City Council Looks Into Pedestrian Safety

The traffic accident that killed Harvard graduate student Isaac J. Meyers last month led the Cambridge City Council to pass an order prioritizing pedestrian safety last night.

In a letter to the Council yesterday, City Manager Robert W. Healy said that though the investigation into the events surrounding Meyers’ death has yielded information about the factors that led to the accident, it is still incomplete, This allows for the possibility that factors apart from those under the city’s control were the causes of Meyers’ death.

But councillor Henrietta S. Davis said that no matter what the report determines is the cause of Meyers’ death, the council should pay attention to the residents’ concerns about pedestrian safety.

“Regardless of the outcome, we can’t let the subject go away because we’ve heard from so many people about how uncomfortable they are,” Davis said.

Several residents referred to Meyers’ death when expressing their general concerns about pedestrian safety during the public comment session of the meeting. They attributed the danger associated with crossing the street to the poor design and upkeep of intersections, especially during inclement weather,

Councillor Craig A. Kelley also said that the city could take more actions to ensure pedestrian safety.

“We’re not taking traffic management as seriously as we should,” he said.

Councillor Kenneth E. Reeves ’72 agreed that the intersection of Mass. Ave. and Prospect Street, where Meyers’ death occurred, was difficult to navigate, and that an increased police presence could encourage safer driving.

“Just the presence of a police operation might help pedestrians feel more safe,” Reeves said.

Kelley said the council should look into whether red-light surveillance cameras were an effective way to improve pedestrian safety, saying that it was “past time” the council consider implementing such a surveillance system.