Politics & Government

Stalled Vote Could Delay Charlestown Hubway Installation

Subcommittee deadlocks on proposed location at Chelsea and Warren.

, it may bring only one location to Charlestown—at the Bunker Hill Mall. Or it may not come to Charlestown at all.

The Charlestown Neighborhood Council held a meeting Thursday night to discuss a proposed second location near the intersection of Chelsea Street and Warren Street, but closed the meeting without an up-or-down vote.

Councilor David Whelan told Charlestown Patch Friday that the four members of the council present couldn’t agree on whether or not the support the measure and deadlocked 2-2.

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The subcommittee opted to table the vote until September, when the full council will next meet—but that could be after Hubway has completed its next round of kiosk installations.

Kristopher Carter, the interim director of Boston Bikes, said that the delayed vote could push back the isntallation of any Charlestown Hubway stations until next spring.

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it could also lead the department to install only the kiosk at the already-approved location near the intersection of Main Street and Austin Street, but Carter said he was unsure if the network would adequately support that station alone.

"Sometimes things don't go the way they're planned to go," Carter said.

Whelan said that he and others worried that the second location would not suitably serve the neighborhood, and added that he would prefer something in the Navy Yard.

“We were looking more holistically from the town’s perspective at what’s going to benefit the community,” Whelan said. “Let’s get one in and see how it works.”

Whelan added that Hubway should have come to the council months ago if it wanted to install the second location by the end of summer.


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