During Monday’s City Council meeting, the issue of whether Garden Street in West Cambridge should be a one-way or two-way road appeared once again on the agenda. A policy order sponsored by Councillors Ayah Al-Zubi and Jivan Sobrinho-Wheeler would halt current plans to reconfigure the street in a way that would allow two-way traffic for cars and bikes again but eliminate parking and loading spots.
Nearly 50 people spoke during the public comment period, with many bikers and Garden Street residents saying they like the street, with its bike lane on either side, as is. But some residents of the surrounding area said that cutting off access to Garden for cars outbound from Harvard Square has created severe traffic elsewhere, impacting their ability to use their own streets.
“I cannot believe we are still talking about Garden Street,” said West Cambridge resident Benjamin Flaim. “I can’t even get out of my driveway after 4:00 p.m. We now live in a city that is being controlled by one faction, and that is not fair.”
Councillor Timothy Flaherty exercised his charter right on the agenda item, delaying any further action on the policy order until Council meets again April 27.
Garden Street rethought
In 2022, the council voted to create bike lanes on both sides of Garden and eliminate one lane for cars along the majority of its span. The change was consistent with 2020’s Cycling Safety Ordinance, which required the city to add 25 miles of separated bike lanes, with an emphasis on adding them along major roads like Garden.
The street has since become a biking enthusiast favorite and has been an axon for high schoolers travelling between Cambridge Ringe and Latin School (CRLS) and Danahey Park.
“Just last week [I] took a walk through Danehy … and every group of kids out there on the fields, there was a pile of bikes right next to all their bags,” said Cambridge resident Scott Kilcoyne. “We did this project on Garden to make that route from the high school to Danahey safer for all the kids, and it’s really apparent that has been working super well.”
The Council decided to revisit the matter last year. The Cambridge Department of Transportation presented on four options, including keeping Garden one-way, making the street partially one way and partially two-way, or eliminating parking and loading spaces in order to make room for a two-way double bike lane separated from two-way car traffic. Council voted 5-4 to move forward with the latter of these options.
Bike Safety Center Stage
While the new plan still has space allotted for two bike lanes, bike safety advocates shared concerns about having two-way traffic next to them. In a letter to City Manager Yi-An Huang, Cambridge Bicycle Committee Chair Richard Freierman wrote that two-way traffic causes a “wider motor vehicle pathway,” that endangers nearby bikers more than one-way traffic would.
Residents during Monday’s public comment period were quick to raise these concerns as well, pointing out that the Transportation Department recommended the city keep the street one-way upon delivering its report to council. According to the document, re-introducing two-way traffic would require updating signals at several points throughout the route, causing delays for drivers.
Transportation Commissioner Brooke McKenna said that while the department did believe keeping Garden Street as is “offers the best kind of environment,” she disagreed with some of the characterizations made by commenters.
“We will never bring forward options that we don’t believe are safe.”
But people who live near Garden Street say that as pedestrians, they’ve seen safety improvements from going two-way to one-way in 2022 before their very eyes.
“Since the change to one-way, it’s been one of the safest crossings that I cross. When it was two-way, a lot of people not from Cambridge, rushing out of Cambridge, ignored crosswalks” said Cambridge resident Bill MacIvinney during the public comment period. “Do not throw us elderly pedestrians under the cars.”
Back on the Agenda end of April
Councillor Timothy Flaherty called reopening the matter of Garden Street “bad public policy.”
“It creates a precedent that encourages parties to continue to press their claims, despite receiving an adverse judgement,” he said. “Whatever anybody’s substantive view is about Garden Street, this policy order is procedurally misplaced and it’s disruptive to the legislative process.”
Flaherty exercised his charter right to move the policy order to the agenda April 27 in order to give the public more time to weigh in. “If I were not elected to the city council and sitting here at this desk tonight, I would not know that this policy order was before this council tonight.”
The upcoming vote could be close. Of the five “Yea” votes to change Garden Street into a two-way in 2025, three (Councillors Patty Nolan, Cathie Zusy, and E. Denise Simmons) retained their seats on council, as did all four Nay votes (Councillors Marc McGovern and Jivan Sombrinho-Wheeler, Mayor Sumbul Siddiqui, and Vice Mayor Burhan Azeem.) With Flaherty indicating that he was against a reversal in policy, and Al-Zubi sponsoring the policy order that would do just that, both of council’s new members this term have given the public a clue on how the votes may fall.
A stronger
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