Update: Over 3,000 people have signed the Petition for Safe Streets, including 1,700 Cambridge residents! Add your name below, and show your support by joining the Safe Streets Petition Delivery Party on Monday, October 31 at City Hall!
We have put together a petition regarding safe streets in Cambridge.
In light of the tragic deaths of Dr. Bernard “Joe” Lavins, Amanda Phillips, and Marcia Deihl, all killed by trucks in Cambridge in the last two years, we call on the City of Cambridge to immediately follow through on its commitment to enact safety improvements to bicycle infrastructure across the city, starting with separated bike lanes on all major city thoroughfares.
Sign the petition here or below.
Thanks for this.
I’d also suggest:
We need more driver education: Some with signs, and some more thorough info given with parking permits.
A simple uniform notification, like a ticket, but no fee, just information that anyone can leave on a windshield. Could have check-offs, such as: “You are parked in a bike lane — making cyclists go around you, further into traffic.”
Could be friendly, polite, infomative. A tool to make drivers think.
I wish we could ban driving while using a phone.
Enforcement: why is no one ever charged in these deaths, and cases of injury.
I have traveled all over the world and seen dedicated bike lanes in most civilized cities – even China has dedicated bike lanes in major cities.
How many deaths do we have to endure before dedicated bike lanes become the norm here in Mass. It’s not expensive if you at least start out with plastic bollards. It’s time to shed the ” the car is king” mentality and give space to individuals who are trying to improve the environment by using non-carbon editing transportation.
The current bike lanes are obviously inadequately safe. Please target resources to improve bike safety on Mass Ve/Porter/Harvard Square and throughout Cambridge.
As a cyclist, I am scared and so sad to see another bicyclist killed. How do I keep it from happening to me?
Agreed, I was so shaken when I found out.
It doesn’t seem like much, but you should definitely write to city council (council AT cambridgema.gov), before Monday night (10/17) if possible. There are 8 policy orders related to biking on the agenda and we need to make sure they get passed, especially the immediate-action ones, e.g. bike lane pilots (see them here: http://cambridgema.iqm2.com/Citizens/FileOpen.aspx?Type=1&ID=1667&Inline=True)
It is a travesty that Cambridge has not been at the forefront of bike safety these last few years though we claim to be more progressive than our neighbors to the north and south. In recent years Boston and Somerville have done far more to clearly mark bike lanes, and make allowances for bike traffic, than Cambridge has. For example look at the beautifully marked bike lane down Somerville Ave, or Brighton Ave in Allston, or Commonwealth Ave between Kenmore and Charlesgate with it’s separate bike lane. Compare this to Mass Ave from City Hall to Harvard Square, or Mass Ave in most of North Cambridge where we don’t even have a stripe of paint designating a bike lane. Why is it so hard to paint a few lines in the road? How many more people have to die to make this a priority in our city? While projects like the Western Ave bike path are wonderful we don’t have the luxury of several years, the high cost, and scores more dead bikers before we get to such improvements on other streets. We need simple actions like moving the bike lane from between car lanes and parked cars to between the parked cars and the sidewalk, because this can be done far quicker and far cheaper than major reconstruction projects.
It seems the city government is only interested in growing the population within our borders rather than taking concrete and swift steps to keep our two-wheeled population safe. The claim is that bicycles are the solution to less traffic with an increased population yet a safe bicycling infrastructure is lagging behind the development of luxury condos. This is both unacceptable and bordering on criminal in my opinion.
If you ride through Harvard/Central/Porter/Kendall Squares you will frequently see bike lanes blocked by parked cars. One immediate step would be to have cops on bike patrol going through these busy areas and issuing tickets to cars that are blocking bike lanes. Without enforcement of the rules that keep us safe, laws to keep us safe are meaningless. We need to prioritize enforcement to keep cars out of bike lanes.
In short:
* Enforce existing laws to communicate that bike lanes are not for double parking
* Do the quick and easy things first, rather than wait for major reconstruction projects which are expensive and take several years.
Thank you for your detailed comment. You should definitely express the same sentiments to the council (council AT cambridgema.gov), before Monday night (10/17) if possible. There are 8 policy orders related to biking on the agenda and we need to make sure they get passed, especially the immediate-action ones, e.g. bike lane pilots (see them here: http://cambridgema.iqm2.com/Citizens/FileOpen.aspx?Type=1&ID=1667&Inline=True)
Also – for parked cars in bike lanes, you can help point out areas for better enforcement here:
http://www.cambridgema.gov/CDD/Transportation/bikesincambridge/reportingvehiclesblockingbikelanes
Bike travel and safety is essential to city living. We have so many resources in this great, thoughtful city of Cambridge – so let’s come up with a solution! We need to invest in our future, and in bike paths!