This week, the City of Cambridge began installing protected bike lanes on Cambridge Street west of Inman Square! As of Thursday, line markers had been painted and flex posts were starting to be installed.

The protected bikes lane were created after a sustained campaign by advocates including Cambridge Bike Safety and the Bike Union to push the City of Cambridge to rapidly implement a connected network of protected bike lanes following the death of two cyclists in Cambridge in 2016. As part of this campaign we led a parking study on this section of Cambridge Street last year, demonstrating that removal of the approximately 90 parking spaces to accommodate the protected bike lanes would not be detrimental to the neighborhood and mitigation steps could be taken to alleviate the loss.

Since last fall, protected bike lanes have been installed on Brattle Street in Harvard Square and three sections of Mass Ave, and earlier this month we helped mobilize hundreds of people (including many of you!) in support of the Brattle Street protected bike lanes after pushback from the Harvard Square Business Association.

The installation of the Cambridge Street protected bike lanes is truly a watershed moment. They will be the longest stretch of on-street protected bike lanes installed in the region to date — .08 miles! –and will provide a safe biking route for students of Cambridge Rindge and Latin as well as the hundreds of people who bike between Inman and Harvard Square.

Check out this video to see what it’s like to ride in the new protected bike lanes!