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Memorial service for MIT officer will mean road closures in Cambridge tomorrow
By adamg on Tue, 04/23/2013 - 8:09pm
Complete listing; roads, including Memorial Drive between the BU Bridge and Mass. Ave., and the Mass. Ave. bridge into Cambridge, will be closed during the morning rush hour.
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INcomplete listing
MIT says Pedestrian Traffic will be even more restricted.
Pedestrians are not permitted on Vassar between Mass Ave & Audrey Street.
MIT Facilities page.
And not just Weds morning: during the evening rush as well.
Cambridge police says they are "confident" roads and bridge will reopen by 6 pm. So they are saying they'll shut down parts of major streets for 11 hours for a memorial service. Remarkable.
Unfortunately, with VP Biden
Unfortunately, with VP Biden in attendance, its no longer their call, the Secret Service gets exactly what they ask for. I'd expect things should return to normal by 4pm, but thats just a slightly educated guess.
Are you sure it's Biden?
Obama was at MIT a year or two ago and aside from some sunglasses guys in tinted SUVs, nothing was out of the ordinary. Certainly no road closures or ID checks. No cancelled classes.
Word is
They're expecting 30,000 LEO's from all over the region too. Going to be hell of a motorcade.
Vassar was open to Pedestrian
Vassar was open to Pedestrian traffic this morning (although the law enforcement reps are checking IDs)
department of official miscommunications
Meanwhile, Cambridge's website says Vassar is open to pedestrians and bikes, as are all roads except Mem Drive. http://www.cambridgema.gov/alerts/alerts2013/roadc...
Where's the Number 1 bus
going to go?
Judging by the lack of info
Judging by the lack of info from the MBTA, even after at least one person (me) inquiring, it seems like "up your ass" might be the correct answer. Oh well, I'm sure we will all find a way to get where we need to go, eventually, on our own.
Ah, things are back to normal
Ah, things are back to normal at the MBTA.
It will take the Boston University Bridge
As it did when the bridge was closed over 20 years ago for reconstruction.
It's going down Magazine Street then onto the BU bridge
Saw one this morning behind the 47 and did a double-take.
Complete and utter bullshit
This is beyond the pale. This hero needs to be remembered but there's absolutely no reason a closed-to-the-public service needs to impact traffic like this on a weekday.
Just so every cop in Mass can drive to the service unimpeded?
Plan it correctly and accommodate the public you serveat the same time.
RIP Officer Collier and my condolences to the family.
You are held in the highest of regard.
In the grand scheme of things
does it really matter? As far as I'm concerned, they should be allowed to grieve for their brother in whatever manner they deem necessary.
Your life will go in, impeded perhaps for a few hours, but a police officer was killed by terrorists, something we hopefully won't see again any time soon.
Right?
Some people just need to be smacked upside the head. It's a few whours out of one day for something good, chill the fuck out.
It's not for a few hours
It's all day.
I'm not impacted by this at all but i don't like the fact that the authorities will just shut down major arteries without discussion or debate.
This isn't an emergency. And if someone told me this was how the family wanted to honor their kin, that's one thing.
CPD and MIT police making up rules as they go along is another.
Authorites were given and took a lot of leeway recently. That's fine when violent criminals are on the loose.
Not so fine when it's a planned event.
You're telling me this officer couldn't have been given a proper tribute without closing Memorial Drive?
Sorry, I'm not buying it.
I am chilled out, tough guy
Settle down, anon2.
Slapping people around and being an Internet tough guy, huh?
You're funny.
Bizarre and unusual amount of disruptions
Mem Drive closed to vehicles and pedestrians
Vassar and Amherst Alley closed to vehicles, plus bag/packpack restrictions
Mass Av and Mass Av bridge closed to vehicles
MIT classes canceled
No parking at meters on Albany (anywhere)
No parking at meters on Mem Drive all the way from the BU Bridge to the Longfellow
Several MIT parking lots/garages closed (employees still required to report to work, must park at Harvard Stadium)
This is the most disruption I've seen for any event except for the July 4 fireworks. Certainly more than MIT commencement, which draws a similar or greater number of attendees.
VP = unusual
Biden doesn't usually attend MIT Commencement.
President Clinton spoke at
President Clinton spoke at MIT's commencement in 1998 and VP Gore spoke a few years earlier, and I don't recall such disruptions.
Oh, right. That was pre-9/11™ and pre-War on Terror™. Peaceful times.
EDIT: Here are the closures from when Clinton spoke --
http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/1998/theme.html
A far smaller zone than for today's memorial.
See above
They're also expecting 30,000 law enforcment officers, many of which will be partisipating in the motorcade. The "private" funeral itself is seating 10,000.
Thats a lot of people and cars for a small section of cambridge.
Then don't hold the memorial
Then don't hold the memorial service on a weekday afternoon.
His funeral was yesterday. Why not hold the memorial service on a weekend morning?
There are People Who Work at MIT
These people were the people who knew this guy and want to support others in their community.
Why don't you just decide to commute or do your errands or what every you feel you are entitled to do today on weekends instead? Wouldn't that be a great way to avoid traffic? Or avoid that road jamming phenomenon known as "rush hour". Hmmm?
Again with the assumptions. I
Again with the assumptions. I was not planning to be in Cambridge today.
Officer Collier's death was tragic. As is the murder of every innocent soul. Should every memorial service be allowed to block off major swaths of town for a whole day? Or is the murder of a cop at the hands of media-proclaimed terrorists more tragic than any other murder that doesn't make international news?
Oh, and as an alum I am a member of that MIT community.
I know, right?
You'd think it was May Day with this blatant tribute to the police state,no? What's next? Seniors marching down Mass Ave with their home made nukes?
Main Campus was completely
Main Campus was completely closed on the day that Clinton visited. Anybody not involved with the event was told not to come in (in fact, banned from main campus).
Closing a privately owned
Closing a privately owned campus to non-affiliated people is different than shutting down public roads and inconveniencing many people not associated with the school.
Oh horrors!
You know what?
Your car inconveniences every other person on the roadway by being there and in the way.
Think about it.
You know what happens when
You know what happens when you assume, right?
I don't own a car. I walk and take the T.
I accept your apology.
Okay then
You inconvenience every other person on whatever bus or train you are on just by being there and in the way.
Again, explain why you don't just choose to not inconvenience others and commute only on weekends?
This is a stupid
This is a stupid discussion.
If everyone just stayed home 24/7 there'd never be any traffic or packed T trains and buses.
This caused me to be 15 min late for work
And you know what? I don't care. I am perfectly fine with being late so the school can have a memorial.
(The MBTA has a list of bus diversions on its service alert page)