Assembly Sq <-> Casino Footbridge

Charlie_mta said:
Update: MassDOT wants to open the new bridge by 2030, sooner than what they had been saying lately:
https://mass.streetsblog.org/2025/0...ring-for-mystic-river-car-free-bridge-project
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New tied arch drop
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This should be much easier and much quicker to build. Instead of needing to do a complex cast in place offset axial parabolic arch, they just have to do some simple cast in place v-piers and then float up a prebuilt tied arch bridge on a barge and raise it into place.

Since the new bridge is much wider I feel like it would be a good idea to designate two bike lanes in the middle of the ROW to keep the uses separated and the pedestrians off to the sides to keep conflicts down and the flow moving. People walking are going to inevitably stop and take pictures/gaze at the water etc. Having both uses mixed like shown above would just create conflicts between bikes and pedestrians as the bikes try to weave around people. Thats an easy fix though they can just paint the lanes on if thats something that would be a good idea.

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Charlie_mta said:
MassDOT will host a virtual public hearing on Tuesday at 7 pm for its proposed Mystic River bicycle pedestrian bridge between Somerville and Everett.
Article at:
https://mass.streetsblog.org/2025/1...-hearing-for-new-mystic-river-car-free-bridge
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Dear God, how many more public hearings do we need to have for this?

We have been talking about this for at least 10 years.

In 2021, the State committed to building the project. Baker: "It's going to get paid for and it's going to get done" -- https://mass.streetsblog.org/2021/1...ent-regarding-proposed-mystic-greenway-bridge

In 2023, State official confirmed that the project would start construction in 2024: "We are on schedule for the project to go out to bid at the end of the [2023] calendar year" -- https://mass.streetsblog.org/2023/06/20/car-free-mystic-river-bridge-will-begin-construction-in-2024

In 2024, the press reported that the project seemed to be languishing. Boston Globe: "Two governors have committed to build a footbridge across the Mystic to the Encore for pedestrians and cyclists, one of the largest such crossings in the Boston area. But years later, it’s become a very Massachusetts kind of project: Construction has yet to begin and no one can say when it will." https://www.boston.com/news/the-bos...nk-for-somerville-and-everett-so-where-is-it/

In 2025, the State acknowledged additional delays: https://mass.streetsblog.org/2025/0...-til-the-2030s-under-massdots-proposed-budget

My only public comment is build the frickin' bridge already. Stop wasting time on endless public hearings and design tweaks and get shovels in the ground.
 
themissinglink said:
The answer is always too many, for almost every single project.
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The state needs to streamline its public involvement, planning, and design process, consolidating and reducing the number of steps. This project and the I-90 Allston interchange are prime examples of a planning & design cycle so convoluted and lengthy that funding commitments and political momentum peter out, and the project never gets built.
 
The fact that we're still talking about when the construction might start is a devastating indictment of our planners and governors… and it demonstrates a complete lack of urgency.

We've understood for at least 40 years now that anthropogenic climate change is fundamentally transforming our world in ways that require rapid transformations of transportation and energy systems. Instead of rapidly investing in alternative, lower-carbon energy and transportation, our society has doubled down: increasing domestic oil and gas production, building and buying ever-larger vehicles, ignoring potential solar and wind investments, and further entrenching the automobile (rather than the HUMAN) as the base unit of transportation planning.

Sadly, those most culpable for this murderous misdirection will likely suffer the least, as they'll use their ill-gotten wealth to continue to insulate themselves and their families from the ravages they've encouraged.

On the plus side: nice renders!
 
Not to be a Debbie Downer, but it's disappointing to be constructing the bridge without the extended headhouse 100% guaranteed. The 1,700-foot excess distance to the existing north headhouse (versus extended south headhouse) absolutely kills the usability calculus. The number of people who are going to walk 4/5 of a mile to the casino, over a bridge with zero protection from the elements, is pretty small. For literally everywhere else in Everett, including the entire Gateway Center, the existing pedestrian routes to Sullivan and Wellington are shorter until the headhouse is extended.
 
The EGE said:
Not to be a Debbie Downer, but it's disappointing to be constructing the bridge without the extended headhouse 100% guaranteed. The 1,700-foot excess distance to the existing north headhouse (versus extended south headhouse) absolutely kills the usability calculus. The number of people who are going to walk 4/5 of a mile to the casino, over a bridge with zero protection from the elements, is pretty small. For literally everywhere else in Everett, including the entire Gateway Center, the existing pedestrian routes to Sullivan and Wellington are shorter until the headhouse is extended.
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My sense is that without the north side headhouse, it only works as a bike route. I'm fairly optimistic that it will get done, though, since they have at least done some design work. We definitely need to push for funding, though, in any advocacy spaces we occupy.
 
The cost of elevators is what's blocking the headhouse... Is there anything stopping us from digging a ped tunnel under the tracks with an ADA ramp?

Also how much we wanna bet cops are gonna find a way to park their cars on the bridge?
 
I can't imagine that digging a tunnel under active rapid transit and commuter rail tracks, under the water table, on filled land next to a river, with no obvious place for a ramp on the west side, will be cheaper than extending the headhouse.
 
Longfellow said:
The cost of elevators is what's blocking the headhouse... Is there anything stopping us from digging a ped tunnel under the tracks with an ADA ramp?

Also how much we wanna bet cops are gonna find a way to park their cars on the bridge?
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Better yet, just connect a nice long, wide ramp to the existing station concourse - no elevator needed! It’ll require a bit of a design change to the Draw Seven Park project, but there seems to be plenty of space between the existing station and the planned bridge landing (see my crude drawing attached).

I’m assuming that they’re baselining the elevator idea because it keeps the two projects independent and doesn’t require much cross-jurisdictional coordination - since the elevator headhouse could be built without encroaching into the state park. But, if the cost and maintenance of two elevators is really the barrier, it seems like a ramp is the obvious solution. A ramp would be better for gameday crowds anyway.
 

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astroTrain27 said:
Better yet, just connect a nice long, wide ramp to the existing station concourse - no elevator needed! It’ll require a bit of a design change to the Draw Seven Park project, but there seems to be plenty of space between the existing station and the planned bridge landing (see my crude drawing attached).

I’m assuming that they’re baselining the elevator idea because it keeps the two projects independent and doesn’t require much cross-jurisdictional coordination - since the elevator headhouse could be built without encroaching into the state park. But, if the cost and maintenance of two elevators is really the barrier, it seems like a ramp is the obvious solution. A ramp would be better for gameday crowds anyway.
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Even better yet, I believe that overlook plaza is elevated higher than the rest of the park. I'm not sure exactly how high up it gets and I know that the northern headhouse is the one provisioned for the crossing but you might be able to use a ramp to connect the southern headhouse to the overlook plaza with a much shorter ramp. There's been some speculation about this over on the Assembly Square Infill and Small Developments thread
 
Longfellow said:
The cost of elevators is what's blocking the headhouse... Is there anything stopping us from digging a ped tunnel under the tracks with an ADA ramp?

Also how much we wanna bet cops are gonna find a way to park their cars on the bridge?
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In both scenarios, the project designer & contractor require an MBTA ROW Access Permit (which can take a long time). And I imagine between the river proximity and the presumed contaminated soils at the site that the costly hazardous waste removal/concerns are a non-starter for a tunnel here... never mind the cost. There's a reason Federal Realty built above-ground garages all over Assembly Row.
 
Smuttynose said:
My only public comment is build the frickin' bridge already. Stop wasting time on endless public hearings and design tweaks and get shovels in the ground.
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The problem, in my read of the Streetsblog articles, seems to indicate is that it's not about "endless public hearings" or "design tweaks" - it's that state government doesn't have their ducks in order. Handing off projects between different state agencies and then leaving things held in other peoples' hands is very convenient to the powers-that-be to claim that things are both being actively worked on, but, also absolving themselves of the actual accountability to push the projects forward.
The EGE said:
the bridge without the extended headhouse 100% guaranteed.
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What more do you want - it's a bridge project not transit project. Were the developers not there to have provided mitigation previously, neither the current Assembly station, or, a ped/bike bridge design would exist. Almost all of this is *actually* because of the good graces of the development going on here.
Longfellow said:
The cost of elevators is what's blocking the headhouse...
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That headhouse would be out of budget even before excluding wheelchair-bound people or stroller-toting guardians.
 
Did anything ever come of the chat about a Mystic to Charles community path?
Something that would link this new bridge to Sullivan then round to East Somerville, connecting with the GLX path?
 
Ruairi said:
Something that would link this new bridge to Sullivan then round to East Somerville, connecting with the GLX path?
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That sort of exists, so long as you count some street level infrastructure. There's already a path along the Mystic to the Alford St. bridge. From there, you have off street through Sullivan Square, which feeds onto Cambridge Street. That, and then Washington in Somerville, have fairly decent on street lanes, which will get you to the community path extension. The only issue I'd have with going that route, is that it's a lot of extra riding if your goal is really just getting to the community path. But there is a more direct option, if you skip Sullivan Square, following Mt Vernon Street to Washington, instead. But the catch with that option, is that the 93 underpass is not very comfortable bike riding. If they fixed the underpass to include actual bike lanes, I'd be fairly satisfied with the option.
 
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