Cambridge fracas: Should city stop shutting Memorial Drive to cars on Saturdays?

we don’t already have the worst traffic in the nation

Rinse and repeat on the other side of the river.

You understand that much of the reason they've been able to close Memorial Drive on weekends is that a lot of the traffic diverts to Storrow Drive, across the river. You're claiming it goes away, but it doesn't--you're just making it Boston's problem.

I know the study you're referring to about reducing roads reduces traffic, however in Cambridge you can only easily (most of the time) take the Red line into downtown Boston. That's it, that's the only location. On the Boston side of the river, there's only commuter rail until the B line at BU and we all know that's horribly slow. Many people travel up & down the coast, and the most efficient way to do that is to take these roads to I-93 or Route 1. If you close them, you're increasing pollution as you require them to hit tons of red lights, while also driving through neighborhoods. You'd also be making emergency (ambulance) transit more difficult as well.

I'm all for better mass transit, but it won't just appear. Until we properly fund the T and add new subway lines, we can't simply close these arterial roads!

There are side streets that clearly go where you would need to go (if you lived there), but everyone trying to come into Cambridge from west would be on those streets too.

Waze, Google Maps, etc. 'know' about the closures and will route, in semi-real-time, drivers through neighborhoods. Streets that never see traffic (frequently narrowed by parked cars) will suddenly become bottlenecks as the AI sends vehicles down them. As a side-street clogs, the AI will choose a different route, spreading the congestion.

Lather, rinse, repeat.

The closure does cause some longer car travel times during certain times of day, especially on Putnam Ave at the Western Ave traffic light. HOWEVER, rarely, if ever, is it more than an extra few minutes.

So yes, this person is being overly dramatic.

Most of the traffic is probably people trying to take memorial drive and not realizing it's closed, so signage could help, if people actually read signs. I believe google maps now shows the closure in red dotted lines, so we can't blame google maps for it.

There was a quote from someone about it was nearly impossible to get to the river due to four lanes of traffic as if there weren't multiple crosswalks with lights. It's not like they have dash across I-90 or something.

Both sides have legit arguments (traffic does end up on local streets and there is something nice about access to more open space.)

And what moron insists on driving in a city when they know they will be sitting in traffic?

Whining drivers should be ignored because they will never be happy. They are a miserable bunch who will complain and take resources from other people until their last breath.

You *are* traffic.

Sounds like the actual issue here is "too many cars".

.., infinitely more pleasurable to walk on when there are no vehicles whizzing by spewing exhaust and noise. You don’t need to be actually walking the asphalt to enjoy the fact that the road is vehicle free.

Good for you that you can get out of town and hike in less congested areas. It’s not an option for everyone.

Are you referring to this? Unfortunately, I don't see any day set aside for rollerblading in the tunnel.