DCR work on improved Charles River parkland, Memorial Drive ‘road diet’ comes as soon as fall
The state plans upgrades to Memorial Drive and the parkland running between it and the Charles River. (Photo: Kate Wheatley)
A “road diet” plan that would narrow car traffic on parts of Memorial Drive could start construction in the fall, state Department of Conservation and Recreation officials told Cambridge’s Conservation Commission on Feb. 26.
It comes as part of a broader project for Memorial Drive greenway work intended to improve recreation along the Charles River – including walking and bicycling paths – that began with a 2017 master plan. The affected section stretches west of JFK street to Hawthorn Street, a shrunken version of an original that went more than 2.2 miles from the Eliot Bridge in West Cambridge to the Boston University Bridge in Cambridgeport.
“Once Covid hit, we started to really rethink,” said Dan Driscoll, green transportation director for the DCR. “We determined that it was just too much to bite off as one big project.”
The full length is “really complicated” and demands a rethinking of River Street and Western Avenue, Driscoll said.
The state expects to be back before the commission March 11 to present the truncated, $13 million plan at its 75 percent-designed stage. Finishing the design is expected in the spring, followed by putting the job out to bid midsummer for fall construction. “That’s probably a little aggressive,” Driscoll said. “It could be the spring of 2025 depending on a bunch of elements and how this all comes together with the budget.”
The second portion, east of JFK Street, does look complicated: At a February community meeting, residents of the Riverside neighborhood objected to any change that might worsen traffic on their residential streets, and the road diet was news to them – and bad news. Even city councillor Paul Toner expressed skepticism at the meeting, saying that although the state’s safety goals were good, Memorial Drive is “the one throughway we have.”
DCR commissioner Brian Arrigo looked cowed by the uproar about a road diet and closing a section of Memorial Drive to car traffic on Saturdays, which creates a recreation area known as Riverbend Park. There’s no sign that a follow-up meeting agreed on for the third week of February happened.
Memorial down to two lanes
The existing roadway for traffic between Hawthorn and JFK streets is 40 feet wide; it will go down to 26 feet, with 3-foot shoulders and two 10-foot travel lanes. Along the river will be an 11-foot bike path and 5-foot walking path.
The span in this phase is between Eliot Bridge to the Larz Anderson Bridge – slightly over a mile. “This is arguably one of the most dangerous parts of the path, considering the number of people that use it,” said Driscoll, noting its limited width, lack of compliance with Americans with Disabilities Act regulations and sharp edges that have injured runners. The state plans to make the path wider and ADA compliant, allowing for the removal of guardrails without sacrificing safety.
For the section between Hawthorn and Riverbend Park, the path for bikes and other modes of transport will be closer to the road; the pedestrian path will be set against the river. “It’s really going to feel like a park experience away from every other user,” Driscoll said. To further enhance the walking experience, DCR wants to add an overlook structure like one on the Boston side of the river. There will also be water fountains.
The project has gone through extensive public comment over several years and additional review processes due to new environmental justice criteria, Driscoll said.
Trees and stormwater
Trees came up frequently in public comment, particularly the proposed removal of several London planetrees. “We have seven compromised trees that do need to come out – they’re literally hazard trees that have been hit over the years and have big cavities,” Driscoll said.
DCR plans to add 70 new native tree species as well as additional London planetrees. Sidewalks will be made of “finicky and difficult to put in” porous pavement for the benefit of the trees, as it allows in more air and water “to help those trees in any way we can,” Driscoll said.
Stormwater collection will be improved with more collection systems, catch basins and bioretention swales – so despite the addition or widening of paths, the project will still lead to an overall reduction of impervious surface by an acre, Driscoll said. This means less phosphorus entering the Charles River.
The public parking lot of the Cambridge Boat Club will also be reconfigured, Driscoll said.
Ridiculous one of our best amenities is a damn car sewer.
Fantastic news about Mem Drive. It is a dangerous stretch of road. Slowing down traffic will save lives. It will also make the riverfront area much more pleasant for people.
Very curious what they come up with. I wonder if it would make sense to drop it down to 3 lanes between the Mass Ave Bridge and Eliot Bridge and you can use the middle lane as a second lane that switches for morning and afternoon commute. Can demarcate it with LED lights in the pavement
“Even city councillor Paul Toner expressed skepticism at the meeting” What do you mean ‘even’? He is a consistent opponent of street safety and public realm improvements, of course he would.
For the love of god can we just fix the T before we start making major road changes? And maybe here we could use a water taxi. And can we please -not- take down trees, the city has killed so many already in the past few years.
Paul Toner is consistently the most car friendly city councilor. Not sure why anyone who follows would be remotely surprised. If a car accidentally kills a pedestrian, at least they receive a $150 moving violation.
Last night there was a 2-car crash on Memorial Drive/Western Ave, one person transported to hospital. One car ended up on its roof:
https://twitter.com/CambridgeMAFire/status/1766639150436860248
This is what Toner is fighting to preserve, both here and across Cambridge: a world of constant traffic injuries. We keep seeing really bad car crashes on Memorial Drive. The problem being that cars go too fast, and the design encourages going too fast. A road diet helps discourage speeding.
A _very_ partial list of past crashes:
https://twitter.com/NBC10Boston/status/1733119854004068790 (2-car car crash December 2023)
https://www.masslive.com/news/2023/07/driver-seriously-hurt-after-car-crashes-in-cambridge-during-saturdays-storm.html
https://twitter.com/CambridgePolice/status/1664396599697580033 (2-car crash, June 1, 2023)
Northeastern Rowing Coaches Save Man After He Drives Car Into River During Medical Episode, Sept 28, 2021
SUV plunges into Charles River after crash on Memorial Drive in Cambridge, Aug 24, 2021
Pedestrian Suffers Life-Threatening Injuries in Memorial Drive Crash, Apr 30,2021 (28 yo woman, near Dunster House)
74 yo pedestrian involved in Cambridge crash has died from her injuries, Mar 4, 2020 (Juzhen Feng, near Ames St./MIT)
Ped hit at Plympton St by vehicle turning from Mem Dr. 9/7/2018
Woman Dies After Being Hit By Car In Cambridge, May 17, 2017 (Molly Doub, near Microcenter)
Dump Truck hits cyclist, July 2016 (Middle aged black woman cyclist, at Mem Drive end of Mass Ave Bridge)
Pedestrian Killed in Morning Car Crash on Memorial Dr., Aug 19, 2014 (50 yo Mark C. Keiser, East of Mass Ave Bridge)
Petition to MIT and Gov after MIT Sailing staff was critically injured 2 weeks after similar crash, Nov 14, 2014 (Phil Gilbert, near MIT Sailing Pavillion)
BU Student killed on Memorial Drive; First-year struck by oncoming car, Oct 4, 2006 (Beatriz Ponce, at crossing at Amesbury Street)
Teen Dies After High-Speed Crash, Dec 28, 2005 (Shin Gil Moon, near Longfellow Bridge)
@q99: “For the love of god can we just fix the T before we start making major road changes?”
No. People should not have to continue to die on our roadways until public transit is good enough to be a valid alternative to driving in your eyes. The most important consideration simply cannot be traffic volumes anymore.
“And maybe here we could use a water taxi”
Not a bad idea in theory but hard to make work on the Charles with its windy path and strict speed limits. Someone is currently trying: https://www.axios.com/local/boston/2023/08/18/wada-hoppah-ferry-watertown but we shall have to see if it goes anywhere.
“And can we please -not- take down trees, the city has killed so many already in the past few years.”
It sounds like they are planning to remove trees that actively pose a danger and otherwise planning to retain as many as possible while planting new trees with better diversity. I would agree with you about the necessity to preserve existing large healthy trees. Those simply cannot be replaced by saplings, but large unhealthy trees on major urban roads are a genuine hazard to people and replacing them with young, healthy, and native trees is a good thing for long term urban forest health.
7 for 70 trees seems like a reasonable exchange
Finally. It’s a bummer they scoped this down AND have delayed it significantly. But even this is a big improvement over the status quo.
Paul Toner… please… have better ideas…
Traffic violence, maiming, and death happens to other people, Itamar. Their ruined lives are the price we have to pay to save motorists 5 minutes of time!
Very happy to hear about the beginning of change on Mem drive. Won’t hurt that major shutdowns on Cambridge RLine are over by the time construction starts. Looking forward to the day I can safely bike with my kid along the river all the way to the BU bridge. Start where we can and move forward from there.