Somerville Says NO To Protected Bike Lanes On Powder House Blvd

From the email:

The city published an update Friday evening saying that Powder House Blvd will not get protected bike lanes this year. Instead they will paint a single painted bike lane in only one direction and that’s it. This decision unacceptably sacrifices the safety of people biking on Powder House Blvd. They say they will use temporary paint for the bike lane and revisit the decision in 12 months, but this decision will not be any easier to make then, and could be easily further delayed without notice.

Please email transportation@somervillema.gov, [email protected], [email protected], and CC somerville@cambridgebikesafety.org. Say that protected bike lanes save lives and that you are disappointed and angry with their decision on Powder House Blvd. Also, since election season is just starting to heat up, it is a great time to tell elected officials that safe streets are important for your vote in the election this November. There is also a meeting on July 31 @ 6:30pm at the West Somerville Neighborhood School on Powder House Blvd if you want to hear city staff explain their decision or voice your frustration in person.

We have to voice our anger now so that city officials feel a backlash at least as bad as any backlash from removing parking. Volunteers have spent many hours working on this project, talking to residents and stakeholders. We cannot make it easy for the city to throw away this hard work. When city officials avoid building protected bike lanes they must hear from all of us how disappointed we are with them.

As you may have heard a woman from Somerville was killed crossing Mystic Ave near the Stop and Shop in a hit and run crash. While this street is owned by MassDOT and not the City of Somerville, this tragedy should be a wake-up call to city staff that taking shortcuts on safety infrastructure can have terrible consequences. Advocates have complained about this intersection repeatedly and MassDOT has a project scheduled for safety improvements — unfortunately too late for her. Safety improvements always seem to come too little and too late. That’s why it is so important for the city to make the right decision when it can. And that is why we need to write to city officials and voice out anger with their decision.

Please email city officials and tell them that protected bike lanes save lives and that you are disappointed with their decision not to build protected bike lanes on Powder House Blvd. There are many Somerville residents on this list and we can make a big impact when we all speak up.

Sincerely,

-your neighbors at Cambridge Bicycle Safety

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