Update: MassDOT Improves Allston Construction Detour Following Streetsblog Coverage

Responding to a reader's petition, MassDOT removed a barrier that had formerly blocked access to a busy bike lane on the Cambridge Street bridge over I-90 in Allston.

By Christian MilNeil

11:55 AM EST on January 20, 2026

A photograph of a bridge construction zone in winter. In the foreground a metal crash barrier and chain link fence separate a concrete sidewalk (left) from a multi-lane roadway (right). In the middle distance another fence blocks the sidewalk, with an orange "detour" sign pointing right towards the roadway behind an orange construction barrel. In the distance, a crash barrier in the roadway separates car traffic from a temporary sidewalk across the bridge. On the left edge of the photo a second pedestrian bridge joins with the sidewalk. — The reconfigured construction zone at the end of the Cambridge Street Bridge in Allston, pictured on Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2026. Photo courtesy of Emily Jacobsen.

MassDOT has rearranged its construction zone to improve bike and pedestrian access on a key crossing of Interstate 90 in Boston's Allston neighborhood in response to a Streetsblog reader's petition last week.

As we reported last Thursday, a MassDOT construction project on the Cambridge Street bridge in Allston had erected construction barriers that blocked the southbound Cambridge Street bike lane and the southern entrance of the Franklin Street footbridge over I-90.

For most of last week, those barriers had funneled hundreds of bicycle users and pedestrians who use both bridges to share a narrow, broken sidewalk between the footbridge and the Harvard Ave. intersection.

On Wednesday, StreetsblogMASS reader Emily Jacobsen, who regularly bikes over the bridge on her commute, emailed local elected officials and started an online petition to draw attention to the problem.

A map of the Allston neighborhood highlighting the triangular area between Cambridge St., Commonwealth Ave., and the Charles River as the Allston Multimodal Project area. A red dot at the far left edge of that triangle marks the location of the Cambridge St. overpass over I-90 — The Cambridge Street overpass and the Allston Multimodal Project area in Allston.

After we published our first report on Thursday morning, MassDOT issued a statement to say that the agency "has heard the concerns of bicyclists and will make minor adjustments to the barrier to reallocate space while continuing to prioritize the safety of all users including construction crews."

This morning, Jacobsen sent StreetsblogMASS the photo at the top of this article to show what changed over the holiday weekend.

MassDOT's work zone continues to occupy the sidewalk and bike lane on the northern (westbound) side of the bridge. The work has also restricted westbound car traffic on Cambridge Street Bridge to a single lane.

However, the construction barrier that had formerly blocked the bike lane on Cambridge Street to the west of the Franklin Street footbridge is now gone, allowing southbound and westbound bike traffic to enter and use the bike lane once again.

MassDOT informed us last week that bridge users should expect the work zone and lane closures to remain until October.

The new configuration is "better at least in the sense that you aren't forced down the sidewalk," wrote Jacobsen in an email to StreetsblogMASS, but she added that "they really missed an opportunity to give a safe lane to cyclists all the way to the intersection" by moving the crash barrier between the bike lane and motorized traffic.