Medford Wants to Go Back to the 1950s. We Made a Game About It.
The Medford City Council is considering removing the protected bike lane on Main Street and replacing it with a car lane. One more lane of traffic. Just like it was in 1950.
So we made a another game about it.
Play 1950s Medford
If you played our original Bike Medford game, you know the drill. That one went world famous (okay, Medford famous). This is the sequel, and it's darker. Instead of navigating the downtown grid, you're riding a single stretch of Main Street with no protection whatsoever.
You're a cyclist on Main Street. There's no protected lane. No barrier between you and traffic. Just you, your bike, and a stream of cars with nowhere to go but past you, inches away.
The goal: reach the Medford Library without getting hit. It gets harder every level, because that's what removing safe infrastructure does. It makes every trip more dangerous, for everyone who isn't in a car.
This is what the future looks like if the council gets its way: bikes and cars sharing the same lanes, no buffer, no protection, just physics and luck. But this is still just a game. The future hasn't been written yet. There is still time to change it.
What the 1950s Actually Looked Like
In the 1950s, Medford was built around cars. Wide lanes, no bike infrastructure, pedestrians as an afterthought. It worked fine if you had a car. If you were a kid, an elderly resident, someone who couldn't afford a vehicle, or anyone who just wanted to get some fresh air on the way to the library, you were on your own.
We've spent 70 years learning that car-first city planning has costs: pollution, traffic deaths, economic stagnation in walkable corridors, isolation for people who can't drive. Other cities are reversing course. Medford is debating whether to double down.
The Main Street bike lane opened just a couple years ago. Within months, data showed it was working: cyclists up, businesses holding steady, injuries down. The data is in. Yet here we are.
Depressed? Then Write the Council
After you play the game (and maybe crash a few times), take 60 seconds to tell your councilors what you think. The vote isn't over. Your voice matters.
Main Street doesn't have to go backward. But only if we say so.