On Tuesday evening, MassDOT hosted a virtual hearing for an update on its new bike and pedestrian bridge over the Mystic River between Draw Seven Park in Somerville and the Northern Strand Trail in Everett, which it expects to complete by the end of 2029.
The meeting presented the bridge's "25 percent" design – a concept-level plan that, if approved, will allow the project to advance into its final phases of permitting and drawing up detailed construction blueprints.
William Conroy, MassDOT's project manager, told attendees that the agency had already made "extensive, I would say leaps and bounds since the last public information meeting" progress in the project's environmental permitting process, a necessary step before the project begins construction sometime next year.
The broad details of the design remain unchanged from versions that MassDOT had presented earlier this year. The bridge will be 18 feet wide, with gentle slopes that will be fully accessible under Americans With Disabilities Act standards.
But project designers were also able to share some new details. For instance, the bridge will have lighting integrated into its railings to illuminate the bridge deck at night (see rendering above).
MassDOT also offered a look at how the new bridge will connect to existing riverfront public spaces in Everett and Somerville.
On the Somerville side, the bridge will thread under the existing MBTA regional rail bridge near the riverbank and above the existing riverbank trail in Draw Seven Park, before touching down at an oval plaza next to the Assembly Orange Line station.
That plaza is already under construction as part of the Department of Conservation and Recreation's ongoing renovations to Draw Seven Park.
"We have been coordinating with DCR and the park designers to fully integrate both of these projects together," explained Dirk Grotenhuis, an engineering consultant for the project.
During the meeting's question-and-answer session, Rep. Mike Connolly of Cambridge asked about plans to provide a direct connection between the bridge and the Assembly Orange Line station.
Currently, the Assembly station is only accessible from Great River Road, west of the tracks. A connection to Draw Seven Park would require the construction of a new station entrance and elevator on the east side of the tracks (see rendering below).
Conroy responded that MassDOT has completed preliminary designs for that new station entrance, but that the MBTA needs additional funding to actually build it.
"That project is not funded at this time," said Conroy.
Without that entrance, Orange Line riders will need to walk a 8 to 12 minute detour, walking north to cross under the Orange Line tracks at Artisan Way, then heading south again across Draw Seven Park to the bridge landing.
On the Everett side, the bridge will touch down at the end of the peninsula where the Northern Strand Trail meets the Encore Casino Harbor Walk.
MassDOT plans to pursue a "design-build" contract for the bridge's construction. The agency aims to solicit construction bids next spring to begin construction by the fall of 2026.
Under that process, MassDOT would establish technical requirements for the new bridge, but contractors would be allowed some flexibility in design details and construction techniques in hopes of delivering the bridge on a faster timeline or at a lower cost.
The agency has estimated that the project will cost $62 million.
