After two fatal crashs, advocates call on Cambridge to make intersections safer

Cambridge activists are calling on the city to improve the safety of its intersections following the deaths of two bicyclists who were struck and killed by trucks in June.

Advocacy group Cambridge Bicycle Safety is holding a vigil Monday at Cambridge City Hall for the two bikes.

A 24-year-old woman was killed Friday after colliding with a box truck at the intersection of Hampshire Street and Portland Street, according to a release from Middlesex County district attorney's office.

The fatal crash occurred just two weeks after a Florida woman was  also killed in a June 7 crash with a box truck, at the intersection of DeWolfe and Mt. Auburn streets. Both crashes occurred when the box trucks were making turns at intersections, according to Cambridge police. At least one crash involved the truck driver making a right turn.

Investigations into both incidents are ongoing, the district attorney's office said.

Ten days after the first crash, Cambridge City Council unanimously passed a policy order asking the city manager to lay out how the city would audit the safety of intersections where people have been seriously injured and implement new protective measures. The councilors did not give a timeline for how the audit would be conducted.

Clyve Lawrence, of Cambridge Bicycle Safety, called the order a "big step" toward improving safety for bikers and pedestrians, but said the city's infrastructure must change in many ways.

"We have to ensure that we reduce the likelihood that a collision even occurs," said Lawrence. "That is done through installing protected bike lanes, improving intersections and changing traffic signals so that we give cyclists and pedestrians more time to cross the street ahead of a car or truck."

In April, Cambridge stopped allowing vehicles to turn on red at any of the city's traffic lights. Cambridge officials laid out a long-term plan in 2017 to make streets safer for bicyclists and pedestrians, which has adopted some measures like lowering the speed limit to 20 mph on most city streets.