Cambridge Council unanimously orders truck safety plan after two cyclists killed

CAMBRIDGE -- June 24, 2024, Cambridge City Council unanimously adopted an emergency truck-and-intersection safety order following two cycling fatalities in recent weeks. The nine-member council, meeting June 24 with Vice Mayor Marc McGovern presiding and Mayor E. Denise Simmons joining by Zoom, added all members as co-sponsors of the late-filed order directing City Manager Yi-An Huang to work with state and federal legislators on mandatory truck side guards, identify the five most dangerous intersections for immediate improvement, and report back by the first September council meeting. The council also approved three appropriations totaling $687,333: $200,000 from the opioid settlement stabilization fund for a street medicine van serving unhoused residents, $437,333 in Comcast cable franchise fees for public-access television capital equipment, and $50,000 for a climate resilience hub at the Cambridge Community Center. A lengthy debate over the city's zoning priorities ended with the council voting 8-0 to refer a Central Square community outreach plan to the Civic Unity Committee, with multiple councillors frustrated that Central Square rezoning had been pushed behind citywide multifamily and shared-parking zoning work until mid-2025. City Manager Huang acknowledged that trucks, while under 5 percent of city traffic, are involved in 70 to 80 percent of cycling fatalities over the past decade.