I ride and walk through that very location all the time.
So, to dispense with some of the conjecture. Havard Square is a 20 mph "safety zone." It is also state road 2A, so it is a truck route.
It is *NOT* a blind corner.
However, the Kenworth W900 is a blind truck. It's a 30 year old design. Popular with owner-operators, marketed as a trucker's truck. (The tiny front mirrors installed after market on this particular tractor are woefully insufficient mitigation.)
There are several eye witness accounts, all uncomfirmed, and conflicting. The bicyclist was passing the truck, the CDL operator was passing the bicyclist, the bicyclist was in the bike line, the bicyclist hit the curb with a pedal, the CDL operator was on a cell phone, the....
ALL of the "eye witness" accounts should be considered
unreliable, as they usually after witnessing such a traumatic event.
From sad experience, it will take the Middlesex DA's office months (likely more than a year) to complete the study of the crash and release a report.
Now, my experience riding and walking through here. People driving SMART CARS encroach on that bike lane, let alone people driving Mini Coopers, people driving Chevy Equinoxes, people driving Ford F350 dualies pulling a landscaping trailer, and CDL operators of box trucks or tractor trailers.
Recent history. Sharon Hamer was killed crossing the street on the other side of the Mass Ave split by a boom truck operator just 11 months ago.
There were
PLANS for a complete redo of Harvard Square WHICH DID NOT ORIGINALLY ADRESS complete streets, just a better plaza. Late changes to those
PLANS after her death have the square undergoing a major road diet. They were also adapted to ACCELERATED SHORT TERM
PLANS of "just paint" to reduce the number of lanes going through this particular stretch from two general traffic lanes outbound merging with one general traffic lane outbound to one general traffic lane outbound (on both sides of the merge, essentially eliminating the merge) and one buffered bike lane.
Words, words, words.
Plans, plans, plans.
Safety delayed is safety denied.
"I understand that COVID-19 has delayed planned safety improvements to the area around the Harvard Square Kiosk. Had those improvements been in place, perhaps yesterday’s collision might not have happened.
I feel strongly that the Cambridge City Council must make itself accountable to prevent senseless tragedies like these from happening, and must do something as soon as possible to make Harvard Square a safer place for pedestrians and cyclists.
Please let me know how I can help make those desperately needed improvements happen. I feel I owe it to my wife’s memory to do what I can to make Cambridge a safer place to live."
-mr. bill