Cambridge Traffic, Parking and Transportation Department

Open Issues: 101 • Closed Issues: 5,111 • Acknowledged Issues: 181
Watching issues created after: 2011-10-19

Notified About

  • Intersection Of Green And Hancock Cambridge, Massachusetts - Riverside
    Driving down Hancock and making the crossing across Green street is often difficult. The streets are narrow and the parking tight which makes the visibility at the crossing blind, particularly if a large vehicle is parked. So when it's at its worst you have to just eek your way into the intersection and hope a car is not coming down Green which itself has no stop sign. This is one spot I've often wished there were a stop sign on Green. There's already a sign post for do not enter signs, so adding stop signs on the opposite sides of the same posts seems straight forward.
  • 319 Webster Ave Cambridge, MA 02141, USA - Cambridge
  • Punjabi Dhaba 225 Hampshire St, Cambridge, MA, 02139, USA - Wellington-Harrington
    With the construction of Inman square, is it possible for the city to ban on street parking in the area instead of closing the bike lane (Beacon/Hampshire)? It seems more dangerous to have signs blocking the bike lane forcing cyclists to merge in with traffic, yet allowing on street parking on the narrowed street. In addition, some cyclists are now riding on the sidewalk to bypass the congestion affecting pedestrians. This seems to contradict the sentiment of the new law passed by the city to increase the safety of cyclists and vulnerable road users.
  • 140-198 6th St Cambridge, MA 02142, USA - East Cambridge
    Livery driver. Ticket and separate infra please.
  • 2370 Ma-2a Cambridge, MA 02140, USA - North Cambridge
    Greek Corner customers park illegally every night at the corner of Mass Ave and Dudley. This is more than a bike lane issue. They block car traffic by double parking and they block pedestrians by parking in the crosswalk. The bike lane issue has been a problem every night since the separated lanes were installed. Greek Corner should be made to deal with the problems being caused by their customers.
  • Ames St Cambridge, MA, 02142, USA - Mit

    I witnessed a bike-on-bike crash today. Luckily, everybody was OK, but the crash illustrates an important problem with our infrastructure.

    I was heading South toward Main St on the new two-way bike lane on Ames St, riding behind one other person. Right after we passed Cava, at the driveway leading toward Google / Kendall Center, another person on a bike swooped across the bike lane, apparently taking a left from the southbound travel lane on Ames, and crashed into the person in front of me. Thankfully, they both got up, inspected themselves, and appeared to be OK.

    Now, you might think, 'huh, sounds pretty reckless on the left-turner's part', and you wouldn't be wrong. However, there was another contributing factor worth considering: a catering van was illegally parked exactly in the daylighting spot intended to prevent such incidents. See my photo of the scene below. While it's true that the left-turner should have noted the limited visibility and the obvious bike lane, and proceeded cautiously, but I think that gives an unfair pass to the delivery driver who created an unnecessarily dangerous situation in the first place.

    If you look at the picture, the problem might become more clear: there's nothing physically preventing the driver from parking in the daylighting spot. This is true in a concerning number of our protected bike lanes (see also the South Mass Ave lanes). I understand the pressure to conserve flex posts (which are hideously expensive), but we really need to account for the fact that people will park anywhere they aren't physically blocked from accessing (i.e. paint is not protection). It's possible that a single additional flex post might have made this incident much less likely.

  • 355 Main St Cambridge, MA, 02142, USA - Mit
    This taxi was stopped here in the bike lane when I approached, and there was one parking spot ahead of it and two spots behind it that it could have easily pulled in to to let its passenger out. Drivers stopped in bike lanes unnecessarily like this should be warned, at minimum.
  • 306 Webster Ave Cambridge, MA 02141 - Wellington-Harrington
    Webster Avenue is a heavily trafficked road and has always been very frightening to bike down -- with two-way traffic including the 85 and CT2 bus lines, parallel parking on both sides, and heavy industrial use of the area, you often get cars, buses, bike, and trucks stacking up behind each other because there isn't enough room for everything to get through in both directions at the same time. There shouldn't be parallel parking on both sides of this street, or the street should be one way. Both Cambridge and Somerville should take a look at it.
  • 730 Memorial Drive Cambridge, Massachusetts - Cambridgeport
    There is poor drainage at the entrance to the Trader Joe's/Micro Center parking lot, right where the sidewalk/bike path crosses. It floods every time it rains and in the cold weather it freezes, making an impossible spot for bikes and pedestrians. It's not easy to just cross to the other side of Memorial Drive, I am forced to either bike with car traffic or get my feet and wheels (and brakes) covered in water and ice - very unsafe either way. Flooding at this spot has been an issue for a long time, I don't know why it has never been addressed.
  • 1304 Cambridge St Cambridge, MA 02139, USA - Wellington-Harrington

    Double parking tickets are cheaper than hydrant tickets, so every person who feels like stopping for a while at Inman just double-parks, blocking one side of the road. Of course, tickets don't get issued, so people feel free to do it all the time.

    Ignoring the safety problems of the reduced visibility and trying to navigate around cars and avoid pedestrians crossing between cars and so on, it causes knock-on traffic problems for the rest of the city.

    During the afternoon and evening, this really slows down traffic, except when a truck unloads across from a double-parked car. Then Beacon St stops when people block intersections, and Hampshire, and Prospect, and Broadway... And so on. I've been stuck in hour-long gridlock in that area.

    Parking is, admittedly, at a premium at Inman square, but can we at least have some enforcement from the police who stop there or drive by, so that it might be a little bit more under control?

  • Brattle St & Harvard Sq Cambridge, MA, 02138, USA - Mid-Cambridge

    Especially during rush hour, the roads through Harvard Square need to be closed to vehicles. There are way too many pedestrians and cyclists trying to get to the MBTA stop and the sidewalks are way too narrow.

    Until this is done, the city needs to post multiple crossing guards to keep people safe, as well as have a police office on hand to ticket drivers who run lights and do not stop behind the stop line. It'd also be good if a tow truck can be on hand to remove cars blocking crosswalks and bike lanes. The City's negligence could lead to serious injury or death if action isn't taken swiftly.

  • 146-150 Alewife Brook Pkwy Cambridge, MA, 02140, USA - North Cambridge

    Dear Cambridge Traffic Parking and Transportation Staff,

    I wanted to alert you to the traffic situation that has been created by the new "No Turn On Red" sign at the intersection of Rindge Ave and Alewife Brook Parkway. Since that sign has been installed, during high traffic-volume times, traffic is now backing up from Alewife Brook Parkway all the way back to Mass Ave. That's nearly a mile of cars sitting in traffic barely moving.

    This is also causing traffic to back up onto the side streets that feed onto Rindge Ave.

    This adversely effects commuters, school buses, pedestrians, children on their way to school, crossing guards, curbside collection workers, and people with air quality issues.

    I left my house at 7:30 this morning, and traffic was already backed up nearly to Mass Ave because of that new sign.

    I'm hopeful you can remove the sign and find another pedestrian safety solution at that intersection that doesn't back up traffic so badly.

    Thanks very much for considering this.

    Sincerely,
    Freedom Baird
    20 Reed Street
    Cambridge, MA
    c: 617-529-6744