howertc

The Rt2 / Alewife Brook intersection has always been a major point of congestion in the Cambridge area, but I have noticed a few trends in the area that seem to contribute greatly to the traffic:

-There are constantly panhandlers, sometimes as many as 5 people at once, jaywalking about all the lanes of the intersection holding up large cardboard signs. Vehicles will frequently stop and block traffic during green lights to hand them money, or slam on the brakes to avoid accidents with the panhandlers. I have seen many near misses as a result of this.

-The traffic lights for northbound traffic on alewife brook parkway and the alewife station exit are confusing and frequently lead to vehicles running red lights. The NB traffic lights are very high up and hard to spot, and people will interpret the green on the station exit ramp light as an "ok" to go.

-Once the lights are passed, there is a yield sign that does little to deter drivers from attempting to merge aggressively into traffic turning left from route 2. This frequently leads to blockages when cars pull out of the yield lane, and block all left-turning vehicles from exiting the freeway. I have seen entire light cycles where no vehicles can turn left off route 2, because drivers keep ignoring the yield sign and end up blocking the entire exit lane.

I attached a photo of the area and highlighted the 3 traffic issues for further clarification. I believe that the majority of these can be fixed by improved signage and removal of reckless jaywalkers from the area.