Dodging Traffic: Pedestrian Safety in the Square

It is hardly news to Brenda Wynne, a waitress at Charlie's Kitchen, that the corner right outside of the Eliot Street eatery is dangerous.

"Cars come spinning around that turn and every few years someone gets hit there," says Wynne. "They should put in stop signs or lights or something, I really have to watch myself there."

And when Rohit Chopra '04 arrived at Harvard, he was struck by a lack of pedestrian walk signs like the ones that had populated his native Philadelphia. After being elected to the Undergraduate Council, he quickly moved to pass a bill earlier this past fall to make the Square a safer place.

"[The bill] was something that would virtually have no student opposition and could potentially save a life. [This problem] was something I have noticed on the streets. I think everyone has," he says.

For both Wynne and Chopra, the Square, with its Byzantine traffic circles, fast drivers and masses of students was an accident waiting to happen.

And in the aftermath of a Dec. 17 accident where a car fatally struck Shira Palmer-Sherman '02 outside of Charlie's Kitchen, the abstract fears of hundreds of Square pedestrians suddenly materialized.

But while the campus mourned the passing of Palmer-Sherman, the harder questions of implementing safer pedestrian solutions are still struggling with red tape in both the University and the City.

A Council Resolution

On Nov. 5 the Undergraduate Council passed a resolution written by Chopra that called for "Yield to Pedestrians" signs to be installed along Mass. Ave. and Mt. Auburn St. and for increased enforcement of pedestrian yield laws by the CPD.

Yet despite almost unanimous approval by the council, the resolution has met with little success. Chopra expressed dismay at what he considered a lack of movement by the University administration and the Cambridge Traffic, Parking and Transportation Department.

"They weren't really responsive to the resolution until [the accident] happened," Chopra says. "They're more interested in dealing with things after they happen, not before then. These were preventative measures, but they didn't start talking about them until after the fact."

Chopra said he was surprised by the response he received from Cambridge even after the accident.

"There was limited response to my e-mails before Shira's death, and all they said was that they were looking into it and there was pedestrian sign clutter on Mass Ave.," Chopra says.

"After [Palmer-Sherman's} death, they didn't respond to any of my e-mails."

Currently, there are no pedestrian warning signs directed at motorists on the stretch of Mass. Ave. between Bow St. and the Square and on Mt. Auburn St.

Community Concern

While Chopra's requests have not received much response, the city does have several organizations that monitor the situation. While the CPD and the Traffic, Parking and Transportation Department work in conjunction with the city council, the main focus is two community development committees, one made up of staff members and one of citizens.

This past fall, the two committees approved the new count-down pedestrian lights outside of Out-Of-Town News on a trial basis. The lights were installed in the final days of December.

Travis McCready, the University's director of community relations for Cambridge, sits on each of these boards and works closely with Cambridge officials on issues in the university area.

McCready said the Palmer-Sherman tragedy has spurred efforts to improve Square safety.

"That one accident sparked a great amount of concern here in our office," McCready says. "With a poignant, tragic occurrence like that, it opens people's minds about doing something, but this is one issue which the city and University are always concerned with."

The Trouble Spots

The areas of concern are not limited to one area in the Square, something recognized both by pedestrians and McCready.

McCready concurs with Wynne that the intersection of Eliot Street and Mt. Auburn Street in front of Charlie's Kitchen is a danger zone.

"That area is a source of concern because there is a public transportation node right there where people are coming from a bus stop. With that sharp left-hand bend there for vehicles I can see where that would be an area of concern," McCready says.

But, added McCready, Harvard and Cambridge are not concerned with more than that one intersection.

Another such spot is the crosswalk between Johnston Gate and the Unitarian Church that crosses Mass. Ave. and Garden Street.

Last fall a bicyclist was struck by a van while attempting to cross Garden St. and was taken to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries. Near misses are a common occurrence at that site.

"That crosswalk has come up, and is one of the crosswalks we are talking about in terms of dealing with," says Cara Seiderman '81, the transportation program manager for Cambridge's committee of community development.

"I know why it is an issue, but how we fix it is another problem," continues Seiderman.

Traffic issues are of particular concern for students who live in the Quad and must make the trek down Garden Street to the Yard.

Nicole B. Usher '03, a Cabot House resident and Crimson editor, was actually struck by a car during move-in week last fall.

""I was riding my bike crossing the crosswalk in front of the Commander, and an oncoming car looked like it was slowing down but did not," Usher says, who suffered a concussion and broken pelvis from the accident. "People go pretty quickly there, but regardless it was a crosswalk so the driver should have stopped."

A Step in the Right Direction?

Confusion over right of way at crosswalks is the cause for many accidents. Massachusetts state law states all motor vehicles must stop for pedestrians under penalty of a fine. Yet while the law may be clear, motorists often ignore the rules for a variety of reasons.

One effort to reduce such problems has been undertaken by the Surface Transportation Policy Project (STPP), a national coalition that seeks to ensure transportation safety.

STPP's new campaign stresses enforcement of existing traffic safety laws by police and education of motorists about the rights of pedestrians, explained STPP analyst Michelle Garland.

But responsibility is not merely on the shoulders of drivers says Sergeant Jack Albert of the CPD.

"Pedestrians also have to be reasonable in their expectations, they can't just jump out into traffic and expect cars to stop for them," he says.

A Safer Cambridge?

In spite of the problems and accidents that do occur, many officials remain committed to improving pedestrian safety.

"The goal is to make it a more pedestrian friendly place, and we have made big differences in helping pedestrians get around safely," Seiderman says. "Pedestrians are the life blood of Harvard Square, so we would like to see what things we can do to make it even better."

The statistics help support this optimism, with a 1998 study conducted by the STTP ranking the Boston-area as second safest behind Pittsburgh among 47 major cities in pedestrian safety.

"I think it is a continual process of working on things, like educating pedestrians about finding the spots where they can cross," says city Councillor Henrietta Davis, who has advocated increased traffic safety. "My hope is that over time we will be able to celebrate Cambridge as a safe pedestrian city."