A safer, slower, more bikable Poplar Street
We're looking to calm traffic and allow two-way biking on Poplar Street in Roslindale.
Poplar Street is a relatively flat and quiet street parallel to the hillier and busier Cummins Highway. You’ve told us that Poplar Street could be a great way to get to and from Roslindale Square if it was two-way for bicyclists for its entire length.
We plan to add a contraflow bike lane from Sycamore Street to Washington Street. We will look at crosswalk improvements and traffic-calming from Washington Street to Canterbury Street.
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Still have questions? Contact:
Transportation
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1 City Hall Square
Room 721Boston, MA 02201-2026
Talk with us
EventsWhy Poplar Street
- Poplar Street provides a direct connection to Roslindale Square that avoids steep hills nearby. The street serves daily destinations and is a helpful last-mile connection for commuters.
- People are already biking both ways on Poplar Street. 1 in 5 bicyclists on Poplar Street ride contraflow towards Roslindale Square.
- Vehicle volumes are moderate. We can make the street safer and more comfortable by adding speed humps.
Everyone in Boston deserves safe streets
This project is part of a bold plan for transforming Boston's streets to better serve people walking, rolling, and riding bikes. Over the next three years, we will expand our bike network so that 50% of residents will be a 3-minute walk from a safe and connected bike route.
Design
We have illustrated the design plans for Poplar Street between Washington Street and Canterbury Street.
Design Summary
What we're still working on
- Working with you to identify potential new crosswalk locations on Poplar Street.
- Determining the locations for speed humps on Poplar Street in coordination with emergency responders.
Planned changes
between Washington Street and Sycamore Street, we will:
- Add speed humps.
- Add a contraflow bike lane going northbound (towards Roslindale Square). In the southbound direction (towards Sycamore Street), we'll add shared lane markings. We'll add signage on Poplar Street and side streets approaching Poplar Street indicating that two-way bike travel is allowed.
- Keep one-way southbound travel for motor vehicles (towards Sycamore street)
- Keep most of the parking. Parking between Washington Street and Florence Street will stay on the east side. Parking between Florence Street and Sycamore Street will move to the west side. Short-term parking will be added between Washington Street and Florence Street in coordination with the Roslindale Square Parking and Curb Access Plan.
Between Sycamore Street and Canterbury Street, we will:
- Add new crosswalks based on community feedback and engineering feasibility. We're still working with you to determine the best locations.
- Add speed humps.
- Keep two-way travel for motor vehicles.
- Keep parking on both sides.
TYPICAL Cross sections
What do you like about these ideas? What are your questions? Where would you like to see new crosswalks on Poplar Street? Email us at better-bike-lanes@boston.gov or join us at an upcoming event.
Contraflow bike lanes
DIRECT ROUTES, BETTER ACCESS
One-way streets help manage the flow of vehicles. We might want to allow people to bike in both directions on one-way streets that:
- Provide access to a major destination, park, or trail access point, and/or,
- Help bicyclists avoid an obstacle, like a major hill or busy street with less comfortable biking conditions.
Contraflow bike lanes are a well-established design tool. They have seen decades of use around the U.S., the Boston area, and globally. There are already contraflow bike lanes in Roslindale on Mount Hope Street and Paine Street.
On moderate-volume streets like Poplar Street, we can add contraflow bike lanes with paint and signage. The lane is positioned so that bicyclists ride on the right side of the street in the direction they are traveling, just like on two-way streets.
Where would you like new crosswalks?
Today, there are no marked crosswalks across Poplar Street between Washington Street and Canterbury Street. We want to add new crosswalks to help you cross Poplar Street. Some things to consider:
- Not every location will be possible. We need to consider accessibility, drainage, and existing utilities. Our engineers will look closely at each possible location.
- Each new crosswalk would require 2-4 parking spaces to be removed to ensure visibility.
We've heard your suggestions for possible crosswalk locations. We created a map to show the most likely locations where we could add crosswalks.
Tell us where you think it would be most helpful to build new crosswalks. Send us feedback at better-bike-lanes@boston.gov.
Project Updates
UpdatesWe held in-person office hours at the Roslindale Branch of the Boston Public Library to share more information and hear your feedback about the project. We set up at a table in the library from 4-7 p.m.
At this session, we talked with constituents about project details and again asked attendees to share recommendations for new crosswalk locations along Poplar Street. If you have ideas about new crossing locations on Poplar Street, send us an email at better-bike-lanes@boston.gov.
Thank you to everyone who attended and shared their thoughts with us. We look forward to continuing to work with you to get the details right.
We held in-person office hours at the Roslindale Branch of the Boston Public Library to share more information and hear your feedback about the project. We set up in the conference room from 4-7 p.m. The Roslindale Neighborhood Liaison, Dianna Bronchuk, joined us for most of the session.
At this session, we shared an aerial view of our design proposal for Poplar Street and more detailed information about potential changes to the street. We asked attendees to share recommendations for new crosswalk locations along Poplar Street. If you have ideas about new crossing locations on Poplar Street, send us an email at better-bike-lanes@boston.gov.
Thank you to everyone who attended and shared their thoughts with us. We look forward to continuing to work with you to get the details right.
We hosted a community walk on Poplar Street to share more information and hear your feedback about the project. About 30 community members joined us. The walk started at the corner of Poplar Street and Washington Street at 11 a.m. We finished around 1 p.m. Spanish interpretation was available.
To publicize the walk, we:
- Posted flyers on the doors of residences along Poplar Street between Washington Street and Canterbury Street and on light posts and utility boxes along Poplar Street.
- Sent an email to project email list. You can get updates by joining the list.
- Shared the information with community groups, neighborhood associations, Neighborhood Services, and the District 5 councilor's office. They spread the word to their networks.
Thank you to everyone who attended and shared their thoughts with us. We look forward to continuing to work with you to get the details right.
We sent a follow up email to the project email list on May 18, 2023.
- To announce our upcoming community engagement events, we posted flyers on front doors on Poplar Street. We also posted flyers on light posts near Roslindale Square and along Poplar Street.
- We sent an email to project email list announcing upcoming community engagement events. You can get updates by joining the list.
- We hosted virtual office hours every other Wednesday. You shared your feedback on Better Bike Lanes projects. We also corresponded with you via email.
- We posted flyers on front doors on Poplar Street. We also posted flyers on light posts near Roslindale Square and along Poplar Street.
- We mailed 468 postcards to addresses on Poplar Street and the blocks nearby.
- We hosted virtual office hours every other Wednesday. You shared your feedback on Better Bike Lanes projects. We also corresponded with you via email.
- We hosted virtual office hours every other Wednesday. You shared your feedback on Better Bike Lanes projects. We also corresponded with you via email.
- We began planning for spring and summer 2023 outreach and community conversations.
To build on her commitment to create safe streets for all modes of transportation, Mayor Michelle Wu and the Boston Transportation Department (BTD) announced a 9.4 mile expansion of bike lanes providing key connections within the City’s existing bike network and the launch of a Citywide design process to bring safer streets to every neighborhood. To do this, Boston is expanding Bluebikes to accommodate rising demand, designing traffic-calmed streets by building speed humps and raised crosswalks, and hiring more staff to aid in the design process.
The announcement was covered by local news outlets.
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Still have questions? Contact:
Transportation
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1 City Hall Square
Room 721Boston, MA 02201-2026
