Boston council hearing exposes year-long stall on street safety projects citywide

BOSTON — April 22, 2026 — Boston's City Council grilled the Streets Cabinet over more than a year of stalled safe-streets projects, with more than 47 speakers demanding action. The Committee on Planning, Development, and Transportation, chaired by District 8 Councilor Sharon Durkin, held a joint hearing Wednesday on three dockets covering stalled bike lane and speed hump programs, the city's transportation philosophy, and the status of federal and state grants. Interim Chief of Streets Nick Gove confirmed a Boylston Street project that had lost an $8 million funding slot was pushed to a federal fiscal year 2031 schedule, not lost outright, and said a full project-by-project federal funding breakdown would be provided to councilors. The speed hump program, which produced more than 600 installations in 2024, installed only a handful last year and is being redesigned with no published criteria yet. Reggie Ramos of Transportation for Massachusetts told councilors, "What it has done is make clear that there is no comprehensive transportation plan in place," citing 16 projects he said remain stalled. The $80 million Blue Hill Avenue transit corridor project remains in dispute over the MBTA's center-running bus lane design, and the MBTA declined to appear at the hearing. All three dockets remain in committee.