Cambridge Council Hears Calls to Pass Memorial Drive Road Diet Without Amendment

CAMBRIDGE -- September 30, 2024, Cambridge City Council faced dueling mass public comment sessions Monday on Memorial Drive safety and citywide rezoning. More than 75 speakers signed up for the September 30 regular meeting, prompting Mayor E. Denise Simmons to cap testimony at two minutes per speaker. The bulk of comment focused on Policy Order No. 4, which would place Cambridge on record supporting a road diet and lane reduction on the DCR-owned roadway where a third cyclist was killed this summer near the BU Bridge; speakers including cycling advocate Alexa Jacob urged the council to reject a Councillor Paul Toner amendment that would strip the lane-reduction language. A separate bloc of Cambridge Health Alliance resident physicians, organized under a resolution by Councillor Sobrino Sobrinho-Wheeler, told the council that five months of stalled contract negotiations have left residents earning less than counterparts at comparable safety-net hospitals including Boston Medical Center. On housing, supporters of the city's proposed citywide six-story-as-of-right multifamily rezoning called for immediate referral to the ordinance committee, citing a 20,000-person affordable housing waitlist, while opponents including Young Kim argued the council lacked current pipeline data and an infrastructure impact assessment. No votes were taken on any major item in the portion of the meeting captured in the broadcast record.