West Cambridge / Alewife Area Infill & Small Developments

Hopefully the City can force a deal in which Discovery Park grants access to the "Lanes & Games" site between "Garage A" and "Garage B". Moving the "front door" for any future L&G development off of Route 2 and into Discovery Park would be a huge improvement.

And if a future L&G development could share garage space with Discovery Park (office parking in the day, residential parking at night), that'd be even better. But I won't get my hopes up...
 
I've never seen anywhere with such a lack of transportation planning...it's like someone said "ya that bike lane can support 20k residents and 1M commuters"
 
Equilibria said:
55 Wheeler St (right behind the Trader Joe's and the substation.

http://www.cambridgema.gov/~/media/...alPermits/sp330/sp330_app_graphics1.pdf?la=en

At least it's better than Atmark...
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http://www.cambridgema.gov/~/media/...alPermits/sp330/sp330_app_narrative.pdf?la=en

Lots of talking about a pedestrian bridge to Alewife, but no promises to contribute to it. This project can't be considered TOD without it.

Honestly, though, it shouldn't be one developer's job to facilitate this. The City of Cambridge needs to get off its a$$. The rest of this quadrangle is going to go just like this lot, and this lot will house over 1,000 people. The whole quadrangle could house 10,000. Cambridge needs to get those people to transit, albeit with significant developer contributions.
 
The lack of retail spaces in most of these buildings and the lack of a redone street grid is a major unforced error. This area is isolated enough by Fresh Pond Parkway that a couple of pedestrian bridges and walkways could create a lovely, pedestrian centric neighborhood. Retail would help that too.
 
A lot of new or re-arranged street-level space is happening in this build cycle. Lots of opining about what should be put here, there..... i sometimes wonder if AB members put a little too much emphasis on the proliferation of retail EVERYWHERE out of a desire for more convenience in your lives. Obviously there are holes all over the place. but, i continue to be a heretic; trusting forces of capitalism to sort out retail. There are exceptions, like BU, Wegman's, etc.

Some parts of Brookline you have to walk like, 2/3 mile or more just to buy shit.

The (actual) horror!
 
Looking at the latest plans, it appears that they are trying to design around the path of the former rail sidings. I assume there is some legal reason for that, which may also be impacting substantial changes to the street grid.
 
So... this is absurd. Cambridge DOT has issued a recommendation that the 55 Wheeler apartment complex join the Alewife TMA and implement a shuttle bus on a 30-minute headway to the station.

http://www.cambridgema.gov/~/media/...ermits/sp330/sp330_tptmemo_20171020.pdf?la=en

If you need a shuttle bus to get there, it's not TOD, and if your solution for apartment complexes located 1,000 linear feet from a transit station needing a bus to get there is "maybe we'll study a connection of Terminal Rd. to Wheeler (for cars, really)", you have a terminal lack of imagination.

The developer explicitly talked about a pedestrian bridge in its proposal, and the City of Cambridge isn't willing to do more than vaguely reference "improved connections across the MBTA rail line". What a freaking joke.
 
The bridge is too expensive for one developer to build and it would benefit all the other developers. Instead they are creating a fund to one day pay for the bridge. The shuttle is for now because until that bridge is built, what else can you do?
 
sm89 said:
The bridge is too expensive for one developer to build and it would benefit all the other developers. Instead they are creating a fund to one day pay for the bridge. The shuttle is for now because until that bridge is built, what else can you do?
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You can actually collect for the fund. The City hasn't done that, and developers have actually complained that they'd like to contribute but no one at City Hall wants their money.
 
a new commuter rail station that would allow suburban commuters to take a train into Cambridge and transfer to the red line.
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Who the hell writes this?!
 
Whats the problem with that? Hundreds of people drive into Alewife every day, park, and take the red line into the city, now a portion of them could take the commuter rail instead and transfer to red. It also means people could take the Commuter rail just to their office in Alewife from the suburbs, which isn't possible now either. Theres tons of old and new offices with a huge office park literally right next to the train tracks and the commuter rail just flys by. I used to work up there and thought it was weird that the commuter rail would go right through the middle of Alewife with no stop whatsoever. We want better connected transit, heres better connected transit.
 
Uncivil_Engineer said:
From a couple of weeks ago:

Alewife plan omits bridge over train tracks eyed by City Council for dozen-plus years

On the one hand, it makes some sense not to leverage an entire area plan on infrastructure that may or may not come to exist. On the other hand, it's a pedestrian bridge - not exactly the world's most expensive infrastructure item.
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Wow, do the City staff sound like idiots here. "Assembly Square"? "Reclaimed Jerry's Pond"? There are buildings going in RIGHT NOW. You don't need a pie-in-the-sky visioning study, you need to figure out how you're going to accommodate the development you're already seeing.
 
stick n move said:
Whats the problem with that? Hundreds of people drive into Alewife every day, park, and take the red line into the city, now a portion of them could take the commuter rail instead and transfer to red. It also means people could take the Commuter rail just to their office in Alewife from the suburbs, which isn't possible now either. Theres tons of old and new offices with a huge office park literally right next to the train tracks and the commuter rail just flys by. I used to work up there and thought it was weird that the commuter rail would go right through the middle of Alewife with no stop whatsoever. We want better connected transit, heres better connected transit.
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If we're discussing the idea in that sentence, why wouldn't someone take the commuter rail to Porter instead and transfer there?

You went off on another idea, which is actually practical. It is easier to take the commuter rail to work in Alewife than ride past Alewife to Porter and red line back. But that wasn't what was suggested in the article. What was instead suggested was avoiding one stop on the train in exchange for a longer walk and a detour through Davis.
 
vanshnookenraggen said:
Who the hell writes this?!
Click to expand...
You would be amazed at who qualifies as a "journalist" these days.


On a side note, Brownsberger should take a long, hard, look at Alewife. The traffic, the new office park(s), and the new apartments taking shape where the old Lanes n' Games used to stand. I just can't see how this particular area can handle the traffic without any real long-term transportation plan. The garage/station is a crumbling, smelly, joke. And I don't trust those columns in the garage.

Not to go all rifleman on this thread, but there has to be a middle ground in terms of dealing with all of that increased vehicular traffic at 2,3,16. Grade Separation for Fresh Pond might not be realistic. Fair enough, and I get highway revolt. But for the long-term? I can't imagine what rush hour will look like on Fresh Pond/Alewife in 2030.
 
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