Cyclists Can Use Common Bike Paths

Quad residents who bike to class through Cambridge Common will not be subject to fines, despite a city council ordinance proposed last fall.

Last November, Councillor Sheila T. Russell proposed that all cyclists in the Cambridge Common be fined $50, according to a statement issued by the Undergraduate Council.

However, the two councils teamed up last month to investigate the creation of bike paths as an alternative way to avoid bicycle-pedestrian collisions.

Malcolm A. Heinicke '93 and David A. Aronberg '93, both former chairs of the Undergraduate Council, testified before the City Council in March in opposition to the fine. The pair was driven by "safety concerns," Heinicke said.

"If not for our efforts, this thing would have passed," Aronberg said in reference to the fine. "That's not going to happen now."

The City Council agreed to investigate alternative proposals. Heinicke and Rebecca S. Hall, of the Cambridge Bicycle Committee, designed the three possible solutions now under consideration.

Plan one would convert 36 parking spaces into a two-way bike lane. The Cambridge Historical Commission and the Public Planting Committee support this plan because it does not disturb the Common, but City Councillor and Ordinance Committee Chair Alice K. Wolf said the plan "will never fly--parking is already so tight in the Harvard area."

Plan two calls for widening the north and east perimeters of the Common and dividing the new paths into bicycle and pedestrian halves. Plan three would add a bicycle route along each path that currently runs through the Common.

Engineers from the Traffic and Parking and Public Works departments are calculating the costs of each plan, said Cara Seiderman, Cambridge bicycle/pedestrian coordinator of the Community Development Department.

"I think that either could work, but the one that's most acceptable to most people is the one around the perimeter," Seiderman said, adding that the believes plan two "stands the best chance."

Hall said the perimeter plan should also be the least expensive. "We're hoping it's under $100,000," she said.

Although no date has been set to choose and implement a plan, Hall said she hopes "they will start doing something about [the paths] this spring--that would be wonderful."

Heinicke said that even if there is a delay in executing a plan, he will not be disappointed. "I think it will happen," he said. "In the meanwhile, Harvard students can continue to do what they're doing."

"It's still sort of a victory in that we've kept the status quo," Heinicke said. "We blocked the fine, and now we actually have them looking at long-term solutions."

For now, officials are considering temporary arrangements to serve the Common until a permanent solution goes into effect

Hall said the perimeter plan should also be the least expensive. "We're hoping it's under $100,000," she said.

Although no date has been set to choose and implement a plan, Hall said she hopes "they will start doing something about [the paths] this spring--that would be wonderful."

Heinicke said that even if there is a delay in executing a plan, he will not be disappointed. "I think it will happen," he said. "In the meanwhile, Harvard students can continue to do what they're doing."

"It's still sort of a victory in that we've kept the status quo," Heinicke said. "We blocked the fine, and now we actually have them looking at long-term solutions."

For now, officials are considering temporary arrangements to serve the Common until a permanent solution goes into effect