CONTRAFLOW INSTALLATION,
WATERHOUSE STREET,
CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS ,USA

A contraflow bike lane on Little Waterhouse Street is part of an intended route for bicyclists between the Radcliffe and Harvard University campuses.

The route provided by this bike lane leads to the one on Little Concord Avenue shown on another page one this site. That page includes links to additional pages discussing contraflow installations.

The Waterhouse Street bike lane is shown in the photo below. On the right, hidden by the trackless trolley, is Cambridge Common, a public park. A cyclist who entered Waterhouse Street from the Common has crossed in front of the trackless trolley and is about to enter the contraflow lane. In the background is the campus of Harvard University. Between is Massachusetts Avenue, a major arterial street,

Like the other Cambridge contraflow installations, the one on Waterhouse street directs cyclists to risk head-on collisions by riding close to "wrong way" parked cars whose drivers have an obstructed view while exiting parking spaces. The collision risk is not as great here as in the other installations, because the lane is farther from the parked cars, there are only two parking spaces, and the driver in the one closer to the camera has the option to back up in order to get a better view ahead before exiting the parking space.

The photo below shows the contraflow lane from the other side of Massachusetts Avenue. A pedestrian is entering the bike lane. The path in the Cambridge Common from which the cyclist in the other photo entered the crosswalk is visible at the far left side of the photo, under the "do not enter" sign. The "no turns" sign on Massachusetts Avenue appropriately applies to motor vehicles, but it should not have to apply to cyclists here.

What should be done here?

There are two problems here. One is described by the classic New England punch line "you can't get there from here." There is no lawful way to get to the start of the contraflow lane except on pedestrian crosswalks.

I think that a good case could be made for a left-turn bike lane and an actuated left-turn signal, just in front of the "no turns" sign in the photo above. Cyclists could easily reach this bike lane, as there are gaps in the traffic due to traffic signals upstream. The trackless trolleys, which leave only once every few minutes, are almost the only traffic turning north onto Massachusetts Avenue from Waterhouse Street. Signals to stop southbound traffic on Massachusetts Avenue are already in place.

The sight obstruction problem could be avoided if there were only one parking space adjacent to the contraflow lane, or less effectively, by separating the parking spaces to give the driver in the rear one a better sight line.

In my opinion, a marked contraflow bike lane is more appropriate here than on Little Concord Avenue, because this is a wider roadway and carries arterial traffic. A double yellow line rather than a single white line would be appropriate on the left side of the lane -- except for the complication that motorists would have to cross that line to enter the "wrong way" parking spaces.