Somerville's cyclists are in luck, as the city has recently more than doubled its bicycle lane mileage, completing a goal of an ongoing project begun last spring by Mayor Joseph Curtatone to facilitate road safety.
The project adds 10 miles of new bike lanes along Somerville's roads, expanding upon eight miles of existing lanes, according to city spokesman Michael Meehan.
A desire to improve public safety was one of the city's primary motivations, Meehan said.
"A lot of people are reluctant, and rightfully so, to get on a bike and ride around the city when there aren't any bike lanes," Meehan told the Daily. "This is going to make roads safer for bicyclists, motorists and even pedestrians."
Though it is not directly part of Shape Up Somerville — the city's healthy living campaign — Meehan explained that increasing bicycle accessibility fits neatly with the program's aims.
"It's tied into Shape Up Somerville," Meehan said. "We just want to make this a more active community."
The new lanes create a path from the Powder House Circle area to Union Square, including parts of Powder House Boulevard, College Avenue and Somerville Avenue.
Meehan views the extension of bike lanes as inevitable for an urban community like Somerville. He said that the city intends to pave an additional 11 miles of bike lanes in 2011.
"One of the realities is that we're part of the urban Boston mix, and when you're part of a big urban metropolis, there will be bicycles," Meehan said. "We need to make sure the city is catered to the people who live there."
Somerville is also planning an on-street parking program for bicycles and is seeking businesses that are interested in replacing their parking areas traditionally reserved for cars with spots for bikes instead, according to Meehan. A bike parking spot would resemble a "glorified bike rack" and be able to accommodate a dozen bikes in a single space.
"A shop with a heavy number of bicycle customers might like that," Meehan said.
Tina Woolston, program director for Tufts' Office of Sustainability, believes the new lanes will increase biking's appeal in the local community.
"One barrier to biking in an area is that the roads are pretty dangerous," Woolston said. "They're kind of narrow, there are cars parked along the side of them. I see bike lanes as a way to make biking safer, and I'm sure more people might do it as a result."
Woolston thinks that the bike lanes will enable Tufts students to travel to more distant parts of the city.
"This is a way of making other parts of Somerville accessible, especially to students who don't have cars," she said.
Senior Emily Ruff, one of the Office of Sustainability's Eco-Reps, has already made good use of Somerville's bike lanes.
"I've found the bike lanes very, very useful, and even though I rode around Somerville before the bike lanes, I certainly noticed them and have been planning my routes to use them," Ruff said.
She said that the bike lanes add to her sense of safety when traveling through the area.
"I feel much safer using the bike lanes than just riding around," Ruff said. "As much as cars should give equal rights to the roads to bikes, often this doesn't happen, so it's nice to have clear lines and lanes to keep people safe and not interrupt traffic."
Sally Sharrow, a member of Environmental Consciousness Outreach (ECO) and Tufts Bikes, believes that the new bike lanes will help demonstrate to automobile drivers the need to share the road.
"Bikes have a right to be on the road," Sharrow, a senior, said. "Drivers don't necessarily know that. I think with more bike lanes, it will be clearer that bikes have a right to be there."
Sharrow hopes that more Tufts students can gain access to bikes in order to utilize the new bike lanes. Sharrow is a co-founder of Tufts Bikes, a new student group aiming to bring a bike-share program to Tufts.
"We're trying to make bikes available for Tufts students," Sharrow said. "If we get money from Senate, we'd buy 30 bikes to be checked out from the library with a student ID, and students would bring them back within a given amount of time."
Tufts Bikes also plans to host bike workshops, teaching users simple mechanics as well as how to ride safely in the city, according to Sharrow.
She said that the new Somerville bike initiative reflects a more widespread biking trend.
"I think that biking is becoming so much more popular around the States," Sharrow said. "It is exciting to see these initiatives take place that will make biking easier."
