Thank you for reporting this issue to the City of Cambridge. Unfortunately, the City is not responsible for addressing issues on state property.

Please contact Massachusetts Dept. of Conservation & Recreation (DCR) Community Relations at 617-626-4973.

Hello Dan and B. McKenna,

Could you please forward cases like this to your contacts at DCR rather than simply closing the issue?

When I've tried to interact with them on roads issues in the past, I have never been able to reach a person, receive a response, or actually have corrective action taken. (Note the exit sign pointing to Harvard Square on Soliders Field Road that took 2 years to replace after it fell down in a storm.) Thanks for your help.

Hello Dan and B. McKenna,

Could you please forward cases like this to your contacts at DCR rather than simply closing the issue?

When I've tried to interact with them on roads issues in the past, I have never been able to reach a person, receive a response, or actually have corrective action taken. (Note the exit sign pointing to Harvard Square on Soliders Field Road that took 2 years to replace after it fell down in a storm.) Thanks for your help.

Rest assure the City has frequently communicated our concerns regarding traffic in the alewife area to the State. This is an area of concern to the City, but our options are limited based on the fact that the Commonwealth of Massachusetts owns many of the transportation assets in the area, the physical realities of the area, and the environmental constraints that exist. That said, please note a few actions we are taking in this area:
- The City recently launched a three-year citywide plan entitled Envision Cambridge (http://www.cambridgema.gov/CDD/Projects/Planning/citywideplanning). The initial focus of this planning effort will be on the Alewife area, acknowledging the issues that exist in that part of Cambridge. I encourage you to participate in that planning process as it rolls out and expands.
- The City is currently finalizing a preliminary design for a pedestrian and bicycle bridge that will better connect from the north side of the railroad tracks to the south side of the railroad tracks, to improve connectivity between the triangle and quadrangle areas of Alewife. As part of this effort, we are also evaluating the feasibility of a new commuter rail station on the Fitchburg commuter rail line, which would further improve access to the area. While construction funding for this bridge has not yet been allocated, we are continuing to move forward with the design and hope to be able to identify additional funding in the future. We are also continually looking for opportunities to further enhance the bicycle and pedestrian connections to the area.
- We regularly advocate for further transit improvements for Alewife, including improvements to capacity and reliability on the Red Line, additional local and express bus services to the Alewife area, and bus priority measures on streets and highways approaching the area.
- We continue to pursue aggressive Transportation Demand Management measures for residents and employers in the Alewife area, including subsidies for transit passes, bicycle parking, and employee shuttle services.

For background, the development in this area is the result of a prior planning effort, the Concord-Alewife Plan (https://www.cambridgema.gov/CDD/Projects/Planning/concordalewife). In addition, most of the individual projects in this area were subsequently reviewed by the Cambridge Planning Board as part of a special permit process, with final building plans reviewed by multiple departments and approved by the City’s Inspectional Services Department. All of these projects include significant transportation mitigation commitments, including transportation demand management, limited parking supply, and financial contributions to the bicycle and pedestrian bridge that I noted above.

Based on both the physical realities of the area and our overall transportation policies, we do not anticipate that we can address the congestion issues in the Alewife area through conventional solutions such as expanding roadway capacity or further prioritizing the movement of cars. In addition, much of the congestion in the area is ultimately caused by traffic on Alewife Brook Parkway, Fresh Pond Parkway, and Route 2, and most of that traffic is through traffic with neither an origin nor a destination in Cambridge. As a result, our ability to impact that traffic is limited, particularly with no direct control over the operation of those roadways. As a result, we are working to promote a sustainable and vibrant mixed-use neighborhood where access by walking, bicycle, and public transit takes on a greater role.