Mayor Wu initiates 30-day review of all street infrastructure changes from the past three years

Mayor Michelle Wu announced on Feb. 12 that officials will be removing a bus lane the city installed on Boylston Street last summer, saying an analysis found it was not functioning as intended. Pat Greenhouse/Globe Staff

Boston Mayor Michelle Wu has directed the city’s Streets Cabinet to conduct a 30-day review of all infrastructure changes her administration has made over the past three years, in order to identify and make any fneeded fixes, according to an internal memo obtained by the Globe.

The move from Wu, who has said she will be seeking a second term this year, comes as she faces criticism from challenger Josh Kraft over her push to install bike and bus lanes across the city. At his campaign launch earlier this month, Kraft garnered the loudest round of applause when he pledged to pause construction of all new bike lanes should he succeed in ousting Wu in November’s election.

Wu first announced her intention to launch a review of all recent streets projects in a letter to Back Bay leaders earlier this month, in which she also said the city will be removing a controversial bus lane officials installed on Boylston Street last summer.

But the internal memo, dated Feb. 21 and first reported by Streetsblog Massachusetts, provides a clearer outline of how officials will conduct the review, and indicates Wu is open to walking back or altering other road changes in the coming months.

The goal of the review is to get community feedback and assess whether road infrastructure changes are having the desired affect, according to the memo. Officials will then prioritize making quick, needed changes “that improve functioning of roadways for all users without compromising core safety goals, and to demonstrate how community input shapes post-project followup,” according to the memo.

It also outlines who will oversee the effort, how the team will gather information, and the questions officials will tackle as they assess each project.

Mike Brohel, the city’s superintendent of basic city services, and Stef Costa Leabo, the city’s chief data officer, will lead the review, and work with the Streets Cabinet, the Intergovernmental Relations department, and the Office of Neighborhood Services. Chief of Streets Jascha Franklin-Hodge will be part of the core project team.

Brohel will solicit community input through phone calls and neighborhood meetings, all of which will be compiled in a project tracker tool. According to the memo, Brohel will prioritize collecting feedback from people who proactively reach out, but does not indicate how community members should do so if they’re interested in participating.