Cambridge business owners say bike lanes are keeping customers away

CAMBRIDGE – The metropolis of Cambridge is currently being sued to prevent the installation of additional bicycle lanes. Harold Gilmer owns Elite Barber Store on Mass. Ave and has been chopping hair in the neighborhood for 21 years. “It truly is afflicted everybody close to below, the business is not the exact,” Gilmer claimed.

He suggests the city’s present-day cycling security ordinance, which calls for bike lanes all along Mass. Ave, is hurting local enterprise house owners.

“We’ve been acquiring parking up and down Mass. Ave for this full time and to pay your charges you have to have to have people today be equipped to pull more than and go to the shops,” Gilmer mentioned.

Other entrepreneurs agree, the new absence of parking suggests a lot less buyers by means of their doors.

“We could not effectively create a customer base, people weren’t walking in so we experienced to alter to survive we experienced to do extra takeout and shipping and delivery,” explained Som Pogosov of Phoenix Kitchen area.  

Proponents of the bike lanes place out the city will be eliminating the median in between Roseland and Beech Road by the conclusion of July to build a lot more parking places in the Porter Sq. place.

Chris Cassa, a volunteer with Cambridge Bicycle Safety, adds nearly two-thirds of the Cambridge community rides bikes and security remains the most important issue.

“We treatment deeply about creating certain that you can find sufficient parking but also want to make certain that folks understand that safer streets that help people transfer far more efficiently by means of the streets are likely to assist support smaller companies,” Cassa said.

“Especially on Mass. Ave from 2015 to 2021 6 people today have died on our streets who are biking and 250 individuals who had been biking have been concerned in a crash that was with a motor automobile that resulted in an damage or a lot more than $1,000 harm.”  

“If we go out of business enterprise we’ll have a lot of wonderful bicycle lanes, but it will be a shallow region,” Sam Pogosov explained.