Dooring incident in North Cambridge reminds why a bike network and mass transit is needed
I had a very scary moment today on my bike riding in the unprotected bike lane on Massachusetts Avenue by the Pemberton Farms Marketplace in North Cambridge.
A driver had stopped and parked partially in the bike lane and as they opened their door, it caught on my right leg and pedal, throwing me out into the street. Luckily I made it out with only a few scrapes, but my bike had substantial damage and my company laptop was destroyed. This really put quite a fright in me and in numerous passersby, not to mention the driver.
With the door just a bit more open, I would have been a human shish kebab! Had the van behind me been following just a bit closer, I would have been crushed. Had the situation been that much worse – 6 inches more door open, 6 yards less spacing between myself and the van behind me, to put me 6 feet under, what would you have to say to my mother, who worries so much about me and insists I wear enough neon to blind anyone around (though that wasn’t much help here)? What would you say to my fiancé, who has been waiting the past two and a half years to move here and start our car-light lives together?
I love Cambridge and Somerville, love biking here, love to play with my many close friends who work and play in Cambridge, but poor design leading to events such as this are unacceptable. We need a full, well-designed bike network throughout all of Greater Boston along with robust public transit to serve people, not just cars.
Henry Hutcheson, Burnham Street, Somerville
This post was updated May 9, 2023, to correct the name of a business.
Glad you are okay, thats quite scary.
Sadly there are people claiming to be pro-bike on ND saying that your experience isn’t statistically significant and that the bike lanes are perfect as they are.
Henry, I’m really glad you are okay. Close calls like these are canaries in the coal mine — we have to institutionally learn from them and take them as seriously as crashes which injure and kill people.
I wanted to put two things on your radar which you may already know about:
1) The design process for separated bike lanes on this segment is just getting started: https://www.cambridgema.gov/Departments/publicworks/cityprojects/2021/massave4massavepartialconstruction
2) Cambridge Bike Safety is advocating for better infrastructure throughout the city. There is a list to get involved, we’d love to have you and anyone else who read this and felt the shared dread we know all too well: tinyurl.com/cbsalerts
Always love the bicycle group saying how Somervilles bike lanes are amazing and business increased and all are roses and tulips.
Just in the last week:
Sligo Pub gone
The Tasting Counter gone
Littleburg gone
Trust the road/street “experts” meanwhile businesses are still closing at a staggering pace.
I’m counting on the experts to get the traffic while trying to get into Cambridge past Arlington and into Lexington.
Currently traffic is backed up and heading towards the capitol theatre at rush hour. Once the rest of the red war paint is laid down till h sq it’s a lock!
Nice work!
Ps please use road paint if you must that doesn’t tear up the pavement with it. We do live in Massachusetts it does freeze…
@prc, as far as I know, there were no bike lane changes near Sligo or The Tasting Counter, and Littleburg was built _after_ the bike lanes went into Union, and closed because of lease issues. It strains credulity to pin these changes on bike lanes.
Conversely, about 3x more restaurants are opening in Cambridge and Somerville than closing, just take a look over the last few months:
https://hiddenboston.com/closings-openings.html
Should we credit this small business growth to the bike lanes?
Very, very scary and I am glad you are okay Henry. Biking down Cambridge St between Inman and East Cambridge is also seriously dicey in terms of dooring. Close calls occur pretty regularly. Really wish we would have more public service announcements and publicity regarding the Dutch Reach. If motor vehicle drivers utilized this simple move to exit their car, I believe we would have a lot less near mishaps.