Traffic - DB (Signals) assigned this issue to Public Works - MM (Engineering)

Traffic - DB (Signals) assigned this issue to Traffic - DB (Signals)

Thank you for reporting your concern to City of Cambridge via Commonwealth Connect. We have reviewed the information you provided our staff and will be investigating this issue further.

Hi Claudia,

You're correct that the walk sign across Main Street comes on while Broadway vehicles get the green light to head through the intersection or make a right turn when it's safe to do so. We call these concurrent pedestrian signals and it is a condition we have at most of the signalized intersections in the City. We also have a leading pedestrian interval (LPI) that lets the walk sign go on a few seconds before the traffic gets a green light. This allows pedestrians to enter the crosswalk without conflict. I've checked the LPI for this intersection and it's too short (about 2 seconds). We're going to raise it to 4 seconds and I will monitor the change to see if there are any other adjustments we can make. I'll close out this report once the LPI is adjusted. Please let me know if you have any questions or comments. Feel free to use SeeClickFix or give me a call at 617 349 4729.

Thanks,
Dana

Thank you, Dana. My original concern was that there is no cross traffic currently from Third to (the Kendall station part of) Main, so it seemed like a wasted opportunity for free walking then. But now I realize that that traffic flow can be expected to change (yes?) so what you say here makes sense.

Thank you again,
Claudia

Thank you for reporting this issue to us. We are pleased to report back to you that this issue is now resolved.