A communication transmitted from Louis A. DePasquale, City Manager, relative to Awaiting Report Item Number 19-77 regarding the installing more bike racks adjacent to Smith Center

C I T Y O F C A M B R I D G E Community Development Department IRAM FAROOQ Assistant City Manager for Community Development SANDRA CLARKE Deputy Director Chief of Administration KHALIL MOGASSABI Deputy Director Chief Planner 344 Broadway Cambridge, MA 02139 Voice: [phone removed] Fax: [phone removed] TTY: [phone removed] www.cambridgema.gov To: Louis A. DePasquale, City Manager From: Iram Farooq, Assistant City Manager for Community Development Re: Awaiting Report 19-77 dated 6/10/19 on determining publicly available space to install more bike racks adjacent to Smith Center Date: September 11, 2019 In response to the above-mentioned Awaiting Report 19-77, we submit the following. Harvard Square is an important and central destination for bicycles in Cambridge. As such, there are on-going efforts to add bicycle parking around the Square as opportunities arise. As part of the Smith Center renovation, fifty bicycle racks with capacity for one hundred bicycles, were installed on the three surrounding sidewalks on Holyoke, Mt. Auburn and Dunster Streets. Currently, work on the Smith Center is continuing with roof replacement, and project scaffolding is covering some of the bicycle parking, making almost half of the bike parking spots unusable. Work on the building is expected to be completed in October 2019. Once the work is complete, the scaffolding is removed, and all of the installed bicycle parking becomes available, a survey of bicycle parking use will be conducted. We have identified potential locations around the project where additional racks may be installed. If a need for additional bicycle parking is identified by the survey, City staff will work with Harvard University and the Harvard Square Business Association to review final locations for installation of bike racks in suitable, publicly accessible space.