City Hall – DR assigned this issue to Traffic - KC (Permits)

Picture of issue

Another picture

And another

Glad to see this so well-documented. This happens up and down Walden Street during rush hour - I've seen drivers do this a lot where Walden intersects Garden and Sherman streets too. At those intersections, traffic is backed up at the traffic lights because many drivers want to turn left. Those who want to proceed straight will sometimes pull out into the oncoming lane, and drive straight through the intersection past drivers who are simultaneously trying to turn left across that oncoming lane. It is wild, and scary, to see such insane driving happen in person.

I agree! It is pretty scary to be a pedestrian when crossing Mead St. This happens all the time!

Assign motocycle officer on Mead near Walden at morning times when Walden is backed up. Ticket the wrongdoers bigtime!

Thank you, neighbors.

Once again we have taken the time to point out the egregiousness of this situation; the traffic worsens, the noise increases, the fuel exhaust spews and the blaring horns get ever shriller as does the imminent danger, especially to our elderly neighbors and young children.

I have been emailing and asking for feedback from Patrick Baxter as well as both the City Manager and the Assistant City Manager. It sometimes takes a month for a response. PB assures me he and his group (traffic engineers) are making observations and will determine next steps, but this is such a slow process (why?) and we are having to endure traffic noise and pollution unnecessarily in the meantime and worry about accidents.

I have been monitoring the situation independently for more than two years and have watched cars speed down Cogswell, and fly through the stop sign at corner of Mead and Cogswell-- putting all residents and especially kids at risk; furthermore, up near Mass Ave, every afternoon-evening the traffic jams and backs up all the way down Cogswell Ave, with its noise pollution and fuel exhaust pollution oppressing the neighborhood, not to mention the blaring radios from some cars as well as the car horns. These streets are not designed for cut-through traffic.

I'm willing to formalize our group as concerned neighbors and am willing to organize a meeting with the city. I believe this venue--while helpful for reporting and logging comments-- goes nowhere if the past is our test. If you look at the comments' history on this issue, it goes back a few years and the city has done zilch to date, and now here we are again with the congestion and danger increasing, putting residents at even more risk. As we all feel, this situation carries a certain gravity, an accident is bound to happen. The city knows this bc I've been explicit with this concern, and it's on the city to attend and triage this traffic debacle. It is not on the city to encourage cut through, and if that is its strategy, then we are being put at risk knowingly, so we, therefore, need to organize ourselves bc the city is not working to ensure our safety and quality of life, which means city government here in North Cambridge is not working for its people. If the city is not working for us, it is working against us, and then the concern is a legal one bc the city has chosen to expedite its need for traffic flow at our expense. I welcome your comments.

You are 100% accurate. This has been going on for several years. I filed a complaint last year, the police came for a day, wrote a few tickets and left. Not really sure what to do about the traffic volume as there are only so many routes to Mass Ave. traffic is funneled into a small number of streets. The only other option is Rindge north of Porter Sq. The immediate issue is to stop commuters from driving in the on-coming traffic lane. Maybe have a bicycle office patrol between Garden and Mead at rush hour. Write out a few very expensive tickets (most of these drivers break at least 2 laws) and hopefully people will learn not to be stupid. In reality, somebody is going to get seriously hurt or killed on one of these streets.

There were a couple of motorcycle cops on Mead yesterday morning. The issue is not in the morning but during the evening commute. On Monday a guy driving in he wrong lane and making a sharp turn from Walden onto Mead almost hit our car with my wife in it!!

Still an issue, nothing has changed.

Agreed. And it's getting worse. I have written to City Manager, Assistant City Manager, and Patrick Baxter the head of traffic engineering. It would help if you'd write to them directly through the city website as well. You can forward your messages from here as a copy paste. This continues to be a threatening situation and a dangerous situation...

Yes this is still an issue! One child almost got hit recently and I watched as a car raced down the oncoming traffic lane and make a fast turn onto Mead and then aggressively tailgate a car trying to pull into their house.

Will it really take someone getting killed or seriously injured for the city to take action ?

Obstruct Mead street like they do when there is road construction, abutters only. If the city won't do it, place cheap trash cans full of water to block it. That will get attention. Wear gloves so no fingerprints. Rinse and repeat...

Can a stop sign be placed at the intersection of Mead and Walden Sts? This would at least stop cars from driving into the oncoming traffic lane on walden (heading towards Mass Ave) without committing an additional traffic violation.

Well, since the city has not done anything to address the issue its still a problem.

One would hope that this time of sheltering in place would be a perfect time to address this situation with proper signage before we begin to move again. A sign could be post:"DO NOT ENTER" at Mead and Walden AND/OR "DO NOT PARK" could be posted on the right side of Walden from Mead all the way to Mass Ave so cars can flow and take advantage to the green light to turn right. As it stands now, some cars in the line on Walden are wanting to turn right but cannot bc so many are waiting on the light to turn left. It would be superb to hear back from the traffic engineers during this time to get an update on plans, especially given that there were meetings and information gathered and these recommendations shared. Thanks of replying, GRSCOTT.

See previous complaints and suggestions. This is a good time to address this issue.

I'll repeat previous comments. Yes it wil be a problem once folks return to work as it has been for years. And NO Cambridge has done nothing to address it. I am sure that there are more pressing issues that the town is not addressing to deal with this.

Now on Shared Streets the advocates want lanes blocked so that cars have to drive into oncoming traffic. That is regress, not progress.

16 months and no response from the city!

571 days open and still no response from the city.

601 days open and still no response from the city. Issue was abated during the lock downs but now as traffic has been increasing it is happening again. Watched a pickup truck pull out of traffic that was stopped on Walden and race down the oncoming lane and made a dangerous turn on Mead. Again, this is just a severe accident waiting to happen and the city could not care less.

And now it is 631 days and still ZERO response from the city!! Now that traffic is increasing this is again become a common occurrence.

Must have to do with the fact that the city is trying to get the building permitted at 2072 Mass Ave and this would be hugely problematic for them. This information of the neighbors and by the neighbors here on Walden, Mead and Cogswell counters the bogus traffic and parking study the developers supposedly conducted...thanks for this update, GRScott.

A very happy 2nd birthday to my SeeClicFix issue. Two years and zero response from the city. Do they even bother to look at these issues?

I was just reminded by Cambridge that this has been an issue for 751 days and that they still have not done anything to address the problem. Not even a single attempt to enforce traffic rules and keep citizens safe. Yesterday I watched 5 cars in a row put into the oncoming lane, race down Walden and make a sharp turn onto Mead where they cannot see anything until they are in the middle of the crosswalk. I am keeping this issue open so when a lawsuit happens the city can't say they knew nothing about it.

Issue 11300963 has been marked as a duplicate of this issue.

We shared this with the Cambridge Police Traffic Enforcement Unit previously and continue to work with them on this. If you'd like to follow up with them directly about this or similar issues, you can call their office at 617-349-4365 or send an email here: www.cambridgema.gov/cpd/policeunits/operationsdivision/trafficenforcementunit

In addition, the Traffic, Parking, and Transportation Department has been working on this issue; a proposed solution will be presented and discussed with the community as part of an upcoming online public engagement process anticipated to take place in before the end of the year. Once that meeting is scheduled, we will share more information in this thread. Please email tpt@cambridgema.gov to share feedback.

Issue 11343026 has been marked as a duplicate of this issue.

And here we are 10 months from last update and the problem continues unabated with ZERO enforcement of traffic laws. The "proposal" from a couple of months ago will have no impact on the issue. This I a real safety issue that the city has ignored for years. It will take a someone getting killed for the city to take this seriously.

I almost forgot to wish my issue a very happy 3rd birthday! Yes, it has been 3 years since I filed this complaint and the city has done NOTHING to mitigate it. I was reminded yesterday when a car came speeding down Walden in the oncoming traffic lane and turned quickly onto Mead. A UPS truck was parked at the intersection so the car had to swerve and almost collided with me as I was getting out of my car. How about something simple as putting soft lane dividers dowe the middle of Walden to discourage this dangerous behavior by drivers.

GRScott: Thank you for posting and thank you for continuing to document this issue. It will take bodily injury for the city, the traffic department, and the city manager to get on this and make a difference even though it is their job to investigate such issues and devise a plan and implement the plan in order to enhance safety. I wish I could say otherwise. That you or I would have to mention what would make a difference such as lane dividers or a sign such as "Do Not Enter Between 3-7 pm" feels as though we live not in Cambridge Ma but somewhere else. It's a shame. I'm somewhat persuaded that the city's inaction on this issue has everything to do with the corner lot 2072 Mass Ave and Walden Street and the plan to develop it. Keep posting and documenting this issue. It will help any victim of an accident when the case goes to court.

This is an example of the behavior that unless the city does something is going to get someone hurt or killed. Guy drives the whole length of Walden in the oncoming traffic lane.

Here's the link to the above comment: https://youtube.com/shorts/_u7pwC4kFVI?feature=share

Well, here we are FOUR YEARS later and the city has done ZERO to address this dangerous situation. Today while going on an errand, I almost crashed into an idiot aggressively bombing down Walden St in the wrong lane (see the video). Again documenting this in case a lawsuit ever comes up the city win;t be able to say "We had no idea".

GRScott - Thanks so much, George, but you'll have to put the video on YouTube again like you did with the previous one before we, the plaintiff's lawyers, the City Attorney, and the NEW City Manager can see it.

Here is the video from May 10th.

You need to right-click and open in a new window for it to play.

Thanks GRScott, again, for your vigilance. I had to step into the street, Cogswell Ave one day last week because someone decided to be a dragster and was gunning the accelerator, maybe to see if they could get to 80 mph before having to slam on the breaks and get into the back up line trying to cross Mass Ave. When I stepped into the middle of the street, the car slowed way down and I reminded HER that kids and elderly live here and this is not the Daytona 500 drag way. When or when is the city going to post a police officer here or at Mass Ave to direct traffic during the rush hours? It has clearly returned to the pre-pandemic level of traffic and the city ought to conduct a traffic study. Just imagine if the city or a developer ever wanted to do construction at Mass Ave and Walden?! There would be no way to direct the traffic. Zero options.

And the city wonders why there is pushback on 2072 Mass Ave. This is a simple problem to solve and yet instead of trying to address it, the city wants to ignore the people who currently live here and focus on those who might live here. Perhaps if the city actually did something that allowed citizens to see that their concerns were listened to, they would get support in other areas.

You need to rephrase this so that it sounds like a bicycling safety issue. That will get it resolved within just a few hours. Anything relating to pedestrian or automotive safety is blocked by a very strict yet unwritten policy.

It is a bit of a wonder why Cambridge PD has a similar strict policy banning all activity which might resemble traffic enforcement. According to CPD's own published data, the entire department, including the ironically named Traffic Enforcement Unit, spends a combined 1 man-hour on traffic enforcement per day. Meanwhile, it's never been more dangerous to be a pedestrian in Cambridge due to rampant disregard by drivers for basic traffic laws like stop signs and red lights. Go figure.

By anyway, you just need to restate your concerns as being around bicycle safety. They don't need to be true, and it's ok if all objective data shows that this has nothing to do with bicycle safety. Once you say the magic words, Heaven and Earth will be moved in order to appease the bike mob.

Well, here we are - coming up on FIVE years and still the City of Cambridge has not a single thing to address this issue. Got to watch this again yesterday where a UPS truck was parked illegally on Mead St and two drivers stuck on Walden decided to jump onto the incoming traffic lane and race down to make a left on Mead. A driver who had stopped at the intersection had to slam on brakes to keep from hitting one of the cars!! I will continue to update this issue to document the city's ongoing, years-long callous disregard for the people living in the Walden/Mead/Cogswell area.

Unfortunately, Cambridge still appears to have a formal written policy that bans all forms of traffic enforcement.