pedestrians on that section of the street in November 2015 and again in May 2017.

Under the street’s previous design (pictured below), reckless drivers could take advantage of four lanes on Tremont Street to swerve around slower-moving traffic and attain lethal speeds through the busy neighborhood.

The new street’s design cut the number of car lanes to two (one in each direction), and also added raised crosswalks, protected bike lanes, and shorter, more visible crosswalks.

The number of Boston EMS calls to crashes on Tremont Street has declined considerably in the years since then.

Councilor Durkan also informed the City Council that she’d recently been verbally harassed by a driver while biking on a street without a protected bike lane.

“We do need to center those who are most vulnerable: pedestrians, bike users, people on two wheels. That’s something that I have stood behind. I ran on being someone who is for safe and accessible streets, and I will continue to do that,” said Durkan.

Watch the debate here: