Mass Ave Improvements - Harvard Square

The City is committed to implementing separated bike lanes on Mass. Ave. to improve safety, consistent with the Cambridge Bicycle Plan and the Cycling Safety Ordinance.

The amendments to the Ordinance require the installation of separated bike lanes on:

all of Massachusetts Ave;
Broadway from Quincy St to Hampshire St;
Cambridge St from Oak St to Second St;
Hampshire St from Amory Street to Broadway;
Garden St, eastbound from Huron Ave to Berkeley St, and westbound from Mason St to Huron Ave;
and 11.6 miles of separated bike lanes in other locations that are a part of the Bicycle Network Vision.

In the Cycling Safety Ordinance, sections of Mass. Ave. that have complicating factors were identified as the “MassAve4” (the two major bus stops in Harvard Square and two sections with overhead bus wires). The City completed an impacts analysis, as required in the Cycling Safety Ordinance.

Given the high volume bus stops in this corridor, construction is required to provide separated bike lanes and floating bus stops. Construction also provides an opportunity to incorporate other improvements including accessible sidewalks and bus stops, tree plantings and utility upgrades. $10M in funding has been identified in the City’s 5 Year Sidewalk and Street Reconstruction Plan for Mass. Ave. between Plympton and Garden.

Goals

Improve safety for people biking in the project area
Improve safety for people walking at existing crosswalks
Improve safety for transit riders with enhanced markings and signage at bus stops
Improve travel times and reliability of MBTA buses
Implement changes in line with the Cambridge Bicycle Plan and Vision Zero Action Plan
Meet the requirements of the Cambridge Cycling Safety Ordinance, which includes the requirement to add separated bike lanes

Recommendation

In April 2022, after an extensive community engagement process, the City Council approved the submitted recommendation that these MassAve4 segments undergo partial construction to adhere to the Cycling Safety Ordinance and manage the complication factors of the bus stops and overhead wires. The full report of that recommendation can be found here.

Why Install Separated Bike Lanes?

Separated bike lanes provide more space and vertical separation between people on bikes and people in cars. More people are comfortable biking in separated bike lanes than in traditional bike lanes or in traffic with cars, buses, and trucks. Separated bike lanes also increase safety for people walking by reducing crossing distances.

The Latest
Schedule
Quick-Build Vs. Construction
Documents
Contact

Notice: Sewer and Stormwater Pipe Inspections in Harvard Square continuing Tuesday April 18, 2023 through Friday April 21

The Department of Public Works and its contractor, Insituform, will continue cleaning and inspecting the underground sewer and stormwater collection systems this week. Work is planned from Mass Ave at Bow Street to Mass Ave at Garden Street. Sewer and stormwater pipes on side streets will also be inspected.

Work hours will be Tuesday, April 18 through Friday, April 21 from 7am to 4pm. Work is expected to be complete this week.

This work is being performed to document the existing conditions of these important underground utilities.

No Parking signage will be posted at various locations during the week. Parking impacts will be minimized to the extent possible.

Questions about the MassAve4 project? Feedback can be sent to massave4@cambridgema.gov.

Notice: Sewer and Stormwater Pipe Inspections in Harvard Square beginning Monday April 14, 2023

Beginning Monday April 14, the Department of Public Works and its contractor, Insituform, will be cleaning and inspecting the underground sewer and stormwater collection systems. Work is planned from Mass Ave at Bow Street to Mass Ave at Garden Street. Sewer and stormwater pipes on side streets will also be inspected.

Work hours will be Monday, April 10 through Friday, April 14, 2023 from 7am to 4pm.

This work is being performed to document the existing conditions of these important underground utilities.

No Parking signage will be posted at various locations during the week. Parking impacts will be minimized to the extent possible.

Questions about the MassAve4 project? Feedback can be sent to massave4@cambridgema.gov.

Several new documents from the October 12, 2022 meeting have been uploaded to the 'Documents' tab.

The presentation for the October 12, 2022 Community Meeting is now available to view:

Community Meeting - Wednesday, October 12, 2022 6:00 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.

The City is committed to implementing separated bike lanes on Mass. Ave. to improve safety, consistent with the Cambridge Bike Plan and the Cycling Safety Ordinance.

Given the high volume bus stops in this corridor, construction is required to provide separated bike lanes and floating bus stops. Construction also provides an opportunity to incorporate other improvements including accessible sidewalks and bus stops, tree plantings and utility upgrades.

Community Meeting #2
Virtual via Zoom
Wednesday, October 12th, 2022
6:00 – 7:30 PM
Register to attend this meeting:
https://tinyurl.com/harvardbusstops

This meeting will focus on the Harvard Square area, including a review of multimodal design considerations and the proposed concept design. There will also be an update on the Kiosk construction project.

Visit the project page to view the video presentation, starting on October 7. This video will also be played live at the meeting.

Following the video there will be the opportunity to provide comments and ask questions.

Recommendation Submitted to City Council

The boards presented at yesterday's pop up event can be found on the "Documents" tab.

DATE CHANGE: Pop Up Info Session -Tuesday, March 22, 2022 3-7PM

Due to forecasted rain, the date of this event has been changed. It will now be on Tuesday, March 22nd 3-7PM.

On Tuesday, March 22, 2022 3-7PM., we will hold an outdoor pop up information session to discuss changes to Mass Ave in relation to the Cycling Safety Ordinance.

During the event, you will have a chance to:

Engage directly with members of our staff,
Review updates to the plan
Ask questions and receive information

We hope you can attend as we value the feedback we get from residents and businesses.

Pop Up Info Session - Saturday, March 19, 2022 10AM-2PM

On Saturday, March 19 from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m., we will hold an outdoor pop up information session to discuss changes to Mass Ave in relation to the Cycling Safety Ordinance.

During the event, you will have a chance to:

Engage directly with members of our staff,
Review updates to the plan
Ask questions and receive information

We hope you can attend as we value the feedback we get from residents and businesses.

Community Meeting - Thursday, March 10, 2022 6 p.m. - 8 p.m.

The City of Cambridge invites you to a virtual community meeting to discuss projects associated with the Cycling Safety Ordinance. This meeting will focus on the two bus stop segments in Harvard Square - Garden St. to Church St. and Dunster St. to Plympton St. There will also be an update on the Kiosk construction project.

https://cambridgema.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_UWuNPwMUR0SAcQ1JfoTx1g

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.

There will be a presentation starting at 6 p.m. followed by a question and answer session. Attendees will be able to unmute themselves and ask questions or they can submit questions via the Q&A function in zoom.

The City of Cambridge does not discriminate on the basis of disability. The City of Cambridge will provide auxiliary aids and services, written materials in alternative format, and reasonable modifications in policies upon request. To receive future updates via email, please contact massave4@cambridgema.gov

The City is working to determine which sections of the Mass4 will implement separated bike lanes using quick-build methods and which sections require construction. This determination will be based on further analysis and review of the impacts and cost of each approach (quick-build and construction).

The City will be hosting community meetings throughout the design process. Please see the "Schedule" tab for a general schedule of the project.

City has hired a consultant to develop concept designs for this section of Mass. Ave. Work includes:

Fall 2021: Full topographic survey

Fall/Winter 2021: Pavement, sidewalk and utility assessment to determine scope and extent of construction.

Spring 2022: a Series of community meetings will be held to develop the design for the separated bike lane, sidewalk improvements, bus stop and operational improvements, green infrastructure and opportunities for additional street trees.

Winter 2023: Developing bid package including plans, specifications, and estimate to hire a contractor.

Spring 2024: Construction anticipated to begin, subject to council approval* of the timeline in April 2022.

*If City Council does not approve a construction timeline by April 30, 2022, we must install quick-build separated bike lanes on segments where we recommend construction, regardless of the impacts outlined in the Impacts Report, by April 30, 2024.

What is "Quick-Build"?

Quick-build methods include pavement markings, flex-posts, signage, and signal changes. Quick-build projects can be implemented more quickly, but changes are limited to signs, pavements markings and posts.

What is "Construction"?

Construction involves more extensive changes, including moving curbs and/or removing medians. Work becomes more complex anytime we dig into the ground, and construction projects typically include work on the infrastructure (e.g., water, drainage and sewer pipes, traffic signal wires) that we have underground. The impacts analysis shows that installing quick-build separated bike lanes on these two segments of Mass Ave would have significant negative impacts on other road users. Construction may allow us to make more significant changes (e.g., removing the median) that would reduce some of the potential negative impacts, however, we need to determine the cost of construction on these sections of Mass. Ave. and also further evaluate the catenary wires.

How do you determine what is quick build and what will require construction?

More analysis and design work are required on these sections with the catenary wires to determine which can be quick-build, which sections require construction, the scope and extent of construction, and the order of magnitude cost of construction.

What are the timeline implications of each?

For blocks that require construction, we must propose and get City Council approval on an implementation timeline by April 30, 2022. For the blocks that are quick-build, the separated bike lanes are required to be installed by April 30, 2023.

Questions or comments? Contact MassAve4@cambridgema.gov

Sign up to receive updates for this project, or any other projects associated with the Cycling Safety Ordinance, click here.