River St and Western Ave Bridges
River St and Western Ave Bridges
About this Project
The River Street Bridge/Western Avenue Bridge Rehabilitation Project is being undertaken by MassDOT as part of the Commonwealth’s Accelerated Bridge Program. The goals of the project are to improve structural integrity and enhance accessibility. The main objectives are to repair deteriorating elements of the bridges, upgrade structural capacity and improve local street connections and accessibility. The proposed rehabilitation will respect the documented historic status of these landmark structures and preserve as many of the original elements as possible. Preliminary designs include a bike lane across each bridge.
> View the presentation from the February 3, 2010 Preliminary Design Meeting in Allston.
LivableStreets' Efforts
LivableStreets has been working to reach out to the community to ask for their support for significant bicycle, pedestrian, and transit improvements to the bridges and surrounding intersections. MassDOT has said that the intersections are part of this project, however, we feel that the project does not go far enough west into Boston to have a truly meaningful outcome. LivableStreets feels that this project MUST include the stretch of Cambridge St west of the bridge past all of the Mass Pike on- and off-ramps. This stretch of road is one of the busiest, unsafe, and confusing in the metro-Boston area for all users. The City of Boston is planning to add bike lanes to Cambridge St, but they will stop at the intersection with the Mass Pike off-ramp next to the DoubleTree Hotel. We also feel strongly that the Soldiers Field Road frontage road must be included, so that bike lanes can be added and that improved pedestrian crossings of the Mass Pike on-ramps can be included. We have created conceptual design diagrams to communicate our ideas with MassDOT, which are included with our letter below.
> Read more about our Better Bridges Campaign
> Read more about the Accelerated Bridge Program.
LivableStreets Correspondence
- River Street/Western Ave Bridges (Handout for Allston Public Meeting) - February 3, 2010
- River Street/Western Ave Bridges (Handout for Cambridgeport Public Meeting) - March 9, 2010
- River Street/Western Ave Bridges (Letter and Conceptual Drawings) - March 18, 2010
More Information
If you have questions or would like more information about the project, please contact Robert Antico, MassDOT Highway Division Project Manager, Robert.Antico@state.ma.us.
To be added to the project email or US Mail distribution lists, please contact Stephanie Boundy, Public Outreach Coordinator for MassDOT’s Accelerated Bridge Program, at 617-973-8049 or Stephanie.Boundy@state.ma.us.
For more information about LivableStreets' efforts, please contact Jackie Douglas at jackie@livablestreets.info.