Magazine Pedestrian Bridge Meeting Thursday

MassDOT is hosting a public meeting this Thursday (May 20th) at 7pm at the Morse School to discuss the construction plans and anticipated traffic and pedestrian impacts for the Magazine Beach Pedestrian Bridge Replacement Project. The Magazine crossing is an important part of three larger efforts: the state's Accelerated Bridges Program, the ongoing Magazine Beach transformation, and Cambridge CDD's effort to better connect the neighborhoods with the riverside parks.

Some more background on the project, per MassDOT:

As part of Patrick-Murray Administration’s $3 billion Accelerated Bridge Program, aimed at quickly repairing the Commonwealth’s most neglected bridges, MassDOT recently awarded a contract to S & R Corporation of Lowell for the replacement of the Magazine Beach Pedestrian Bridge. This project consists of the demolition and replacement of the existing pedestrian bridge over Memorial Drive. The new structure will have ADA compliant ramps and code compliant handrails. The project also includes the installation an over height detection system and temporary signals as well as site restoration.

Image of the Magazine Beach Pedestrian Bridge from the MassDOT ABP presentation on March 2.

Western & River Bridges Meeting March 9th

Following a meeting in Allston-Brighton last month, MassDOT comes to the Cambridgeport side of the Charles for a second meeting on the River/Western Bridges rehabilitation. If you have questions about the bridges project or the state's Accelerated Bridge Program, please come; this C-port meeting only came about because Rep. Marty Walz and others stuck up for our neighborhood.

Here's the announcement:

MassDOT will sponsor a Public Information Meeting for the River Street/Western Avenue Bridges Rehabilitation Project on Tuesday, March 9, 2010, from 6:30 – 8:30 PM, at the Morse Elementary School Auditorium, Cambridge, MA. The purpose of this meeting is to provide an overview of the proposed rehabilitation of the historic River Street and Western Avenue Bridges, introduce MassDOT’s design team, answer questions, and gather comments. If you have any questions on the meeting, please contact

Toni Whitmore Assistant Director of Community Affairs, MassDOT (617.973.8454).For news and updates, check MassDOT's website or Transportation Blog. For the tweaters among us: www.twitter.com/massdot.

BU Bridge Closed Next Week

Passing along this announcement from MassDOT (h/t to Councilor Henrietta Davis):

Evening/Overnight Bridge Closure: Boston University Bridge

On Sunday, February 21, 2010 through Thursday, March 4, 2010 the Boston University Bridge, which carries traffic over the Charles River between Cambridge and Boston, will be closed to traffic from 9 PM to 5 AM each week (Sunday to Thursday.) The upstream sidewalk will remain open during the bridge closure for bicycle and pedestrian access. Drivers are encouraged to plan ahead and seek alternative routes during the closures. MassDOT crews will be completing demolition work as part of the first phase of construction on the Boston University Bridge Rehabilitation Project. All Cambridge-to-Boston traffic and Boston-to-Cambridge traffic will be detoured to the Massachusetts Avenue Bridge. Buses and emergency vehicles will be permitted to cross the bridge.

For transportation news and updates visit the MassDOT website at www.mass.gov/massdot, the MassDOT blog at www.mass.gov/blog/transportation or
follow MassDOT on twitter at www.twitter.com/massdot.

DOT's Western & River Bridge Proposal

As mentioned here before, there's a significant amount of reconstruction in planning for Cambridgeport infrastructure. The city (with citizen help) is scheming to reconstruct Western Avenue. At the same time, Mass DOT is planning the reconstruction of the River Street and Western Avenue bridges. Thanks to Rep. Marty Walz, we'll soon have a public meeting in Cambridgeport to hear about the DOT plans and ask questions. (The meeting details will be posted here, but interested readers can also keep an eye out for an announcement on the Mass DOT calendar.)

In the meantime, I wanted to pass along two documents to help get the neighborhood thinking about what's involved in the reconstruction. First, Livable Streets (a great org based on Sidney Street) put together a flyer with a list of topics that will be useful for the neighborhood to consider in the upcoming discussion. Second, I've inserted the presentation DOT gave on the Allston-Brighton side of the bridge earlier this month. The original can be accessed via the link below.

RiverSt WesternAve Pres 020310

The Bridge to Nowhere

Some feel that Mass DOT is overlooking Cambridgeport's interests and opinions in the rehabilitation of the Western and River bridges.

While the City of Cambridge is doing some significant outreach on the future reconstruction of Western Ave, Mass DOT is holding public meetings of their own regarding the parallel effort to complete significant infrastructure work on the Western Ave and River Street bridges. Many in Cambridgeport, however, feel the discussion on the bridges is one-sided. As in, there's not enough outreach on the Cambridge side of the bridges.

One of these observers is State Representative Marty Walz, who sent an email on the day of the scheduled meeting:

I am writing to let you know that I have been in touch with the state Department of Transportation about holding a meeting in Cambridge about the River Street Bridge and Western Avenue Bridge projects. DOT is of the view that a meeting in Allston Brighton is sufficient outreach to Cambridge residents. I have made it clear that this is unacceptable and that meetings must be held at times and places that are convenient to Cambridge residents. Representative Alice Wolf has made the same point on behalf of her constituents. I will continue to work with DOT to ensure that you and your neighbors are properly included in the community outreach process.

Here's hoping the rehabilitation of the bridges can tie pretty seemlessly into the larger Western Ave reconstruction. If and when a meeting is scheduled on the bridges for our side of the Charles, I'll pass along that info. Thanks to Rep. Walz for keeping the neighborhood in the loop.

Western Avenue Bridge Repairs

2004-10-23 019
Originally uploaded by sv.prudence

From the Chronicle:
State to make repairs to Western Avenue Bridge

Beginning Saturday, Sept. 13 continuing for several days from 8 p.m. until 4 a.m. each night, [DCR] will be repairing the concrete railing on the Western Avenue Bridge... During the work, the right Boston-bound lane will be closed. Loud jack hammering noise will end by 11:30 p.m. each night.