McGrath Blvd

MassDOT is slated to resurface McGrath Highway soon and remove one lane of traffic in each direction as a road diet to repurpose the lanes as buffered bike lanes. In parallel, MassDOT is also advancing the McGrath Boulevard project to 25% design. Recap: The McGrath Boulevard project will remove the McCarthy Overpass section of McGrath Highway and replace it with a street-level multimodal boulevard. The conceptual design was the result of MassDOT's consensus-driven process with the Somerville community and other regional stakeholders between 2015-2018. When the project reaches 25% design, MassDOT will initiate public outreach and opportunities for community feedback. View the official project page. The McGrath Boulevard project (#607981) is identified in the Boston Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) Destination 2040 Long Range Transportation Plan in the FFY 2025-2030 timeframe. 

At a public meeting in late May, the State shared the latest thinking on bringing down the McGrath Highway overpass and replacing it with something more friendly. Download the presentation to see details on current construction, the traffic study, current planning on ped, bike, and transit modes, and much more. Also check out the official MassDOT project website and a quick project fact sheet.

A Somerville Journal guest column…
It seems like the same old story for our city. The state continues delaying the long-promised Green Line but pushes unwanted repair of the McCarthy overpass ahead of completing the planning study to remove the overpass despite strong opposition from community. We still have one small hope of removing this overpass – a public hearing is scheduled for next Thursday.

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Sent to the Board of Directors of MassDOT
As residents of Somerville advocating for good transportation for our city and the region, we are writing to express our dismay over the rush to repair the McCarthy Overpass on the McGrath Highway. It was with frustration and incredulity that we just recently heard of the decision by MassDOT to rush to repair the Overpass despite the strong objections of residents of Somerville and Cambridge. The fact that there was no public involvement with the community with Mass DOT about the impact of the repairs on travel in the area is completely unacceptable especially when compared to the significant community engagement that took place when the same roadway was closed for repairs at the Museum of Science and for the traffic restrictions due to repairs on the Longfellow Bridge.

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