Action Alert: Council To Vote On Inman Sq Redesign TODAY

From the email:

Tonight, the City Council will vote on whether the Inman Square intersection redesign project, now a two-year process, goes forward. These safety improvements have been proposed in response to the death of Amanda Phillips in the intersection in 2016 and because of the high crash rates and injuries for people biking, walking and driving. The current design was not our first choice as we laid out in our recommendations last year, but city staff should be commended for including needed protected infrastructure throughout the intersection and some best-in-class transit improvements. We all need to contact the City Council and let them know that we cannot wait another two years for a protected intersection in Inman Square!

Take Action:

• Contact city councilors at [email protected] (and bcc[email protected]) and ask them to vote in support of moving the Inman Square redesign forward because we can’t wait any longer for protected bicycle lanes and other Vision Zero safety improvements.

The existing Inman Square intersection is dangerous by design for all road users. In terms of major squares of Cambridge, it is as bad as Porter Square in overall crashes, and second only to Central Square for bicycle crashes. Pedestrian crashes also occur due to the long intersection that encourages speeding and the misalignment of crosswalks with desire lines. Historically, a third of all crashes in the intersection resulted in injuries requiring EMS.

Other users of the intersection will also benefit from redesigning for safety: with substantially reduced crossing distances and shorter signal times, pedestrians will face less delay and lower vehicle speeds. Bus riders from will benefit from the city’s first floating bus stops, which do not require merging with traffic, and a proposed queue jump that allows buses to get ahead of traffic at the leading signal. This means less delay on the 69 connecting East Cambridge.

The city is ready to move forward and this vote is the last step. Help support protected bike lanes by emailing [email protected] (bcc [email protected]) and/or attend the city council meeting tonight, May 21, at Cambridge City Hall at 5:30 to speak on this subject (register here, call 617-349-4280, or sign up in person).

• Read our full statement on the proposed redesign.

• Read the home rule petition the Council will be voting on.

A little more on what’s happening tonight:

The City Council is voting on a home rule petition which is necessary move the design forward, because a part of Vellucci plaza will be moved across the street. If the city council votes yes the petition will be sent to the statehouse for approval. Then the city will start building protected bike lanes in Inman square!

If the Council votes no, the city will likely have to start from scratch with a new design which doesn’t touch Vellucci plaza. And who knows what will happen for future bike lane projects.

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Police Seek Driver Who Struck Cyclist In Hit And Run

 

Police are searching for the driver of a Toyota Prius who they believe hit a teenager riding his bike and then fled.

The 14-year-old was riding on Putnam Avenue when he was hit around 7:22 a.m. on Thursday, March 15, according to police.

“I was crossing the street to go on the sidewalk and the car just came out of nowhere and hit the back of my bike and it sent me flying,” he said. (via)

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Group Of Anti-Bike Business Owners Form In Cambridge

Seems a couple business owners have decided bikes are bad for business and are trying to stop more bike infrastructure from being put in.

Their demands are largely incoherent and factually inaccurate, but they are making them anyway.

The meeting was lively but civil, even when resident Gary Mello alluded to two bicyclist deaths last year that kicked bike lane installation into higher gear and said bicyclists were “exploiting these deaths to advance their own agenda.” The line drew applause. (He explained later that the bicyclists’ agenda was “bike lanes on every street, overwhelming everything else we’ve got.”)

Those people went out and got themselves killed, just to ruin this guys business!  What an idiot he is.

I am pretty sure that if they decide to try and stop bicycle infrastructure we could use the exact same tactics to harm their business. Maybe cyclists stop going to their stores, maybe everyone who supports livable streets stops going to their stores, lets see how that affects their business.

The reality is that there is plenty of public input in these projects with multiple public meetings taking months and months, these folks just didn’t go to them.

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Two Days Left To Register To Vote In Cambridge!

From the email:

Are you registered to vote? The last day for Cambridge municipal election registration is this Wednesday, October 18 at 8pm.

Hi all, All seats on Cambridge City Council are up for election this November 7, and the make-up of the Council is critical to making rapid progress toward safe biking infrastructure for all ages and abilities. The last day to register to vote in Cambridge municipal elections is this Wednesday, October 18 at 8pm. Spend two minutes to make sure you’re registered and send to five friends. We know that our streets are still not safe for bikers and pedestrians, which is why CBS has laid out a bold Cambridge Bicycle Safety Platform requiring a clear timeline for fast-tracked implementation of the 20 miles of protected lanes called for in the city’s Bike Plan.To get the platform implemented and not take out the lanes we already have, we need councillors good on bikes, and that means we all need to vote! Here are some of the Council policy orders that kick-started the last year’s pop-up protected lanes. We need many more. Here is what we need to do before Wednesday: 1.  Check if you are registered to vote, and if not: Register yourself (unless you have a Mass drivers license, you have to print and mail or deliver in person). Send or deliver the signed form to: Cambridge Election Commission, 51 Inman St., Cambridge, MA 02139. 2.  Sign up to be reminded on election day to get out and vote. You can also join our facebook registration event to be reminded and share with your friends. If you know you will be out of town, you have to register in advance for an absentee ballot. 3. Forward this to 5 Cambridge friends. (If you are a student, first-time voter, or registered in another state for national elections, this FAQ by MIT is super helpful.) CBS has published statements of candidate signers to our platform, and will be publishing good actions and statements by candidates on our website and facebook page.

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Action: Sign Letter On Crucial Inman Square Redesign Changes

From the email:

Want to ensure that the design Cambridge is fast-tracking for Inman Square maximizes our ability to deliver on a vibrant, people-centered neighborhood? Please review and sign our letter calling for changes right now! Read on for more info.

As you know, the city is redesigning Inman Square and has selected a signalized design. The city’s proposed signalized design includes a number of essential features including protected bike lanes throughout the intersection, floating bus stops at the edges of the intersection, and a bus priority lane through a congested part of the intersection.

Unfortunately, the design also has two significant flaws that a coalition of neighborhood groups and residents, including Cambridge Bicycle Safety, are asking to be addressed.

1. The current design includes four lanes of motor vehicle traffic in the heart of Inman Square, which represents a significant increase relative to the status quo.

2. Because the design dedicates so much space to motor vehicles, it requires the removal of most of Vellucci Park, including a number of mature trees, in order to create space for cars to queue while still allowing for a new plaza space in front of Punjabi Dhaba.

These flaws are not necessary. The Inman Square Coalition has put together a list of recommendations for how the plan can be modified to avoid these flaws. The full list of recommendations is available here, and a letter to the City Council, City Manager, and other city staff in support of the core recommendations is available here.

TAKE ACTION: Please sign onto our letter requesting the city make these changes. Add your name here and share this email with your networks.

In addition to signing the letter, we encourage you to write your own thoughts to [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], and [email protected].

We’ve placed some FAQs below.

Sincerely,
The CBS core team

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