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The Cambridge City Council narrowly passed a Monday policy order to return two-way traffic to the entirety of Garden Street, following months of contentious debate.
After residents complained of an increase in traffic on surrounding streets, the Council voted in December to consider reverting Garden Street back to two-way traffic with bi-directional bike lanes. But the plan would remove all parking on the street — a change that brought dozens of residents to oppose the proposition at Monday’s meeting.
Councilor Catherine “Cathie” Zusy said she has been contacted by multiple constituents who complained that traffic congestion has been a major issue since the change to one-way traffic.
“Hundreds of them have spoken out and written that the change to one way has added congestion, speeding cars in their neighborhoods,” Zusy said. “Cab fares cost twice as much because there’s no direct way to get home. We’ve heard about more accidents in the neighborhoods.”
But other residents disagreed, with more than two dozen speaking during public comment to advocate for keeping Garden St. one-way.
Jack B. Corcoran ’25 — the son of cyclist John Corcoran ’84, who died after he was struck by an SUV on Memorial Drive — said he bikes along Garden Street every day to get to his classes.
“I can attest from the 2022 redesign that the one-way configuration is highly conducive to bike safety while being minimally inhibitive towards driving,” he said. “I would be greatly upset to see the city jeopardize the safety of bikers and pedestrians for only a negligible bump in efficiency in driving.”
Despite public criticism of the plan, the Council agreed that the bi-directional traffic and bike lanes would be a safe option to implement.
“I feel that by going back to two ways for traffic and maintaining a safe, separated two-way contraflow bike lane, we can provide a lot of what I’ve heard people ask me to try to achieve: reduce the traffic on some of the side streets,” Councilor Paul F. Toner said.
The city is set to spend more than $130,000 on the change and plans to start construction in summer of 2026. But despite the approval, Councilors acknowledged that the elimination of parking was a drawback.
“We must provide some loading zones and pickup drop-off places for disabled drivers to park outside of 52 Garden,” Zusy said.
“We’ve got to consider developing a broader transportation plan that provides for the needs of residents and commuters using all mobilities because I feel like there was a bias towards the bicycle with this,” she added.
Toner said Harvard previously said they would be “willing to work with the city” on changes to Garden Street, which runs next to the Radcliffe Quadrangle.
But a spokesperson for Harvard wrote that the University had not committed to anything related to the Garden Street project.
Vice Mayor Marc C. McGovern said that though the plan will not appease all residents, it is still the best path forward to resolve the lingering issue.
“No matter where we end up, we’re going to end up in a place where a lot of people are going to be unhappy,” he said. “Sometimes we love to get to a place where we could all feel good at the end — but sometimes that doesn’t happen, and you have to just vote.”
“It is what it is,” he added.
—Staff writer Shawn A. Boehmer can be reached at shawn.boehmer@thecrimson.com. Follow him on X @ShawnBoehmer.
—Staff writer Jack B. Reardon can be reached at jack.reardon@thecrimson.com. Follow him on X @JackBReardon.
