A rally and bicycle ride celebrating the installation of protected bike and bus lanes on Massachusetts Avenue in North Cambridge is scheduled for noon Saturday at the Linear Park at Cedar Street and Massachusetts Avenue.

State Department of Transportation workers will shift and narrow all four lanes along Alewife Brook Parkway Bridge over the MBTA Walkway this weekend, and traffic will likely slow “throughout the winter months.”

That half-mile section of Massachusetts Avenue between Dudley Street and Alewife Brook Parkway in North Cambridge has ignited debate around bike lanes in general. One city councillor called outreach around plans “woefully inept.”

Public meetings this week look at bike lanes on Massachusetts Avenue; licensing for New Republik, a Barcelona Wine Bar and 286Broadway, a Housing Affordability petition, after-school program busing, an unarmed public safety program, Margaret Fuller House improvements and more.

After weeks of public debate and public meetings, city contractors began installing protected bike lanes on Massachusetts Avenue in North Cambridge on Monday.

The high rate of vehicle-on-bicycle crashes is extremely concerning, and it seems inevitable that more serious injury or deaths will occur if this pattern continues.

Public meetings this week look at bike lane installation issues, a freeze on labs and offices around Alewife, a new universal playground at Danehy Park, a bunch of potential landmarking and property tear-downs, raising developer linkage fees, redesigning Cambridge Street and much more.

Public meetings this week look at upgrading the city’s fleet if vehicles for hazardous materials crises and to allow in more electric and hybrid options; Gas Light Building landmarking and hotel plan; and bringing a full pet hospital to the Fresh Pond area.

It is not surprising that Jeff Bezos favors policies that will shutter local businesses or that a young cyclist on the sidewalk in Harvard Square believes it’s okay to break norms others depend on. But it is surprising and shocking that our local government leaders would adopt such an attitude.

Three policy orders aimed at bike and pedestrian safety were passed unanimously Monday by the City Council, even as the issue has taken on increased importance in the race for council seats to be decided Nov. 2.