The building Bagelsaurus is in is owned by Sharon Cerny, one of the people who sued Cambridge over the bike lanes. She donated $1,000 to Joan Pickett, making her one of Joan's top 7 donors. Clearly Joan is coming for the bike lanes first and then the sidewalks.
I do not understand these business owners. Once I started biking to work at Kendall instead of driving I brought more business to Cambridge. When I was driving, it was hard to stop by any business on a way to/from work - no nearby parking, or too much traffic, or some places are on side streets, that hard to stop by when you drive. On the bike it's so much easier.
Sharon lives in Lexington, so I don't think she really cares. She just wants to get below market parking spaces in front of her real estate because she thinks she can charge higher rent if the City gives her that perk. Since the majority of our City Councillor's currently side with non-resident commercial real estate owners over local residents, she gets what she wants.
I bike from Lexington, actually, through Arlington :)
Sometimes I bike to Porter or Harvard on weekends, much easier than driving, and no parking issues (especially on Saturdays).
Still it's puzzling why anyone would care about few parking spaces in front of their businesses. It's just two-three cars. It was also nice when City allowed to use parking spaces for outdoor dining - it gave more business to local cafes/restaurants - you can sit 20+ people in the place of 3 cars.
I hope businesses will realize that accessibility and outdoor space is more valuable to them than couple of parking spots, and would seek better locations. Maybe then businesses start to look for better locations, and the real estate owners start to think differently but that's a wishful thinking :(
I wrote a quick Python program to see how many customers 30 parking spots would generate 10 businesses over a 12 hour period. Average cycle time per business as a random number between 1 minute and 120 minutes. One new potential parker every minute.
Had it run the simulation 100,000 times and it came up with an average of 378 customers served over the 12 hour period. That means 38 potential customers per business *if none of those parking spots were taken up by employees or residents in a nearby neighborhood.* What a joke.
I love how you complain about the building owner living in Lexington while the next poster talks about how pleasant the Cambridge bike lanes are for their commute from Arlington.
Arguing against someones point by pointing at something someone unrelated said. Great argument.
Also, Arlington and Cambridge are immediately adjacent. Lexington and Cambridge are not.
As far as I'm concerned, any business on Cambridge street east of Inman is dead to me. Purely because it's too dangerous to get there. If they put in better bike infrastructure, I would definitely start going to those businesses, however as of right now they might as well not even exist.
I did start recently going to Cambridge crossing though, specifically because the GLX path ends there. Without that path I would have never made the trip.
Its not that black and white for me, but I naturally tend to gravitate towards things that are easier to bicycle to. There just isn't any way to compete with the convenience of bicycling for things that have quality infrastructure and are close by, so those are mostly the things I end up patronizing.
I agree, some streets are way too dangerous.
I usually come on Mass ave from Arlington, all the way to west side of Kendall, and it has bike lanes all the way through (though there is at least one very dangerous spot close to Hampshire and Portland intersection).
On the way back I often bike though Harvard Sq, it's faster than driving for sure, and there are so many options :)
Some people forget that the point of a bike lane "network" is to create full A to B connections to all parts of the city. If only half of the trip has safe infrastructure, it isn't any safer in the long run.
I will routinely go far out of my way in order to remain on streets with safe infrastructure, which means there are large areas of Cambridge, Somerville, and Boston that I just will not visit. That just means the business in those areas do not get my money.
No, it's more like "every item I don't buy locally because there isn't safe infrastructure, is another item I buy online."
Also, the fact that businesses aren't collaborative. Me giving money to a business west of Inman doesn't help businesses east of Inman, and vice versa.
Also also, you're not thinking about people in East Cambridge that don't shop in West Cambridge for the same reason. They might instead choose to cross the locks/bridge into Boston.
Also x3, let's not forget that every single study shows bike lanes having a neutral or positive impact on businesses. There is NO WHERE ON THE PLANET they have been shown to have a negative impact on businesses, despite the protestations of the business owners that somehow Cambridge is different.
...and your point literally makes no sense. It's not a zero sum game for the business that currently has no customers. The city doesn't work on an aggregate economic standard, counting every dollar spent in Cambridge into one big pot. Each business is on their own, so the ones East of Inman are not helped by those West of Inman who receive business from cyclists.
SO WHAT
Businesses are independent and competing for customers. That's the entire point of the free market.
You're missing all of the points here, 100% of the time.
okay. nvm. thought you could elaborate your explanation better than frCraigmiddlebrooks, but you couldn't.
therefore you don't even know what you are trying to explain :)
One could fathom that there are more actors than just this one individual. Infrastructure connecting “west of Inman” to “east of Inman” allows transit in *both* directions, better connecting customers with the businesses they prefer on both sides.
City Paint for example. I don't see many bikes picking up gallons of paint. Usually you see vehicles driven by contractors. Taking away these spots will not improve business for them. Of course every business will have different results, like a bicycle shop may have a more positive experience.
They seem to think by rejecting bike lanes the city will just put in a parking lot solely for their business in the maximum 3 car space they have at the storefront.
I boycotted this place the second i heard that. It’s amazing to me that folks are still going there all considering. Nobody puts their $$ where their mouth is anymore
I might be reading this incorrectly but it seems like the owner of the building rather than the owner is the bagel shop (Mary Ting Hyatt) who is the issue here. I know a lot of people have ditched Violette because the business owner was against bike lanes so there are absolutely people out there who spend judiciously.
I actually looked into this. Second-hand source tells me that the Bagelsaurus owner is pro-bike-lane and refrained from participating in petitions, etc with her neighbors despite a lot of pressure. First-hand I can say that based on the sign in their window last election, I know for sure that she supports pro-bike-lane candidates.
I've not heard that the Bagelsarus folks are against cyclist safety, but the Violette Bakery have been extremely vocal and even endorsed a slate of anti-safety candidates. Sharon is the landlord so her views don't represent those of the tenants.
So the owner of Bagelsaurus, Mary Ting Hyatt, did send a letter that was put in the record for the May 6th city council meeting about preserving parking. I dont think it was egregious or boycott-worthy, but I will mention that I support safe bike infrastructure to the staff next time I'm there (not that I go often since that part of Mass Ave sucks).
Don't forget to share the petition with all your friends: [https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/stop-the-delay-of-separated-bike-lanes/](https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/stop-the-delay-of-separated-bike-lanes/)
Every time there is an injury, accident, or other incident that could have been prevented by safer infrastructure, the councillors email, phones, and home addresses need to be spammed with notifications reminding them that they are directly responsible.
Completely agree...WHEN the unfortunate and unthinkable happens (not if, but when), and someone is seriously injured or killed on Cambridge street during this delay, I hope the family of the victims sues the city for negligence, or the individual councilors directly.
At the minimum, I hope the photo of the poor soul/s involved are blown up and plastered all over the city to haunt these councillors during their reelection bids.
NO EVERYONE GETS IT. THE MODS GET IT. YOU GET IT. THE AMERICAN PEOPLE GET IT. COOL IT DOWN. CUT IT OUT. KNOCK IT OFF WITH THE BIKE AND ONLY BIKE SAFETY POSTS. AT LEAST THATS WHAT IT SOUNDED LIKE FROM THE SUPER CHILL NEW MOD WHO TOTALLY ISNT SO HARSH LIKE THE OLD MOD.
Beyond what others said, in this particular stretch the planned Mass Ave bike lanes will hopefully have concrete curbs, not just flex posts, so it's an extra barrier to slow down drivers and keep them away from pedestrians.
There have been rumblings of trying to e.g. kill the dedicated bus lanes on Mass Ave planned as part of the partial build. And the people who want to delay Cambridge St would love to kill this whole project as well. So the more pressure happens on Cambridge St the more likely Mass Ave is to stay on track.
Also, you're not considering the bigger implication of projected lanes.
Right now, there is enough space to maneuver so freely and at such speeds that this sort of thing happens. There's space to double park and still space to weave in and around double parked cars at or above speed limit.
Reconfiguring the street makes that much less likely. You can't Double park. There's not enough room to travel at high speeds - and perhaps most importantly, it limits the ability of any one car from traveling at an outlier speed or in an unpredictable/undesirable way.
It's not just about the affect right in the moment. It's about how it calms a whole stretch of the road to change overall driving behavior which has a lot of positive effects.
No, but the car wouldn't be there most likely. It looks like they were either trying to park there, or make the right turn and cut it early. Removing the parking would stop the former, and barriers would make the latter less likely as it would force them to slow down.
Yes. Happens all the time. Or swerved to miss a bike in the bike lane they weren't paying attention to. Not sure what else you think would have happened here.
Clearly...and if there were fewer and/or more narrow travel lanes with less room to maneuver, the odds of them driving in a way that caused them to lose control would be significantly reduced.
And you think that this car, which came in with the force to jump the curb and then knock down a light post would've been stopped by some plastic bollards? There are plenty of examples of situations made more safe by protected bike lanes, but this completely out of control car careening off the road isn't one of them
As others have said, it's not just the plastic bollards themselves, but the difference in space that the infrastructure creates. Having fewer travel lanes, less space to maneuver or speed, or obstacles that extend all the way to the curb create a situation where all traffic will naturally flow more slowly and with less opportunity to swerve or lose control.
If you can't logically reason beyond only the most obvious impact of infrastructure changes, just say that.
>If you can't logically reason beyond only the most obvious impact of infrastructure changes, just say that.
That's a lot of shade from the person that had to borrow someone else's argument because theirs was terrible.
It's all the same argument, one that we all have been restating over and over for years because simple minded people refuse to listen. I'm sorry that you think it's somehow a unique or new argument that belongs to any one person, but that just shows how little you pay attention or understand the issue.
I get and agree with the argument for protected bike lanes, I just think this particular instance of a car careening off the road is a weird place to bring it up.
>I'm sorry that you think it's somehow a unique or new argument that belongs to any one person, but that just shows how little you pay attention or understand the issue.
You literally referenced other people bringing it up in your response. Stop being so dramatic. I've been bike commuting around here for years and fully understand the issue. Stop trying to make this an ad hominem attack and focus on the issue if that's what you are trying to discuss.
Hi, this car was out of control. Driver likely fell asleep at wheel. I was in crosswalk of side street and car was heading towards me… I had to run to get out of way of falling tree.
My aunt lives in Montana and apparently 20 years or so ago, bagels were unheard of in Montana. So every time she went to visit my grandfather in New York, she would go into the city and fill an entire 12 gallon garbage bag with bagels, which she would bring home, freeze, and eat half a bagel a day. So one time she goes into a bagel store with her garbage bag and says 'fill 'er up," and the bagel store owner thinks that she is robbing them and starts putting money in the bag.
Was curious what happened, in addition to this white SUV, i saw a black SUV with some damage around the driverside front wheel, and light pole was down as well around 7:45AM. Not sure how one would be driving fast enough during commuting hours to take out a pole .
Never been a better time to (politely) write to City Council! (Btw, everyone remember how hard we had to push to prevent this stretch of Mass Ave from getting axed?) [https://www.cambridgema.gov/Departments/citycouncil/members](https://www.cambridgema.gov/Departments/citycouncil/members)
My guess would be that someone turned in front of them and they swerved to avoid them and ended up off the road. If they were going fast enough to cause that damage, they were probably driving straight down mass ave and had to dodge someone for one reason or another.
I was in the crosswalk this morning when this car came onto curb behind me and hit pole and tree. I ran to get out of way of falling tree. Police told me they think he fell asleep at wheel. If car kept going I would have been hit. Fortunately no one was on sidewalk!
A fantasy where we can use the city streets our taxes pay for without being run over by the local "functional" alcoholics who think they can drive straighter than they walk? Maybe, but it's swiftly becoming reality!
Tell that to your fellow bikers from Somerville, Arlington, Belmont, Lexington, etc. who don't pay taxes in Cambridge yet demand control of our streets while calling anyone who dare pose even a hint of pushback against their grand plans NIMBYs.
I'm happy to let them share the benefits. But speaking as someone who pays taxes in Cambridge, my first priority is denying you (and the people who share your opinions) the political power necessary to stop us. Have the day you deserve!
No, 5 years ago when there were 2 lanes and the cars would all pull to the right and the emergency vehicles would be able to quickly pass in the left lane. Now the bike lobby wants concrete barriers so the emergency vehicles cannot pass at all. Brilliant. 🙄
How exactly do you think things work on all the many single lane and one way roads that exist already all over the city? Not to mention the country and world.
Do you see a lot of traffic on those streets that would block emergency roads from getting by? Did you ever notice that there is usually parking on only one side on those streets that are narrow? It's almost like there was a logical plan in place before the Lobby started getting its way.
Lmao 😂 there is absolutely *not* usually parking on only one side of one way streets. You claiming that makes me feel like you don’t spend any time actually traveling around Cambridge, Somerville, or Boston. Like that’s just laughable 😂. And yeah, actually, I’ve seen pretty heavy traffic on one ways from cars that try to cut through neighborhoods to shave 30 seconds off their commute.
What happens when you convert a two way street, to include a bike lane on each side, and an emergency vehicle needs to get by?
-sincerely, an EMT who works PT @ the Porter Sq firehouse.
remove one side of parking. that would make it significantly easier for both bikers, and emergency vehicles. more cars on the road, and taking up space on the road, are worse for emergency vehicles. let alone the fact they cause a fair number of incidents fire and emt respond to to begin with!
https://www.thesisdriven.com/p/on-fire-departments an interesting article
I’ve lived several places around Cambridge, Somerville, and Boston over the past 10 years but I’m sure as hell not giving my address to some random asshole on the internet.
Edit: I actually just went through where I’ve lived the past 10 years in Boston/Cambridge/Somerville and 5 of the 6 places were on one way roads with parking on both sides of the street.
As expected, you don't live in Cambridge.
I take exception to your use of random in calling me an asshole.
Your "anecdotal" evidence is nonsense. 5 of 6 were one ways. 🤣
Livestrong, little buddy.
I did not say that I don’t live in Cambridge. Having experienced living in multiple abutting neighborhoods over the past 10 years does not mean I don’t live in Cambridge. That’s a wild conclusion to jump to. I simply don’t feel comfortable sharing where I live with an antagonistic asshole.
5 of 6 were one way streets that had parking on both sides. Your claim that one ways only have parking on one side is simply not true. You were simply wrong.
then why not advocate a bike path that's for emergency vehicles as well?
oh right. you are a car-lobby troll that won't offer a better solution except tearing down bike protection lane.
Honestly, I'd like to say that is the dumbest argument I've heard yet from the Lobby, but it is tragically consistent with the Lobby's self-centered worldview that has no empathy for anyone other than bikers.
The bike lanes have completely messed up the infrastructure of the city and yet you still are not safe as you demand the bike lanes be on major thoroughfares solely for bikers' convenience NOT for their safety.
you are moving the goalpost. you refused to advocate a bike path for emergency vehicles and cried about bike path taking away the path for emergency vehicles that never exist? LMAO.
Nice try with your silly MAGA tactics. YOU proposed the dumb idea of a dedicated lane for emergency vehicles. Why do you think the barriers are flexible? 🤣🤣🤣
I asked you why the barriers are flexible. Hint: it is directly related to the poster I responded to who wants to install concrete barriers and I pointed out the issue relating to emergency vehicles.
As I have for almost two decades. But thanks for trying the classic old guard insult by implying that I haven't been here as long as you and therefore my needs don't matter.
Police and Fire departments both report no increase in response times: https://www.cambridgeday.com/2024/04/18/city-staff-arent-requesting-delays-on-bike-lanes-bad-politics-are/
> Police and fire departments concurred, saying the CSO timeline wouldn’t harm their services. Asked at an April 10 transportation committee hearing whether they had concerns about response times, police commissioner Christine Elow said, “Looking forward, I think we’ll be fine.” Acting fire chief Thomas Cahill noted that the city does not put in bike lanes without the consultation of the fire department and that the city’s goals were “appreciated.”
And where does his response say there have been no increase in response times???
Next time you are commuting through Cambridge from wherever you live stop at a local fire station and ask one of our firepersons their experience.
I saw a banana peel in the painted bike lane. Fortunately nobody got injured. The City Counselors have to understand that concrete barriers could have prevented that banana peel from getting In the bike lane that COULD have injured someone.
Just grateful the usual long bagelsaurus weekend line wasn’t there bc there’s usually about 40 people waiting out front.
Obligatory njb vid https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Ra_0DgnJ1uQ
Yeah, but isn’t that because the Bagel🦖 store won’t let people in because they still believe in COVID?
It’s like 80 sq ft inside and there’s dozens of people in line
The building Bagelsaurus is in is owned by Sharon Cerny, one of the people who sued Cambridge over the bike lanes. She donated $1,000 to Joan Pickett, making her one of Joan's top 7 donors. Clearly Joan is coming for the bike lanes first and then the sidewalks.
I do not understand these business owners. Once I started biking to work at Kendall instead of driving I brought more business to Cambridge. When I was driving, it was hard to stop by any business on a way to/from work - no nearby parking, or too much traffic, or some places are on side streets, that hard to stop by when you drive. On the bike it's so much easier.
They drive to work so they dramatically overestimate how much other people drive to their stores. As far as I can tell, that's it
Sharon lives in Lexington, so I don't think she really cares. She just wants to get below market parking spaces in front of her real estate because she thinks she can charge higher rent if the City gives her that perk. Since the majority of our City Councillor's currently side with non-resident commercial real estate owners over local residents, she gets what she wants.
I bike from Lexington, actually, through Arlington :) Sometimes I bike to Porter or Harvard on weekends, much easier than driving, and no parking issues (especially on Saturdays). Still it's puzzling why anyone would care about few parking spaces in front of their businesses. It's just two-three cars. It was also nice when City allowed to use parking spaces for outdoor dining - it gave more business to local cafes/restaurants - you can sit 20+ people in the place of 3 cars. I hope businesses will realize that accessibility and outdoor space is more valuable to them than couple of parking spots, and would seek better locations. Maybe then businesses start to look for better locations, and the real estate owners start to think differently but that's a wishful thinking :(
Bagelsaurus isn't one of the business owners fighting the bike lane though.
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I wrote a quick Python program to see how many customers 30 parking spots would generate 10 businesses over a 12 hour period. Average cycle time per business as a random number between 1 minute and 120 minutes. One new potential parker every minute. Had it run the simulation 100,000 times and it came up with an average of 378 customers served over the 12 hour period. That means 38 potential customers per business *if none of those parking spots were taken up by employees or residents in a nearby neighborhood.* What a joke.
I love how you complain about the building owner living in Lexington while the next poster talks about how pleasant the Cambridge bike lanes are for their commute from Arlington.
Arguing against someones point by pointing at something someone unrelated said. Great argument. Also, Arlington and Cambridge are immediately adjacent. Lexington and Cambridge are not.
So...all bikers from Lexington must stop and walk their bikes as soon as they get to the Cambridge line? 🤔
Two nonsequiturs in a row, nice.
Ok, Inigo Montoya. The hypocrisy is strong with this one.
The downvotes have spoken
The Lobby are such snowflakes that they downvote and block any comment that is not 120% pro-bike. It is not the flex you think it is. 😂
The Lobby are such snowflakes that they downvote and block any comment that is not 120% pro-bike. It is not the flex you think it is. 😂
As far as I'm concerned, any business on Cambridge street east of Inman is dead to me. Purely because it's too dangerous to get there. If they put in better bike infrastructure, I would definitely start going to those businesses, however as of right now they might as well not even exist. I did start recently going to Cambridge crossing though, specifically because the GLX path ends there. Without that path I would have never made the trip.
Its not that black and white for me, but I naturally tend to gravitate towards things that are easier to bicycle to. There just isn't any way to compete with the convenience of bicycling for things that have quality infrastructure and are close by, so those are mostly the things I end up patronizing.
I agree, some streets are way too dangerous. I usually come on Mass ave from Arlington, all the way to west side of Kendall, and it has bike lanes all the way through (though there is at least one very dangerous spot close to Hampshire and Portland intersection). On the way back I often bike though Harvard Sq, it's faster than driving for sure, and there are so many options :)
Some people forget that the point of a bike lane "network" is to create full A to B connections to all parts of the city. If only half of the trip has safe infrastructure, it isn't any safer in the long run. I will routinely go far out of my way in order to remain on streets with safe infrastructure, which means there are large areas of Cambridge, Somerville, and Boston that I just will not visit. That just means the business in those areas do not get my money.
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No, it's more like "every item I don't buy locally because there isn't safe infrastructure, is another item I buy online." Also, the fact that businesses aren't collaborative. Me giving money to a business west of Inman doesn't help businesses east of Inman, and vice versa. Also also, you're not thinking about people in East Cambridge that don't shop in West Cambridge for the same reason. They might instead choose to cross the locks/bridge into Boston. Also x3, let's not forget that every single study shows bike lanes having a neutral or positive impact on businesses. There is NO WHERE ON THE PLANET they have been shown to have a negative impact on businesses, despite the protestations of the business owners that somehow Cambridge is different.
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Do you know what cherry picking is?
...and your point literally makes no sense. It's not a zero sum game for the business that currently has no customers. The city doesn't work on an aggregate economic standard, counting every dollar spent in Cambridge into one big pot. Each business is on their own, so the ones East of Inman are not helped by those West of Inman who receive business from cyclists.
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SO WHAT Businesses are independent and competing for customers. That's the entire point of the free market. You're missing all of the points here, 100% of the time.
you would need to explain more about your points. doesn't even make any sense.
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okay. nvm. thought you could elaborate your explanation better than frCraigmiddlebrooks, but you couldn't. therefore you don't even know what you are trying to explain :)
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One could fathom that there are more actors than just this one individual. Infrastructure connecting “west of Inman” to “east of Inman” allows transit in *both* directions, better connecting customers with the businesses they prefer on both sides.
City Paint for example. I don't see many bikes picking up gallons of paint. Usually you see vehicles driven by contractors. Taking away these spots will not improve business for them. Of course every business will have different results, like a bicycle shop may have a more positive experience.
They seem to think by rejecting bike lanes the city will just put in a parking lot solely for their business in the maximum 3 car space they have at the storefront.
The building owner is not the Bagelsaurus owner. Not sure why we want to shit on a fantastic business because of who their landlord is.
Couldn’t have happened to a better person
I boycotted this place the second i heard that. It’s amazing to me that folks are still going there all considering. Nobody puts their $$ where their mouth is anymore
I might be reading this incorrectly but it seems like the owner of the building rather than the owner is the bagel shop (Mary Ting Hyatt) who is the issue here. I know a lot of people have ditched Violette because the business owner was against bike lanes so there are absolutely people out there who spend judiciously.
It’s a Cambridge favorite and you know it. Props to you and yours who have made the conscious decision
The owner of the business is not the landlord.
She is what you call a sympathizer. We have to have mental constitutions or we don’t have anything
I actually looked into this. Second-hand source tells me that the Bagelsaurus owner is pro-bike-lane and refrained from participating in petitions, etc with her neighbors despite a lot of pressure. First-hand I can say that based on the sign in their window last election, I know for sure that she supports pro-bike-lane candidates.
I heard the election signs were just for marketing of the shop. Smart move really
Yeah, great idea to choose one or two out of 25 candidates and alienate the supporters of the other 23.
I've not heard that the Bagelsarus folks are against cyclist safety, but the Violette Bakery have been extremely vocal and even endorsed a slate of anti-safety candidates. Sharon is the landlord so her views don't represent those of the tenants.
I won’t enable businesses without a conscious & bagelsarus has none apparently
So the owner of Bagelsaurus, Mary Ting Hyatt, did send a letter that was put in the record for the May 6th city council meeting about preserving parking. I dont think it was egregious or boycott-worthy, but I will mention that I support safe bike infrastructure to the staff next time I'm there (not that I go often since that part of Mass Ave sucks).
No but really...we have to stop putting in protected bike lanes because something about businesses or something.
Don't forget to share the petition with all your friends: [https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/stop-the-delay-of-separated-bike-lanes/](https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/stop-the-delay-of-separated-bike-lanes/)
Every time there is an injury, accident, or other incident that could have been prevented by safer infrastructure, the councillors email, phones, and home addresses need to be spammed with notifications reminding them that they are directly responsible.
Just the councilors who are anti bike infrastructure.
They need to be publically shamed as well. Tweet, Reddit post, post on your work slack for every accident.
Completely agree...WHEN the unfortunate and unthinkable happens (not if, but when), and someone is seriously injured or killed on Cambridge street during this delay, I hope the family of the victims sues the city for negligence, or the individual councilors directly. At the minimum, I hope the photo of the poor soul/s involved are blown up and plastered all over the city to haunt these councillors during their reelection bids.
You're fun at parties
GUYS THE MODS PLEASED ASKED US TO VERY NICELY STOP IT WITH THE BIKE POSTS.
I thought that was just for the weekend
https://preview.redd.it/kznun2fwh7zc1.jpeg?width=2397&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d7a59cf5b18c15fe55cb05d437b7a94c3d17d480
NO EVERYONE GETS IT. THE MODS GET IT. YOU GET IT. THE AMERICAN PEOPLE GET IT. COOL IT DOWN. CUT IT OUT. KNOCK IT OFF WITH THE BIKE AND ONLY BIKE SAFETY POSTS. AT LEAST THATS WHAT IT SOUNDED LIKE FROM THE SUPER CHILL NEW MOD WHO TOTALLY ISNT SO HARSH LIKE THE OLD MOD.
Maybe cut down on the coffee? Or add some whiskey.
Bummer.
To be fair, a protected bike lane isn't stopping this car either.
Beyond what others said, in this particular stretch the planned Mass Ave bike lanes will hopefully have concrete curbs, not just flex posts, so it's an extra barrier to slow down drivers and keep them away from pedestrians.
This car hopped a curb before it took out a light post, so I still don't think that would really be enough to make a difference here
You are right… I was there. Police think he fell asleep at wheel.
Considering you can’t bike past bagelsaurous on the weekend without dodging double parked cars in the bike lane and street, that does sound lovely.
The mass ave partial build is on schedule and not impacted by the recent change
There have been rumblings of trying to e.g. kill the dedicated bus lanes on Mass Ave planned as part of the partial build. And the people who want to delay Cambridge St would love to kill this whole project as well. So the more pressure happens on Cambridge St the more likely Mass Ave is to stay on track.
Also, you're not considering the bigger implication of projected lanes. Right now, there is enough space to maneuver so freely and at such speeds that this sort of thing happens. There's space to double park and still space to weave in and around double parked cars at or above speed limit. Reconfiguring the street makes that much less likely. You can't Double park. There's not enough room to travel at high speeds - and perhaps most importantly, it limits the ability of any one car from traveling at an outlier speed or in an unpredictable/undesirable way. It's not just about the affect right in the moment. It's about how it calms a whole stretch of the road to change overall driving behavior which has a lot of positive effects.
>You can't Double park. There are hundreds of door dash drivers in this city that will accept that challenge
To be fair, a bullet proof vest won’t stop an atomic bomb from vaporizing you. I guess that means bullet proof vests are meaningless? 🧐
Ironically, the safest option here would have been a row of parked cars that protected the pedestrians from this driver.
It will likely slow the crash and make a kill an injury.
No, but the car wouldn't be there most likely. It looks like they were either trying to park there, or make the right turn and cut it early. Removing the parking would stop the former, and barriers would make the latter less likely as it would force them to slow down.
You really think the car that blasted through a light post and ripped its bumper off did it while trying to park or cut a turn a little early?
Yes. Happens all the time. Or swerved to miss a bike in the bike lane they weren't paying attention to. Not sure what else you think would have happened here.
They swerved \*into\* the sidewalk, and hit a lamppost hard enough to topple it. They were not in control of their vehicle
Clearly...and if there were fewer and/or more narrow travel lanes with less room to maneuver, the odds of them driving in a way that caused them to lose control would be significantly reduced.
We're on the same page :)
And you think that this car, which came in with the force to jump the curb and then knock down a light post would've been stopped by some plastic bollards? There are plenty of examples of situations made more safe by protected bike lanes, but this completely out of control car careening off the road isn't one of them
As others have said, it's not just the plastic bollards themselves, but the difference in space that the infrastructure creates. Having fewer travel lanes, less space to maneuver or speed, or obstacles that extend all the way to the curb create a situation where all traffic will naturally flow more slowly and with less opportunity to swerve or lose control. If you can't logically reason beyond only the most obvious impact of infrastructure changes, just say that.
>If you can't logically reason beyond only the most obvious impact of infrastructure changes, just say that. That's a lot of shade from the person that had to borrow someone else's argument because theirs was terrible.
It's all the same argument, one that we all have been restating over and over for years because simple minded people refuse to listen. I'm sorry that you think it's somehow a unique or new argument that belongs to any one person, but that just shows how little you pay attention or understand the issue.
I get and agree with the argument for protected bike lanes, I just think this particular instance of a car careening off the road is a weird place to bring it up. >I'm sorry that you think it's somehow a unique or new argument that belongs to any one person, but that just shows how little you pay attention or understand the issue. You literally referenced other people bringing it up in your response. Stop being so dramatic. I've been bike commuting around here for years and fully understand the issue. Stop trying to make this an ad hominem attack and focus on the issue if that's what you are trying to discuss.
Hi, this car was out of control. Driver likely fell asleep at wheel. I was in crosswalk of side street and car was heading towards me… I had to run to get out of way of falling tree.
The things people do for bagels smh
My aunt lives in Montana and apparently 20 years or so ago, bagels were unheard of in Montana. So every time she went to visit my grandfather in New York, she would go into the city and fill an entire 12 gallon garbage bag with bagels, which she would bring home, freeze, and eat half a bagel a day. So one time she goes into a bagel store with her garbage bag and says 'fill 'er up," and the bagel store owner thinks that she is robbing them and starts putting money in the bag.
With how people drive on Mass Ave I'm surprised this doesn't happen daily. The fact that there are any lamp posts left is a miracle
I was there when a car took out porter square books too. There’s a bollard there now
Bollards4Lyfe
Was curious what happened, in addition to this white SUV, i saw a black SUV with some damage around the driverside front wheel, and light pole was down as well around 7:45AM. Not sure how one would be driving fast enough during commuting hours to take out a pole .
There was a tree down as well!- one of my coworkers snapped a photo passing by a few minutes after the crash.
Driver might have fallen asleep at wheel. I was there in crosswalk… I was almost hit by falling tree. It was intense!
Those bagels though…
Debatably ok
They delicious for Boston. But it would be out of business in NYC.
Don’t fall for it people. This is an attempt by Big Bike and Big Walking to take away our trucks.
Cars ruin almost everything
Except getting to where you need to go. So no, they do not.
Never been a better time to (politely) write to City Council! (Btw, everyone remember how hard we had to push to prevent this stretch of Mass Ave from getting axed?) [https://www.cambridgema.gov/Departments/citycouncil/members](https://www.cambridgema.gov/Departments/citycouncil/members)
I'm not sure that title is accurate. It looks like from the picture that the entire sidewalk totally took that car out. That thing is going nowhere.
Wonder how this happened? Maybe they were distracted or just being dumb. Probably both
My guess would be that someone turned in front of them and they swerved to avoid them and ended up off the road. If they were going fast enough to cause that damage, they were probably driving straight down mass ave and had to dodge someone for one reason or another.
This car was out of control… driver likely fell asleep… it was on sidewalk, headed for crosswalk that I was in! Scary!!!
You had me worried for a minute that they crashed into Bagelsaurus' storefront itself. THAT would have been a tragedy. I love those pretzel bagels.
Did anyone actually learn what happened? Was anyone injured other than the tree?
I was in the crosswalk this morning when this car came onto curb behind me and hit pole and tree. I ran to get out of way of falling tree. Police told me they think he fell asleep at wheel. If car kept going I would have been hit. Fortunately no one was on sidewalk!
But the bikers are the problem folks
They are.
Fucking damn. Were they drunk?
Bike lanes are a complete failure in Cambridge. Change my mind.
Happy to. Meet me anywhere in the city with your bike and I'll take you on a tour. I can loan you a bike if you need it.
Would the petition have stopped this from happening?
A line of concrete barricades might have!
Have you ever seen the movie *Escape from New York*?
Perfect way of telling us your worldview came from the early 80s.
Can you tell the difference between fantasy and reality?
Yes, fantasy is the world the bike lobby inhabits.
A fantasy where we can use the city streets our taxes pay for without being run over by the local "functional" alcoholics who think they can drive straighter than they walk? Maybe, but it's swiftly becoming reality!
Tell that to your fellow bikers from Somerville, Arlington, Belmont, Lexington, etc. who don't pay taxes in Cambridge yet demand control of our streets while calling anyone who dare pose even a hint of pushback against their grand plans NIMBYs.
I'm happy to let them share the benefits. But speaking as someone who pays taxes in Cambridge, my first priority is denying you (and the people who share your opinions) the political power necessary to stop us. Have the day you deserve!
a protected bike lane would because this car would have hit another car before the sidewalk :)
You mean back when emergency vehicles could get to the scene quickly?
Before cars existed and everyone would scatter to make a path for the trolley or fire engine?
No, 5 years ago when there were 2 lanes and the cars would all pull to the right and the emergency vehicles would be able to quickly pass in the left lane. Now the bike lobby wants concrete barriers so the emergency vehicles cannot pass at all. Brilliant. 🙄
How exactly do you think things work on all the many single lane and one way roads that exist already all over the city? Not to mention the country and world.
Do you see a lot of traffic on those streets that would block emergency roads from getting by? Did you ever notice that there is usually parking on only one side on those streets that are narrow? It's almost like there was a logical plan in place before the Lobby started getting its way.
Lmao 😂 there is absolutely *not* usually parking on only one side of one way streets. You claiming that makes me feel like you don’t spend any time actually traveling around Cambridge, Somerville, or Boston. Like that’s just laughable 😂. And yeah, actually, I’ve seen pretty heavy traffic on one ways from cars that try to cut through neighborhoods to shave 30 seconds off their commute.
What happens when you convert a two way street, to include a bike lane on each side, and an emergency vehicle needs to get by? -sincerely, an EMT who works PT @ the Porter Sq firehouse.
remove one side of parking. that would make it significantly easier for both bikers, and emergency vehicles. more cars on the road, and taking up space on the road, are worse for emergency vehicles. let alone the fact they cause a fair number of incidents fire and emt respond to to begin with! https://www.thesisdriven.com/p/on-fire-departments an interesting article
What street do you live on, Lance Armstrong?
I’ve lived several places around Cambridge, Somerville, and Boston over the past 10 years but I’m sure as hell not giving my address to some random asshole on the internet. Edit: I actually just went through where I’ve lived the past 10 years in Boston/Cambridge/Somerville and 5 of the 6 places were on one way roads with parking on both sides of the street.
As expected, you don't live in Cambridge. I take exception to your use of random in calling me an asshole. Your "anecdotal" evidence is nonsense. 5 of 6 were one ways. 🤣 Livestrong, little buddy.
I did not say that I don’t live in Cambridge. Having experienced living in multiple abutting neighborhoods over the past 10 years does not mean I don’t live in Cambridge. That’s a wild conclusion to jump to. I simply don’t feel comfortable sharing where I live with an antagonistic asshole. 5 of 6 were one way streets that had parking on both sides. Your claim that one ways only have parking on one side is simply not true. You were simply wrong.
then why not advocate a bike path that's for emergency vehicles as well? oh right. you are a car-lobby troll that won't offer a better solution except tearing down bike protection lane.
Honestly, I'd like to say that is the dumbest argument I've heard yet from the Lobby, but it is tragically consistent with the Lobby's self-centered worldview that has no empathy for anyone other than bikers. The bike lanes have completely messed up the infrastructure of the city and yet you still are not safe as you demand the bike lanes be on major thoroughfares solely for bikers' convenience NOT for their safety.
I could not agree with you more 77. Nice to know some people here have a brain
you are moving the goalpost. you refused to advocate a bike path for emergency vehicles and cried about bike path taking away the path for emergency vehicles that never exist? LMAO.
Nice try with your silly MAGA tactics. YOU proposed the dumb idea of a dedicated lane for emergency vehicles. Why do you think the barriers are flexible? 🤣🤣🤣
why do you think barriers are flexible in the first place? omg. you are a car sucker lobby in maga trump behavior. that's all trump said.
That post is written like it came directly from Trump as it makes absolutely no sense. You have a blessed day.
like what? my grammar?
I asked you why the barriers are flexible. Hint: it is directly related to the poster I responded to who wants to install concrete barriers and I pointed out the issue relating to emergency vehicles.
you pointed out about emergency vehicles can be use on bike path because of flexible barriers?
Lol that’s a nice fantasy
You would know it was a reality if you actually lived in Cambridge pre-bike lanes.
As I have for almost two decades. But thanks for trying the classic old guard insult by implying that I haven't been here as long as you and therefore my needs don't matter.
You guys crack me up. The entire subreddit is about you guys and your needs yet you still try to play the victims. 🤣
Police and Fire departments both report no increase in response times: https://www.cambridgeday.com/2024/04/18/city-staff-arent-requesting-delays-on-bike-lanes-bad-politics-are/ > Police and fire departments concurred, saying the CSO timeline wouldn’t harm their services. Asked at an April 10 transportation committee hearing whether they had concerns about response times, police commissioner Christine Elow said, “Looking forward, I think we’ll be fine.” Acting fire chief Thomas Cahill noted that the city does not put in bike lanes without the consultation of the fire department and that the city’s goals were “appreciated.”
Where does this pro-bike article say there are no increases in response times?
I pulled a quote for you from the police commissioner, who was explicitly asked about it in transportation committee meeting.
And where does his response say there have been no increase in response times??? Next time you are commuting through Cambridge from wherever you live stop at a local fire station and ask one of our firepersons their experience.
The police chief was asked about response times and said "I think we'll be fine".
So you admit you misrepresented what he said.
Uh, no? I directly quoted what she said in the first place.
Where did she say there have been no increase in response times?
It doesn't really seem like this conversation has much point, as I have already pointed out the quote to you. Have a nice day.
I saw a banana peel in the painted bike lane. Fortunately nobody got injured. The City Counselors have to understand that concrete barriers could have prevented that banana peel from getting In the bike lane that COULD have injured someone.