Brookline Select Board pauses $118,518 bicycle network contract after residents and board raise outreach, multimodal concerns

The Brookline Select Board on April 1 declined to move forward with a $118,518 contract with Kittelson & Associates to create a Bicycle Network Implementation Plan, voting “no action” after lengthy debate about outreach, scope and whether the study should be broadened beyond bicycle‑specific planning.

The contract would have produced a prioritized, townwide plan with high‑level cost estimates and feasibility assessments to guide future bike infrastructure. “This plan is meant to be a planning document, a guide, for helping us be strategic about decisions and about where we want to have bike improvements,” Transportation Director Amy Ingalls told the board, stressing it would not itself authorize construction and that later project designs would include neighborhood engagement.

Residents and Select Board members said the proposal came at the wrong time and seemed too narrowly focused on protected bike lanes rather than multimodal tradeoffs such as parking, pedestrian needs and general pavement preservation. Carla Venka, a town meeting member from…