Complaints Continue After Protected Bike Lanes Installed in Cambridge

CAMBRIDGE, MA - Almost a month after protected bike lanes were installed on Cambridge Street and Brattle Street in Harvard Square, Cambridge officials said they will now begin to collect new data along the roadway, including crash data. In late August, the City finished the long process of planning for and installing the separated bike lanes. But, even after its installation, the new lanes are sparking debate and this week, Director of Traffic, Parking, and Transportation Joseph Barr said his departments would be collecting negative feedback as well.

"We will be collecting a range of data, including counts of motor vehicles, pedestrians, and bikes, as well as motor vehicle speeds and bus ridership. We will also keep an eye on crash data, but it can be difficult to see trends in crashes until we have multiple years of data. We are also tracking the positive and negative comments we receive, along with other feedback," he said. "We are also continuing to make tweaks to the design, including looking for additional opportunities to install metered parking on side streets to support the local businesses."

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The term “separated bike lane” is used to refer to bicycle facilities that follow street alignments with a physical separation between the bicycle travel area and the motor vehicle travel area, often through barriers or grade separation. In Cambridge the final street design includes two travel lanes, one parking lane, and two separated bicycle lanes.

Since the completion of the new bike lanes, several stakeholders including residents, business owners and councilors have voiced concerns and complaints, many focusing on a lack of commmunity input and loss of parking. At Monday's Cambridge City Council meeting, both Mayor E. Denise Simmons and City Manager Louis A. DePasquale apologized for the quick rollout of a new mile and a half of bike lane in under a year.

"But we will continue to work with them and we will get this done better. We will get it right,” DePasquale said.

Barr said this week implementation of these types of projects does require a period of adjustment as all users adjust to the new configuration and the operating environment of the street.

"As a result, we hope that all street users will be patient through this adjustment period, as these types of facilities have generally worked well in other locations," he said. "We are committed to working with the local communities (particularly local businesses) to make adjustments to the layouts on the street to try to address their concerns and issues.

Looking at the feedback the Transportation Dept. has received, he said, there is a clear majority who are supportive of the project, as compared to those who are concerned or opposed.

Among those vocally supporting the project is Cambridge Bike Safety organization founder Nathanel Filmore.

"I think people quickly forget that we had two people die last year while biking in Cambridge," he said. "This year, we've had a pedestrian killed. All of these new pushes for bike safety come from a push not long ago from residents who wanted safer streets."

In a start contrast to the "six people who spoke out at the Council meeting", Filmore said he has over 400 emails from residents, business owners and others supporting the move towards safer biking in Cambridge.

"These measures have been overwhelmingly popular with residents across the spectrum," he said.

According to the Cambridge Bike Safety Organization, there is a crash between cyclists and cars every other day in the city.

"It's a serious problem and the city has finally taken steps to fix it," he said. Personally, Filmore said, he along with other volunteers from the Safety organization knocked on dozens of doors in the area, chatting with people about the proposed change long before construction started.

Crash data

Filmore said research proves motorists are less likely to drive or park in separated bicycle lanes, making bicyclists who are apprehensive about riding in the street more likely to ride in these types of facilities, and less likely to ride on the sidewalk where pedestrians are.

"It's a proven design that's been widely deployed," he said. "There are some things that could be improved but this is the safest option for riders."

With the Cambridge Street project, the city installed .8 miles of protected bike lanes this year. Currently, four miles total of protected bike lanes exist now including those on Western Avenue, Vassar Street and Mass. Avenue.

There are approximately a total of 20 miles called for in the bike plan.

"Cambridge has over 200 miles of city streets, so even full completion of the bike plan will leave many, many streets with no separation - we are by no means asking the city to put protected bike lanes on every street or anything like that," he Filmore said.

According to Cambridge police data from 2010-mid 2016, there were five instances of bike-on-pedestrian crashes, 473 instances of auto-on-pedestrian and 509 instances of a truck, bus or taxi-on-pedestrian.

The number of auto-on-bicycle crashes in this timeperiod is 814.

"That's pushing two times as many crashes, even though the commuting mode share for pedestrians is over 3x higher than for bicyclists," he said.

According to the Cambridge Bicycle Plan only 29% of Cambridge residents drive to work alone.

Parking

According to Barr, prior to the new bike lane project, there were approximately 160 parking spaces in the affected segment of Cambridge Street. Implementation of the project reduced that to approximately 70 parking spaces, he said.

Within the study area, there were approximately 1,065 parking spaces, which was reduced to approximately 975 parking spaces.

"The primary purpose of the project is to increase safety for all users along Cambridge Street," he said. "While the most obvious improvement is for cyclists through the creation of the bicycle lanes, this will also improve safety for pedestrians and drivers by slowing traffic speeds through narrower lanes, chicanes at locations where the parking changes sides, and reductions in vehicle/bicycle conflicts."

Barr said the City Council has strongly requested that his department accelerate the implementation of a network of separated bicycle lanes, and this is the first significant project that they are delivering on that accelerated implementation schedule.

Photos / Dana Forsythe