BY VINAYA SAKSENA

PROVIDENCE — Mayor David Cicilline joined a group of area bicycle enthusiasts for a ride on Thursday, traveling along Blackstone Boulevard- in the middle of the road.

Until recently, doing so would have been dangerous to cyclists and presented quite a nuisance to motorists. Now, however, changes have been made to the boulevard’s lane structure that are designed to allow this type of travel, while also encouraging drivers to slow down, according to advocates of this change.
Wendy Drum, a leader of the neighborhood advocacy group Bring Back the Boulevard, said her group had been trying for seven years to convince city officials to make a change like this. The once-quiet boulevard, she said, had turned into a busy four-lane road, with traffic sometimes traveling at more than twice the speed limit.
“It turned into a big issue,” Drum said. “To get to the other side, you had to cross 60-mile-per-hour traffic in a 25 mile-per-hour zone. The police advised us that if we’re going to slow down the traffic, we would have to do something which brought the road back to one lane on either side.”
Drum said her organization began looking into the idea of a bike lane, which now runs along the middle of each side of the boulevard, after hearing of the idea being utilized in other cities throughout the country.
After some discussion, the group managed to get police and city officials on board with the idea, and Drum praised them for making the new lanes happen.
“We appreciate the city’s (support),” Drum said. “It took (time), but we are thankful that we have their support.”
In a statement issued that day, Cicilline and City Councilman Cliff Wood voiced support for the idea, saying that it would address problems not only of traffic speed, but also the rising cost of gasoline and thus motor vehicle transportation in general. The mayor pointed out that the new bike lane was the first of a series of contributions the city planned to make to an increased connectivity of bike lanes and trails in Rhode Island and beyond. The benefits, Cicilline said, would be numerous.
“We are committed to expanding the bicycle routes in Providence to make it as safe and convenient as possible for people to navigate through the city streets on bikes,” Cicilline said in the statement. “Designated bike lanes encourage physical activity, are good for the environment and have tremendous traffic calming benefits as well.”
“With rising prices at the gas pump, it’s critically important that we encourage residents to use alternative modes of transportation,” Wood added. “This new lane will create a safe biking experience for residents and improve both their health and the quality of life in our neighborhood.”
The mayor’s statement indicated that the bike lane is part of the Blackstone River Bikeway, which runs between Cumberland and Woonsocket. The statement added that the Department of Transportation had plans to help the city connect the lane to both India Point Park and the East Bay Bike Path, with connections eventually expected to reach as far north as Worcester, Massachusetts.
The bike lane, which is approximately two miles long and runs from Hope Street to Irving Avenue, is currently located in the center of each side of the boulevard, with motor vehicles traveling in the centermost lane and parking spaces added on the opposite side of the roadway. Drum said a change to this layout was not out of the realm of possibility, noting that motor vehicles currently have to cross the bike lane in order to park, but said the idea was a work in progress that may be subject to revision if a more effective layout was found.
“This is only the second day (of operation), and we’re still learning,” Drum said Thursday. “And we’re learning that there are issues, but they are fixable. Let’s view this as a test and watch it as it progresses.”