Policy Order O-11

WHEREAS: On February 2, 2013, a 12-foot tall chartered tour bus from Pennsylvania carrying prospective Harvard University students crashed into the Western Avenue Bridge while traveling along a portion of Soldiers Field Road which then flows into Storrow Drive; and

WHEREAS: There was significant damage to the crushed bus, possibly the bridge, and most seriously many injuries to the dozens of individuals riding within the tour bus; and

WHEREAS: The main reason for this accident is that the maximum 10-foot vehicle height of bridges that overpass the scenic drives along both sides of the Charles River are less than the height of many modern buses and trucks; and

WHEREAS: For a variety of reasons drivers consistently fail to observe and heed signs warning of a 10-foot height limit along the Storrow Drive and Memorial Drives. For example, a January 4, 2013

WHEREAS: It is understood that the scenic drives along both sides of the Charles River are under the jurisdiction of the Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) and that the Cambridge side scenic drive --Memorial Drive is within the boundaries of the City of Cambridge; now therefore be it

ORDERED: That the City Manager be and hereby is requested to work with the appropriate city staff to provide a report to the City Council detailing how the City of Cambridge working in conjunction with the DCR will insure that oversize vehicles not be allowed travel along Memorial Drive so that accidents similar to the sad crushing of the tour bus of prospective Harvard Students do not occur again.