Today, the Boston Globe published a reminder that we still have no idea when or how the state's Department of Conservation and Recreation will build a long-planned bridge over the Mystic River to connect Everett to the Assembly Orange Line Station (see map above).
Ten months ago, Kurt Gaertner, the Asst. Secretary for Environmental Policy at the Commonwealth's Executive Office of Energy & Environmental Affairs, told StreetsblogMASS that the bridge would be under contract "at the end of the calendar year," which is to say, four and a half months ago.
That didn't happen, and in today's follow-up, Globe reporter Spencer Buell observes that "the public hasn’t seen a building plan for the new footbridge since 2021, when they first glimpsed renderings of a bridge plan that has since been put back on the drawing board."
The delay may have a silver lining: Buell reported that the Commonwealth is "considering feedback" from advocates who requested a slightly wider bridge deck – from 12 feet in the previous design to a proposed 14-foot width – to better accommodate anticipated crowds.
