BOSTON (WHDH) – More than a week after Boston’s largest snowstorm in years, some bike lanes are still buried — and frustrated cyclists are calling on city leaders to clear the way.

Many cyclists say they are having to choose between riding in traffic or walking their bikes because there is no room for them to ride.

“It definitely feels a bit unsafe because many cars pass closely,” said Marvin Kinz, a cyclist. “Either you’re on the side and hope they don’t hit you, or you have to take the middle of the right lane so they can’t pass you.”

Packed snow and ice are covering many of the lanes that cyclists say are supposed to be plowed.

“Commonwealth Avenue is not good, which is a pity because the bike lanes are really good in general,” said Kinz.

“Currently the majority of bike lanes look like a place to hold snow that has been removed from the roadways and from the sidewalks,” said Boston Cyclist Union Executive Director Tiffany Coggell.

Even when the lanes are clear, people say there’s another problem.

“When they clean the bike lane but don’t clear the parking spaces, so the cars park in the bike lane,” said Kinz.

Coggell said this is a citywide issue, and residents have taken matters into their own hands and reached out to city councilors.

“The city has neglected to reach out to us,” Coggell said. “We have also had reports from inside the city that some counselors are talking to the chief of streets, as well as the Mayor, asking them when these bike lanes will be cleared.”

Coggell said the city did send out some plows to clear the lanes, but there are still issues.

“The entrances to the bike lanes are still huge amounts of snow so they are mostly impassable,” she said.

Cyclists said they hope the city takes action to fix this soon.

“I hope it gets better and I hope that they do something about it rather than just letting it melt,” said Nick Sheehan, a cyclist. “Which is very annoying and unsafe so definitely wish they would take care of this. It’s been two weeks.”

7NEWS has reached out to Mayor Michelle Wu’s Office, but has not yet heard back.

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Boston Mayor Michelle Wu is heading to Germany this week, where she is scheduled to speak at the Munich Security Conference.

This is the first time the conference has focused on city leadership, and Wu is scheduled to speak on Saturday as part of a panel on leadership and diplomacy that will also feature Mayor Vitali Klitschko of Kyiv, Ukraine, and Mayor Rafal Trzaskowski, of Warsaw, Poland. Klitschko, the former heavyweight boxing world champion, is expected to participate virtually.

The conversation will mark the first all-mayor panel at the Munich Security Conference, a global gathering of leaders focused on international security and collaboration. Wu is the first American mayor invited to participate.

“Boston is a leading global city, and it’s an honor to be invited to share our progress at this important global forum for democracy and international collaboration,” Wu said in a statement. “Our city is known around the world as a beacon for freedom, and I look forward to connecting with leaders in government, business, education, and more to encourage greater investment in Boston and partnership for our shared future.”

The Alliance for Local Leaders International, which is facilitating the discussion, is paying for Wu and two of her aides to attend the conference, according to The Boston Globe.

Wu also traveled to Nova Scotia in November in an effort to strengthen Boston’s ties to Canada and receive the annual Boston Common Christmas tree.

Boston Mayor Michelle Wu said this week that if a proposed ballot question implementing rent control statewide made it to a vote this fall, she would vote in support.

“It’s not perfect,” she said of the ballot question during an interview on GBH’s Boston Public Radio on Tuesday. “But I’m not going to let the perfect be the enemy of the good in this case when there is so much urgency and pressure from housing costs on our residents.”

As written, the ballot question would limit annual rent hikes statewide to the cost of living increase measured by the Consumer Price Index, with a maximum cap of 5%. It includes exemptions for owner-occupied buildings with less than five units and for the first 10 years that a newly constructed building is open.

Rent control was banned in Massachusetts in 1994 by a ballot question. Renters, advocates and legislators have repeatedly tried to reinstate it without success.

A previous effort to get rent stabilization on the 2024 ballot was abandoned after its proponents failed to get enough signatures to qualify.

The proposal is one of 12 initiative petitions currently in the running for the 2026 ballot, 11 of which are currently before the state Legislature. Legislators can choose to enact any of the proposed laws, or compromise versions of them, rather than letting voters decide in November. The deadline for the Legislature to do so is May 5.

For any that are not acted on by Beacon Hill lawmakers, supporters will need to gather and file 12,429 additional signatures from registered voters by July to officially make it onto the ballot.

Wu has been a strong supporter of rent control in the past, campaigning on the promise of bringing it back when she first ran for mayor in 2021. In her first term, she filed a home rule petition to implement rent control in Boston, which passed the City Council but failed to get the necessary approval from the Legislature.

Wu said in 2023 that she did not support the rent control question proposed for the next year’s ballot, saying she didn’t feel the initiative petition was the right process to use. However, she said this week that the city had tried on multiple occasions to create policies that would reduce the burden of housing costs on residents, only to be blocked by the Legislature.

She said she did not like that the language of the ballot question would put the same regulations in place everywhere, instead of allowing each city and town to decide what would work best for its community.

“Something’s got to give,” she said. “There’s always a better solution that comes out of legislating and being able to pass something with nuance than the kind of hammer of a ballot initiative. But we need to see something happen.”