Circling the Square

The City Council, when it had nothing else to do, used to haul Traffic Director Robert E. Rudolph in for his usual tongue-lashing on how bad traffic was around the Square. They yelled when he said he was studying the situation. They laughed when he dotted Brattle Sq. with cans of concrete. Rudolph got even. Brattle Sq. is a sandbox, they call the turn from Plympton onto Mass. Ave. "shooting the rapids," and Harvard Sq. remains a larger cul-de-sac than ever. "Traffic may be bad at times now," chuckles Rudolph, "but if we hadn't made the changes it would be far worse." Sure, baby.