The Wu administration’s dramatic reconfiguration of Boston’s streets together with including new bike and bus lanes – mixed with an absence of enforcement – is inflicting visitors complications for companies, vacationers and residents.
Duck Boat excursions that used to take 80 minutes are stretching to 2 hours this summer season as the large rigs attempt to navigate by way of the clogged, narrowed metropolis streets.
Main thoroughfares like Boylston Road had been lately reduce to 2 lanes and typically one by Wu, a powerful advocate for bike lanes and new bus lanes. Even in neighborhoods like West Roxbury, the brand new bike lanes – rammed by way of regardless of group opposition – have triggered gridlock throughout rush hour.
It’s all a part of her grand plan to show Boston right into a automobile unfriendly, bike-riding, environmentally sustainable Wutopia. And proper now it’s hurting Boston’s booming tourism enterprise.
“The city has been tough to get around,” mentioned Cindy Brown, CEO of Boston Duck Excursions, an iconic Boston enterprise which operates 28 of the land and water autos that transport hundreds of vacationers a day. “Traffic is really challenging.”
Brown mentioned she’s contacted the mayor’s workplace to plead for higher enforcement of parking and visitors guidelines to maintain roads clear.
“We’re not against bike lanes and bus lanes but when you don’t have enforcement the best laid plans don’t work,” she mentioned.
Clients have been displaying up late for Duck Excursions or lacking them due to unhealthy visitors and lack of parking, or complain of being pressured to sit down within the Duck Boats for as much as two hours.
Double parked automobiles by supply drivers, illegally operated scooters and failing to heed visitors guidelines on streets that used to have three lanes however now have simply two are creating gridlock and mayhem for Duck Boat and Trolley drivers.
“If everyone followed the rules it would be much easier to get around the city,” Brown mentioned. “Almost every street almost all the time has someone pulling over.”
Wu needs to be doing every little thing she will to help a fantastic Boston enterprise like Duck Excursions, which simply ferried across the Boston Celtics championship workforce of their parade celebration. The mayor’s workplace wants to steer an actual crackdown on unlawful scooters and illegally parked automobiles – not only for present infrequently.
However she also needs to be attempting to make it simpler for vacationers and residents to get into town to park and store and spend cash.
However in case you’re not on a motorbike, you’re most likely out of luck.
