In Photos: Cycling Around Harvard Square
By Barbara A. SheehanAs cycling in Cambridge has grown over the past decade, the city has expanded bike lanes to create safer streets. But even at intersections with cycling infrastructure, challenges still exist. Just this past year, a cyclist was hit and killed at the DeWolfe and Mt. Auburn intersection, the crash being the first of three fatal collisions out of more than 120 reported cyclist-involved crashes in Cambridge this year.
To better understand how traffic infrastructure impacts cyclist safety, here’s a look at three key intersections near Harvard Square.
DeWolfe and Mt. Auburn Streets
Many students on campus – especially those in Mather, Dunster, Leverett, and Quincy Houses – are most likely familiar with the often congested DeWolfe and Mt. Auburn intersection. DeWolfe Street connects both the river houses and the bike path along Memorial Drive to Harvard Yard, and Mt. Auburn Street carries traffic toward Central Square. The intersection was the site of a cyclist’s death earlier this year, and has an above-average frequency of crashes.
Above, a cyclist waits in their lane to cross Mt. Auburn Street and go up DeWolfe Street toward the Yard. While cyclists going up DeWolfe Street have a separated lane, cyclists going in the opposite direction must share the lane with cars and buses.
The right turn from Mt. Auburn onto DeWolfe Street is particularly difficult for cyclists: it is the only turn in the intersection where cyclists lose their lane and must merge with cars.
DeWolfe Street’s only protected bike lane flows toward Harvard Yard, and cyclists traveling toward the Charles River are supposed to share the road with cars. But, as seen above, many of these cyclists opt to use the protected bike lane in the wrong direction to avoid the traffic.
Brattle Square
Brattle Square flaunts a complicated intersection of three streets that includes eight crosswalks, no traffic lights or stop signs, and disconnected bike lanes. To turn from Brattle Street onto Mt. Auburn Street, cyclists are expected to cross two lanes of moving traffic without any signage. In a short time at this intersection, several cyclists crossed it in many different, and sometimes dangerous ways.
Above, a cyclist pauses for a moment before walking his bike across the road to Mt. Auburn Street. He walked between two buses, unable to see if there were oncoming cars in the other lane of traffic. Oddly, this is the expected use given the road’s design: cyclists are simply expected to bike across existing traffic. This poses a challenge both when traffic is backed up and moving.
Even when the cyclists don’t have to cross the intersection, they face another obstacle: obstructions in their designated lane. The above incidents happened within 15 minutes of each other. In the first, a person with a wagon crosses the intersection outside the crosswalk, cutting off a cyclist. In the second image, a car in traffic opens its door, forcing the cyclist to swerve to avoid it.
Massachusetts Avenue and Cambridge Street
Another important intersection for Harvard affiliates connects the Science Center Plaza and the Harvard Law School to the Cambridge Common. The path is used by many students commuting from the Yard to the Radcliffe Quadrangle, and cyclists are expected to either share the road with cars or use pedestrian crosswalks.
Cyclists are forced to make the best of a bad situation: those crossing Mass Ave. toward the Common must share the pedestrian crosswalk — which goes through two separate traffic islands. Those heading up Mass Ave. toward Porter Square must cross five disconnected car lanes with two bike signals, one of which requires them to stop between two lanes of traffic.
Above, an MBTA bus honks at a waiting cyclist for blocking traffic before pulling forward and going around the cyclist.
Within a span of 30 minutes, pedestrians and cyclists almost collided multiple times, and cyclists stopping between lanes of traffic were honked at despite following the rules of the road. Yet, these issues seem inevitable given the design of the intersection.
These intersections represent only a fraction of the cycling challenges facing Cambridge residents.
Last week, the City Council unanimously requested for the city to create an updated Cambridge Bicycle Plan, a report on cycling trends and policy affecting bike lane infrastructure, for the first time in four years.
As the sky gets dark, some cars begin slowing down before they reach crosswalks, and cyclists can be seen checking for oncoming traffic before crossing, even when they have the light. At an intersection with such a complicated design, drivers, pedestrians, and cyclists adjust their behavior to keep each other safe.