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Detours Take Effect for Broadway in Kendall Square, Part of Region’s Busiest Bike Route

A satellite-view map of detours on Broadway in Cambridge between Galileo Galilei Way (at the left edge) and Ames Street (at the right edge). A hashed "work zone" is shaded in along the north side of the block in the upper half of the aerial view. A right arrow indicates one-way motor vehicle traffic in the middle of Broadway; below that, another two-way arrow indicates two-way bike traffic on a separated path along the southern edge of the roadway; below that, a dashed line indicates a pedestrian detour route along the southern sidewalk.

Map of detours on Broadway in Kendall Square, effective Nov. 22, 2024, and expected to last for most of 2025. Courtesy of the City of Cambridge.

Starting on Friday, the City of Cambridge and contractors from Turner Construction will implement bike and pedestrian detours on Broadway between Ames Street and Galilei Way in Kendall Square, part of a heavily-used bike route that connects the Longfellow Bridge to Inman Square.

As part of an ongoing construction project for a new underground Eversource substation, the northern half of Broadway (the westbound lanes) will be closed for most of the next year.

According to a City of Cambridge notice, motor vehicle traffic on Broadway will be allowed only in the eastbound direction (toward Boston).

Two-way bike traffic will be accommodated on the southern side of Broadway, in a new separated bike path. Pedestrians will be restricted to the southern sidewalk between Ames and Galileo Galilei Way.

Pedestrians and westbound bike traffic will need to cross Broadway at either Galileo Way or Ames Street.

Workers will start implementing the detour on Friday Nov. 22nd, and the detour should be fully in place before the morning commute on Monday the 25th. The city expects the detour to remain in place for "at least one year."

Broadway is part of an interconnected corridor of protected bike lanes that connects downtown Boston to Kendall Square and Somerville. An "eco-totem" automated bike counter on Broadway just east of Ames Street has recorded an average of 2,259 people on bikes using the street on weekdays so far this year.

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