Bicyclist dead after crash in Harvard Square

Oh man. Have you been there, like, ever? In the before times it was packed with foot traffic all the time! There's no shortage of customers. The robber baron landlord(s) charges exhorbitant rates that constantly crowded businesses like Black Ink and Crema Cafe could not meet no matter what the prices they charged. They didn't close up because they didn't do huge business.

Also, you might not be aware having never been here, but there's a friggin highly trafficked T stop right in the middle of the square called "Harvard Square" constantly bringing new customers, not to mention all the parents, students, and foreign tourists wandering through the square.

The people driving through the square are mostly not stopping, a) because there's almost no where to park and b) they're mostly on their way somewhere else.

Also:
lose = to miss from one's possession or from a customary or supposed place
loose = not rigidly fastened or securely attached

Motorists and truck drivers please learn to drive safely or get off the road.

No message for drivers?

Your virtue signaling does me no good.

Is there some sort of Covid-related suspension of the rules related to police details for construction work? I'm not in favor of requiring police detail but I've been surprised to see some pretty dangerous-looking worksites recently without one in sight. (I don't think we should be paying cop prices to have someone to make sure passersby don't get their head bonked in but I definitely think someone should be doing that!)

...that speed was a factor here?

Mass Ave is State Highway 2A. It's not Craigie St. It has all the necessary dimensions to carry tractor trailers. That's what highways are for.

But it goes right through Harvard Square. This is a HUGE conflict because Harvard Square is largely pedestrian-sized. It ends up not being a good fit for pedestrians, the highway, bikes, or anyone.

The bike "lane" if you want to stay on Mass Ave going west requires you to CROSS both lanes of Mass Ave (in only a few hundred feet!), then actually goes up onto the sidewalk across the park because there's no good way to fit bikes with all the lane splits...then you have to hit the right light cycle to cross 4 more lanes of traffic to keep going on Mass Ave!

Because of the way the lanes split everywhere, pedestrians are almost invited to ignore the signals because it's only 1-2 lanes of one-way traffic unlike crossing the highway...er, Mass Ave in like Central Square where it's 4-5 lanes wide.

Cars and trucks have multiple red lights, merges, splits, and highway signs while dodging pedestrians and cyclists who may or may not be following their own signals. The Broadway/Mass Ave split is the best...as a lane just forms out of nowhere (no markings as to whether it split from the left or right lane)...it has no markings to designate if it's meant for Mass Ave or Broadway...and then it just splits in half again and goes to both. One of which has a 14' height restriction as you go under Harvard Yard...and the first sign for it is 100 ft before the tunnel AFTER the split.

The whole thing needs a total redesign...but then you're fighting the fact that they can't/won't touch the Common, Harvard Yard, and still have to accommodate the bus ramp for the MBTA station. In fact, they can't even bury most of it in a tunnel because of the MBTA station directly below it all. So, you want to stop trucks from being there? Don't keep it as a highway, but then your only choice after that is going to be to make a bunch of dead-ends, because the entire thing is a minefield of past choices.

If you look at crash data, you would agree.