On Tuesday morning, a garbage truck driver struck and killed a 21-year-old Allston man riding a bicycle near Union Square in Boston's Allston neighborhood.
Family members have identified the victim as Samuel Alvarado.
“Every morning, we stop by Dunkin’ Donuts and drink coffee and eat donuts,” Alvarado’s uncle, Melecio, told Boston 25 News. “I was waiting for him. He never came. A couple of minutes later, I got the call... He was the best. Good person. He was always together with me. He liked to play guitar and sing.”
According to Boston Police, the killing occurred around 10 a.m. Tuesday morning on Cambridge Street near its junction with Hano Street, one block north of Union Square.
Cambridge Street is a fairly typical two-lane city street in Union Square, but it's also a busy truck route that feeds into the Interstate 90 highway interchange, which is about a mile to the northeast.
Most of Cambridge Street through Allston has unprotected, paint-only bike lanes, but those lanes disappear for three blocks in and around Union Square, including the area where Alvarado died.
In a joint statement, the Boston Cyclists Union, the Allston-Brighton Health Collaborative, LivableStreets Alliance, and MassBike wrote that "we are devastated to learn of the passing of Samuel Alvarado... This tragic crash highlights two key dangers that people who bike face: unsafe roadways and large trucks. Safety improvements for this area are long overdue."
