{"id":53,"date":"2026-05-11T19:35:22","date_gmt":"2026-05-11T19:35:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cambridgemovinghub.com\/?p=53"},"modified":"2026-05-11T19:35:22","modified_gmt":"2026-05-11T19:35:22","slug":"city-council-sees-one-way-forward-for-garden-street-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cambridgemovinghub.com\/?p=53","title":{"rendered":"City council sees one way forward for Garden Street"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

After contentious comment and discussion, Cambridge City Council on Monday voted 5-4 in favor of keeping Garden Street a one-way road with bike lanes on either side for the majority of its length. The vote reversed last year\u2019s 5-4 vote to return two-way traffic to the West Cambridge street while making the bike lanes adjacent, a move that would eliminate street parking.<\/p>\n

Read more City of Cambridge proposes first billion-dollar budget<\/a><\/p>\n

Mayor Sumbul Siddiqui, Vice Mayor Burhan Azeem, and Councillors Marc McGovern and Jivan Sobrinho-Wheeler flipped from the minority to the majority, thanks to new council member Ayah Al-Zubi, who brought the policy order to council. Councillors E. Denise Simmons, Patty Nolan, and Cathie Zusy voted against the change, in line with their votes last year. They were joined in the minority by new Councillor Timothy Flaherty.<\/p>\n

Garden Street was converted to a one-way street in 2022. While many bikers and Garden Street residents say they feel safer, residents of nearby streets have lamented increased traffic flow, which they blame on traffic on drivers outbound from Harvard Square needing to find new routes.<\/p>\n

A neighborhood divided<\/h2>\n

A marathon public comment period saw over 70 people speak during Monday\u2019s meeting, with about 60 in favor of keeping Garden Street one-way. Speakers for each side said their preferred configuration was safer.<\/p>\n

Speakers in favor of keeping the street one way noted that this was the option suggested by the Department of Transportation in a 2025 report.<\/p>\n

\u201cLet\u2019s use engineering judgement, not guesses, to ensure our entire community moves with fluidity and safety,\u201d said Cambridge resident Susan Reed during public comment, supporting the policy order. \u201cThis shouldn\u2019t be \u2018my street against your street\u2019\u2026 this order is a win for everyone because it finally looks at our traffic holistically.\u201d<\/p>\n

Senior citizens and family members of those with disabilities also spoke in favor of the current configuration, noting that the design council approved last year would eliminate parking spots and loading zones that they rely on.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe proposed plan would eliminate the ability of ADA [the Americans with Disabilities Act] vehicles, shuttles and other forms of transportation to safely pick up and drop off my husband or other individuals with disabilities,\u201d said Garden street resident Kathleen Caple. \u201cThe current configuration works.\u201d<\/p>\n

Among residents who disagreed was Cambridge resident Phyllis Simpkins, who said it was her fifth time speaking in favor of two-way traffic on Garden before council. \u201cWhy is Garden Street more special than any of the other streets (in the neighborhood)? All the rest of us are coping with increased traffic.\u201d<\/p>\n

Councillor Flaherty said the skew of the public comments toward one-way did not reflect his own canvass of the neighborhood. He said he talked with over 250 people since council\u2019s last meeting on April 13 and \u201cmaybe 75 percent preferred two-way traffic.\u201d<\/p>\n

DOT options all safe<\/h2>\n

The Department of Transportation said all the options it put forward were safe. \u201cWe would not advance a design we believe to be unsafe,\u201d said Jackie McLaughlin, Department of Transportation communications Manager Jackie McLaughlin told Cambridge Day over email. \u201cThat said, maintaining Garden Street as one-way has remained our department\u2019s preferred option.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Zusy questioned the department\u2019s study, saying it wasn\u2019t \u201cbroad enough,\u201d McLaughlin said that wasn\u2019t the case.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe analysis was not limited to Garden Street alone. It also considered the surrounding street network to better understand broader safety patterns and potential shifts in travel behavior.\u201d<\/p>\n

McLaughlin referenced a , which also said that a return to two-way traffic would \u201clikely reduce comfort and safety\u201d for walkers and bikers and could reduce some of the cut-through traffic residents had been complaining of, but \u201clikely not change to the extent that residents hope for,\u201d given traffic increases across the city.<\/p>\n

Read more Shots fired on Memorial Drive<\/a><\/p>\n

Local groups have done their own analysis, too, though. West Cambridge Neighborhood Coalition leader Daniel Vlock on Friday sent an email to coalition members saying an analysis of the city\u2019s own data revealed an increase in the number of cycling accidents in the area surrounding Garden Street, from eight between 2017-2019 to 30 between 2023-2025. While this number doesn\u2019t adjust for changes in the number of riders over time in the area, Vlock thinks this demonstrates a clear pattern.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow that the city [council] has voted I think they need to bear responsibility for what happens next,\u201d Vlock told Cambridge Day over email. \u201cThey were all informed about this prior to the vote and so if accidents, unfortunately, continue to occur they can\u2019t say weren\u2019t warned.\u201d<\/p>\n

When asked about this analysis, the Department of Transportation said it would be reviewing the data.<\/p>\n

\u201cGood governance\u201d debated<\/h2>\n

Flaherty said \u201cthe reversal of a decision that was made last year\u201d was \u201cbad public policy.\u201d This sparked comments from other councillors.<\/p>\n

\u201cI respectfully disagree,\u201d said Al-Zubi. She referenced a key campaign promise of Flaherty\u2019s, to reverse zoning policy, and said \u201cFrom my understanding, to the extent we\u2019re revisiting the multifamily zoning ordinance, I believe we should be able to explore any work that we\u2019ve passed that warrants necessary conversation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Councillors in the majority defended their right to reverse this decision. McGovern said the council was responding to the results of the last election, in which the fate of Garden Street was an issue for some voters.<\/p>\n

\u201cI certainly hope that if the Democrats take back the House and the Senate and the White House eventually, that they are going to revisit a hell of a lot of policies that have been passed recently and not say, \u2018Oh, well, Republicans passed it. We can\u2019t go back and fix it,\u2019\u201d McGovern said.<\/p>\n

Simmons presented two motions that would delay any action \u2014 one to table the policy order, and another to refer it to the Transportation Committee. Both were voted down, as was a late amendment submitted by Zusy that asked the Transportation Department to do further analysis.<\/p>\n

As the council proceeded toward a vote, the last councillor to reveal her vote was Siddiqui. \u201cI want to remain consistent with how I approached this issue last year, and consistent with the professional recommendations of city staff,\u201d she said, as she said she would vote in favor of the order.<\/p>\n

She also offered a plea for civility.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to ask my colleagues and public to respect each other\u2019s perspectives. As a body, we represent the whole community, and that means that individual counselors sometimes are going to have differing opinions on what\u2019s in front of us, and we\u2019re going to look at the same set of facts and come to different conclusions about the right forms of action,\u201d Siddiqui said. \u201cThat doesn\u2019t make anyone\u2019s views invalid.\u201d<\/p>\n

The tenor of the debate on safety disappointed Nolan, who told Cambridge Day it \u201cbroke my trust that people weren\u2019t willing to ensure that false narratives were not being promoted.\u201d<\/p>\n

She agreed with Flaherty\u2019s critique on council changing its decision a year later without new information.<\/p>\n

\u201cWill we be able to get beyond this? I hope so. And yet, I think it\u2019s unfortunate, because I don\u2019t think it was good governance or good policy to do this, and I still maintain my belief that it\u2019s safer and better for the whole city, for us to have reverted Garden Street to two-way.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Harvard scientist working on technology to find life in space<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After contentious comment and discussion, Cambridge City Council on Monday voted 5-4 in favor of keeping Garden Street a one-way road with bike lanes on either side for the majority of its length. 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