"No Trucks" is NOT a mistake. It's for safety, and is actively supported by neighbors.

While I agree that it is a safety issue and not a mistake, if trucks coming in either direction on Mass Ave are expected to be able to access those loading/ unloading areas on Davenport, it would be helpful if the city were to prominently post the route they are expected to take. For traffic going northbound on Mass ave, turning Russell into a truck route is even less plausible than Beech. Day would not be much better and I can't even imagine the chaos that would be caused to the already-difficult Davis Square traffic pattern if a significant number of large trucks started trying to take the right from Day onto Elm. Perhaps the city's expectation is that trucks would go all the way up to Cameron and then onto Holland and Elm, but it would be good to at least know that.

Similarly in the southbound direction on Mass Ave. If trucks manage to get past Cameron, the same problems occur before Beech. They could, in theory, pull into Somerville Ave, but then they would either be forced to make the hairpin turn onto Elm (probably causing problems very similar to those described in Issue ID: 9095595) or I see some possibilities involving Summer Street and Cedar before getting back onto Elm. Or they could take Somerville Ave, take the right over the bridge onto Beacon, continue to Park St, turn left, and proceed to Somerville Ave in the other direction and pick up Elm at its beginning. None of those options seem ideal to me but; again, it would be helpful if the city explained in public what they expected trucks making deliveries to do. Perhaps the stores for whom the deliveries are intended could then explain those routes to their drivers.

What studies has the Traffic Department done to determine the effect of changing Davenport to one-way and therefore re-routing traffic to Beech Street? Can we see those studies?

In pre-pandemic times, Beech Street was already overburdened, and surely will be again. Traffic on Beech frequently backed up on Mass Ave and on Elm St--making drivers angry and impatient, putting pedestrians at risk, etc, etc.    If Shaw's tractor trailers and other delivery trucks get re-routed from Davenport to Beech, this will compound the serious traffic burden it already bears.   Re-routed cars will add to congestion as well. Currently the neighborhood is waiting to see the effect of the new condos opening at St James.  Coming soon: 46 new condos there, and a 64-car underground garage that uses Beech Street as its access. (Some of these numbers may have changed but they are in the ballpark). Making Davenport one-way seems like a bad idea, and not just for the consequences that arise on Beech St.

What problem was the Traffic Department trying to solve on Davenport St that warrants re-routing all this traffic?

Please keep the "No Trucks" sign. That sign was put up with the support of neighbors years ago, and it's even more important now.

@Citizen: I agree but then the trucks have to go somewhere (see my comment above) and one thing that is more dangerous than Beech with the sign our and explicitly allowing trucks is Beech with the sign (and people relying on it) while it carries significant truck traffic. Some serious enforcement might be helpful, but that would not answer the question of where the trucks are supposed to go.

And Anon, I, too, would like to see those studies (not just of Beech but of where the trucks are supposed to go) but my impression from community meetings about making Davenport one-way was that Traffic and Parking concluded that this was a simple problem involving Davenport only and that in-depth studies were therefore unnecessary.

And what happens when trucks start to try to turn down Orchard Street to get to Davenport sooner? (Answer: Crunch!)

@Dash, @Citizen, I live on Beech Street too. I walk across the intersection all the time. I am amazed how many cars blow through the light. I often wake up in the morning to the sound of horns and much worse.

But, jk02140 is absolutely right. If it's not Beech Street, how do the trucks get to the shopping center? They have to go *somewhere*. I am looking at a street map. What is the route they are expected to take? The stores can't operate if the trucks can't get to them.

You would be hard-pressed to find anyone in Cambridge who wouldn't say it is "unsafe" for trucks to go down *their* street. But not all streets are the same. Think about the safety of trucks turning left from Mass Ave onto Davenport Street: there is no signal, either for trucks to make that turn, or for pedestrians in that crosswalk which is just as active. Trucks had to deal with traffic coming the opposite direction on Davenport Street, which is so narrow that two cars can't pass each other without one pulling over. As a cyclist going north on Mass Ave, the thought of trucks making that kind of turn causes me to cringe. Now think again about Beech Street: there is at least a traffic signal, which even has a fully uninterrupted cycle for pedestrians.

It would be wonderful if the trucks didn't have to drive past my place. But again: where *should* they go? Is there another option that is truly safer (in the opinion of someone who doesn't live on either street)?

I don't live on either street although I can be victimized by traffic on either. First of all, I don't think there is any ideal solution to the problems, at least one that does not involve taking buildings and tearing them down. However, noting that there are no residences on the southerly side of Davenport between Elm and the building at the Mass Ave intersection, two possibilities occur to me that might be less bad. One would be to put a real signal at the Davenport intersection, complete with a pedestrian crossing cycle (not just flashing lights) and clear signage (see other threads about that issue), The problems with additional signals between Beech and the Porter Square (Mass Ave, Somerville Ave, etc.) intersection, it might be necessary to make Davenport work one-way without more safety problems. The other would be to eliminate all parking on Davenport, thereby making the street effectively wider (and eliminate any issues with legally parked cars getting sideswiped) and leave it two-way, preferably in combination with signal lights that would make it clear who should do what an when.

Again, not ideal and clearly more complex than putting up a few signs and hoping things will work out (as far as I can tell, and noting that the city has yet to respond substantively to any of these threads, that is the current strategy). But, in answer to your "truly safer" question, I think that combination might be at least several steps in that direction.

You ask where should the trucks go? The loading docks are on Davenport Street. The shortest distance for them is to go on Davenport, as they have for many years. Is there a way to modify Davenport to make it safer? Could the sidewalk on the south side be modified? Could a few parking places be eliminated? What options did the city consider before closing one end of Davenport St. and sending trucks on a very roundabout route -- to the other end of Davenport?

The issue on Davenport is the existence of an absurdly wide curb-cut wide loading area. This both narrows the street and allows drivers to drive up on the 'sidewalk'.

As Beech street is technically off-limits to trucks, the new one-way restrictions on Davenport seem to necessitate that delivery trucks drive through the shopping center parking lot to get to Elm St, and then turn onto Davenport to unload.

If I were the shopping center management I would much prefer to fix the loading area than have trucks compete with shoppers in their parking lot, but the shopping center management was apparently not alerted to the Davenport change until the Porter Square Neighborhood Association contacted them a few weeks ago.

No one denies that Davenport is dangerous, but a well-thought plan of action would be preferred to throwing up one-way signs.

If structural changes like adding traffic signals are in bounds — which they should be — I agree those options seem better.
(I'm sure people who park on Davenport Street might be less enthusiastic about this, but I do think it's safer this way.)

Beech Street is already far too overburdened by car and bus traffic, and is about to get much worse when the new extremely large condo complex opens. Adding trucks to the mix will make it much more dangerous. It should *not* be opened to trucks --- they were banned for a good reason.

The loading docks are on Davenport Street, and so making Davenport Street one-way is, to put it mildly, ludicrous, pouring dangerous traffic throughout the neighborhood. There's a simple solution: Make Davenport two-way again.

@Preston: There is no simple solution. A two-way Davenport Street is also quite dangerous, perhaps even more. The current solution isn't right, but the old one wasn't either.

Not a simple solution, but the likely best solution:

1. Shrink the size of the loading area by 2 feet (the shopping center would cede land back to the city).
2. Remove the extended curb-cut.
3. Add speed control to the street.

@anonymous: I agree there is no simple solution. The problem is that the traffic department without doing a traffic survey or study, and against the wishes of the neighborhood which was uniformly against the change, and without consulting the shopping center or Star Market, unilaterally turned Davenport into a one-way street without thinking for a moment about the consequences.

Davenport should be turned back into a two-way street, and the city should do what is apparently the unthinkable for the traffic department: Do studies, do traffic modeling, consult with the shopping center, Star Market and neighborhood, and make a decision based on actual data instead of making an off-the-cuff decision for no apparent reason.

@Shaun, shrinking the loading area _might_ work between Orchard and Mass Ave, but, between Orchard and Saginaw (really Orchard and the Star Loading dock) the sidewalk is already narrow, the only curb cut (IIR) is for the small loading dock about halfway between Orchard and Saginaw, and widening Davenport between Orchard and Elm on the shopping center side of the street would probably leave trucks sticking out into the street while unloading. Similar comments apply to 1925 Mass Ave and 8 Davenport and the alley between them: that fairly narrow sidewalk does not, as far as I know, even belong to the shopping center. And there are utilities under the sidewalk you propose to eliminate or move, making that a rather complicated project. I also don't know what would motivate the shopping center to give up that land given that it would make their loading situation more complicated (some rather large trucks stop more or less parallel to Davenport to unload for, e.g,. the wine and liquor store) and shortening the curb cuts would make it much more difficult for them to pull in and out or, more likely, would result in their just jumping the curb.

While I think what you are suggesting might well be helpful as part of a solution. I would say the same thing about better signage and signals, more enforcement, and about removing some or all of the parking spaces (which would effectively widen the street by more than two feet and would not require complex dealings with the shopping center, pouring concrete, or relocating utilities), I think the bottom line is that this is a complicated situation (and is complicated whether Davenport is mostly or entirely one-way or not). and it is unlikely that any solution that ignores parts of the street or the traffic patterns feeding into and around it or that pretend tractor trailer rigs are as maneuverable as passenger cars is going to work very well. As others have suggested, what is needed is some very careful thinking and modeling, including paying attention to data, considering the actual traffic patterns, practical turning radii, etc. If that has been done, there has not been a lot of evidence of it.

@jk02140 As parking is restricted on Davenport between Orchard and Saginaw during the day, in my experience there's less of an issue there. Granted, big trucks backing into the gates at the corner of Elm and Davenport is a mess, but that's a given (I guess). Additionally, the lack of curb cut on the South side of Davenport, from Orchard to Elm, allows pedestrians to safely walk. I live on Allen Street, but our primary egress is on the Davenport side. I always cut across Orchard and then cross Davenport, as it's just too dangerous West of Orchard.

Certainly better signage and removing some parking would be hugely helpful, and yes, I wholeheartedly agree: Actual research is necessary...

City of Cambridge:
Can you please indicate what the next steps are here to ensure Beech Street and other nearby streets ultimately have the correct signage for trucks/directionals/etc., consistent with a plan that addresses the concerns discussed here?
In the meantime, there are full-size trucks continuing to use Beech Street throughout the day and night (which they did before the change on Davenport Street as well). Meanwhile part of the usual street width is occupied by electrical contractors. I would ask for enforcement but at the same time I can't fault the trucks for going this way without some (even temporary) alternative in place. (Pictured truck is exiting Beech Street.)

Dear Traffic Department, The 18-wheelers on Beech Street are a predictable, direct result of your hasty, ill-considered decision to make Davenport one way at the Mass. Ave. end. Many neighbors pointed that out at the November meeting of Porter Square Neighbors. Bad decision. Please undo it. Otherwise it will only get worse. How about reducing parking on Davenport. Most residents there appear to have off-street or underground parking available to them.

The only answer to the problem is to first undo what the traffic department did when it changed Davenport to a one-way street. They did it without any studies, against the wishes of the neighborhood, without consulting Star Market and the shopping center, and without any apparent logic.

Trucks can then go down Davenport in order to deliver to Star as they have been doing for quite a long time. To make the street safer, parking should be reduced on Davenport, because the residents there have plenty of access to underground parking and nearby parking in the neighborhood. It's incomprehensible that the traffic department is routing trucks through the neighborhood and causing safety issues merely to save a few parking spots on a street.

TPT will assess the changes as promised through the community process once the change to Davenport Street have been in place for a year.