An attempt to delay plans that will add a bike lane to the upper portion of Huron Avenue failed during Monday night’s city council meeting, as a 6-3 majority of councillors opted to keep the project moving toward completion.
The issue first made council’s agenda last week, when Councillor Cathie Zusy submitted a policy order to delay construction for five years, citing a high desire for parking in the area to accommodate a 250-unit residence and recreational opportunities like the Fresh Pond Golf Course and Glacken Field. But instead of voting on the measure, Councillor Marc McGovern introduced a substitute policy order — aimed at keeping the construction timeline intact while the city works to find parking alternatives in the Strawberry Hill neighborhood — prompting Zusy to use her charter right to delay the vote a week.
While Zusy attempted a compromise by offering to reduce the delay in her version of the order to one year instead of five, McGovern’s version of the order prevailed. During debate, he noted that while some of the work to improve the street in preparation for installing the bike lanes will begin this fall, the parking spots will not be displaced until spring of next year, giving the city time to find alternatives for the 44 parking spots the order said will be lost…