City Gets Bike Lane OK For Mass. Ave.

Boston officials now have state and federal approval to install bike lanes on Massachusetts Avenue.

City officials say the lanes will run from Boston Medical Center to Symphony Hall.

Boston Chief of Policy Michael Kinneavy says the city additionally hopes to extend the lanes farther.

"We're looking at the section between the bridge and Symphony Hall, and our hope is that someday it will all be continuous and we're very happy about that," Kinneavy said.

Boston Transportation Commissioner Thomas Timlin said — on Bike to Work Day — that the Menino administration is committed to promoting bicycling.

"The mayor, in working with our state partners, has really said it loud, and said it clear, and put our money where our mouth is, and put the policy into practice, that the car is no longer king in the city of Boston," Timlin said.

The bike lanes will be part of an $18 million reconstruction of Massachusetts Avenue, which uses federal and state funding.