Description
This morning, I had to go to Shattuck Ace hardware, Arlington to pick-up special-order items. Mass Ave was backed up, so I made a right at Churchill Ave (0,2 miles from ABP) to go to Broadway in Somerville. When I turned right onto Alewife Brook Pkwy at the end of Matignon Road, I noticed the westbound Alewife Brook Pkwy was backed up beyond the traffic light at Woodstock Street for total of at least 0.3 miles.
On the way back, once again, I ran into stalled traffic on the southbound Mass Ave on Arlington side.
Please do something to mitigate this traffic congestions during rush hour if for nothing else but to reduce air pollution caused by all the idling cars.
Sometimes the backup on northbound side goes all the way back to Pemberton. All told, there could be a mile or more if cards idling and that is a lot of air pollution!
Please conduct traffic survey to measure the length of traffic backup on all 4 sides of the intersection during the peak of rush hour. TP&T has shown that they can conduct traffic survey without traffic counters during the community meeting period of the Cycling Safety Ordinance implementation in north Mass Ave so I am sure they can redo this survey.
Thank you
125 Comments
City of Cambridge (Verified Official)
City Hall – DR (Verified Official)
TT (Registered User)
Anonymous (Registered User)
N C Neighbor (Registered User)
When is this foolishness going to stop? It's not enough that the water in Alewife Brook is polluted, now you're increasing the pollution in the air as well.
Kellie (Registered User)
Anonymous (Registered User)
Mayor Ted (Registered User)
Anonymous (Registered User)
Closed Traffic - KC (Permits) (Verified Official)
Thank you for taking the time to share your concerns with us. We have passed this information along to Cambridge Traffic, Parking & Transportation staff. Additionally Alewife Brook Parkway is state property, managed by Massachusetts Dept. of Conservation & Recreation (DCR). Their contact information is: Community Relations at 617-626-1250 / Mass.parks@mass.gov.
Please note, this system is best used for issues like potholes, broken streetlights, damaged street signs, or other service requests related to routine maintenance. For things related to policies, programs, traffic regulations, or other items that require further examination or planning, contact the Traffic, Parking, and Transportation Department at tpt@cambridgema.gov
Mayor Ted (Registered User)
N C Neighbor (Registered User)
Reopened Concerned NC Resident (Registered User)
With due respect, please allow me to differ as I am super frustrated over how this CSO was implemented and post-implementation management. Please keep this open until City addresses this problem. Let me list just two major reasons why (other than the obvious I stated in the original description) and ask others to add to these:
1) You recommended to “contact the Traffic, Parking, and Transportation Department at tpt@cambridgema.gov” but I have written countless emails to the City officials but my emails are seldom answered. I spoke up countless times at the City Council meetings to voice my concerns. Yes, the CC passed Policy Order to conduct economic impact study and to form an advisory committee yet TP&T and DPW are continuing with the Porter Square Project and MassAve4 Projects respectively without waiting for the results. So, who do I contact to get this issue addressed then?
2) Yes, I know full well that Alewife Brook Parkway is state property, managed by Massachusetts Dept. of Conservation & Recreation (DCR). But the problem is caused by the separated bike lane installation with poor coordination between TP&T and DCR and poor, if at all, impact study as I urged TP&T to do early on during community outreach. Are you suggesting we contact DCR to get Cambridge to restore the traffic flow during rush hour to pre- bike lane conditions? The DCR can’t change traffic pattern on Mass Ave that TP&T installed. But TP&T has responsibility for the lane markings and signal timing (as I was told by TP&T) so TP&T can, should and must address this problem. TP&T DPW should and must take the lessons learned from the Quick-Build that was supposed to have only minor impact and apply them to the projects in progress and future projects.
Scf (Registered User)
Bicycles rule the roads in Cambridge.
Get used to it people.
Mayor Ted (Registered User)
Concerned NC Resident (Registered User)
TP&T was able to gather traffic counts almost overnight during the community engagement on this project. At least conduct same traffic count and compare the results and come up with remedial steps as warranted.
Thank you
Concerned NC Resident (Registered User)
Anonymous (Registered User)
Concerned NC Resident (Registered User)
Anonymous (Registered User)
Concerned NC Resident (Registered User)
Thank you.
Kellie (Registered User)
Anonymous (Registered User)
I second Concerned NC Resident's request. And please don't try to close this ticket again by saying: "For things related to policies...contact the Traffic, Parking, and Transportation Department at tpt@cambridgema.gov." You don't answer our email so we resort to clickfix.
And please also give us an update on the Advisory Group that the city council unanimously agreed we needed to oversee this process and give people a place to bring their grievances. Joe Barr was supposed to set this up by Jan. 31. We know this is a hard job for TPT but think of us, we have to live with this.
Anonymous (Registered User)
TT (Registered User)
Kellie (Registered User)
Bob (Registered User)
Mayor Ted (Registered User)
TT (Registered User)
Concerned NC Resident (Registered User)
To be fair, the Police Department is doing what it can, given the situation where separate bike lanes have been installed. i know they have assigned extra patrol in North Cambridge. It is more the fault of TP&T to monitor the impact of separated bike lanes (they were able to conduct traffic survey seemingly overnight when it suited their needs) and come up with mitigation solutions.
What I have asked TP&T very early on was to look into Bus Priority Lane instead of dedicated bus lane. Technology is there. Fire engines and ambulances can be equipped with transponders to change the lights, for example.
Concerned NC Resident (Registered User)
Anonymous (Registered User)
Bus lanes are NOT part of the Cycling Safety Ordinance. These bus lanes were thrown in at the last minute by Joe Barr. The city manager could remove them at any time without going to city council. The city manager could also change the schedule and start building the sidewalk bike lanes like we have on Western Ave now instead of waiting three years. They preserve parking and are safer. Get rid of the quick-build. Quick-builds are done to comply with Marc McGovern's Cycling Safety Ordinance until TPT can build the permanent sidewalk bike lanes. TPT can't expect us to deal with this for three more years. It's not fair for us to be the guinea pigs for a failed experiment.
It makes more sense to send letters to the new city manager pointing out that he has the power to change this mess, than waiting for TPT to do anything. The director is leaving and it is obvious he is going to leave his mess behind for someone else to deal with.
D (Registered User)
Having spent SIXTEEN minutes to move 4 car lengths, trying to get onto Alewife Brook Parkway eastbound from Mass Ave Arlington, I must agree that this is not just congestion, it is gridlock. (Yes, I gave up. At one car per cycle, it was clear it would take a long, long time for the Mass Ave eastbound to clear.)
All caused by the volume of traffic from ABP (both directions) trying to get into the ONE lane on Mass Ave eastbound in Cambridge. Until you fix this stupid design, either assign police to peak hours, start giving tickets for blocking the intersection, or some other action.
It is irresponsible to knowingly let this happen every morning, 5 days a week.
Anonymous (Registered User)
TT (Registered User)
Concerned NC Resident (Registered User)
TT (Registered User)
Anonymous (Registered User)
Would as many people as possible please send the new city manager a link to this ticket. (citymanager@cambridgema.gov). I have already sent many emails regarding the problems on N. Mass Ave. It would be helpful if we all remind him that this is a big problem that is not going away and that we need his help.
Also, please come to the meeting at Graham & Parks School on 11/9 at 6:30. TPT is finally getting around to telling the Raymond Street community why they made Garden Street a one-way. It will give us an opportunity to ask in person when they plan to fix the problems on N. Mass Ave and also show solidarity for the Raymond Street community which now has overflow traffic from drivers avoiding Garden Street. We think the city manager will attend.
N C Neighbor (Registered User)
Concerned NC Resident (Registered User)
N C Neighbor (Registered User)
TT (Registered User)
Anonymous (Registered User)
Concerned NC Resident (Registered User)
Concerned NC Resident (Registered User)
While stuck in the traffic at Churchil Ave, I counted more than a dozen cars whizzing by on the dedicated bus lane.
Please CONDUCT TRAFFIC COUNT at this intersection and compare to travel data from both 2016 and 2021(see links to these data under the Second Community Meeting Background pull down menu in https://www.cambridgema.gov/streetsandtransportation/projectsandprograms/massavedudleysttoalewifebrookpkwy). The congestion is in stark contrast to traffic impact analysis (pg. 24) presented by TP&T during this meeting.
At an on-site meeting with Ms. McKenna, Mr. Baxter, and Mr. Reker on 10/18/2021, I was told that TP&T has traffic volume data from 2016 and that once the Mass Ave - Dudley St to ABP project is implemented, TP&T will be able to monitor traffic volume and implement adjustments to mitigate any traffic issues. If I was told they had 2021data I surely would have asked for it.
Kellie (Registered User)
Anonymous (Registered User)
Concerned NC Resident (Registered User)
Thank you
Concerned NC Resident (Registered User)
This issue has been outstanding for 301 days but hasn't been even Acknowledged since I opened it. PLEASE ACKNOWLEDGE this issue and PROVIDE STATUS.
During this 301-day period, on 11/7/2022 POR 2022 #282 was introduced requesting the City Manager "to direct the Traffic, Parking, and Transportation Department and Department of Public Works to meet with and receive input from residents living on the streets in the impacted area to discuss strategies to mitigate and reduce overflow and cut through traffic and on any short term recommendations no later than December 19th, 2022; and provide a final report on how the
concerns are being addressed, no later than March 27, 2023."
The PO was adopted as amended on 11/14 after being charter righted. The CM reported back with TP&T's preliminary report on 12/19/2022 and placed on file by unanimous vote. This item was then removed from the Awaiting Report list.
"In March 2023, the Traffic, Parking, and Transportation Department submitted an analysis to the Cambridge City Council. The report examines the impacts of the Garden Street Safety Improvement Project on local traffic. This report included. "
Data comparing volumes and speeds on 14 streets in the project area, before and after project installation; including further analysis of streets where volumes increased (Concord Avenue, Huron Avenue, Madison Street, and Raymond Street)
Comparisons to vehicle volume counts across Cambridge
Comparisons to pre-COVID traffic volumes"
per March 2023: Local Traffic Analysis Report (https://www.cambridgema.gov/streetsandtransportation/projectsandprograms/gardenstsafetyimprovementproject#9fe1189863574e38bc5fba895244666c).
This report was transmitted by CM to the City Council on 4/3 to be discussed along with Charter Right Item #1 re Garden Street Accommodations which requested the CM to implement recommendations in the charter right item.
If City Council can introduce 2 policy orders for Garden Street "accommodations" and the TP&T can conduct such a thorough traffic analysis on Garden Street project and report back in 147 days, why can't this issue be even acknowledged in 301 days?
Anonymous (Registered User)
N C Neighbor (Registered User)
Anonymous (Registered User)
Mayor Ted (Registered User)
Anonymous (Registered User)
NO! If people aren't using the 77 bus it is because they have already chosen a different method of transportation. There has been a steep drop in ridership of the 77. People are working from home and more poor people are driving because they don't find public transit reliable or a good fit for their needs.
And no, the bike lanes as implemented are NOT here to stay. Quick-build is just a temporary design until they do a partial infrastructure build. And I DO NOT think what they built is a good thing.
Concerned NC Resident (Registered User)
I am glad Mayor Loney Ted mentioned that the focus should be on better utilization of the bus lane. I agree whole heartedly. From the beginning back in 2021, I have pushed for bus priority lanes instead of dedicated bus lanes. When I talked to TP&T staff about it they said they explored it as a participatory budgeting project but said it is not feasible because you need a central traffic monitoring center in conjunction with MBTA. But MBTA has implemented a bunch of bus priority projects as described in Bus Transit Priority | Projects | MBTA (https://www.mbta.com/projects/bus-transit-priority).
Among the possibilities are:
Dedicated Bus Lanes
Shared Bus/Bike Lanes
Transit Signal Priority
Rapid Response Bus Lanes.
I, as a retired system engineer, have a solution in mind which any MIT traffic engineer student will be able to investigate feasibility as a summer work/study project. Sadly, my suggestion has fallen on deaf ears.
Also, there are many CSO implementation related POs which are still waiting for CM's reports and for those that CM has reported back, the final statuses are unknown - Citizen Advisory Board, financial impact study to name a couple.
Please keep speaking up!
Anonymous (Registered User)
Mayor Ted (Registered User)
Anonymous (Registered User)
Mayor Ted (Registered User)
Concerned NC Resident (Registered User)
D (Registered User)
Again, this is not just "congestion" it is GRIDLOCK.
Further, gridlock is now happening at Broadway and Route 16 because drivers are cutting through formerly quiet streets in East Arlington to use Broadway BECAUSE the gridlock at Mass Ave and 16 is so ridiculous.
This experiment has proven that people will NOT be giving up cars. So all you are doing is causing delays, more pollution from idling, and enraging people whose commutes are now twice as long. Public transit keeps getting cut, and is so unreliable, people don't want to use it.
Fix the MBTA.
Assign police to peak hours.
Start giving tickets for blocking the intersection.
Ticket for all the drivers cutting through Matignon, etc. despite the signage.
C'mon, if you're truly multi-modal, it needs to work for everyone! Even drivers.
It is irresponsible to knowingly let this happen every morning, 5 days a week, for MONTHS.
Anonymous (Registered User)
Anonymous (Registered User)
Anonymous (Registered User)
Anonymous (Registered User)
Kellie (Registered User)
Concerned NC Resident (Registered User)
Let me just say that I am totally disillusioned about the Policy Order cycle. To start off, it is so hard to get a Councillor to go to bat for you as (s)he must muster enough supporting Councillors to jointly submit a PO for it to have a chance to be adopted. If you are lucky enough to have a PO introduced on your behalf and if it is adopted, it may sit in City Manager's Awaiting Response with no one monitoring its progress. Sometimes, it might even be pulled off the List due to end of legislative session.
And once the City Manager responds, City Council doesn't make sure the entire PO had been answered if the Order is multi-part. Sometimes, the report is just a promise actions will be taken or promise more detailed response will follow just like many of the SeeClickFix issues. Then, there is no follow-up of the report!
We need Charter Reform to bring back transparence, accountability, and all other standard business/governing practices.
Mayor Ted (Registered User)
Anonymous (Registered User)
D (Registered User)
Situation Continues to Deteriorate
This is not just annoying, polluting, congestion, it is gridlock. In several directions, for hours in the morning and evening, every weekday and Saturdays. The intersection of Broadway and Alewife Brook Parkway (ABP) has also been negatively affected, resulting in similar backups ½ mile long. All caused by the volume of traffic from ABP (both directions) trying to get into the ONE lane on Mass Ave eastbound in Cambridge.
Cars roar down the bus/bike lane during prohibited times, filling up that lane, too. So bicyclists are still weaving through multiple lanes of traffic. Multiple times lately, I have actually seen vehicles zoom down the (righthand) bus/bike lane during prohibited hours, then actually illegally cross 2 lanes of traffic to take an illegal left onto ABP. Or, on the Arlington side of the intersection, where often only ONE car is able to turn left during each light cycle, cars are driven on the wrong side of the road in order to take that left. Ditto at the intersection of Broadway and ABP.
Until you fix this stupid design, either assign police to peak hours, start giving tickets for blocking the intersection, or some other action to improve safety for ALL. Multi-modal includes drivers, you know!
It is completely irresponsible to knowingly let this dangerous condition continue. It has been ~9 months and nothing has improved.
Anonymous (Registered User)
Concerned NC Resident (Registered User)
After Garden Street was turned into one way, a Policy Ordered traffic study was done but it concluded that there was no need to revert back to two-way traffic. I took that opportunity to ask City to conduct similar traffic study at this intersection to no avail.
BTW, this is one issue I have with this system - there is no way to exchange private messages between commenters.
Thank you for your willingness to set up a meeting with the City Manager
D (Registered User)
Anonymous (Registered User)
Concerned NC Resident (Registered User)
Concerned NC Resident (Registered User)
Concerned NC Resident (Registered User)
Is anyone in the City Hall reading this???
Concerned NC Resident (Registered User)
Is anyone in the City Hall reading this???
Anonymous (Registered User)
Anonymous (Registered User)
The problem here is that it goes beyond planning blunders by Traffic & Parking and Community Development officials in the city. I can remember back in 1970 when I would go out to the Alewife Brook Parkway and Rindge Avenue area, and peak hour traffic was a mess. In those days there were no left turn slots on the Parkway at Mass Avenue. No MBTA station and no development in the Triangle and Quadrangle areas. No left turn from the outbound parkway into the T-station area. Traffic was a mess then and is a mess today.
Why has no official in Cambridge demanded that a solution be worked out for trains, cars, trucks, buses, bikes and pedestrians ? There have been changes, but they never got the job done. What is the reason the traffic stays bad ? The answer : there was too much development at Alewife -- without enough road capacity to handle all the new cars.
And guess what? Nobody in the city government cared, because they were interested in getting more development at Alewife. Developers wanted more development so they could make big-bucks. There were no city traffic engineers who could speak up and warn us about the coming traffic mess.
In the year 2000, Lauren Preston, the City Traffic Engineer for over 30 years retired, and in response the city traffic Director abolished his position. Today the city cannot even answer questions about how many traffic engineers there are on the city payroll. One otherwise capable traffic engineer is tied up with Federal Court on morals charges. For years, developers did traffic studies to show what their traffic impacts would be, and for years the traffic director signed off and approved the studies. There was an effort to set up a coordinated shuttle bus system, and the private participants appeared to be conscientious. But the level of new development and new traffic simply overwhelmed their efforts.
Those studies were carefully designed so that the analysis did not consider any of the bottlenecks along the Parkway, and their reports did not mention the words bottlenecks, congestion, or choke points. They never showed photographs of existing traffic congestion and never measured queue lengths. In sum, the studies were useless, and when completed, were never referred to again.
I remember a decade ago talking with an employee from Littleton who worked within the Triangle. She told me in the afternoon it took her forty minutes to get out onto the Parkway and forty minutes to drive the rest of the way to Littleton. So the situation is as nightmarish for commuters as it is for local citizens to drive through.
For the past 29 years, the "traffic director" of the City of Cambridge has not been a traffic engineer, as required by state law. For the prior 20-plus years the traffic director was prevented from representing the city at public meetings because he went to an Alewife meeting drunk.
Yet there are many reasons why the Alewife area is messed up with bad planning. It was not the fault alone of the Quick-Build construction efforts of the Traffic and Parking Department and their cohorts, the City Council. It started with many agencies in the city over half-a-century ago. But the chief result of the Quick-Build job was to extend the congestion and traffic problems to Mass Avenue, even as far as Porter Square. Anyone should have seen that if you take a four-lane road and remove two-lanes, the remaining two-lanes could become very congested and queues would extend for great distances. Meanwhile the "planners" added in two bus-lanes which are empty 98 percent of the time.
Who approved this arrangement and why? How does it fit into the overall lack of quality planning at Alewife ? No one seems to care, and certainly not a majority of the City Council. Remember that the Planning Board is totally useless on any traffic problems at Alewife. Our Planning Board since 1946 served as advocates for the Inner Belt through Cambridge. This was a time when we had a City Council that supported the citizens and was 9-to-0 opposed to the Belt road.
Maybe what we need in a new Council. If only our new city manager showed some inclination to deal with traffic issues in the City .....
Anonymous (Registered User)
Concerned NC Resident (Registered User)
TT (Registered User)
Patty Orland (Registered User)
Clearly adding more comments to this ticket isn't getting the city's attention.
If you continue to observe problems at this intersection, please open new tickets with the details (on X day at Y time, it took Z minutes to drive from Clarendon to Route 16). And email a copy to the city council. At least if the Traffic Department marks the tickets as duplicates it means someone is reading them.
Anonymous (Registered User)
Patty--The point in adding to this ticket is to keep track of how long it has been open without any resolution. If we add to this ticket, then we know that the problem has been going on for over a year but if we open a new ticket it can look like the problem just started.
I think it's OK to do what you mention as long as someone records the problem here first, but I'm not sure it will make any difference. Someone tried a similar process to what you suggested with a noisy HVAC at Lesley. Every time he opened a new ticket, they were closed as duplicates and then they tried to close the original one as a duplicate as well. But no progress was made either way.
Kellie (Registered User)
Concerned NC Resident (Registered User)
Patty Orland (Registered User)
Sure, do all of the above: comment on this ticket, open new tickets, email the City Council, email the City Manager. And bring it up at candidate forums.
Part of the problem is that SeeClickFix works best for things a citizen notices that the city didn't notice, and that everyone agrees are broken and have a quick fix.
In this case, the city knows about the problem because they created it, and they don't care. And the fix would take some work.
Anonymous (Registered User)
Concerned NC Resident (Registered User)
Anonymous (Registered User)
Concerned NC Resident (Registered User)
Mayor Ted (Registered User)
Concerned NC Resident (Registered User)
Concerned NC Resident (Registered User)
Kellie (Registered User)
Concerned NC Resident (Registered User)
Anonymous (Registered User)
Anonymous (Registered User)
TT (Registered User)
Anonymous (Registered User)
Traffic - SM (Engineering) (Verified Official)
LDJ (Registered User)
Anonymous (Registered User)
Anonymous (Registered User)
Concerned NC Resident (Registered User)
Concerned NC Resident (Registered User)
Anonymous (Registered User)
Concerned NC Resident (Registered User)
Here we are, more than 600 days after I reported this issue, I ran into the same issue this morning. This time I had to go to Mirak Hyundai to talk to the service manager about the appointment I had at 8 AM.
I left my house around 7:20 AM and because of heavy northbound traffic on Mass Ave, I made a right out of Norris Street onto southbound Mass Ave to turn right into Rice Street intending to turn right onto Cedar Street heading towards Harvey Street. The Rice Street was backed up because it was difficult to make a turn onto either direction of Cedar Street.
Once I managed to get onto northbound Mass Ave, I got caught in a traffic jam and as I reported on 6/8/22, I made a right onto Churchill Street. Traffic was at a standstill at the end of Matignon Road with a school bus trying to make a left onto westbound Alewife Brook Parkway which was backed well beyond Woodstock Street traffic light. This traffic jam in turn blocked parents trying to get out of the parking lot of International School of Boston. Please see the attached photo.
On the way back, around 8:30, the Alewife Brook Pkwy/Mass Ave intersection was still clogged in all directions. On southbound Mass Ave, cars were stuck in the intersection when light changed due to people struggling to merge into a single lane right after the intersection compounded by people trying to come onto Mass Ave from Columbus Ave.
When will this issue be resolved? City Traffic engineers should be able to calculate the amount of carbon emission over the last 600 days by cars stuck in traffic jam.
Anonymous (Registered User)
LDJ (Registered User)
Anonymous (Registered User)
MechanicalTim (Registered User)
Public Works - JR (Sanitation) (Verified Official)
Concerned NC Resident (Registered User)
It has finally been assigned to DPW without being acknowledged first. And why DPW? This is TP&T issue. Aren't they the ones to conduct traffic studies?
Anonymous (Registered User)
Acknowledged Traffic – JP (Street Mgmt) (Verified Official)
Concerned NC Resident (Registered User)
Please add comment when the traffic counts are completed with a link to the data.
Concerned NC Resident (Registered User)
Finally, as part of analyzing the traffic count data, please resolve these conflicts:
In very short 170 feet or about 10 car-lengths from the traffic light to Columbus Ave
1. - 2 southbound Mass Ave non-bus vehicles are trying to merge into single lane
2. - eastbound vehicles turning right onto Mass Ave that got stuck in the intersection when the light changed are trying to merge onto single lane southbound Mass Ave
3. - westbound vehicles turning left onto Mass Ave that got stuck in the intersection when the light changed are trying to merge onto single lane southbound Mass Ave
4. - vehicles turning right from Columbus Ave are trying to squeeze into Mass Ave
This is a daunting task that I don't think any kind of signal timing can resolve. On demand bus lane or starting the bus only lane past Columbus Ave might alleviate the bottleneck.
LDJ (Registered User)
Anonymous (Registered User)
Concerned NC Resident and LDJ--The TPT project manager, Stephen Meuse (smeuse@cambridgema.gov) said that for the redesign the consultant will be collecting data likely later this year or early next year. For context, you can look at the study and memorandum from 2022 posted on the Mass Ave Dudley to Alewife web page: 20221118_northmassavepostimplementationanalysis.pdf (cambridgema.gov).
I agree with Concerned NC Resident that to do this properly, it is a big task.
LDJ (Registered User)
Concerned NC Resident (Registered User)
TP&T should have included data collection and analysis as part of House Doctor Engineering Support for the Mass Ave Dudley Street to Alewife Brook Parkway that was installed just around the Thanksgiving time in 2021 catching the residents as well as the small business owners who were counting on holiday sales totally by surprise.
I was not aware of "study and memorandum from 2022 posted on the Mass Ave Dudley to Alewife web page". If such study was available, then why hasn't this issue been resolved yet?
You also mentioned that "Stephen Meuse (smeuse@cambridgema.gov) said that for the redesign the consultant will be collecting data likely later this year or early next year." By this redesign, do you mean the Mass Ave Partial Construction from Harvard Square to ABP? When the City is moving ahead of redoing the quick build separated bike lanes not even 3 years old, what confidence do you have that the problem they said will not happen with the quick build will be fixed?
When my tax $s are used for a project, I certainly hope the lifecycle of the project will longer than 2.5 years.
To paraphrase an old saying, you can't cram 3 elephants into one elephant cage!
LDJ's comment brings back memories of a dancing traffic officer untangling the rush-hour madness getting onto and getting off the Queensborough Bridge in Manhattan, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wc4uLeKEu5Q
Anonymous (Registered User)
Posters--Please go to this ticket and tell the commenters there how this design has affected us. They are complaining about bus lane violations and one of them is saying how it is so much safer now with one lane. They are totally oblivious to how this is affecting the rest of us.
https://seeclickfix.com/web_portal/WacEfzPx7m29dubrPfXEEwCV/issues/map/16292721
Concerned NC Resident (Registered User)
IMHO its not that commenters who say dedicated bus lane together with separated bike lanes are safer are totally oblivious to how this is affecting the rest of us. Rather, they are fully aware of how they are affecting others. They can see congestion created for their convenience. They do not want to see commuting by car as a regional issue; they do not want to solve car ownership and commuting by cars out of necessity issues.
To follow-up on my earlier post, the House Doctor Engineering Services for "Mass4 & Eliot Street" was awarded to Kleinfelder on 8/13/2021 while they were in the final stages of designing the quick build Mass Ave Dudley Street to Alewife Brook Parkway. The contract was modified for design services for the Mass Ave Partial Construction from Harvard Square to ABP on 11/14/2022 with new contract value of 5,839,422 (original contract value of $1,121,196). .