Dozens of residents in Charlestown want bicycle lanes returned to Main Street, and they want answers about why they were removed in the first place. They packed the basement of the Knights of Columbus on Thursday to tell the Charlestown Neighborhood Council just that.

For a solid hour, members of the council heard public comments about bike lanes in Charlestown — all of them strongly in favor. Not a single person spoke against bike lanes, but several criticized the council and the Charlestown Business Association for what they perceived as a position against the lanes.

“We had a bike lane on Main Street. Then it got taken out. Why did that happen? What was the cost? I had a bike lane and now I don't,” Monument Avenue resident Patrick Murphy said at start the meeting. The crowd applauded, setting the tone for the rest of the evening.

The beginning of the bike lane debate

Last fall, the city installed bike lanes along Main Street, as part of an ongoing initiative to improve bike safety and awareness in Boston. They were the first lanes to come to Charlestown, though nearly all Boston neighborhoods have lanes now.

The Neighborhood Council, which is an advisory committee to the city, expressed concern about the lanes when they arrived. They weren’t sure that Main Street was the ideal location for bike lanes and Charlestown and, more importantly, they didn’t think the city sought adequate input from the council before installing them. Members of the Charlestown Business Association also questioned whether the bike lanes would have an impact on Main Street traffic where, they say, there is already a parking shortage. 

After hearing these concerns from the Neighborhood Council, city officials decided to remove the bike lanes, until the neighborhood had a public discussion about the lanes.

‘Two wrongs don’t make a right’

“It really hurt to have to remove them,” Nicole Freedman, director of the city’s bike program, told the crowd Thursday night. “It was not something we wanted to do. We thought, ’what will lead to the best situation in Charlestown?’ We want biking to succeed here. There was so much push back instantly about the lack of public process, we thought it was better to take out the lane and start again.”

But residents repeatedly expressed dismay that the lanes were removed before they had a chance to weigh in. Why didn’t the Neighborhood Council hold a public hearing before bringing its concerns to the city, they asked. Where was the push back Freedman was referring to? Why didn’t the city seek comment from the neighborhood as a whole before undoing the lanes?

“[The] lesson to learn here is that two wrongs don't make a right,” Elm Street resident Nate Blanchet said. “It was wrong for the council to decide to take the bike lane out without further public process.”

Council member Bill Galvin clarified the Neighborhood Council did not remove the lanes — the city did. The decision came from the city.

“One of the things we do is protect the process,” Galvin said. “There were a number of people in this community who thought there was a negative impact from the bike lanes.”

“Where are they,” someone from the audience asked out loud.

No one in attendance had any complaints about bike lanes.

“It was a pretty aggressive move to take the lane away once it was started,” Tony Viveiros of Monument Avenue said. “It was done very quickly… that speaks volumes to me that something that aggressive was done. I think that needs to be looked at as well.”

City officials present at the meeting spelled out that they made the call to remove the bike lanes from Main Street. But since it was the council’s concerns that prompted the city, residents directed their frustration there, calling its actions “pompous.”

“I feel failed by the Neighborhood Council, by the Business Association. They did not reach out and find consensus. You cannot just listen to loudest voices. You have reach out to different heads of organizations. … There are many ways to hear where they stand and what their opinions are,” said Kelly Pellagrini, founder of Charlestown Nursery School. “It saddens me greatly as someone building a non-profit in this neighborhood that they don't think bike lanes are part of the future of Main Street.”

Next steps for the bike lanes

Despite all of the criticism, the three members of the Neighborhood Council who were present at the meeting — Peg Bradley, George Morton and Bill Galvin — closed by saying they were pleased to see such a high turnout. They encouraged residents to form a neighborhood group to help move the issue and promote bicycling in Charlestown.

“We were concerned bike lanes were strictly for commuters traveling through Charlestown,” Galvin said. “I think this meeting dispels that concept. I think support in community is much broader than the Neighborhood Council anticipated.”

Galvin pledged to work with the city to find a way to bring bike lanes back to Charlestown this spring. Based on the comments from the meeting, he said he was interested in seeing the lanes on all of the neighborhood’s major roadways.

The council also nominated Jennifer Johnson, a Charlestown native, an avid cyclist and co-director of Charlestown Working Theater, as a liaison to Boston Bikes.

“My heart was broken to see the bike lane ripped up,” Johnson said at the end of the meeting. “I’m very relieved to have this meeting. … It’s a good time to move forward.”