The Washington Street bridge/underpass near McGrath Highway reopens today after a long closure for Green Line construction. There will be one travel lane and one shared bus/bike lane in each direction. A temporary pedestrian sidewalk will be open on one side of the roadway until final surface restoration is complete. Work will continue overhead on the elevated track level during this phase. Permanent pavement, finished sidewalks on both sides, lighting, and street markings will be completed this summer.
Later this week, the Broadway Bridge in Ball Square reopens as well. It will initially reopen with one travel lane in each direction. During this early stage, temporary accessible sidewalks and bike lanes will be installed on one side of the bridge allowing ped/bike travel in both directions at all times. Final surface restorations are expected to be completed this summer. At that time, the bridge will include permanent pavement markings with two travel lanes in each direction in addition to finished sidewalks and bike lanes on each side of the bridge. When the future Ball Square Station now under construction is complete, the bridge will feature a fully accessible entrance to the station platform from the bridge sidewalk via an elevator and staircase. A second at-grade entrance will be constructed from Boston Ave.
Other bridge updates:
- Work on the Medford Street Bridge in Gilman Square is progressing with completion scheduled for fall of 2020. The new design for this bridge calls for an additional span to be added at the south abutment in order to accommodate new Green Line tracks below.
- School Street Bridge in Somerville’s Gilman Square will remain closed until spring of 2021. This long-planned closure will facilitate the widening of the rail corridor beneath the bridge to accommodate GLX tracks and the construction of a future Gilman Square Station entrance to be located along the bridge span.