Green Line Extension to Medford & Union Sq

[Stlin]

Is there a detailed timeline of when the highway paralleling the viaduct will finish being rebuilt? It feels like they are working on the bike lanes once a month, and the other days they pour a bit of concrete and then find another existing area to jackhammer up and leave so I can't bike through it.

The other thing is I thought the intention was to have some kind of public space under the viaduct? it's been fenced off for months. They paved one portion of it with a decent ped path, but it doesn't connect to anything. I assume because MassDOT is doing it and not Cambridge? Hate to say it but if Cambridge was doing it it'd be done.

McGrath? I wouldn't expect a lot from that for a while - the current road diet / resurfacing project is expected to wrap up this fall/winter, but starting in 2027 it's expected to begin reconstruction as a surface road. No telling how messy that process will be yet, but in between then from 25-26 it should be fine!

 

[Longfellow]

McGrath? I wouldn't expect a lot from that for a while - the current road diet / resurfacing project is expected to wrap up this fall/winter, but starting in 2027 it's expected to begin reconstruction as a surface road. No telling how messy that process will be yet, but in between then from 25-26 it should be fine!

Referring to Monsignor O'Brien highway

 

[pfd12]

Not a timeline, but from Cambridge's weekly construction update seems like it's nearing completion? From the 5/20 update, page 6:

O’BRIEN HIGHWAY/CAMBRIDGE STREET/FIRST STREET
CONTRACTOR: MCCOURT

O’Brien Hwy (First- Land Blvd) – prep for pave, scheduled for week of 6/2
O’Brien Hwy (Land - Museum Way) – pave remaining lanes tonight; layout & stripe remainder of week
Cambridge St (Second – O’Brien) – prep for pave, scheduled for 5/30
Sitewide – Misc punch list including traffic signals, landscaping, etc.

Though these don't really mention the cycle tracks. For more details, you could try asking the CX people (since this is being done by them, not MassDOT) - there's some contact info on the (possibly discontinued?) construction updates website.

 

[RandomWalk]

Contractors are rebuilding at least on of the curb ramps for the bike path at Sycamore. It’s still not going to be a raised crossing, though.

 

[Equilibria]

Obviously this is in the can for the next 30 years at least, but I don't remember us ever discussing it and it only just occurred to me: why did GLX come down to grade before East Somerville? If it had remained elevated for even a little bit farther, an access road from McGrath to Inner Belt could have been punched underneath it, providing a second access point. If they'd come down to grade before Cross Street, they could have really had the chance to blend Brickbottom and Inner Belt together.

Clearly we're decades of redevelopment in Brickbottom away from this mattering, but it seems like a blown opportunity that no one even thought of (myself included). Related point: Why did no one before GLX ever propose just running a Poplar Street extension over the prior industrial track at-grade (given the low volume), putting redundancy on the absurd Inner Belt Road underpass?