We will not accept any loss of life on our roads. #WorldDayOfRemembrance#WDOR2024
Photo and Video Credits: Emma Batson, Donrick Pond, Grace Schlek, and Carrie Blazina
Our World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims group ride and rally brought together hundreds of people on Sunday to remember those we have lost and to encourage our state legislators to make our streets safer. 🧵:
Join CBS, @MassBike, @bostonbikeunion, and @StreetsBoston on November 17 for a group bike ride and rally for the World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims.
Learn more and register: https://t.co/10mHyTtQN9
Tonight we had an excellent community meeting hosted by the Cambridgeport Neighborhood Association, where I made a brief presentation on immediate safety upgrades coming to Memorial Drive in the vicinity of the BU Bridge, the BU Boathouse, and the Magazine Beach outdoor fitness area, with @MassDCR initiating work this week to create a shared-use path and slow down automobiles, along with several other upgrades, including a dedicated bike crossing by the BU Bridge and better wheelchair ramps.
Thank you to the organizers for hosting a positive, constructive discussion, and to the City Manager, @MassDOT, the BU Bridge Safety Alliance, Ned Codd and Steven Miller, Rebecca Bowie, et al. for your efforts and presentations — and thanks especially to all of the city officials and Cambridgeport residents who were in attendance.
The work continues for all us — to make our roads safer for all users — because one fatality is one too many.
Last week, Sen. Brownsberger and I met with DCR and leaders of the BU Bridge Safety Alliance. As a result, DCR has agreed to incorporate our feedback on the pending upgrades by further narrowing vehicle lanes and further widening sidewalks from Magazine Beach to the BU Boathouse.
• The sidewalk/path from Magazine Beach to the BU Bridge will increase in width to 14’
• The sidewalk/path from the BU Bridge to the Boat House will increase in width to 13’
• Vehicle travel lanes will be further narrowed using a combination of curbing and line striping adjustments while maintaining safe travel lanes to accommodate emergency vehicles
• As suggested by safety advocates, a revised bike ramp orientation coming from Magazine Beach leading to the bridge will also be implemented
The Traffic Management Plan (TMP) is now fully in place; contractors are currently on site conducting stormwater and lighting relocation. The curbing and sidewalk work between Magazine Beach and the BU Bridge commenced yesterday.
Thank you to @MassDCR, the BU Bridge Safety Alliance, and all who are working together to bring improvements to this busy corridor.
Yesterday, I joined with legislative colleagues and the Cambridge City Manager for an excellent briefing with DCR on Memorial Drive safety upgrades that will be under construction starting Monday. Sidewalks from the Magazine Beach outdoor gym to the BU Boathouse will be widened into shared use paths up to 12’ — and a dedicated bike lane will be added at the intersection with the BU Bridge.
Wheelchair ramps will be widened; chain-link fence will be replaced with classy Boston Pattern fence, and a road diet will be implemented in the area to ensure safe passage during construction. I’ve asked DCR to monitor traffic volumes during the road diet to help inform future automobile lane reductions as well.
Crosswalks will be repainted, and the speed limit will be permanently lowered as we’ve requested.
Thank you to DCR for working with us on these changes, efforts that date back to last year and build on years of advocacy — and thank you to the activists who continue to call for safety upgrades, a call made all the more urgent in the wake of the tragic killing of John Corcoran by the driver of a Mercedes SUV last week.
Starting #WeekWithoutDriving early with a multi modal trip from Worcester to Boston to attend the ghost bike ceremony for John Corcoran. @cambbikesafety
10 min bike ride on the Brommie to Worcester Union then mbta ($10 weekend pass) to Lansdowne.
After the East Cambridge Rib Fest yesterday, I biked over to Cambridgeport for two incredible community events — celebrating the 50th of the Simplex/Emily St. Community Garden — and then around the corner to celebrate renovations at the historic St. Augustine’s. I ❤️ this town!!!