Beacon Hill Cycling Community Shows Up for Small Businesses

Special to the Times

At last week’s Beacon Hill Holiday Stroll, the cycling community of Beacon Hill made a strong turn out in support of the local businesses on Charles Street. This community was excited to connect with some of their favorite businesses on Charles Street.

The Beacon Hill cycling community delivered handwritten holiday cards to various local businesses on Charles Street, including Gus & Ruby Letterpress, J Grady Home, Beacon Hill Chocolates, Charles Street Supply, and Sloane Merrill Gallery. The cycling community loves these businesses and all the ways they contribute to the neighborhood.

Zach Gold, a Beacon Hill resident and cyclist, said, “[The Holiday Stroll] reinforced how important the shops and restaurants along Charles Street are as pillars of our community as well as how accessible they can be when pedestrians and cyclists are given priority on the street. Not only is a protected two-way bike lane on Charles Street a smart move for the environment and the overall transportation infrastructure in Boston, but it will also make the street safer and more accessible while driving more patrons to local businesses.”

John and Michelle Adams said, “We really enjoyed the stroll last night. It was nice to see people strolling and biking to all the great shops with no traffic to worry about! And the businesses were busy!”

Michelle is a nurse at MGH who commutes via bike. Michelle would like a two-way protected bike lane installed on Charles Street so that pedestrians can feel more protected from bikes on Charles Street and so she can more easily stop at her favorite businesses on the way to and from work, including Bin 26 Enoteca.

The Beacon Hill cycling community is urging the Beacon Hill Civic Association to add an agenda item to an upcoming meeting for residents to discuss the possibility of a bike lane on Charles Street. Adding a bike lane on Charles Street would make the street safer, greener, and more economically robust for everyone. Bike lanes reduce conflicts between people walking and biking, by giving cyclists a specific space to ride.

Beacon Hill residents can join the 100+ of their neighbors who have signed a petition, written by a Beacon Hill resident, in support of a Charles St bike lane by going to bostoncyclistsunion.org/Charles.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.