Cambridge bikers form human barrier during rally for protected bike lanes

More than 100 demonstrators formed a human barrier between a bike lane in Cambridge’s Porter Square and traffic along Massachusetts Avenue on April 26.

It was designed to call attention to what activists said was the need for a system of protected bike lanes in Cambridge. The site of the event-slash-rally was no accident: It took place near where a 60-year-old bicyclist traveling from Lexington to Harvard Square was fatally struck by a tractor trailer and a sedan in October 2016.

Authorities recently concluded that neither driver negligence nor roadway conditions contributed to the death.

Cambridge is, of course, rife with controversy re: bikes, bikers, bike lanes, vehicles, pedestrians, etc. The installation of protected bike lanes in the Harvard Square area last year (pictured at top) touched off a boiling debate that has yet to be fully resolved.

Meanwhile, the city remains a popular destination and thruway for bikers, the former because of its commercial hubs such as Harvard and Kendall squares, the latter because of its proximity to Boston.

• Cycling advocates ‘outraged’ over ruling in 2016 fatal crash in Porter Square [Wicked Local]
• Cambridge’s protected bike lanes here to say, though tweaks possible [Curbed Boston]