24-Year-Old Cyclist Killed in Collision With Truck Near Kendall Square

Updated June 21, 2024, at 3:37 p.m.

A cyclist died following a collision with a truck Friday morning at the intersection of Hampshire Street and Portland Street near Kendall Square, the second fatal crash this month in Cambridge between a cyclist and a truck.

First responders transported the cyclist, who was later identified as a 24-year-old Cambridge woman, to Massachusetts General Hospital, where she died, according to Cambridge Police Department spokesperson Robert Goulston.

Goulston notified the Cambridge City Council of the cyclist’s death in an email just before noon.

The incident was the second fatal crash in just two weeks in Cambridge, after a June 7 collision with a truck killed a cyclist near Harvard Square — reigniting a debate about cyclist safety measures on Cambridge’s roads.

A preliminary investigation suggested that the truck and cyclist were traveling in the same direction on Hampshire Street and that the truck was turning right onto Portland Street when the crash occurred, Goulston wrote in a statement.

The operator of the truck — owned by Blouin, a New Hampshire-based HVAC and sheet metal contractor — remained at the scene of the collision, according to Goulston.

Blouin could not immediately be reached for comment.

Like in the June 7 crash, the truck was not equipped with side guards, devices designed to prevent cyclists and pedestrians from being swept under vehicles in collisions.

Hampshire Street has separated bike lanes running parallel to the flow of motor traffic on each side. Portland Street, which becomes Cardinal Medeiros Avenue north of the intersection, does not have separated bike lanes around the intersection.

Around two hours after the collision, a section of Portland Street between Hampshire Street and Broadway Street was blocked off with yellow police line tape. A CPD alert warned of “unexpected road closures” around the location of the crash while an investigation begins.

The Middlesex District Attorney’s Office, the Cambridge Police Department, and the Massachusetts State Police are investigating the crash, according to Goulston.

—Staff writer Matan H. Josephy can be reached at matan.josephy@thecrimson.com. Follow him on X @matanjosephy.

—Staff writer Tilly R. Robinson can be reached at tilly.robinson@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X @tillyrobin.