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Neighborhoods Not Highways

Remove McGrath Highway from the Charles River to Mystic River
Like many old commuter arterials now replaced by new Interstates, the McGrath/O'Brien Highway is falling apart. Since I-93 now carries most regional traffic, will McGrath simply be rebuilt as a 6-lane highway or transformed into the set of urban streets it once was?

LivableStreets efforts
LivableStreets Alliance has created a coalition of community, environmental, transportation, and health advocates from Boston, Cambridge, Somerville, and Medford who all support a new vision to reunite and reinvigorate our communities.

We have formulated a set of five common values that each of our groups will push for:

  • Reunite neighborhoods cut apart by the highway.
  • Humanize the space by lowering traffic speeds, reducing noise and pollution, narrowing lane width, and reducing the current six (or more) lanes to four. 
  • Make traveling across and along the corridor safer and more inviting for pedestrians, bicyclists, and bus riders.
  • Add more trees, grass, storm-water drainage, and other green features.
  • Encourage local retail and job-creating businesses; including crafts-based and green-economy enterprises.

The coalition is working to shape streets in the McGrath/O'Brien Corridor to make the surrounding communities more livable, healthy, and prosperous.

Take action / get involved
Support the effort, join LivableStreets today.
For more information, and to get involved, contact jackie@livablestreets.info

Related Projects
There are over 20 projects along or near the corridor that will affect how it develops over time. A few key projects are:

1. Grounding McGrath: Determining the Future of Route 28
MassDOT is currently looking at what to do with the McCarthy Overpass, the elevated section of Route 28 that divides Union Square and East Somerville. Should it be removed altogether or should a new overpass be built in its place? A Working Group was formed in July 2011 and will meet for approximately one year. LivableStreets has a representative on the Working Group.
2. Green Line Extension/Community Path Extension
3. NorthPoint Development
4. New bike lanes on Washington St, Medford St, and Somerville Ave
5. Union Square Transportation Plan
6. Broadway East Somerville Reconstruction
7. I-93/Mystic Ave Interchange Study
8. Assembly Square Redevelopment