Bicyclist Rides Through Boston Tunnel: Video

BOSTON, MA — Boston is a pretty bike friendly city and has even made the list of top cities to be a cyclist commuters. And it's working on becoming better. But a video of a person cycling through a highway tunnel (illegally) and posted to Reddit this weekend shows a big gap.

The video shows the cyclist with its blinking bike light hanging close to the right side of the O'Neill Tunnel headed toward I-93 Northbound, as cars move over to the left lane after the St. Patrick's Day Parade. Eventually, according to MassDOT, the cyclist who appeared to be riding without a helmet, got out alive.

"MassDOT staff did not receive reports regarding this incident as the incident was occurring but can report at this hour that the individual exited this location via a stairwell," said a MassDOT spokesperson in an email to Patch.

State officials and advocates agree it's illegal and dangerous.

"That's not something we see every day," said Lauren LeClaire, of the cyclist advocacy group MassBike. The last time a clip of someone riding through a Boston tunnel was in 2016. "It's very much a bad idea, and not just a small lapse in judgement."

But there are a number of circumstances that may have contributed to why the rider ended up there, she said.

Folks took to Reddit to jab the cyclist, but many also noted it can be tricky to ride around Boston when you're from out of town.

"Last year, first time in Boston, I got off the bus at south station late at night, rented a bike to get to my hotel. Directions were unclear, so I found myself on the Albany St. onramp. Fortunately I was able to abort and escape through these stairs," posted one person.

LeClaire agreed. It could have been someone unfamiliar with the area or from out of town or new to biking. Folks generally turn on the GPS, which can have some good bike functions, but for many the default is just to treat you like a car.

"So if you're not familiar you can end up in a dangerous situation," she said. "You see it happen with car drivers, too. Not that we know that that's what happened here, but there's a number of factors of why that could have happened."

The folks at Mass bike advocate careful route planning. "We've come a long way in terms of adding infrastructure and bike lanes, but we're not all the way there yet," said LeClaire.

So she recommends planning ahead, and think very carefully about what roads you take before you get on the bike.

And for drivers who come across a biker in a situation like this?

Whether they're on a highway or on Storrow Drive, this is very dangerous obviously for both riders and drivers. The important think to remember is to proceed with caution," she said. "Slow down and give them some space and call the police. If there's a dangerous situation we definitely want to encourage that to not happen."

The video popped up on Reddit Sunday, and has a 5:10 p.m. (ish) time stamp. Take a look:

<blockquote class="imgur-embed-pub" lang="en" data-id="a/WWq5d"><a href="//imgur.com/WWq5d">Someone got a little lost on the way home from the parade.</a></blockquote><script async src="//s.imgur.com/min/embed.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

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Photo by Jenna Fisher/Patch video courtesy MassDOT