KENDALL TRANSPORTATION

Past Transportation Projects

6th Street Loughrey Walkway and Kitty Knox Bike Path

The 6th Street Walkway, also known as Officer William Loughrey Walkway and the Kitty Knox Bike Path is open to the public after undergoing renovations in 2018! The heavily used path is an open space that connects East Cambridge and Kendall Square and provides seating and shade to visitors, employees and residents.

The 800-foot-long open space and walking path was renovated by Boston Properties as part of the district’s Infill Development Concept Plan, and includes a new separated bicycle path dedicated to Cambridge resident and cycling legend Kitty Knox, a refurbished walkway, and new furniture and signage.

BINNEY / GALILEO / BROADWAY KSURP STREETSCAPE REDESIGN - 2018 & ONGOING

The CRA completed 25% design documents for a streetscape redesign of Galileo Galilei Way, Binney Street and Broadway in 2018. The redesign streetscape will connect existing bicycle and sidewalk infrastructure on Vassar and Binney, and holistically incorporate a multi-modal design with streetscape amenities and landscaping. The new plans create a unified look and feel for the area, uses progressive complete street and Vision Zero design principles, and national best practices. Design documents can be found using the link below. Read more...

In 2019, Boston Properties submitted streetscape designs for the City of Cambridge and CRA to review. The designs take the 25% Streetscape Plans as the base design and refines them into Construction Documents. The streets Boston Properties are responsible to design and construct include the area of Broadway between Ames Street and Galileo Way, Galileo Way north of Broadway, and Binney Street from Fulkerson to Sixth Street. Construction for this area began in the spring of 2020.

AMES STREET REDEVELOPMENT - PROTO - 2019

In 2019, Ames Street was reconfigured to reinforce bicycle and pedestrian accommodations. Once a four-lane street, it has been reduced to two-lanes with a two-way protected bicycle track on the east side of the street. On-street parking separates the bicycle lane from vehicle travel, and the path connects across Broadway to the 6th Street Walkway. Cyclists now cross using bicycle signals.

Two new bus stops have been added to Ames Street for the CT2 and EZ Ride routes. These stops relocated from Main Street make the CT2 and EZ Ride buses more efficient, and reduce the route running times by several minutes. One new bus stop is located on the west side of Ames Street, and the second is a "floating bus stop" on the east side of the street, meaning the stop is separated from the sidewalk via the two-way bicycle lane.

The street also has new street tree plantings to bolster the urban canopy, as well as planting beds along the road edge, new street lighting fixtures, street furniture and bicycle storage racks. Two new open spaces have been developed, the first on the southern end of Ames Street in front of Legal Sea Foods, where the streetscape redesign provides an expansion of outdoor seating and planters. On the northern end of Ames Street, on the corner of Ames and Broadway, a second open space in front of Meadhall has been created. This space has shade-tolerant landscaping with low growing woodland plantings, statement benches, lighting fixtures and new paving.

AMES STREET FROM BROADWAY TO MEMORIAL DRIVE - 2019

As part of the 88 Ames Street residential development, the City disposed of 20 feet of right-of-way to Boston Properties to create a viable development site in front of the Kendall Center Green Garage.  Boston Properties is currently reconstructing one block of Ames Street to relocate utilities, create a new sidewalk, and provide a two-way protected bike lane separated from traffic by parked cars. This includes a new intersection design for Ames/Broadway/6th Street Walkway. The reconstruction of this street and intersection will continue through 2017. The City’s Bicycle Network Plan identifies Ames Street as a separated bike facility from Broadway south to Memorial Drive.

Further, as mitigation for its East Campus redevelopment, MIT will redesign and reconstruct Ames Street between Main Street and Memorial Drive. The redesign includes an at-grade cycle track on the east side of the street which extends the cycle track on Ames Street between Broadway and Main Street. The cross-section is expected to remain within existing curb lines and include a 2-way cycle track, with a 2 foot buffer, 10 foot travel lanes in each direction, and a parking lane on the west side. See the City of Cambridge’s project page for more information.

BINNEY STREET BETWEEN FIRST AND THIRD - 2015

As part of the 1.7 million square feet biotech research campus, currently under construction by Alexandria Real Estate, Binney Street was fully reconstructed with new sidewalks, raised cycle tracks and stormwater facilities from First to Third Streets.  The vehicle travel way was reduced in width with turning lanes at major intersections.  The separate bicycle facility provides a landscape buffer between pedestrians and the bikeway. Left hand turns for bicycles are accommodated with marked turning pockets. Due to the relatively frequent relocation of EZ Ride bus stops, permanent bus stops were not accommodated in the design.

Archived Transportation Projects