Are you saying the walk light was on when the left turn light was green??

Thank you for reporting your concern to City of Cambridge via Commonwealth Connect. We have reviewed the information you provided our staff and will be investigating this issue further.

HarveySt: The left turning vehicle had a green. If I had to guess, it was a round green light (allowing straight travel and turning) rather than a green arrow, but I do not know. That intersection has green lights at the same time and same direction as pedestrian walk signals which is by design as I understand. I do not know whether the green arrow overlaps with the pedestrian walk at that intersection or not.

Thanks for your report. Concurrent pedestrian signal phasing is in line with the City's traffic signal policy (link below) as it reduces delay for pedestrians, cyclists, and motorists. Reduced delay increases compliance to traffic signals, which makes intersections safer for all modes of travel.

The green left-arrow is never on when a conflicting WALK signal is on because a green left-arrow indicates that the motorist has the right-of-way for that movement and the WALK phase cannot run concurrently while that happens.

https://www.cambridgema.gov/~/media/Files/Traffic/official-Signal-Policy.pdf?la=en

I request that someone sit at that intersection during rush hour and count how many vehicle/pedestrian near misses there are per hour. The current design is unsafe. Ironically it is actually safer for my child and I to cross against the light than with it, because then we are more visible to the vehicles we are disrupting.

Per section 3 of the City's traffic signal policy, "...there are some locations that will require exclusive walk phases due to high vehicular turning volumes...."

This intersection clearly satisfies the high vehicle turning volumes exception, as well as the too-many-near-misses-to-be-safe criteria.

Issue 4713731 has been marked as a duplicate of this issue.

The vehicle turning volumes at this location are not high enough to warrant providing an exclusive pedestrian phase. Given the existing operations of the intersections, converting the phasing to provide exclusive pedestrian movements would dramatically increase delay for pedestrians and would result in low compliance with the walk signals (i.e. pedestrians crossing against the DON'T WALK indication), which results in a decrease in safety since drivers would be expecting pedestrians to wait for the walk signal. The signal phasing as provided is consistent with local and national best practice for pedestrian safety.

Issue 4492212 has been marked as a duplicate of this issue.

I have reported this issue 4270812 with a recommendation of dedicated walk cycle. The recommendation was closed with was closed with a comment that an "exclusive pedestrian phase at this location would require that all traffic be stopped for a total of 36 seconds each cycle, requiring the entire signal cycle to be lengthened. The result would be significant increases in delay for pedestrians, bicyclists, and vehicles".
I followed it up with 4492212 which was closed yet again with comment "Concurrent pedestrian signal phasing is in line with the City's traffic signal policy (link below) for the reasoning mentioned in the answer to the previous report. The new Accessible Pedestrian Signals (APS push-buttons) are to help people with visual impairments traverse the intersection."
I reopened it In light of Issue ID: 4713731 (I should have referenced 4680751 as well) and now I am told this issue is being tracked under this issue, 4680751.
What will it take to get this issue resolved? A fatality, God forbid?!
I like to recommend another solution based on what I observed yesterday driving to Inman Square. If dedicated Walk sign will add significant increases in delay for pedestrians, bicyclists, and vehicles, then, give Walk sign a ten second head start before the conflicting green light. This way, pedestrians will be visibly in the crosswalk. At the very least, City owes the NC citizens a trial period to see if this will be a viable solution. I still maintain if a dedicated walk sign at Mass Ave/Alewife Pkway works reasonably well, then it should also work at these intersections.
Please remember, that pedestrians safety should the top priority,
My apologies for such a long comment

The current situation has a specific ongoing hazard. Drivers turning left from Mass ave to Cameron, during a green ball light, and during rush hour, are anxiously waiting for a small break in the two lanes of oncoming traffic. This is often too much of a distraction to notice pedestrians in that crosswalk.

Once there is a small break in the oncoming traffic, left turning drivers often rush through the intersection. Their fear of being broadsided is in competition with their need to notice and/or actually yield to pedestrians in the crosswalk.

Please be advised that given the number of times I personally have been involved in a near miss situation have or personally wintessed a near miss situation it is reasonable to extrapolate that the frequency of these situations is quite high.

I would like to support reconsideration of this request. There are a number of recently-submitted and related SCF tickets which indicates a strong community interest in assessing and addressing a number of safety and transportation efficiency concerns regarding this intersection.

Another dimension is that over the past 18 months, traffic volume has increased considerably on Cameron Ave and patterns of traffic coming down Cameron and turning onto Mass Ave or shooting across to Harvey Street are resulting in backups at the light with traffic unable to turn right or make it straight through to Harvey - there are frequently cars remaining on Mass Ave despite the red light as the line of cars makes its way up Harvey across the Cedar Street intersection stop sign. As a result, cars going left from Cameron onto Mass Ave or going left onto Cameron from Mass Ave snake around the line of cars coming off Harvey, often cutting off pedestrians in both crosswalks and to the danger of other drivers and cyclists.

Please do reevaluate the integrity and traffic “health”/pedestrian priority/bicycle safety considerations of the Mass Ave/Cameron Ave/Harvey Street intersection.

Having now spoken to a driver after witnessing another near miss I'd like to draw attention to another contributing factor. The front blind spot created by the A pillar. The front blind spot is large enough to hide pedestrians and bikes. Most people don't seem to even know the blind spot is there.

When a vehicle travelling southeast on Mass Ave tries to turn left onto northeast-bound Cameron Ave when a pedestrian is trying to cross Cameron from the east corner of the intersection to the north corner (ie walking northwest), it is relatively easy for the pedestrian to be completely invisible to the car driver until the last moment. I regularly experience this effect at various intersections both as a pedestrian and as a driver.

This issue combined with the visibility challenges associated with trying to turn left through 2 lanes of oncoming traffic during rush hour is something I hope can be investigated and improved on for this intersection.

As previously noted, the pedestrian phasing at Cameron Ave is consistent with pedestrian phasing at locations citywide. It is also consistent with the guidance from the Cambridge Pedestrian Committee and WalkBoston, the Massachusetts pedestrian advocacy organization. This is not the ideal venue to have a detailed policy discussion; as such I would suggest that those interested in consideration of additional changes attend a pedestrian committee meeting. Information about the meetings can be found at the link below.

http://www.cambridgema.gov/CDD/Transportation/forthepublic/pedestriancomm

Thank you.