Years of Safety Concerns Preceded Fatal Crash on Memorial Drive

The stretch of Memorial Drive where Newton cyclist John H. Corcoran ’84 was killed in a crash Monday evening was the subject of years of safety warnings from local politicians and transit activists.

The fatal crash reignited a debate over safety measures on Memorial Drive — which is overseen by the Massachusetts Department of Conservation & Recreation — especially the stretch on either side of the Boston University Bridge intersection.

According to Massachusetts State Police, who are still investigating the incident, a driver swerved onto the sidewalk and struck Corcoran, who was biking west about 500 feet from the intersection. By Wednesday, multiple bouquets of flowers had been hung in front of Boston University’s Dewolfe Boathouse to mark the site of the crash.

In the fallout from the tragedy, local transit activists accused DCR of dragging their heels on safety upgrades to the nearby intersection, which has long been known as dangerous for cyclists.

Bikers traveling west on Memorial Drive are forced to share a narrow, five-foot stretch of sidewalk with pedestrians before entering the busy intersection at the BU Bridge that puts cyclists into tight contact with fast-turning cars. An estimated 2,200 bikers cross the breach each day.

“The safety concerns especially at the BU Bridge intersection/rotary has been known for years,” City Councilor Patty M. Nolan ’90 wrote in a statement to The Crimson.

Though Corcoran had not yet entered the intersection at the time of the crash, activists and local officials have called on DCR to implement traffic calming measures to encourage drivers to go slower before and after the intersection.

Two years ago, a group of residents formed the BU Bridge Safety Alliance to advocate for protected bike lanes in the bridge, widening the initial, narrow stretch of sidewalk to give pedestrians and cyclists more space, and limiting right turns during red lights.

“We know that configuration of this on-ramp and this sidewalk contributed to the death of the cyclist,” said Kenneth Carson, a co-founder of the alliance group.

“We firmly believe that if the changes that we have been asking for were implemented, the cyclist would not have died,” he added.

Members of the group were set to meet with DCR on Oct. 9 in a closed-door meeting to discuss the DCR’s plans for the area. In the aftermath of the crash, the DCR instead chose to release its planned safety improvements to the public.

According to a DCR spokesperson, those improvements will include building a 12-foot-wide raised path for pedestrians and bikers, improving and reconfiguring wheelchair ramps, replacing fencing, and restriping the crosswalks to include green paint for bike crossings.

Longer term, the spokesperson said the DCR plans to redesign the intersection between Memorial Drive and the BU Bridge in collaboration with the Massachusetts Department of Transportation.

The spokesperson did not provide a specific timeline for the improvements.

Bikers and drivers passed by flowers tied to a fence Wednesday. By Jack R. Trapanick

Members of the City Council, who are powerless to implement changes on the throughway, said the state could no longer afford to take their time on adding safety measures.

“We can’t delay safe infrastructure improvements,” Vice Mayor Marc C. McGovern wrote in a statement to The Crimson. “And although the city doesn’t control Memorial Drive, we must work with the state to ensure our state roads are also safe."

Nolan suggested lowering the speed limit on Memorial Drive and implementing a “road diet” — where a four-lane undivided roadway is converted into a two-lane roadway with a barrier and separated bike lanes — to increase traffic safety.

But a proposal to cut down on lanes is likely to face resistance from some residents. Victoria L. Bestor, the secretary of Cambridge Streets for All — a group which has sued the city to block the expansion of bike lanes — said reducing lanes could exacerbate safety issues, despite empirical evidence that road diets lead to a reduction in crashes.

Clyve Lawrence ’25-’27, a Harvard undergraduate who has lobbied for better bike infrastructure in Cambridge and Boston, said the DCR should consider the fatal crash a wake up call.

“While DCR had said that they had plans to improve this intersection and introduce bike lanes in that drive, we haven’t seen that happen yet,” Lawrence, a Crimson Editorial editor, said. “And unfortunately, this death underscores the urgency of doing so.”

—Staff writer Avani B. Rai can be reached at avani.rai@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X @avaniiiirai.

—Staff writer Jack R. Trapanick can be reached at jack.trapanick@thecrimson.com. Follow him on X @jackrtrapanick.