Description

I both live (160 CPD) and work (200 CPD) on Cambridgepark drive near the Alewife station. During evening rush hour, the road can often be backlogged up to 1 hr to access Alewife Brook Parkway. This severly effects my ability as a resident to get to/from my home on a daily basis. A large part of the issue is that drivers leaving Alewife parking garage will block the intersection when exiting, and block CPD up such that only 1-2 cars can pass through each green light. Additionally, as the city continues to grow in this area more businesses are hiring which results in increased traffic needs. The current road structure was not designed to be sustainable for the current volume of commuters. As possible remedies I would suggest the following: 1) Assign a traffic control officer at the Alewife intersection to reduce the amount of intersection blocking, and 2) Expand CPD to 4 lanes (2 each way) which can accommodate a higher volume (street is rather wide as is). Additionally, since there are several new large capacity apartment complexes on this street please consider a "resident only" fast lane so that our lives are not adversely affected by the commuters who utilize our road. Similar "resident only" access is not uncommon in Cambridge, such as the restricted access on Whittmore Ave from Alewife Brook Parkway during rush hour travel times.