Two Actions This Week! Brattle St./Mass. Ave. (Mon), Cambridge St. (Wed)

From the email:

Protected bicycle infrastructure is moving ahead in parts of Cambridge, and there will be two opportunities this week to show strong community support for safer streets through the Brattle Street/Mass Ave (Mon) and Cambridge Street (Wed) projects. We have been very encouraged working with city staff, residents, and local businesses so far to make these successful, but we need to push for safe designs that create a network, particularly with two-way flows. Finally, we include an op-ed that details three important areas for improvement with the city’s proposed Inman Square redesign.

Monday May 15, 5-8PM: Brattle St/Mass Ave Protected Bicycle Lanes Open House
City Hall Annex, 344 Broadway, Lobby, RSVP on Facebook

Initial plans for protected bike lanes to be installed this spring on Brattle Street from Eliot to Mason Street and Mass Ave from Trowbridge to Quincy Street will be on display at the City Hall annex, giving us all an opportunity to weigh in with city staff. Both of these projects can provide safe connections in and out of Harvard Square as long as they are designed to be two-way (including contra-flow directions). Creating a viable bicycle network in Cambridge will require many such two-way designs, which we need to advocate for early and often.

Wed May 17, 6-8PM: Cambridge St Protected Bicycle Lane Final Public Meeting
Cambridge Rindge & Latin School, Main Cafeteria, 459 Broadway, RSVP on Facebook

The city will hold its second and final public meeting for the Cambridge St protected bicycle lane project, running from Inman Square to Quincy Street and making key connections to CRLS, Cambridge Hospital and local businesses. This meeting is really important, even for those of us who attended the previous public meeting, for two reasons. First, it’s important for the city to continue to hear that this project has strong support from the community. Second, detailed plans will be presented at this meeting and we need to make sure they have as safe a design as possible, without unnecessary flaws that could make them less useful – especially since this project will serve as a template for future protected thoroughfares.

Cambridge Chronicle Op-Ed: Three changes to make a safe, people-centered Inman Square

At the last public meeting, the city stated that it will be moving forward with a signalized “bend” option for Inman Square, not the roundabout. The design includes essential safety features, such as protected bike lanes and floating bus stops – which is a huge win for bike safety – but it unfortunately also includes features more suitable for a highway than a people-centered square.

Some of us wrote a response to the city’s proposed design in the Cambridge Chronicle, detailing the challenge of creating a safe, neighborhood-focused square with the signalized “bend” option and proposed three changes to try to match the levels of safety of the roundabout in the city’s preferred design. You can read more about the most recent Inman Square redesign meeting in the Cambridge Day.

P.S. Check out this post on Nine Low-Cost Ideas for Making Cambridge Bicycling Safer by Tom Meek.

Sincerely,

Cambridge Bicycle Safety

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Take Action For A Safer Inman Square

From CBS:

We’ve got one action for you to take this week for a safer Inman Square, and an update on the Inman Square redesign and the spring protected bike lane network.

Take Action for A Safer Inman Square

1. Review the City’s four design options and then fill out the Design Survey. The city will pick ONE design to proceed with to a 25% design. We need cyclists to reiterate that protected lanes must be included. The Boston Cyclists Union has posted a handy guide on the strengths and weaknesses of the four options.

2. Show up TOMORROW, Tuesday, February 7th to the second presentation of the Inman Square design options; the last meeting had an overwhelming turnout. RSVP & share on Facebook!

Cambridge Public Library (Main Branch), Lower Level (L2)
449 Broadway
5-8 PM Open House, with a 7 PM presentation

Additional office hours they’ve scheduled to view the designs:
344 Broadway, Second Floor (City Hall Annex)
Mon 6-7 PM
Tues – Thurs 12-1PM

Spring Protected Bike Lane Network

We had a good turnout at the city council meeting last week, with bicycle safety being the most-mentioned topic during public comment. The great news is that the councillors unanimously voiced support for an accelerated and broader spring network! This was unprecedented, as councillors, in the past, have raised concerns about the implementation and pushback from some constituents. You can see what the councillors and city staff said in our live tweets here.

Thank you to everyone who has emailed, called, and appeared at council meetings. You’re the reason we’ve gotten this far but we want to continue to work with the city to see a broader implementation of protected bike lanes for people of all ages and abilities. Community meetings will be scheduled soon and we’ll need to continue to speak up and show up to keep the pressure on.

Best,
Annie, Nate and the CBS core team

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Crucial Inman Sq Meeting Tomorrow (Tues 1/24)

Get out there and let your voice be heard!

Got this in the email:

Inman Square is one of the most dangerous intersections in Cambridge and we have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to make it a place that’s safe for everyone. The city is in the process of redesigning the intersection and will be presenting their plans for public feedback tomorrow, Tuesday, Jan 24 and we need you to show up!

WHAT: Inman Square redesign public meeting
WHEN: Tomorrow, Tuesday January 24, 6–9PM
WHERE: Cambridge Hospital, 1493 Cambridge Street, Macht Building 3rd floor
RSVP and SHARE the Facebook event

It is critically important that we get a great turnout at the meeting to speak out for safer, protected infrastructure for people from 8 to 80 years old. There are two major design options: a “wrap-around” and the “peanut-about” proposed by the Boston Cyclists Union. (See designs for both here)

We look forward to seeing the city’s wrap-around options in more detail at the meeting, but based on what we know now, we strongly support the peanut-about proposal as it achieves the key goals of protected bike infrastructure, improved pedestrian safety, and efficient design. Representatives from Kittleson & Associates who worked on the peanut-about will be at the meeting tomorrow to answer questions.

KEY TALKING POINTS:

• Inman Square is one of the city’s most dangerous intersections for bicyclists and pedestrians.

• The top priority for the redesign must be to improve the safety of bicyclists and pedestrians of all ages.

• Protected, separate bike infrastructure is absolutely necessary and must be a part of the solution. It will also maintain the vitality and uniqueness of the square.

• The peanut-about design is the best option for the city to achieve the goals of a safer intersection for people of all ages and abilities.

One last note: If you haven’t filled out our survey about the pop-up winter pilot protected lanes on Mass Ave yet, please do so now! We’ve got over 150 responses so far. Please share it on Facebook & elsewhere so we can help make the spring network as successful as possible!

Sincerely,
Annie, Nate, and other members of the CBS core team

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