Officials from the Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) have told local elected officials that the work will begin on Monday on several safety upgrades near the location where a driver struck and killed John Corcoran last week on a busy riverfront bike and jogging path in Cambridge.
Rep. Mike Connolly, who represents Cambridge neighborhoods to the north and northeast of the crash site, told StreetsblogMASS that he and several other State House officials, plus the Cambridge city manager, had met on Thursday with DCR officials to review the agency's plans, which have since been posted online.
DCR, the state's parks agency, is responsible for the design of the Memorial Drive highway and its adjacent riverfront paths.
DCR plans to widen the Paul Dudley White path between Magazine Beach and the Boston University Boathouse to a consistent 12-foot width.
Currently, the path's pedestrian and bike traffic has to share a poorly maintained 6-foot-wide sidewalk through this segment.
The agency will also widen wheelchair ramps at crosswalks where the path crosses the entrance to the B.U. Bridge.
These infrastructure changes align with several recommendations that local safety advocates and elected officials made last year.
In response to requests from Rep. Connolly and other local elected officials, DCR will also "permanently" reduce the speed limit in the area from 35 mph to 25 mph.
Rep. Connolly added that while DCR does this work, which is expected to last until Thanksgiving, the agency will also close one westbound lane of traffic on Memorial Drive between the Magazine Beach footbridge and the Amesbury Street crosswalks – a distance of about 1/3 of a mile.
Rep. Connolly has requested that DCR monitor traffic patterns during this lane closure "to help inform future automobile lane reductions."
DCR is already moving forward with plans to reduce Memorial Drive from 4 lanes to 2 lanes west of Harvard Square, although construction on that project has been pushed back until 2025.
"Thank you to DCR for working with us on these changes, efforts that date back to last year and build on years of local advocacy," said Rep. Connolly in a statement he provided to StreetsblogMASS. "And thank you as well to the activists and residents who continue to call for safety upgrades along Memorial Drive."
