(The opinions and views expressed in the commentaries and letters to the Editor of The Somerville Times belong solely to the authors and do not reflect the views or opinions of The Somerville Times, its staff or publishers)

Dear Mayor Ballantyne,

I am an everyday cyclist and pedestrian living and voting in Prospect Hill Somerville and my family has had several near-death experiences that could be easily solved by better road design. Although I have been pleasantly surprised with some of the commitment to bike safety and recent improvement, I am writing to let you know that I am deeply disappointed to hear about the recent decision to not include a protected bike lane on Highland Ave. this year. More tragedies will happen under your watch until this is fixed.

I thought you ought to hear my story – quite a scary story – of biking and walking around Somerville with our young children and especially Highland Avenue. I hope it can have an impact in changing this decision.

Two years ago I wrote a letter when the Sewer Separation Project started to urge the city to add a separated bike lane in the redesign of Highland Avenue (link to the full letter – partially published in WickedLocal. In that letter I said “Every minute spent biking on Highland Street currently I am fearing for my children’s life, mine and the one of my husband.” Unfortunately, that fear became reality three months ago, when my husband nearly lost his life in a bike accident caused by a car dangerously cutting traffic on Highland Avenue.

This is a picture of my daughter, Soraya, showing me the bits of road that “are missing because they went into daddy’s head”. The day of the accident, my husband was coming back from dropping her at the Summer Street Preschool. Thankfully Soraya wasn’t on the bicycle – she would not have survived the accident.

This is my husband when I joined him at the hospital. The kids were afraid of him for a couple days. I took the second picture the moment my youngest daughter dared to approach him again. He has large scars on his face that he will keep for life. He was wearing a helmet, which probably saved his life. The new design for Highland Ave includes a separated bike lane, which would have prevented the circumstances that caused the accident.

Sadly there is more, one year ago, one block away on Highland Ave. (at the crossing with Putnam) a car drove into our stroller, taking the front wheel off. (Ben Ewan Campen witnessed the incident and shared about it in his newsletter at the time). Thankfully it was empty because we were coming back from preschool, our kids could have been seriously injured or killed. The raised crosswalks in the safer Highland Ave. design would have prevented the driver from speeding through that stop sign.

I’m so grateful my daughter wasn’t on the bike that day. I’m so grateful my kids weren’t in the stroller that other day. Every day I make the choice to bike the streets of Somerville or walk around with my family. I am putting myself and my family at risk. We should not have to risk our life just because we decide to not drive a car for environmental, health, community, or financial reasons. Change has to happen – and it should happen now.

Somerville is growing rapidly, that means construction is everywhere and traffic is more dangerous than ever for cyclists and pedestrians. On the day my husband was hit, there was ongoing construction blocking Somerville Ave and Summer Avenue, forcing him to ride on Highland Avenue even though we know it is such a dangerous road. Construction also meant there was a patch of gravel on the road that contributed to the accident.

Improving the bike infrastructure is no longer a slow overall improvement that you can choose to grant when time and budget allow it. It is an absolute need for the safety of your citizens. What I am asking is:

Create a temporary design, as soon as possible, similar to the pilot project on Washington street, that include a protected bike lane.

When Highland is repaved towards the end of this year, include the protected bike lane as previously promised.

I believe that change CAN happen quickly, I am pretty sure that if my daughter had been killed on the bike that day, Highland Ave. would have protected bike lanes by now. Too often, this is how bike safety works, and I’m asking you to not wait and make things right before another life is lost (remember the recent death of Stephen Conley ).

I think you already have a lot of data that confirms that protected bike lanes on Highland Ave. are the right thing to do and that it is what your citizens want. Additionally, this reddit thread that circulated around my husband’s accident is a good reminder of public opinions on the matter. Thank you for reading, and I am looking forward to hearing back from you,

Lise Capet
Munroe Street, Somerville