100 new Bluebike stations coming - but potential North End sites have obstacles

Boston's bike department held an open house Monday night on their planned expansion of the Bluebikes program. The expansion aims to add 100 stations to the network, 47 of them by September of this year, throughout the North End, Beacon Hill, Chinatown, Downtown, South End, and West End.

Ultimately, the aim is to have a Bluebikes dock within a 10-minute walk of every Boston resident, and within a three-minute walk in high-density areas.

One of the largest gaps in Bluebikes network coverage is the North End. The areas around Puopolo Field are high-density and over a five-minute walk to the nearest station (which also requires crossing Keany Square).

As part of the expansion program, two potential sites have been identified to fill this gap - but both have obstacles.

The first potential site is between the bocce courts and softball field at Puopolo Park:

Potential Bluebikes station in Puopolo Park could be blocked by the Parks Department

The problem here is that the Parks Department generally doesn't allow Bluebike stations on the property they manage (🙃). A Parks Department employee explained:

Parks can not allow corporate advertising per parks rules which comes with both the bikes and the docking stations

Kim Foltz from the Bikes Department said that they can remove the advertising from the stations, but there are other hurdles when trying to place a station on Parks Department managed land. In fact, there are only two parks in Boston that currently have Bluebikes stations in them (Franklin Park and one in East Boston).

The second potential site is in front of Steriti rink:

A potential site in front of Steriti rink is managed by the DCR

However, this site is managed by the DCR and would similarly require additional steps and approvals. Representatives from the Bikes department expressed doubt that either site would be approved in time for the September rollout.

Additional North End sites have other problems. Sites at Columbus park and on Battery Wharf are both prone to flooding. The remaining sites (Cross & Stillman, N Washington & Cooper) don't have obstacles but are relatively close to existing stations and don't help fill the large gaps. 

The Bikes Department will announce the final selected sites sometime in August. Input on the potential North End sites can be submitted via this form. Additional open houses are being held Tuesday, July 30 at 5:30 in the Copley Library and virtually Wednesday, August 14.