The public deserves straight talk from officials about the Cycling Safety Ordinance
The public deserves straight talk from elected and appointed officials. When it comes to the installation of separated bicycle lanes, straight talk is not what we are getting from the City Council or city staff.
Policy decisions inevitably involve tradeoffs. One good decision may foreclose other reasonable options. We all try to make wise decisions for which the benefits exceed the costs. But where have residents of Cambridge been clearly told about the costs of creating separated bicycle and bus lanes? The cost is not only measured in money, although separated lanes will cost tens of millions of dollars.
A recent case in point is the set of slides about the Garden Street Safety Improvement Project presented by city staff to attendees in a public Zoom meeting on May 24, and that may be used again at future meetings scheduled in July and August. The project will install separated bicycle lanes on Garden Street for about six-tenths of a mile, from Huron Avenue to Mason Street. Two slides that are labeled “benefits” include, for example, “reduces crash and injury risk.” Of the 46 slides, none answers or even poses questions like, “What will this design cost?” and “What are the disadvantages of this project?”
In fact, according to the slides, the proposal for separated bike lanes will eliminate at least 93 permitted parking spaces and one loading space. But that number only begins to describe what will be lost.
Not a word is included in the slides about the negative impacts on residents, or on businesses and nonprofits within walking distance of Garden Street. Yet those impacts are significant costs. Where will people who now park on Garden Street park in the future? What will be the impact on neighboring side streets and the people who live or visit there, especially old people? Where will contractors and delivery vehicles park? Are any businesses likely to lose money due to the reduction in parking? Will we see an increase in bicycle-pedestrian accidents as more bikes use Garden Street, especially if the bike lane is bidirectional?
Do members of the City Council believe that making it more difficult to own or operate a car in Cambridge is a benefit of this project? Perhaps so, but that is not identified either as a cost or a benefit.
Public officials and their presentations should inform us when their policies will produce significant changes that many residents will find inconvenient or harmful. Straight talk means explaining both the projected benefits and the associated costs, even for policies as complex and challenging as the Cycling Safety Ordinance.
Perhaps a majority of Cambridge residents agree with the City Council that the benefits of separated bus and bike lanes outweigh the costs; perhaps not. Not to acknowledge the costs, or to pretend they are minor when they are not, will erode trust in government.
Andy Zucker, Winslow Street
Thanks for reminding me to submit comments in favor of the project to counter this kind of stuck in the past parking centric negativity.
I live just a block off of Garden, and I’ve been deeply disappointed in the way business interests were completely disregarded for the Mass Ave bike lanes.
But business parking needs on Garden Street? I’m mystified–there are no businesses in this area. Let’s keep the debate focused on facts and reasonable narratives.
Make our streets safer? Reduce injury and death? Start the needed transition away from a car-centered culture that is a major contribution to GHG emissions and global warming? Help save the planet?
None of this matters because we need parking!
Having to park a little farther away and walk a block or two, that’s the real tragedy.
Some of you people are taking self-centeredness and selfishness to new highs.
I am a supporter of bike (and bus) lanes because there are bigger issues than my personal convenience.
Andy Zucker: There are no businesses on that stretch of Garden St. There is zero evidence that bike lanes hurt businesses and evidence that they help.
This is an excuse used by a few crazed business owners and a bunch of lazy people.
I want more bike lanes, but at least parking in that area is vital for families. Further back on Garden street no big deal and the impact is less.
Frank, the Church at 11 Garden street may not be a “business” but is used not just Sundays but every day by over 100 families who drop their kids at a cooperative preschool and linger to build community and discuss family issues in a family-unfriendly city.
The church also supports activist groups and dozens of recovery meetings weekly for people with substance and mental health issues from Cambridge and beyond.
Cambridge Common itself may have no “businesses” but is used by hundreds of kids on Saturdays for organized soccer games.
Cut parking on Garden may have to happen, but further back please and leave that last block or two by the common alone.
Q99 why aren’t the families riding bikes to school. Also the recovery services geez the nerve they aren’t riding bikes either. Wow such selfish people don’t the families and community know by riding bikes Frank will save the planet lol.
@q99
You are talking about *some inconvenience* for a small fraction of people. Keep in mind that 2/3 of people moving around Cambridge do NOT use a car.
Removal of parking spaces will not prevent those church services. It just means that some people may have to park a little farther away. How many parking spots are near the church, a few? For “100 families”? How much can they really matter? And I’m willing to bet that most of the people going to recovery meetings etc are not using cars.
On the other hand, other people are risking their lives and injury. Many people on bikes are not taking joy rides. They need to get places and many can’t afford a car. Bike lanes not only make the streets safer for them, but they also make the streets safer for *everyone* (including drivers) via effects like “traffic calming” (look it up).
If you think that not inconveniencing some people is more important than saving lives and preventing injuries then you and I have a different moral compass.
Funny how you use a church as your example. I thought Christianity was about loving your neighbor and caring for and protecting the weak. I didn’t think it was about “my convenience is more important than other people’s lives”.
We live north of Huron. Since there is no parking easily available in Harvard Sq., often we walk from our house. But we also park on Garden to do errands, shop, attend A.R.T., eat in restaurants in and around the Sq., and take public transportation the rest of the way into Boston. So, yes, there are implications for local businesses if Garden St. parking goes away.
@CivicGranny
There are implications for *your* patronizing local businesses. But the bike and bus lanes help businesses by bringing additional people to neighborhoods. Studies have shown this.
That more than makes up for the people who will not make a little more effort to visit those businesses because parking is less convenient.
Is it funny how the people who profess to be concerned about local businesses are the same people willing to abandon those businesses at the slightest inconvenience?
Frank D, you have no need to be so mean spirited. You don’t have a clue who we are and seem not to care. You assume everyone is young, fit, affluent. You assume none of the houses on Garden will need roof repairs or plumbers. You assume none of those people will have company. You assume that the mom who has three kids to pick up at different schools after she has worked all day will get on her bike manage, the kids on separate bikes and balance her groceries. You assume that those who are infirm and unable to ride will disappear so as not to disrupt your idyll. This is a city for all of us.
@civicgranny
Bike lanes to not mean that everyone has to start riding bikes. No one is trying to ban cars.
All the things you described can still be done, despite the bike lanes. It just might not be quite as convenient as before.
Turning a blind to people having to risk their lives and injury just to move around our city. Doing so because you might be be inconvenienced. I think that is mean-spirited.
@prc No one says everyone has to start riding bikes. I’m not sure how you jumped to that conclusion.
Drivers have owned the streets for decades. Cars have been the only priority. All we are asking is to share the street. But apparently drivers are not willing to give an inch even if it means saving the lives of (other) people.
Do the drivers pay for vehicle permits ? Licensure? insurance ? Driving exam? Etc
Yes they do.
Do the cyclists umm do anything besides acting like a super entitled jerks.
As I’ve said most people are for bike lanes but not the way they were rammed jammed in north Cambridge.
Some of the comments from above are exactly correct. To have family in Cambridge is becoming near impossible. Not that any cyclist cares about that.
Commence the study Patty Nolan as to the umm dramatic fall off in enrollment.
@prc
Who is responsible for virtually 100% of pedestrian deaths and 90% of pedestrian injuries? Drivers. Who is pumping GHG into the atmosphere? Drivers. And who often does this just because they aren’t willing to make even a small effort to walk a few blocks? Drivers.
Cars have owned the street for decades. Now, cyclists and others want to be able to share the streets without risking their lives. The people unwilling to share the streets, even to save lives, are self-entitled jerks.
Consider these facts:
Only 30% of Cambridge residents commute to work in a car.
Only 16% of Cambridge residents who live and work in Cambridge commute in a car.
Cambridge residents commute by bike or
on foot at a rate almost ten times the national average.
But no, let’s just consider the needs of the people who drive two blocks to the convenience store or who are unwilling to pay for parking or use public transport to go to Harvard Square. Those are the self-entitled jerks!
@prc
Don’t say it is impossible to raise a family or live in Cambridge without a car. As have many others. In in my 50s. I have. I haven’t owned a car for nearly 20 years now. When you say “impossible” you just mean “I don’t want to”.
BTW, I don’t cycle either. I just want safer streets. People are dying and being injured on our streets. Cambridge Police say that a bike is hit by a car every two days. Not that any driver cares about that.
1/3 of Cambridge households do not own a car. *Households*, not people. The number of *people* is higher.
Impossible to live with a car in Cambridge? Trying to tell that to all those people.
But let’s be clear (once again), no one is banning cars! No one is telling you that you can’t drive. The bike lanes (and bus lanes) will make things better and safer for a whole bunch of people. They will save lives. So sorry if the cost is that you have to walk an extra block or two.
Plus, we need to start the transition to get more people out of cars or our planet is screwed.
Your and my kids and grandkids will pay a heavy price for every extra metric ton of GHG we now put into the atmosphere.
What will you tell them? “I know you are growing up in a much worse world than I did. But you don’t understand how important it was for me to park on Garden St.”
No you are correct again frankd – enrollment is bursting at the seams at Cambridge Public Schools 😂.
It’s super easy to navigate Cambridge with children. If only they could all ride bikes instead of school buses (please don’t give that to the lobby).
Small businesses are booming as well. I know I know it’s all the pandemics fault or it’s because the bicyclists have stopped loading up their bikes with kids and gluten free muffins. Good laugh.
Wow what a world you live in. Glad you are going to save the 🌎!!
@prc In case you haven’t noticed, business is down all over, bike lanes or not. And study after study has shown that bike lanes do not harm businesses. Google search “do bike lanes harm local businesses”. Tell me what you find. You’ll find that they help businesses by bringing more people to a neighborhood. Look up the studies yourself. The studies have been done and the evidence is there. You don’t have to make stuff up.
You are just not getting it. No one is talking about banning cars. Or school buses. In fact, buses are good things. 60 people in one vehicle instead of 60 cars!
We can make streets safer and save lives. You can still drive your car. Yes, the parking spot in front of the convenience store may no longer be there. Isn’t that a small price to pay to save lives and reduce life-altering injuries? I guess it is if all you care about is your own personal convenience.
One thing is for sure, you, prc, are not going to lift a finger (or get out of your car once in a while) to save lives or the planet.
Straight talk means being honest. It means looking at costs as well as benefits. One benefit of separated bike lanes is safer travel for people on bicycles. There is little question that is true. What is the cost? Advocates of dedicated bike and bus lanes, including members of the City Council, need to be more honest with Cambridge residents about the costs, which are substantial, both in dollars and in other ways. Quite clearly some businesses and nonprofits and churches and elderly individuals and others will be negatively affected. A useful conversation requires honesty, perhaps especially from advocates for one view or another. That is the key point, more than simply making an argument for or against these lanes.
And actually frank….
Business is booming 6.4% gdp growth for mass. One of the highest in the United States.
https://www.statista.com/statistics/551927/massachusetts-gdp-growth/
Private schools are also bursting at the seams.
https://www.cato.org/blog/survey-private-schools-appear-see-rising-enrollment-year-last
But in your little world it’s all ending. “Business is down all over”. Feel bad for people like you.
@andy and @prc.
There is no evidence that bike lanes hurt local businesses. Google search. Look up the studies. There are real peer-reviewed studies in academic journals. Things are not true just because you say so.
A judge denied the injunction to the anti-bike lane lawsuit. The judge explicitly stated that there is no evidence that the bike lanes are causing harm to businesses on Mass Ave.
So I guess the experts who study this and a judge who reviewed all the evidence don’t know what they are talking about. But you armchair quarterbacks do?
@prc. You don’t understand what that 6.4% GDP growth means. *Big* business is booming. *Corporate* profits are at a record high. Understand? It doesn’t mean small businesses are booming.
In fact, they are not. Small businesses are struggling because of supply chain issues, inflation, labor issues, etc. Read a newspaper once in a while.
Take, for example, Inman Square. There are at least 4-5 places that have closed in the past several months (like Drifter’s Tale, Highland Fried). Do you know what’s not in Inman Square? Bike lanes!
A lot of those people biking around can’t afford cars. It is how they get to work and get around town. They should continue risking their lives because some people don’t want to walk a few blocks once in a while?
@prc I’m glad you finally figured out that the rich get richer.
Frank, its not always walking an extra block or two, depending on the amount of parking eliminated (and as I said some should/has to be) its the need for parking -at all- for people who need parking to go to school/aa/soccer games with kids. if you read my comment, I support bike lanes and elimiation of some parking, just not elimiating as much parking in areas that are more high use by families and people with health issues.
Also, I was in inman yesterday and saw multiple parking spots eliminated, multiple closed businesses, AND MULTIPLE PARKING SPOTS THAT ARE NOW FOR MUNICIPAL VEHICLES ONLY- which is the most egregious, that city hall workers are taking street parking from small business in the most ridiculous hipocrasy yet.
andy this is right on- lets make decisions fully aware of costs/benefits. its not all win win for everyone!
Frank I’m with you that some small businesses thrive more with bike lanes, but also there’s no way that it doesn’t impact things like family oriented destinations, activities and businesses. To suggest otherwise is dishonest.
I say this as a bicycle commuter at least once a week in the summer to work, and daily for errands.
How much can 100 families with preschoolers really matter Frank? A lot. How much can 100 people going to recovery meetings matter? A lot.
Compromise is a good thing. You should google it.
When I ride to Harvard square I take garden street which is annoying and some more bike safety further down would be welcome, but then as I approach the square, GASP -I go into cambridge common where there are no cars and multiple paths- and pop out the other side IN HARVARD SQUARE. Boom, easy fix and compromise. Pathways through the common are 1 million times safer than bike lanes in the street next to the common, and don’t disrupt traffic flow or parking. Solutions that work for everyone dont have to be hard!
That makes far far to much sense q99…or how about as
Violette suggested at one point not as much on commercial streets.
frankd seems to be venturing into conspiracy theories. The gdp doesn’t include small businesses 😂. Just the small businesses are hurt now and all the large ones are growing. My goodness the mass gdp is made up of small, mid and large cos.
Q99 if you haven’t noticed the word “compromise” is not in the big bike lobby’s vocabulary.
So we us families sat and watched the wonderful public schools get gutted now onto the small businesses.
Let’s give San Francisco a run for it’s money! Sorry place to be after visiting a few weeks ago. We drove yes frank in an actual car around while a local colleague was pointing out the devastation block after block.
You might like it there come to think of it!
@Q99. Dishonest is making claims without any evidence to back it up. Show me the evidence that bike lanes hurt he businesses you describe? Do you have any? Anything at all?
The injunction against bike lanes failed in part because there was no evidence that bike lanes were hurting businesses. But they are because you say so?
There are lives at stake here. We should make decisions based on actual evidence not what you think might be happening.
As for those families etc and recovery meetings, why don’t you speak to the next of kin of those killed or to the people severely injured on our streets. Ask them what they think about a little inconvenience to those families.
Bike lanes make streets safer for everyone, including pedestrians and drivers too. Look it up. Go ahead.
Read a newspaper. There is an epidemic of reckless driving. 40,000 people are killed in car accidents in the US alone every year.
Don’t you drivers want safer streets too? Or is it more important to be able to park on Garden St when you visit the A.R.T.?
All this talk about compromise when you drivers are not even willing to put up with even the slightest inconvenience.
When you say that the bike lanes were hastily installed without thought or planning? The judge also ruled that that was *false* when he rejected the injunction against bike lanes.
In fact, there was years and planning and multiple public meetings (as the judge noted).
Cambridge did an impact study. It’s conclusion was that these parking spots in question contributes little to the local economy. They are often occupied by cars that are there for hours or days.
All of the claims you are making is just stuff you are making up. Show me evidence. You can find studies and evidence for what I am saying if you bothered to look.
Polls and elections have shown that a clear majority of Cambridge voters are in favor of bike lanes. All the claims you are making against bike lane are without evidence or demonstrably false.
You should just make peace with the new reality. And be glad that the streets will be safer for everyone, including you.
Slides 35-39 discuss the parking removal issue. The presentation does not go deeper in economic cost estimates of parking loss, just like it does not estimate the status quo financial cost of killed and injured pedestrians and cyclists.
The presentation already substantial and these estimates are difficult
@prc You really should stop referring to things like GDP if you don’t understand them.
“GDP is calculated by adding up all of the money spent by consumers, businesses, and the government in a given period.”
That means the big players who spend more money have a greater influence on the GDP than small businesses.
Here is some reading material to help you understand the situation:
As inflation soars, major corporations are posting record profits. But small businesses are feeling the squeeze
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/inflation-profits-corporate-small-business/
You don’t even need to read the article. You can just read the title. Major corporations, record profits; small businesses, feeling the squeeze.
It is easy to educate yourself. Info is available online.
Here is a quote from professor of urban studies who has been advocating for bike/bus lanes and investment in public transportation.
“We have been stalled for years on making progress in our transportation systems; meanwhile, people are dying on our streets, our roads are getting more congested and the planet is heating rapidly. We are out of time.”
There are larger, more existential, concerns than “how will I park near the church or the family restaurant?”.
@taguscove There are a lot of studies on the (lack of negative) impact of bike lanes on local businesses that go into great detail. All are available online. You just need to look.
Also, the City of Somerville reports that everywhere bike lanes were installed, local business revenue went up.
I’m not an economist, but I think that revenue going up is a good thing.
Sri Lanka received an ESG score of 98 out of 100. To be so naive is a real treat.
The people commenting are citizens trying to voice concerns, compromises and thoughts. They aren’t some lobby group spinning up things to make bike lanes for 41m dollars through a main commercial corridor some panacea for resolving global warming or saving a bicyclists life.
You’ve gotten your way big bike lobby / Frankd. Let’s all hope it doesn’t implode the small businesses we have left. We won’t need a study to know – we will all watch as businesses return to empty store fronts or the vacant store fronts increase one by one.
@prc
I repeat: There is no evidence that bike lanes hurt business.
The reason why the city is installing bike lanes (and bus lanes) is that they will save lives and help get some people out of cars. In other words, they make sense.
Consider this:
Between 2015 and 2021, Cambridge Police reported over 928 crashes between motor vehicles and people riding bikes, including 5 fatalities. Unsurprisingly, in a City survey, safety concerns were the #1 reason cited for not biking more frequently.
As for as businesses go, here is another quote from that same transportation expert:
“Businesses can easily accommodate the slight inconvenience caused by on-street parking removal through signage, marketing and information on their websites. Any inconvenience is often made up by the added bicycle and pedestrian traffic generated by the improved vitality of the neighborhood, making it more attractive to those who want to linger and stroll in a safe streetscape. This is why business owners who are initially against bike lanes typically change their attitudes after the bike lanes are built.”
Business owners typically change their attitude when they realize that, hey, bike lanes are good for business after all.
@prc “spinning things up”. Try telling that to one of those people who were in one of those 928 crashes.
A panacea for climate change? Because you say so? Maybe make some effort to look into the issue. Because, in reality, studies show that bike lanes can be effective at slowing climate change.
“Building Bike Lanes Could Slow Climate Change, New Research Finds”
https://momentummag.com/building-bike-lanes-slow-climate-change-new-study-finds/
“A study of European cities adds to a growing body of evidence that investments in cycling infrastructure can encourage bike commuting, which helps cut greenhouse gas emissions.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/01/climate/bikes-climate-change.html
“New research shows that life-cycle CO₂ emissions drop by 14% per additional cycling trip and by 62% for each avoided car trip. Switching from a car to a bicycle saves 150g of CO₂ per kilometre”
We all have to get together to combat climate change or our grandkids are in big, big, trouble. Their world will be much, much worse than the one we grew up in.
As these studies show, bike lanes can and do help. But as long as there are selfish people who refuse to be inconvenienced, we will lose the battle.
I’ve made sacrifices. I sold my car years ago when I read that transportation is the greatest contributor to climate change. I’ve cut my air travel down to a fraction of what it used to be because one 6-hour flight = 1 year of driving in carbon emissions.
When your grandkids ask why the world is in such bad shape, you can explain to them why it was so important for you to park on Garden street.
Sorry to break the news to you:
file:///var/mobile/Library/SMS/Attachments/fe/14/915E0E5A-52C2-446E-B39E-EA37B7DD3944/IMG_9036.jpeg
China has more than tripled CO2 emissions since 2000. Oh but triple still isn’t that much. Oh but wait China alone accounts for more than all of the United States and Europe combined!
Frankd & Greta to the rescue 😂
@prc
Oh, because China is behaving badly, we should too? The last time I copped an attitude like that, I was in elementary school.
Sorry to break the bad news but it’s not all-or-none, @prc.
Every extra metric ton of GHG in the atmosphere now is *more* pain in the future. More GHG = more bad things. Get it?
We can’t do anything about China but we can do our part to mitigate the suffering of our grandkids.
It is amazing how you twist yourself into knots to avoid even the smallest sacrifices. With that kind of selfishness, we are truly doomed.
April 2022 San Diego removes bike lanes:
https://www.cbs8.com/amp/article/news/local/city-of-san-diego-confusing-bike-lanes-mira-mesa/509-1ad3f4de-6101-483f-a645-9b63c6272d52
Wish it was as simple and idealistic to add bike lanes without collateral damage. Anyway we will get to see the fruits of your labor soon enough!
Yes, @prc There are selfish and lazy people all over the place.
I didn’t see any mention of collateral damage. Just drivers complaining
That is *one* place. There are many places where bike lanes have been proven to have a positive effect.
For example,
1. “Vancouver was initially opposed to the addition of bike lanes on downtown streets. But after surveying their customers, they soon realized that most shoppers weren’t arriving by vehicle to begin with.
Studies have shown over and over that passing cyclists are “competitive consumers” for passing drivers, spending dollar per dollar what someone who drives a vehicle is likely to spend. As mode shares across North America show an increase in number of cyclists, more consumers will be passing these storefronts, giving them an economic advantage over their competitors, not a disadvantage.”
2. In 2013, Salt Lake City converted nine blocks of parking to a protected bike lane. Sales rose 8.8 percent for stores located along the bike lane—compared with a 7.0 percent increase citywide.
SLC 2015 sales tax statistics also noted a sales bump with new bike lanes.
3. After New York City installed bike lanes on 8th and 9th avenues in Manhattan, retail sales on 9th Ave. from 23 to 31st streets grew 49 percent, compared to 3 percent boroughwide.
4. San Francisco. After bike lanes, two-thirds of merchants reported that increased levels of bicycling and walking improved business, only four per cent said the changes hurt sales.
5. In Toronto, 2017 research into business activity and protected bike lanes on the downtown artery Bloor Street found “a positive or at least neutral” impact, with most merchants reporting more customers after the lanes were installed.
There are many more examples if you bother to look.
Frankd I’m just a person not part of some lobby like you are. Please don’t insult me saying you are just a pro bike lane person trying to save the environment lol. Clearly you are well armed with all the talking points.
I just googled bike lanes removed Cali and that article came up. I’m sure I could craft a dozen more examples. It clearly doesn’t matter.
I’m actually pro for protected bike lanes as most people are. I think what transpired in N cam was is a mess and putting up plastic signs on plastic pylons is not a remedy. I’ve shopped at most of the businesses on mass Ave in n Cambridge and most – the majority are not happy with the design.
Have we seen heard one or two N cam mass Ave businesses state that business has picked up from the lanes? I haven’t I hope so though!
@prc Sorry to disappoint you but I have not been on a bike in 25 years.
I want safer streets. My friend was severely injured on a bike in Cambridge.
I am terrified of global warming. You should be too.
Plus, I took Urban Planning classes in college so I have some knowledge.
I don’t think you can come up with a dozen other examples.
I checked into the San Diego situation. Driver’s complaints. That’s your idea of “collateral damage? Whining?
I listed several examples of positive benefits of bike lanes on business. I left out the biggest positive benefit. They reduce fatalities by 50% or more.
Those are lives saved, @prc. People’s lives. And they also greatly reduce severe injuries. Look it up.
You have yet to show me any evidence of collateral damage other than whining.
@prc. We should not save lives because of the whining of 10 business owners? When they have no evidence of negative impacts? That’s what the judge said.
If these business owners know that the bikes lanes are harming their businesses, let them prove it with data. They have the data. But here we are, years into the bike lane debates, and they haven’t, have they?
What the owners say is irrelevant. People say and believe all sorts of crazy things. Haven’t you noticed.
In any case, polls and elections show that the majority of Cambridge residents are in favor of bike lanes. We should let 10 business owners overturn the will of the people?
I don’t consider business owners at least the ones I visit to be whining. Your seem awfully angry… They are understandably concerned for their business, customers and employees. Any business that was having parking removed would. Geez.
Can we get one, two business on north mass Ave to confirm sales increased ? Just one pretty please! Maybe Cambridge Day could take a survey of 10 of them. Someone let us know. I hope you are correct frankd that they’ve increased business and that the CO2 levels dropped .00000000000000000000001%.
Actually one more Google search one more group of whiners 😂 incredible.
https://www.planetizen.com/news/2019/03/103598-seattle-cancels-bike-lane-plans?amp
I’m sure Arlington is chomping at the bit to drop 40m to continue the plastic pylons!
Again frankd I’m confident you are part of the sales pitch in some fashion but I and most are pro protected bike lanes. Would be awesome just not with collateral damage of losing more small businesses, parking lots of traffic, bus lanes not actual dedicated bus lanes cause loading trucks and cars are parked for 15min, plastic pylons already need replacing, paint peeling off the street etc etc.
@frankd its really shocking that you literally pounce without reading my post. Never once have my above posts suggested businesses being closed as being tied to bike lanes.
My posts have been about the impact on families of preschool kids, families of soccer playing kids and people who go to recovery meetings needing parking on the last few blocks of garden street. I explicitly said it would have less impact on other parts of the city and garden street. Please man, read what people write.
I have also mentioned the hypocrisy of the city providing and creating parking for themselves but not businesses and residents.
For goodness sakes man, If you are going to respond, and I relish a good faith debate, please, please for the love of god at least read what people write! You’re embarrassing yourself and dragging the level of debate down when people want to listen to each other here.
Thanks q99. Frankd is clearly on a mission and it’s not for the community at large. That’s for sure – glad it’s getting slowly exposed.
Frankd will disappear from posting in a few months or change his name and a new radical will emerge…
Not for the community at large? A clear majority of Cambridge residents are in favor of the bike lanes. That is the community at large!
Yeah, I have an agenda: Saving lives and the planet. That’s my agenda. The planet is literally the community at large.
@Q99 You are talking about convenience for parking near soccer games and meetings. I am talking about safety for people who are being severely injured and killed on our streets. I am also addressing climate change, which is an existential crisis for everyone on the planet.
For god’s sake! If you think those considerations are comparable, you really need to get your priorities straight.
Sorry for confusing @prc’s comments on businesses closing with q99’s. I’m glad we finally established that bike lanes do not hurt businesses.