The parking actually helps slow down the traffic. If you've got cars parked on both sides it can be difficult to also have two cars pass each other without pulling over.
This isn't just a Cedar problem. Many Somerville streets aren't wide enough for parking on both sides and two-way traffic. Porter Street is an excellent example. Because Porter has a steep hill, you have the additional fun of skateboarders rolling down it.
I think installing Cambridge-style solutions (I'm assuming you're talking about those big speed bumps and the weavy streets and reduced parking) would actually cause MORE accidents on Cedar. If you look at how Cambridge installs those things, they don't install them on steep grades like Cedar has.
I haven't looked at the accident reports in a few years, but that stretch of Cedar wasn't a big accident area back in the 20th century. You get a lot more accidents in Davis Square. And if you want to see a tragic accident waiting to happen, take a look at the front of the Healy school. There's a giant, steep grade/tobbagin slide street right towards where the kids let out, and the only installed bollards after that old guy ran over those kids in front of another MA school.
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Date: 2007-09-20 01:46 am (UTC)This isn't just a Cedar problem. Many Somerville streets aren't wide enough for parking on both sides and two-way traffic. Porter Street is an excellent example. Because Porter has a steep hill, you have the additional fun of skateboarders rolling down it.
I think installing Cambridge-style solutions (I'm assuming you're talking about those big speed bumps and the weavy streets and reduced parking) would actually cause MORE accidents on Cedar. If you look at how Cambridge installs those things, they don't install them on steep grades like Cedar has.
I haven't looked at the accident reports in a few years, but that stretch of Cedar wasn't a big accident area back in the 20th century. You get a lot more accidents in Davis Square. And if you want to see a tragic accident waiting to happen, take a look at the front of the Healy school. There's a giant, steep grade/tobbagin slide street right towards where the kids let out, and the only installed bollards after that old guy ran over those kids in front of another MA school.