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Milk Street Better Bike Lane

We’re building a safe, comfortable bike lane to connect Downtown Crossing to the waterfront.

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JUNE 2024 UPDATE: CONSTRUCTION STARTING SOON

We're excited to announce that construction on the Milk Street Better Bike Lane will be starting soon. We expect work to occur this summer as weather and contractor availability allows. Once work begins, construction may take 3 - 4 weeks to complete.

Once the start date is determined, crews will post signage along the corridor to notify abutters. Temporary parking restrictions will be in place to accommodate the work, when needed. Please follow all posted signage. Sidewalks will remain open.

We expect work to happen in the following order:

  • Repave sections of Milk Street
  • Striping, thermoplastic markings and flexpost installation
  • Signal work and sign installation, including new curb regulation signage

We appreciate your patience during construction. As with any street design change, we anticipate an adjustment period as users adapt to the new configuration.

  • Still have questions? Contact:
    Transportation

  • Join our email list

    Sign up to get email updates about this project.

Our design for Milk Street

  • Pedestrian safety and comfort: 
    • Shorter crosswalks and pedestrian-friendly signal timing changes, where applicable and feasible
    • A new all-way STOP sign at Broad Street 
  • Separated bike lanes: 
    • A short two-way separated bike lane on Washington Street will allow bicyclists to go from School Street to Milk Street.
    • Milk Street will have a two-way separated bike lane between Washington Street and Devonshire Street. From Devonshire Street, a separated bike lane will continue eastbound to Atlantic Avenue.
  • Curb management, outdoor dining, and parking:
    • New pick-up/drop-off and delivery zone near Washington Street
    • Seasonal in-street dining patios will still be possible. Temporary traffic patterns will maintain a continuous bike lane and vehicle access. 
    • Parking will be restricted on the north side of Milk Street between Pearl Street and Surface Road.
  • New traffic pattern:
    • Milk Street between Washington Street and Hawley Street will become one-way towards Washington Street (westbound). This section is currently two-way.
    • This change makes space for a new pick-up/drop-off and delivery zone.

Why Milk Street

Downtown Boston and the Financial District hold some of the highest concentration of jobs in the region. There are also historic landmarks, as well as dining and retail destinations. Milk Street will serve as the eastbound pair to westbound bike lanes on State Street and Court Street.

Everyone in Boston deserves safe streets
A group of six youth are riding bikes on a path by their school.

This project is part of a bold plan for transforming Boston's streets to better serve people walking, rolling, and riding bikes. Over the next three years, we will expand our bike network so that 50% of residents will be a three-minute walk from a safe and connected bike route.

Read more about our plan

The project area includes Milk Street, between Washington Street and Surface Road. It also includes a short section of Washington Street between Milk Street and School Street.

Map of Milk Street Better Bike Lane project area. It includes Milk Street from Washington Street to Surface Road and Washington Street from Milk Street to School Street.

Updates

Updates

In the spring and summer of 2023, we held meetings with community stakeholders, including the Downtown Business Improvement District, business owners, commercial property owners and managers, the Wharf District Council, and the Downtown Residents' Neighborhood Association. We shared existing conditions data and project goals. We also presented options for turning Milk Street into a one-way street between Washington Street and Devonshire Street, either going eastbound or westbound.

We continue to welcome feedback at better-bike-lanes@boston.gov.

View the presentation (PDF 7.5 MB)

We let abutters know about the project and how to get involved. In December 2022, we went door-to-door to speak with ground-floor businesses on Milk Street. We also sent a postcard to about 2,000 addresses on and near Milk Street. The postcards arrived in later December 2022 and early January 2023.

View the flyer (PDF 0.4 MB)

View the postcard (PDF 2.1 MB)

To build on her commitment to create safe streets for all modes of transportation, Mayor Michelle Wu and the Boston Transportation Department (BTD) announced a 9.4 mile expansion of bike lanes, providing key connections within the City’s existing bike network and the launch of a Citywide design process to bring safer streets to every neighborhood. To do this, Boston is expanding Bluebikes to accommodate rising demand, designing traffic-calmed streets by building speed humps and raised crosswalks, and hiring more staff to aid in the design process.

The announcement was covered by local news outlets.

Read the full press release

Mayor Michelle Wu in a school gymnasium delivering a press conference about bike network expansion; she is flanked by cabinet staff and community organizers.

  • Still have questions? Contact:
    Transportation

  • Join our email list

    Sign up to get email updates about this project.

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