It may feel like Carl Barron Plaza, in the heart of Central Square, has been torn up and fenced off for years, that progress has stopped with no relief in sight or an explanation why.
But major disruption to the square arrived only a year ago and work hasn’t stopped, which is why there have been no extraordinary measures to update this public, city spokespeople said. The plaza project is on track for substantial completion by the end of the year.
That may be hard to keep in mind for people who walk through or around the construction site daily.
Work “seems to have stopped in its tracks about six or so months ago,” resident Jeanne Cronin said. “Have they run out of money? Have they lost interest? Nobody seems to be taking responsibility for it, and it’s pretty much a mess.”
The project has “torn up the center of Central Square for more than two years. And, for all intents and purposes, seems to be dormant,” said Marty Ostrow of Cambridgeport.
Why the plaza is still torn up
An updated plaza is part of a $25 million River Street Reconstruction Project that began near the end of 2022 and is working to overhaul the corridor – the surface and many of its underground utilities – from Memorial Drive to Massachusetts Avenue, along with adjoining streets and public spaces. The overall River Street project is expected to be finished in mid- to late 2026.
Work on the plaza began in December 2023 with tree removals and the digging of test pits. Major excavation – and disruption – began in July 2024, according to a city schedule.
The work since has so far focused on upgrading infrastructure and underground utilities, installing specialized soils along with new aeration and irrigation systems for trees and putting down pavers in the courtyard of the Holmes building, which has an entrance on the plaza, said Jeremy Warnick, the city’s director of communications and media relations.
“The first year, there [was] a lot of underground, kind of invisible stuff which the public doesn’t see and we understand is frustrating,” project supervising engineer Jerry Friedman said. “By this fall, it’ll be a much different place. It won’t be done-done yet, but as we can finish pieces of it and [gradually] make it occupiable, I think a lot of the disruption will start to disappear.”
Foundations have also been installed for new bus shelters and for the Ribbon – a plaza-spanning art installation that will provide seating, lighting and public device-charging stations and be decorated with imagery of the Charles River and local wildlife.
Installation of the Ribbon was delayed by assembly issues, said Medford artist Sophy Tuttle, who was selected by Cambridge Arts to paint the Ribbon for a commission of roughly $50,000 – part of the city’s “Percent-For-Art” program that sets aside 1 percent of a project’s costs for site-specific public art. “I want to bring the joy that I got from [growing up in] nature into the city and more chaotic places, just to help people feel more comfortable with nature so that they feel like its accessible,” Tuttle said.
The assembly issues have been resolved, said Cambridge Arts director of public art Lilian Hsu, but painting the ribbon has to wait until the plaza is closer to completion and all pieces of the Ribbon are in place.
Businesses brace for more construction
Workers recently tested aeration and irrigation systems, as work to reopen the main walkway on the street-facing side of the plaza begins within the next month, Friedman said. Workers will start placing concrete for the new, widened walkway in the coming weeks, and a separated bike lane will be added by September.
Two bus shelters will be added: one on Green Street this fall and one on River Street in late 2025 or early 2026 that will include an MBTA supervisor’s office. Spokespeople said there were delays in fabricating the custom shelter for River Street.
Local business owners have felt the impact of the prolonged construction. Michael Monestime, president of the Central Square Business Improvement District, said businesses have faced disruptions due to torn-up sidewalks and blocked off walkways. “When the barrier fences went up, some of the businesses on the Holmes Building block side of the construction felt hidden,” Monestime said.
The city and its project managers have been helpful in communicating with businesses about the work being done and making necessary adjustments, Monestime said.
Work around Central Square will not end with Carl Barron Plaza, he said. That renovation and upcoming infrastructure improvements throughout Massachusetts Avenue means almost $100 million is being invested into refurbishing the neighborhood. “Construction is hard,” Monestime said, but it brings benefits to residents and businesses and “could be a new anchor asset for those small businesses around Carl Barron Plaza.”
“This is how certain businesses flourish on Lafayette Square,” Monestime said, referring to the east end of Central where Jill Brown-Rhone Park provides seating and public space where people can discover vintage shops, restaurants and ice cream shops.
Where to learn more
From 2018 to 2023, the city hosted working groups, community meetings and open houses as part of River Street and Carl Barron Plaza redesign work. This outreach included door-to-door efforts, Warnick said.
The city may hold “coffee talks” in a café near the plaza to give updates, Friedman said, though no location or time has been confirmed.
Signs are usually posted around the area to try to communicate construction updates too, Warnick said – sandwich boards and flyers mounted on poles and outside some businesses and storefronts.
Information can be found online, with the Department of Public Works offering a dedicated project newsletter and a website with weekly construction updates and staff contacts.
This post was updated July 4, 2025, with changes throughout from additional information provided by project supervising engineer Jerry Friedman.
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When the plans for an “improved” Barron Plaza were being circulated, quite a few people understood it as being motivated by a wish to displace the Plaza’s “undesirables” from the square. What then could possibly be the city’s incentive to complete it, let alone in a timely fashion?