Cambridge City Council Votes 5-4 to Keep Garden Street One-Way Configuration

CAMBRIDGE — April 27, 2026 — Cambridge City Council votes 5-4 to keep Garden Street one-way, halting a court-ordered two-way restoration. The April 27 vote adopted a policy order filed by Councilor Jivan El-Zuby directing City Manager Ian Wong to halt all design, engineering, and construction work aimed at restoring two-way motor vehicle traffic to the Garden Street corridor between Linnean Street and Huron Avenue — work that had been authorized by a narrow 5-4 vote of the previous council. Ninety-three speakers signed up for public comment, the vast majority urging the council to keep the current separated-bike-lane, one-way design that Transportation Commissioner Brooke McKenna's department said would be made worse, not better, by a two-way conversion estimated at $250,000. Councilor Dennis Flaherty, who had delayed the vote two weeks earlier by charter right after personally canvassing the surrounding neighborhood, voted no: "I firmly believe it's critically important... that we engage with the residents who live there," he said, citing his finding that roughly 75 percent of the 258 residents he spoke with preferred two-way traffic. Amendments to gather new cell phone and traffic count data before any reconfiguration, introduced by Councilor Nicola Zussi, and motions to refer the matter to the Transportation Committee, filed by Councilor E. Denise Simmons, both failed; a subsequent motion for reconsideration also failed 4-5, closing the matter.