Will Reason Prevail? – June 16, 2025 Cambridge City Council meeting
This week’s agenda is dominated by several City Council Orders meant to address (or navigate around) the contentious issue of whether the proposed separated bicycle lanes, removal of most of the existing parking, and loss of curb access should proceed on Broadway as currently mandated by the Cycling Safety Ordinance. This is not really a matter of safety so much as political clout. Some straightforward analysis using the current registered voter list indicates that those who want the street reconfiguration to proceed as planned are approximately 25 years younger than those who have signed the petition opposing the reconfiguration. It is also anecdotally clear that there is also a large gap in socioeconomic status. Basically, young professionals are well-represented among those wanting to remove the parking, and those in opposition include far more seniors, people with mobility issues, and people who need their motor vehicles for work and chores.
Those objecting to the loss of parking and curb access tend to be less tech-savvy and more working-class than those who insist that there be no modifications to the current language of the Cycling Safety Ordinance. These are not just people who live on Broadway. Many people on the streets near Broadway also want a change to the current plan. Many people in The Port neighborhood have signed the petition opposing the current plan. Very few people were aware of the plans when the Cycling Safety Ordinance was amended in 2020.
The underlying question right now for city councillors is basically: “Who do you actually represent?”
According to the most recently available campaign finance reports, the Cambridge Bike Safety Independent Expenditure PAC had $15,426.53 (end of 2024), and they have been actively fundraising since then. They even advertised that donations would be matched by an unnamed source. During the 2023 Municipal Election cycle, they raised $36,501.13 and spent $29,519.41. I expect similar receipts and expenditures this year. In comparison, those opposing the current plans for Broadway have no formal organization and no bank account.
Here are the items I found interesting on this week’s agenda:
Federal Updates and Budget Impacts
Manager’s Agenda #1. A communication transmitted from Yi-An Huang, City Manager, relative to a Federal update.
Placed on File 9-0
Bicycles, Parking, Curb Access
Manager’s Agenda #2. A communication transmitted from Yi-An Huang, City Manager, relative to the 5th Annual Cycling Safety Ordinance Report and Awaiting Report Item Number 25-3, regarding update on the status and timeline for the completion of the Grand Junction Multiuse Path. [text of report]
Placed on File 9-0
Manager’s Agenda #4. A communication transmitted from Yi-An Huang, City Manager, relative to the submission of the Parking Impact Report. [text of report]
Placed on File 9-0
Order #1. That the City Manager is requested to require the Department of Transportation to study parking utilization of the broader neighborhood & provide parking alternatives before building Broadway bike lanes. Councillor Zusy, Councillor Toner
Amended Order Failed of Adoption 4-5 (Toner, Wilson, Zusy, Simmons – Yes; Azeem, McGovern, Nolan, Siddiqui, Sobrinho-Wheeler – No)
Order #2. That the City Manager is requested to suspend implementation of Broadway bike lanes. Councillor Toner, Councillor Wilson, Mayor Simmons
Amended Order Failed of Adoption 3-6 (Toner, Wilson, Simmons – Yes; Azeem, McGovern, Nolan, Siddiqui, Sobrinho-Wheeler, Zusy – No)
Order #5. That the City Manager is requested to work with the Department of Transportation to evaluate adjustments to meter enforcement hours on Broadway Segment A, designating 25 spaces as residential permit parking overnight to increase overnight parking access for residents. Councillor Siddiqui, Vice Mayor McGovern, Councillor Nolan, Councillor Sobrinho-Wheeler
Order Adopted 9-0
Order #6. That the City Manager be and hereby is requested to work with the Cambridge Department of Transportation to study the feasibility of modifying non-resident parking permit fees for households in within the Broadway Segment A project area, including offering a discounted rate structure for permits that are requested by residents with low- income residents. Councillor Siddiqui, Councillor Nolan, Vice Mayor McGovern, Councillor Azeem
Order Adopted 9-0
177 Communications – most in opposition to the plans to remove most of the parking and curb access along Broadway.
I will simply note that Orders #5 and #6 seem like pure evasion of the real issues raised by residents in The Port neighborhood.
Zoning, Housing
Manager’s Agenda #5. A communication transmitted from Yi-An Huang, City Manager, relative to PO25#25 regarding a zoning petition on maximum unit size. [text of report]
Referred to NLTP Committee, Placed on File 9-0
Manager’s Agenda #6. Transmitting Communication from Yi-An Huang, City Manager, relative to the appropriation of $1,000,000, from the Federal Grant Stabilization Fund to the Grant Fund Housing Department Other Ordinary Maintenance account to support a municipal housing voucher grant program which will fund rental housing vouchers to be offered by the Cambridge Housing Authority (CHA). This appropriation will allow for City staff to work with CHA in FY26 to transition these households to a City-funded voucher as soon as possible. The program is anticipated to cost approximately $1,000,000 annually. [text of report]
Order Adopted 9-0
Boards, Commissions, Control Freaks
Charter Right #1. A communication transmitted from Yi-An Huang, City Manager, relative to the appointments of Sarah Holt, Emily Oldshue, and Ruth Webb and the reappointments of Marie-Pierre Dillenseger, Donna Marcantonio, and Peter Schur to the Half Crown-Marsh Neighborhood Conservation District Commission. [Charter Right – Nolan, June 9, 2025] (CM25#146)
Referred to Gov’t. Ops. Committee 9-0
Charter Right #2. A communication transmitted from Yi-An Huang, City Manager, relative to the appointment of Nondita Mehrotra, and the reappointments of Constantin von Wentzel, Heli Meltsner, McKelden Smith, Theresa Hamacher, and Freweyni Gebrehiwet to the Avon Hill Neighborhood Conservation District Commission. [Charter Right – Nolan, June 9, 2025] (CM25#147)
Referred to Gov’t. Ops. Committee 9-0
Charter Right #3. A communication transmitted from Yi-An Huang, City Manager, relative to the appointments of Florrie Darwin, Scott Kyle, and Michael Rogove and the reappointments of Chandra Harrington, Joseph Ferrara, Elizabeth Lyster, Yuting Zhang, Gavin Kleespies, Paula Paris, and Kyle Sheffield to the Cambridge Historical Commission. [Charter Right – Sobrinho-Wheeler, June 9, 2025] (CM25#145)
Referred to Gov’t. Ops. Committee 9-0
On the Table #6. That the City Manager is requested to explore with the Government Operations Committee whether the functions of the Peace Commission may be improved and enhanced by bringing them within another City Commission or Department, such as the Human Rights Commission, and report back in a timely manner. [Charter Right – Simmons, May 19, 2025; Tabled June 2, 2025]
No Action Taken, Nolan Amendment Proposed
It will be interesting to hear the basis for the objections by Councillors Nolan and Sobrinho-Wheeler to these otherwise routine City Board appointments and reappointments.
Infrastructure – Doing what you can within the bounds of what is physically possible
Charter Right #4. Policy Order urging Governor Healey, the MBTA Board of Directors and General Manager Phillip Eng to amend the MBTA Alewife Station Complex redevelopment RFP to include as a priority eliminating untreated Combined Sewer Overflow (CSO) sewage in our neighborhoods by incorporating green and gray infrastructure as central components of the project. The order further calls on the MBTA to collaborate with the MWRA, DCR, DPH, the City of Cambridge, and the community to address this public health threat. [Charter Right – Simmons, June 9, 2025]
Order Adopted as Amended 6-3 (MM,PN,SS,JSW,AW,CZ – Yes; BA,PT,DS – No)
Order 5 needs to be proofread. The last “ORDERED” is a copy of a “WHEREAS” and cuts off mid-sentence. They also don’t address the “WHEREAS” about vehicles traveling over 25 mph with any proposed solution, since changing the rules at parking meters is unrelated to this.
It’s disappointing, but not surprising, that the “mitigation” for an artificially created shortage of a public resource is to squeeze out the people who are least able to object: non-residents. With all the hullabaloo creating flexible parking corridors to make sure people can still park to go to nearby businesses, how is a non-resident supposed to drive to the area in the evening or morning if parking is illegal for them from 6 pm to 10 am?
For Order 6, how is decreasing the price of parking supposed to mitigate a shortage they’re creating? Of course the price drop is only for people connected enough to get a nonresident permit. People not eligible for one who still need to travel to the area are welcome to get lost.
Comment by Oliver Arnold — June 14, 2025 @ 11:08 pm
I agree that Order #5 should have been proofread before being submitted by its cosponsors. What this suggests is that this Order was hastily drafted in response to the earlier Policy Orders as a weak alternative to satisfy their handlers with the Cambridge Bike Safety (CBS) activist group. The CBS activists have no concept of compromise, and they have a history of punishing anyone who deviates from their orthodoxy. I long ago stopped accepting claims made by CBS as factual.
I also agree that the accommodation of visitors is generally lost in all this back-and-forth over cycle tracks and loss of parking. The whole concept of “flexible parking corridors” is a farce designed primarily to claim that the loss of a significant amount of on-street parking is being addressed. Replacing available on-street parking with parking on private property at a high cost is not even close to an even trade.
A good balance already exists on Broadway, and that balance should be maintained.
Comment by Robert Winters — June 15, 2025 @ 1:49 pm