That the City Manager be and hereby is requested to confer with relevant City departments to create additional Safety Zones for safer streets

City of Cambridge O-5 ORIGINAL ORDER IN CITY COUNCIL February 26, 2018 COUNCILLOR ZONDERVAN VICE MAYOR DEVEREUX WHEREAS: The City’s recently adopted Vision Zero Action Plan will create much needed safety zones which will lower the speed limit to 20 MPH in the five major squares in accordance with Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 90, Section 18B; and WHEREAS: The Vision Zero Action Plan also calls for exploring additional safety zone locations and “including safety zones in the toolbox of traffic calming solutions” over the course of the next three years; and WHEREAS: Recent close calls, accidents, and fatalities in our City have highlighted the need for more immediate intervention and the urgent creation of safety zones not only in the five major squares, but also more broadly across the city including (but not limited to) areas containing schools, parks, youth centers, small residential streets, senior centers, senior housing, public housing, or anywhere else in close proximity to land-uses serving vulnerable populations; and WHEREAS: In 2016, the City Council voted in support of posting advisory speed limit signage to encourage that motor vehicles travel at a speed lower than that which is required by law, but no further action was taken on the matter and the concept of advisory speed limit signage was not included in the Vision Zero Action Plan; and WHEREAS: The Cambridge Police Department recently received a $50,000 grant to support and supplement speed enforcement and traffic safety; and WHEREAS: Research has shown that increasing the enforcement of speed limits and other traffic laws reduces crash rates and traffic injuries; now therefore be it ORDERED: That the City Manager be and hereby is requested to work with City Staff to explore the possibility of accelerating the timeline for establishing safety zones on roads adjacent to land-uses serving vulnerable populations, including (but not limited to) the aforementioned examples, from a 3 year goal to something more immediate in accordance with Chapter 90, Section 18B; and be it further ORDERED: That the City Manager be and hereby is requested to confer with all relevant City staff and departments to examine the feasibility of posting advisory signage to broadly encourage a motor vehicle speed limit of 15 MPH in areas serving vulnerable populations; and be it further

ORDERED: That the City Manager be and hereby is requested to confer with all relevant City staff and departments to examine the feasibility of increasing enforcement of our traffic laws prominently and immediately, including but not limited to stronger enforcement of: running red lights in safety zones, illegal right turns on red, speeding, and failure to yield to pedestrians at crosswalks