Stop

Administrative sluggishness is a common phenomenon and is most evident in various small matters, such as the placing of stop signs. Disregarding numerous requests, the City of Cambridge has left the intersections of Bow and Plympton Streets, and of Plympton and Mill Streets, unguarded, without the stop signs which would change them from possible death traps to normally safe corners.

At the Bow Street corner, denizens of the Cafe Mozart have been treated to three serious accidents with the last month and countless near misses. Each driver approaching the intersection claims right of way with a cavalier horn blast. Occupants of the apartments above the Gold Coast have complained to the City about the squeals of brakes and tires which often punctuate the night hours.

On the Plympton-Mill corner a newly-built garage has cut off the previous sight line and has made the intersection a blind corner. Winter weather may make the current near-misses into fatal crashes and Plympton Street into a death row.

The city claims that it costs $30 to provide and install a stop sign. Three signs, one at Mill and two on Bow Street, would remove a significant traffic hazard. It is more charitable, if perhaps less realistic to assume, that the City of Cambridge is lazy rather than concerned about spending another $90. The City should rouse itself from a lethargy that might result in injury or death.