The Columbus Avenue bus lane in Roxbury will not be extended as a center-running busway, city and MBTA officials said this week. Instead, the next phase between Jackson Square and Ruggles Station is planned with side-running, curbside bus lanes in both directions, according to reporting by the Boston Globe published Oct. 5.
What Changes in Columbus Avenue Phase II
The existing center-running lane, which opened in 2021, runs less than a mile between Jackson Square and Franklin Park and was the first of its kind in New England, the Globe reported. Earlier plans called for extending that layout by about another mile toward Ruggles.
Boston’s interim Chief of Streets, Chris Osgood, told the Globe that the Phase II stretch is a suitable candidate for a curbside design because it has fewer businesses, loading zones and parking spaces than Blue Hill Avenue or the section of Columbus Avenue that has the center lane now. Demand for curb access “is simply different in this corridor,” Osgood said, according to the Globe.
MBTA spokesperson Maya Bingaman said in a statement reported by the Globe that congestion on that part of Columbus Avenue is driven largely by traffic-signal delays at intersections, and that “a side-running bus lane can be very successful here” because the corridor has few driveways. She said the updated design is expected to cost less than the original because it requires less excavation, without giving a figure.
Timeline: Public Meetings and Construction
Public meetings on the revised design are expected in November, according to a city streets project tracker cited by the Globe. The MBTA said construction is scheduled to begin later in 2027 and could last up to 18 months.
The project’s timeline has shifted before. The Globe reported the original extension was supposed to be finished by 2025. In March, StreetsblogMASS reported, based on public records, that city transportation planners had been told not to attend meetings with partner agencies, including the MBTA, without approval from City Hall leadership. That month, Mayor Michelle Wu shared on social media a city letter recommending a curbside bus lane for part of the corridor, the Globe reported.
What Supporters and Critics Say
Critics of center-running lanes have argued they narrow the roadway and reduce parking, while city officials have said the existing Columbus Avenue lane shortened bus travel times and coincided with a 27% drop in roadway injuries on that stretch, according to the Globe.
Chris Friend, interim executive director of the advocacy group TransitMatters, said in a statement to the Globe that the group considers center-running lanes “the most effective way to increase speeds and reliability” for riders in the corridor and hopes to see them in the final design. WBZ NewsRadio spoke with a Roxbury resident who said a side-running layout would be an improvement.
How It Connects to Blue Hill Avenue
The decision comes as the city and MBTA continue to pursue center-running lanes on Blue Hill Avenue, a plan that drew strong opposition at recent town halls in Mattapan and Dorchester. Osgood told the Globe the goal is to design “a street that works for everybody who is both on it and along it.” For more on recent changes to bus service rules, see our report on MBTA bus lane camera enforcement and the city’s lawsuit over a $20 million Roxbury streets grant.