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MassDOT, Boston Temporarily Remove Bike Lane On W. 4th Street Bridge for Paving Project

Crews are removing protective bollards on the West 4th Street Bridge in preparation for an upcoming paving project.

A photo taken from an elevated vantage point of a bulldozer parked in a bike lane with a bucket full of white plastic bollards.

A bulldozer removes flexible-post bollards from the West 4th Street Bridge in Boston on Tuesday, Sept. 2. MassDOT and City of Boston officials have confirmed that the removal of the bollards is only temporary, to accommodate an upcoming paving project this month. The protective barriers will be re-installed when the paving is complete later this fall. Photo courtesy of Billy Gleason.

On Tuesday, several readers reached out with alarm after they spotted a bulldozer tearing out protective bollards on the West 4th Street Bridge, a critical bike route between South Boston and the South End.

But MassDOT officials have confirmed that the removal of the bike lane is only temporary, and part of the agency's preparation for an imminent "mill and fill" repaving project on the bridge.

A city spokesperson told StreetsblogMASS that "we expect MassDOT to finish their work by the end of the month, and then protected cycling infrastructure will be reinstalled.”

MassDOT originally installed flexible-post bollards and other bikeway improvements on the West 4th Street bridge and the nearby Broadway/Traveler Street Bridge in 2021, as part of its South Bay Harbor Trail project.

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