Cambridge continues to pedal toward its goal of 25 miles of separated bike lanes by the end of 2026. According to a new report, the city completed or began work on 3.28 miles of lanes between April 30, 2025 and May 1, 2026, about the average of the last six years.
This year’s addition to the city’s growing network of separated bike lanes, which keep cars and bicycles apart with flex posts and other traffic infrastructure, adds to the now 18.78 miles of lanes built since the first year of the Cycling Safety Ordinance (CSO) in 2020. The ordinance had been passed in 2019 but then amended.
It requires Cambridge to build a network of city-wide lanes by November 2026, with a goal of eliminating all traffic-related fatalities and serious injuries. The ordinance requires the installation of lanes in a few specific sections, including all of Massachusetts Avenue and sections of Broadway, Cambridge St, Hampshire St and Garden St, as well as 11.6 more miles of lanes throughout the city.
Around two miles of this year’s 3.28 are finished while the rest remains in progress. Most of the year six bike paths were quick build lanes, which install street-level flex posts and new paint. Sections on Third St and Mass. Ave, however, needed constructed lanes. According to the report, the city also held 17 public events and meetings about the ongoing work from May to April.
At an Aug. 3 city council meeting, where the report was introduced, Councilor Cathie Zusy called the progress an “extraordinary accomplishment.”
Still, she expressed concerns over some of the future projects. “We need the network,” Zusy said. “I use the network. I feel safer using the network. But we also need to be thinking more broadly and making sure that residents who have to drive can drive, and that pedestrians feel safe, and that people have the parking they need.”
Zusy and Councillor Tim Flaherty both questioned the need for bike lanes on the outer section of Huron Ave, which passes Fresh Pond and other recreational areas. Cambridge Transportation Commissioner Brooke McKenna clarified that Huron Ave was always included in the ordinance, calling it an “important network” for anyone riding into Cambridge from the west.
Councillor Patty Nolan asked for an update on the Grand Junction Multi-Use Path, which will run along existing railroad tracks between the Boston University Bridge and Somerville and was not included in the year six report. According to McKenna, the city is working through jurisdiction issues. She said the section of the Grand Junction path between Main St and Cambridge St will be “the next big step.”
The city has saved some of the more complex routes for last. The year seven agenda includes finishing up lanes on Broadway and adding a few sections on Cambridge St, which are both part of the “Special4.” Work on what was formerly called “MassAve4” — four particularly complex sections of the street — has previously been delayed. The city said it plans to finish most of the installation on Mass. Ave before November. The plan for the rest of the year also includes the contested outer section of Huron Ave.
In order to meet the CSO deadline — which was pushed by six months in 2024 — the city will need to at least begin work on another 6.22 miles by Nov. 30. That would be unprecedented progress, based on the pace of installation so far. In previous years, the city has completed or started construction on anywhere between 1.9 and 4.19 miles. The report made clear the city will not meet its deadline, with 1.84 miles not slated to begin until 2027.
When asked by Councilor Marc McGovern if the city is on target with the Mass. Ave construction, McKenna said “I don’t think there were targets in the presentation of construction in the ordinance… But I would say that we’re in a good place now in terms of adding some of them moving forward.”
A stronger
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