Description

This is Inman Square at Cambridge and Prospect. Two separate drivers were parked in the bike lane, however the forward driver was pulling away by the time I pulled out my camera.

I know the automated reply is going to say I should call the police non-emergency hotline. But can I really be calling the police every time I leave home? How are people on bicycles supposed to follow the rules that are expected of them if they are given an obstacle course?

The issues are systemic, and we need:

1) a consistent police response to the misbehaving drivers. The problem has been deadly at this intersection in the past, so it is not abstract. The increase of deliveries during COVID has increased the amount of temporary parking. However, delivery drivers are very frequently ignoring the empty parking spaces two or three car-lengths forward in the interest of a quick pick-up.

2) a temporary bicycle facility on the other side of the parking lane that allows delivery people to go in and out of traffic without crossing the bike lane. People on bicycles want their local business to survive COVID, and aren't asking the delivery drivers to disappear completely - it is the design of the street that is exacerbating the danger. Why wait for the new permanent design before making it safe?

Reminder: there is still no safe bike route to Central Square, which is our primary access point to regional public transport while we wait for the GLX.