Cambridge Council Tables Bike Lane Deadline Extension, Approves Shared Parking Study

CAMBRIDGE — April 8, 2024 — Cambridge City Council punts on cycling safety ordinance delay, approves shared-parking study. Councilor Sabrina D. Wheeler exercised her charter right at the April 8 meeting to postpone a vote on Policy Order 2024-50, which would have extended the May 2026 deadline for installing separated bike lanes on Cambridge Street, Main Street, and Broadway to November 2027 — an 18-month delay backed by Councilor Paul Toner, Councilor E. Denise Simmons, and Councilor Quinton Zondervan. The council voted 8-0 to approve a companion measure, Policy Order 2024-49, directing staff to draft zoning and parking demand management changes that would allow private lots to operate as commercial parking near those corridors, with a Vice Mayor Marc McGovern amendment requiring recommended ordinance language by the first council meeting in October 2024. More than 90 residents had signed up for public comment, with the overwhelming majority citing city crash data — at least 65 people struck on Cambridge Street since January 2021, 42 transported by ambulance — in urging the council to reject any delay. The council also unanimously approved a $20 million transfer from free cash to the debt stabilization fund to offset rising debt service costs from school construction and other capital projects.