Intersection Redesign: Powder House Boulevard and Alewife Brook Parkway

The City is continuing to advance design for the project to reconstruct the intersection of Alewife Brook Parkway and Powder House Boulevard. The project will upgrade aging underground infrastructure and create safer roadway conditions for people walking, wheeling, biking, and driving. The design includes a new "Shared Street" that incorporates a raised crosswalk at the entrances, plantings, "bump-outs," and other traffic calming measures.

The project team is looking for more input from direct abutters of the new shared street. Please share your input in this survey and check out this handout that describes some of the proposed changes and projected timeline. For any questions, please reach out to transportation@somervillema.gov.

The City and the consultant team are continuing to work on design of the new intersection. In July, City staff held a public meeting with direct abutters of the project. The presentation from that meeting is posted under the Presentations section on this page. The current design concept includes the creation of a new residential shared street in front of several homes that currently border Alewife Brook Parkway. A residential shared street is a street where pedestrians and bicyclists are prioritized. Cars are still allowed on the street, but the design communicates that drivers are not the primary road users – signage alerts drivers to expect pedestrians to be using the street space, and physical traffic calming elements (such as speed humps, plantings, or bends in the road) are used to ensure slow driving. For more information on shared streets, check out this resource and review the public meeting presentation to abutters.

In addition to creating more space for walking and rolling, this new residential shared street would provide a direct and safe connection between the neighborhood and the newly designed greenspace area on the south side of Alewife Brook Parkway. This greenspace area would be an enlargement and enhancement of the existing traffic island. Currently, given the two lanes of traffic that separate the neighborhood from the existing island, it’s not a usable greenspace for the neighborhood. This project would address that, and would make the traffic island usable park space for our City.

If you have questions or comments on the current concept, don’t hesitate to reach out to City staff.

Thank you for attending the first public meeting last November, filling out the survey, and sharing your priorities for an improved intersection. Based on the feedback we received and shared goals by residents and the City to create significantly safer pedestrian and bicycle connections at this intersection, we are moving ahead with the signalized intersection concept. The updated concept will be further defined as project design progresses. The exact placement of sidewalks, bike lanes, and other traffic calming elements will be reviewed by City staff as well as our partners at the Department of Conservation and Recreation. There will also be additional opportunities for resident input, so please continue to check this page for updates. The improved concept maximizes green space, reduces the crossing distance for pedestrians and bicyclists, and incorporates raised bike lanes on Powderhouse Boulevard from North Street to Alewife Brook Parkway. We are excited for these transformational changes!