Playing In Traffic

One of my commuting pet peeves is the habit of taxis in Harvard Square that park in the new, improved, and oh-so-useful bike lanes that were recently put down as part of the whole “let’s tear up the Square and screw up traffic for a year” urban renewal project.  Love the bike lanes, hate the fact that they’re usually blocked by cabs parked in front of the Coop & BofA.  (This will no doubt be a topic for a future rant.) So imagine my delight this morning when I ride around the corner on Mass Ave headed down from the Common and see one of Cambridge’s finest, in full para-military regalia, standing astride the bike lane on the corner of Church Street.  He was staring up the street, looking for … ?  What?  As far as I could tell the only function he was serving was to force cyclists into the flow of traffic (which I’m all for, but it does kind of render the whole concept of a bike lane superfluous).  And he did a good job of forcing you into traffic; he didn’t budge an inch as cyclists bore down on him.  The Man would not be moved.   I certainly hope he found what he was looking for.   P.S. I really need to get a camera I can bring along and take quick pics. 

Filed under: bike commute