a communication from Councillor Kelley, transmitting memorandum regarding Inman Square Redesign Project

CAMBRIDGE CITY COUNCIL Craig A. Kelley City Councillor CITY HALL, CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS 02139 [phone removed] FAX: [phone removed] TTY/TDD: [phone removed] EMAIL: ckelley@cambridgema.gov To: Donna Lopez, City Clerk From: Craig A. Kelley, City Councillor Date: October 11, 2018 Subject: Memorandum Submission Please place the attached memorandum, “Inman Square Redesign Project”, on the City Council agenda as “Communications and reports from Other City Officials” for the October 15, 2018 meeting. Thank you.

CAMBRIDGE CITY COUNCIL Craig A. Kelley City Councillor CITY HALL, CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS 02139 [phone removed] FAX: [phone removed] TTY/TDD: [phone removed] EMAIL: ckelley@cambridgema.gov MEMORANDUM To: Cambridge City Council From: Craig A. Kelley, City Councillor Date: October 11, 2018 Subject: Inman Square Redesign Project Dear Mr. Manager and fellow City Councilors: I write asking that each of you, on your own without guidance or input from advocates one way or the other, review the planned Inman Square intersection design and come to your own decision about whether this plan makes the intersection safer or not. City leaders cannot punt the responsibility for ensuring public safety to third parties, whether self-appointed experts, consultants or City staff. As you know, I will not support any funding requests for this redesign and I hope that the major safety deficiencies in the project convince you to do the same. Independent of the negative impact this multi-year, six-million-dollar project is sure to have on fragile local business and the current layout of Vellucci Park, the new convoluted, multilayered, confusing intersection would create more bicycle/vehicle conflicts than it reduces. For the left turn conflicts that currently exist, although in limited number, the City could achieve mitigation through better signage, striping, editing of internet-based navigation systems and a more consistent police presence. Sadly, we are now talking about spending millions of dollars to build a more dangerous intersection than exists now without even having seriously tried less destructive safety interventions. That makes no sense. In particular, the conflicts between in-bound cyclists and cars coming through the intersection from Porter Square will pose significant dangers. While City staff said they did not

2 expect, for example, an increase in the number of cars going down Antrim Street- across the travel lines of through cyclists!!- it is not at all clear that drivers who currently make a right onto Inman Street will not, instead, choose to go straight onto Antrim. Again, these cars would go directly across the routes of through cyclists who would share the same light cycle. That is not good traffic safety planning. Additionally, the conflicts of cyclists with pedestrians of all sorts- runners, families with young children, people doing errands- in the bike lane/plaza/sidewalk is going to make a lot of cyclists, to include myself, uneasy and put us in danger. It is far too easy to get knocked over by a runner or to have to swerve suddenly to avoid a wandering infant. Instead, many cyclists will stay on Hampshire Street, which will remain perfectly legal, and they will now have less space between them and drivers in this new intersection. Again, that is not good traffic safety planning. The City has a disturbing history of creating street infrastructure that is dangerous, or even deadly, for cyclists and before we move forward with this redesign, each of us must be able to explain to the public why we, not some self-proclaimed group of experts or even City staff, think this project will make things safer. Bike safety is too important to me as an individual concern and to all of us as a matter of policy and transportation equity to do any less. Sincerely,