Recently, the Boston City Council voted unanimously to approve the fiscal year 2020 operating budget and the fiscal years 2020-2024 capital budget with over $16.15 million in appropriations to make streets safer for walking, biking, and rolling. Thanks to the leadership of Boston Mayor Marty Walsh and Boston City Councilor Michelle Wu, the city made a significant investment towards building streets and roads that are safe and accessible for all modes of transportation.
The Mayor made a commitment to address health equity in his budget, and included:
$1 million investment to accelerate the design and reconstruction of Boston’s major bike corridors, including extending bike lanes to connect the heart of the city to high areas of need
$2 million for bike infrastructure
$4 million to strengthen Boston’s Walkable Streets program, which equitably reconstructs sidewalks throughout Boston
The projects in this budget also include investments in communities like Roxbury, where 34.5% of residents live in poverty. In Roxbury, 28.6% of residents are obese and 30.5% have hypertension high blood pressure, compared to 21.8% and 24.4%, respectively, in Boston overall.
Congratulations to the American Heart Association Massachusetts and to all volunteers and advocates who are working to make streets safer for physical activity!